This is my take on the whole subject:
Voidwatch is just terribly designed, the fights are cool its more challenging than abyssea which is all fine and dandy, however, light system is what makes this not a popular event. Over the years FFXI endgame went through various transitions of full scale alliance battles of 18 people to eventually 12 then falling to 6-8 then dipping below to 2-6 man content. The real reason why so many people did emp weapons was because you no longer needed a dedicated LS, it was just about you and a mule or you to several friends working to a common goal, had nothing to do with how easy or hard it was, the content was accessible.
Enter voidwatch, due to the nature of wanting drops you need to bring lots of players or find people with lots of mules to cover all the procs, this is a giant step up after a long period of accessible content where you could do whatever you wanted with a few friends or two boxing to needing a dedicated group of around 18 to ensure you have the best chance at capping lights and this is why this event is NEVER going to be as popular as abyssea, has nothing to do with difficulty/easy-mode, the event itself is not accessible in today's game.
Post patch I spent around 50+ hrs in some of the new VW zones in the zilart area's ranging from sky to Boyahda Tree, Kuftal, Ro'maeve while skilling up various weapons, I almost always found myself around a Planar Rift and not once did I see any LS show up to these however no matter what time of day I zone into whatever zone in Abyssea its bustling with people, always busy, always people there, I think that alone speaks volumes of the actual popularity of voidwatch.
This whole plate thing is ridiculous in its current state and I don't have an emp weapon being that I had just returned to the game. Sure it might get adjusted eventually when SE loses a few subs because its hard to find dedicated people to do Voidwatch. If this event was ever going to be popular wouldn't you think every planar rift would be busy? I have never seen anyone else around doing Voidwatch or heading to those rifts when my LS was doing it during prime time NA hours but we continue to see lines and lines of LS's at most pop nm's in every zone in abyssea.
This is the classic case of SE listening to trolls who whined for months about accessible content(omg ez-mode abyssea!) to hoping to re-live the "glory nostalgia days of early LV75cap" where you needed bigger groups to clear content and ultimately it will backfire in their face. I think there will still be people who are going to torture themselves and eventually get the 95 emp weps but that still doesn't mean the event is an overwhelming success like Abyssea was.
Last edited by Molech; 09-30-2011 at 05:34 PM.
First of all, Abysea is pretty much the best EXP zone in the game. You're saying a sign that VW fails is because more people are at EXP camps than doing Endgame content. That logic is fallacious.
Not only that, but Abyssea was pretty unpopular when it first came out because people didn't know how to work it. VW is pretty much the same. This VW update pretty much made VW into WoE without the free RR, and with better rewards. VW has been a pretty good success for an Endgame event so far.
And that's the difference. Abyssea is NOT endgame. Abyssea was designed as low level, exp content meant to get you prepared for the new endgame that was to come out in the final updates. Abyssea is over and there's still 9 levels to go after it.
People saying Endgame should be like abyssea are the same people that called Merit Parties endgame back at 75. Lame.
Last edited by Byrth; 09-30-2011 at 10:24 PM.
You missed the entire point, its not popular because you need basically need 18 people if you want the best chance at loot from voidwatch and if your after plates you will bring max people or pretty close to it. The jump of people needed from abyssea NM's to voidwatch NM's is the problem due to the nature of the lights system, for a long time you could bring a friend or two and go get stuff done in abyssea. This is a classic case of accessible content vs non-accessible content to the masses and if you don't see why then I don't know what else to tell you.
Whether or not the event is fun, challening, easy-mode has NOTHING to do with the point i'm trying to make, the point is voidwatch is never going to be an event you and 3 other friends decide to go do on a whim because of how terrible the lights system is and thats why its never going to be a popular endgame event to anyone who can't find a proper alliance to go with.
This event will never be lowmannable until they revise the proc systems, this is the beef most people have with the event. I think the event is fun but its terribly designed for "TODAY's FFXI" had this released years ago when most LS's had 18+ players and dedicated HNM ls's nobody would have a problem with this event in its current state.
Last edited by Molech; 10-01-2011 at 12:03 AM.
Your point is that VW is not popular because you need 18+ people to do well on it. But this logic fails when you apply it to something like WoE. In the newly updated WoE, you need 18+ people to clear some of the newer confluxes. Yet WoE is accessible and popular to boot.
You are correct when you say VW is not easily lowmannable (barring some parts of the Bastok/Sandy path). I believe SE's intention was to have people team up and work together with little drama over lotting on loot. The focus on individual loot caskets (like WoE) is evidence of this. Since most people are unreasonably and unjustifiably afraid of large LS's these days, their alternative is to put together shout groups, groups of friends, or create a new event-specific VW LS as some people have been doing.
That is not relevant to my point. Regardless of what jobs you need or don't need for WoE, it is still a popular event that attracts a wide variety of people. His point was that VW would never be popular because of the numbers needed. I pointed out a popular event that attracts the Dynamis LS-sized numbers of old. The PEOPLE are there. As long as someone herds them up (via shout group or LS) and a few switch for procs/healing support, voila, you have a VW alliance.
Last edited by Mahoro; 10-01-2011 at 04:30 AM.
Its popular because you can come any job and get a chest. You can show up on a given job and mindlessly play it and still rank. So yes it does matter.
Get a group of people who mindlessly attack monsters and do as they wish on an individual level to