What else is there left to do in FFXI other than comparing spreadsheets?
Printable View
As nice as it is hearing everyone complain, there is only one thing I can think to say...duh?
A lot of us are unhappy with the Dev Team's choices. ALL of us know friends that have quit because of the Dev Team's choices.
So? What's the use in complaining at this point? Its 100% obvious that nothing is being done (at least not in the right direction). SE has seen an enormous amount of unrest and frustrations voiced on its forums, yet things are getting worse for the majority of the player base.
Yet we keep complaining. And SE watches us as we vent, and keeps throwing shit at us knowing that we have somewhere to vent the next time we feel the need.
So what do we do? Well...nothing. It's highly unlikely that enough people will be on board with simultaneously canceling our subscriptions to show our displeasure with their decisions. As effective as it would be, I'm not even willing to. And any other such massive, timed, cooperative measure is hopeless considering how horrible and disgraceful our behavior is towards each other as it is.
The only thing we can do is wait, wait until enough players have quit that SE either is forced to fix their behavior to save their game (LOL I mean profits), or SE decides to close the servers. Inspiring right? Almost reminds me of our current political state.
Anyway, in the mean time, while we're awaiting to see how desperate SE needs to get with respects to its profits to fix our game, I'd be very interested in actually having a SUCCESSFUL method of communicating with the Dev Team. One in which the communication isn't shrouded in bullshit. I don't want to write and/or read a billion posts and hope that the team reads them and/or that they care. This one sided form of 'communication' makes it extremely easy for us to be ignored.
Now, to be the devil's advocate, but also because other possibilities have crossed my mind...
One of the reasons for my interest in having a better communication system, is that I legitimately wish to hear what SE has to say. I know they spew the word 'balance' to justify their changes to the game, but I want to hear more than just that one word repeated to infinity. I don't see War - Ukko's fury and Sam + Shoha as a balancing act. But anyway, there is a very high possibility that we're miscommunicating with SE and a simple thing such as an interactive communication system could fix our problems.
Also, I'd be very interested in hearing what people think that are not displeased with the game. I want to know why exactly their satisfied, because (I did not read every post in this thread, but from the ones that I did read) the posts I read in this thread from people not wanting to quit have been mediocre and uninteresting.
Anyway...my 2 cents at a point when I'm really frustrated and angry @ SE.
I'm contemplating a departure from FFXI.
Why? Because I picked up Skyrim this holiday and remembered how utterly entertaining games could be.
I've also been reading up on Guild Wars 2 and it looks like it will be much more flexible and engaging than FFXI. It also helps that the marketing literature does a fantastic job of bringing across the development team's enthusiasm for the game and the new directions they want to take the MMO genre. If that game lives up to even a fraction of my expectations it will have absolutely no trouble prying me away from FFXI.
The grass is greener elsewhere.
It seems that SE actually believes they are good at balancing things.
I've never seen a company talk so much about it, and throw the word around and fail so hard.
Just because the world "balance" is thrown around doesn't mean balance is a achieved, this feels like a crack-head asserting that he's clean.
No matter how many times he says it, it simply is not true.
Touche.
Honestly though I've been having a blast lately low manning dynamis for relic +2 items and -1 pieces. And seeing how Tav absolutely refused to drop my RDM -1 body, this might take me awhile. I've already gotten PLD / BLU / SAM / DRK / WAR -1 bodies and legs, but not RDM, one of the better ones. My plans are to fully upgrade RDM and BLU to +2 and eventually do SAM / DRK / PLD / WAR, but those are way way low priority.
Imo, the word 'BALANCE' indicates that SE fail to see what to do next.
Now and then every little conversation SE say something about balance and never gives the exact plot. And when something happen, it usually turns out disappointing.
This is the reason why no one plays FFXIV. It's not about the game. I think ffxiv is beautiful. BUT everyone knows Tanaka/SE is going to put you through the sh8tie system again therefore no one bothers.
Not only have i intended on quitting but i am doing so. There just isn't anything new for a low man group to do. I could join an endgame LS but i really don't want to go back to that. Starting at the bottom, points blah blah, been there and done that.
The sad thing is they keep adding WoE areas but since you can no longer solo and get anything even that is a no go. And it just becomes a matter of time before people stop doing them and that leaves those that want to unable to do so.
I even went as far as to make an alt character to dual box with but i was able to get just about everything i needed and level to 99 in about a month. Had i not done this i probably would have quit 2 months ago.
To be honest i only stuck around for the version update. I was hoping that there was more to the update than 99 cap and merit weapon skills. They do tend to with-hold information until the actual update so i was hoping for more. With no new abilities for almost all jobs and more insanely expensive spells i felt cheated. I'm totally tired of the merit grind-fest.
IMO updates are coming way too slow. A year ago they promised more frequent updates yet this lasted a short time. The updates are horribly lacking and unless you are one of their "star" jobs you don't get attention for many updates. Just look at PUP took them forever to fix whats been broken since its release while SAM gets a new JA every update. As a main DNC i was completely disappointed. No new abilities, no fixes to the many complaints, and a new weapon skill that is slightly more powerful than evisceration outside abyssea (and it barely gets enhanced by their horrible JA ternary flourish which was the only thing dnc got last update).
I have played since the release of PS2 version, seen lots of changes good and bad, and i always looked forward to what was to come. As i sit here and think of what's to come all i can think of is more disappointment, merit grinding, ignorance of the player base and their suggestions/comments.
It's sad to see how much negativity is floating around in these forums, but it's to be expected. At least back in the good ol days when updates were ripe with new abilities, spells, content, etc the few disappointments didn't really matter as much because there was lots of good things to over-shadow those disappointments. Now, when you only get 1 ability/spell and its a dud, it hurts more.
Tried FFXIV, sucked, no go.
yeah, I am sure some trolls will say good riddance, but didn't refill my crysta so soon I won't even be able to browse here - I'll miss some of the witty and insightful posters like GG, Krabknuckle, Sparthos and Spank... but c'est la vie.
Because I've been trying to get customer support to make my security token get off my account, but they fking won't. So I'm going to go and report my credit card being "stolen" and just lose my account and MAYBE start over. I doubt I will though. That's my reason P:
You do know Tanaka hasn't been in charge of XIV for a year now? (Thank god too. The man was strangling XIV as badly as he's strangling XI now.)
The new director, Naoki Yoshida, is SO much better on an unbelievable scale. If XIV was such a full time clean up for him, I'd want him to be XI's director to.
But for now, we have to deal with Captain Balance until he publicly humiliates himself again and he gets pushed to another game like Tertra Master II or something.
To illustrate, let's take a look at issues both games are currently facing: nerfs. Regardless of how you may feel about each nerf, I'd like to just compare how each situation was handled.
As you all know, XI is currently facing the WAR / MNK critical hit nerf. Tanaka sent us a messenger with a vague explanation that essentially boiled down to, "It would be too hard to balance other jobs upward, so we're just going to do this and here are the values." Look balance up in the dictionary, learn what the word means, and understand that's why we do everything we do that you don't like.
XIV is currently facing a nerf to casters, which interrupts spell casting when you move (before, you could zip all over the place and nuke to your heart's content). Yoshida personally responded on the forum with this. Look at that wall of text. Not only does he explain every point behind the change with examples, and how they intend to compensate, he further explains step by step how they intend the BLM role to be played. It's a stark contrast in communication.
As much as I would love to terrorize a Paladin in PVP with my ability to cast Burst II while running circles around him, I'm far more comfortable with them nerfing that than a nerf in XI that in no way effects any of the jobs that I play. Why? Because the fact that XIV's director takes the time to fully explain himself gives me faith that he knows what he's doing, and he has a plan for the future. Tanaka's copypasta, "It's too difficult", "Balance", explanations just don't cut it anymore, and I can no longer lend myself into a game that the developer thinks is too hard to develop.
In Tanaka's defense bringing every DD up to WAR standards would completely break this game, a game already made easy as piss with the majority of content having been designed for level 75s.
Everyone hitting 6k on mobs with a WS? Might as well give out brews with Conquest Points.
His fault is that he nerfed WAR/MNK and didn't bring something else to the table to compensate for the changes. He could explain himself but I imagine at this point Tanaka would be better off with actions rather than rambling about how Ukkos needed to be brought down a few pegs.
The 'nerf' wouldn't be taken so poorly if it came bearing gifts.
You and everyone else man... I log on sporadically to see if anything's up... and it's either usually 0 people on at all, Dan leveling his BST.
Pretty much the entire LS is playing SWTOR right now... initially people were going to play both, but the past month's events has pretty much turned everyone off of FFXI... I'll probably deactivate my accounts at the end of the month and see what the next update brings.
I really haven't complained about the nerf to Smite/Fury... and I have one, and teamed up a lot with a WAR who had the other. I think the Blood Rage nerf was kinda dumb, but haven't complained about that either.
What makes this so horrible, is it's just another negative adjustment in a long line of recent negative adjustments and bad/lacking content...
Not sure on anyone else, but the timing couldn't have been worse for me - as my entire LS left to play SWTOR. I tried it, didn't like it, so I won't be playing it. At the same time, with my entire LS gone, I've pretty much lost incentive to play FFXI at all.
As I've posted on BG: you work in a company with a very small team, your boss brings two offers to you:
A-Two things are broken, its a pretty simple fix for each.
B-18 things are broken, theres a lot of work involved in fixing them.
Whichever you pick, you're getting fixed pay for...so what do you do?
You also have to realize that if they buff 18 other jobs, theyre going to have to adjust a lot of fights they just created to deal with the fact all those 5/6/7 on 10 DD jobs are now all 8/9 on 10 DD jobs.
If this game was free, they could use the "well it's a lot of work" excuse. Currently, it's a paid service, and "we don't want to work that hard" doesn't really fly. They should have built the fights tougher the first time.
On a side note, They are adjusting the nerf back up somewhat. JP Forum
This is exactly how I feel on the matter. The amount of money we're paying hasn't changed, the level of service we're receiving shouldn't change either. Blatantly cutting corners when there are so many competing MMO's actively generating content for the same price is a really bad idea.
We all pay SE to run the game and operate it...a little fucking ukko nerf isnt pissing me or the entire playerbase off as much as the shittastic bullshit drop rates and drop system in the event that they are revolving this current FFXI era around (voidwatch)
as someone with both a Vere and a Maschu+2 (which got it harder in the ass cuz theres no ODD to go with the overpowered WS) I'm hardly bitching about the nerfs.
I've stated multiple times that SE doesn't care to do much work on this game because the team is already so small that they can barely hammer out the basics of a version update nevermind any extra perks that would accent it. They aren't going to swamp themselves when the basics are already overwhelming.
The question is how long people choose to put up with a bare-bones staff running the game again a la '09. Personally, my curiosity towards what the 99 trials for the ultimate weapons is what I await as it'll be quite telling of where this game will go in the next year. Not that I don't already suspect where the game is going but confirmation from the developers goes a long way.
This forum is depressing and angry honestly.
I honestly think it woulda been better not to have it, they should honestly do away with it.
On the XIV forums, at least last time I checked, its a totally different environment. I remember reading several threads that were positive and friendly. On here, it's basically a bunch of catty, delusional, hypocritical, biased pressed players either throwing tantrums or calling names.. AT THE PEOPLE THEY want to listen to them. I'm not above it, but you will never again see me making threads attacking devs or people for not sharing my opinion.
Voidwatch drops rate suck. New flash, this isn't anything new to endgame. They made voidwatch system the way they did to prevent cheating, greifing or drama amongst us. They had good intentions. Some of the drops are amazing, and should be super rare. THE ONLY real issue is the same person getting the same drop over and over when they already have it and people who are 0/200 are waiting.
Simple solution is ask the devs to make it so, the same item will not load in a chest, by a player who already has the item. DING DING DING DING DING, We have a winner. Problem solved KTHXBAI. But I' not even gonna lie to myself and pretend that would solve anything. The same people spamming this forum about that issue are more than likely, just as upset, it's so rare as it is, that a person who already has it is getting it. Once and if they change how items load to players who already have it, these same whiners will be back moaning about the drop rate.
So that's why I roll my eyes when I see some people complaining about VW drops and using the "This person keeps getting this item when they already have it!, this is so unfair! make it a point system!" excuse. Because they are not campaigning to abolish others from getting an item over and over, they are campaigning for a more convenient way of obtaining those rare drops. AK they want higher drop rates or point system.
I totally support and encourage the devs to adjust it, there is no reason why a coruscanti thf, gets a second coruscanti after 5 fights. That's bs. Do I want a point system? I wouldn't mind it. I am laid back with SE policies honestly. But I've said before people are asking for too much if they expect an endgames best gear to be of the einherjar ampoules/cp/isp nature. That is not happening and will never happen for the best or near the best gears.
People need to understand, SE, I repeat, SQUARE ENIX is interested in one thing. Your money. In their mind, It is bad business practice for them to make endgame gear obtainable without grind and luck. This is for several reasons but i'll just state the obvious:
FFXIV is bombing and sucking up a lot of money. Their franchise sales are down something like 50%(?) from where they were 6-7 years ago. This company is losing a lot of profit and fast. Theyre not struggling by any means, but they are losing a lot of money and street cred. They don't have the resources to develop content that is very meaty. Like Sea,Sky,new expansions (least not atm), and give it a plush appeal.
I believe they are making endgame of the grind and luck nature because of this. I'm gonna guess they think if theres a lot of luck and grind involved, we will play longer and be more dedicated. If there was a point system, or a system that didn't involve luck+grind, some people would breeze through it if it's linear.
They also want some gear to be extremely rare. Meaning only a select group of people have it. If there's a point system it robs an item of it's exclusiveness or specialty. Even if it costs a ridiculous amount of points, and time, there is no luck involved and anyone with the time can get it. SE has hinted in the past, they underestimated the player bases dedication to time and i'm sure they are tredding lightly not to make such a mistake again. HNMs are en example, you really think they intended us to camp that stuff the way we did? No, they wanted us to "stumble upon it eventually" like a rare surprise. SE has similar views for their special toys. They want us to grind for it, with a bit of luck
It's no surprise either, its a jp run and developed game. They believe whole heartedly in exclusiveness and status in endgame. These are just my opinions on them as a company and xi. Don't get pissy with me.
A point system would be a simple, convenient thing for them too. It would save them a lot of trouble figuring out drops per NM,BCNM etc. Theres a reason IMO they haven't used it very much for the really good stuff, they simply want some items to be exclusive in a "rare and unique" way.
Complaining about complaining is just ....... more complaining.......
Correction: it's more of an unbiased observation. I specifically said I am not above it. There's not any gripe in my post about people complaining. If you see it that way, well you just misunderstand.
I do not care, one tiny little bit about someone who wants to gripe about something. I only care about things that effect me. Although, that won't stop me from commenting on it in my free time. My opinions and input aren't really anymore important than anyone elses. The difference is, I know that.
The thing about the XIV forums is they treat any negative feedback (at all) as a direct attack on the devs. (both mods and other players)
Here people are actually way less hateful towards one another (in terms of attacking people for their viewpoints) and I don't think I've ever gotten a ban - but I got bans in the XIV forum because I didn't like changes to magic users.
I don't go to forums to see a mystical happy land where people take turns praising the game I play. I go to them to express my views on the direction of the game and to discuss game mechanics in a hard nosed way with other players (as well as help people, I like answering questions)
I don't like it when people accuse the people posting in these forums of bad behavior because they are trying to communicate serious problems to the development team.
I will give XIV some kudos if only for the way that Yoshi communicates with the XIV playerbase - part of the reason people have gotten so hostile here is because they don't really get the same kind of interaction.
I work in public relations. I know what a tough thing it is when you have to just relay what you are told to say, even when you fully disagree with it. I've been at the front lines of defending policies and decisions I don't believe in so I have a lot of respect for the moderators who sift through these threads.
But those of us trying to point out things that should be fixed with this game are not doing so out of malice or disrespect. We actually like the game and want to keep playing it - for myself, however, it became a point of pride to withhold my subscription, because I know for what we are paying, we deserve more than naked time sinks and excuses about the difficulty of improving the game.
That's not negativity - that's realism. If SE wants to make clink-clink they need to adjust to the times and provide what their subscribers are looking for.
If it wasn't for proc in VW it would just be throw more sams at it. It a simple fact Sam has been the hardest job to mess up for a long time. In abyssea if it wasn't for proc and the crit hit atmas they would had been the same as it always was. Taking a chance on a sam being gimp was easier to work with if they were then any other job.
My bad you said this in the troll's thread. Still stands he is a symtom of a larger problem at SE.
Add each other to your ignore list before the mods use your spat as an excuse to lock this thread.
BUMP!! Quitting because I'm sick of being angry/annoyed by dumb decisions made by the dev team. The on specifically that pushed me over the edge is the requirement for level 99 stage 1 relics and mythics.
Since this been bumped, I am too letting subscription lapse at the end of the month. Being blocked in progressing storylines is pretty much it for me. I didn't even bother uncapping, population is going down. Was a nice run. To all of those I had the pleasure of knowing in this game, if you read this, thank you for the memories.
One of the last two friends I had on this game has permanently cancelled to play SWTOR (first time in 7 years), and well guess this quote from Episode V is appropriate: "I'll meet you at the rendez-vous point on Tatooine."
"An onion dagger!? wtf is this crap?"
But seriously, pretty much everyone I know has quit and come back more than once, myself included. It's been like this since I started back in '04. I don't expect it to change. A new MMO just came out and it's shiny. When it's no longer new, watch the influx come roaring back, like every other time.
Most people most likely wont be back after the stuff they have been doing since 95 cap.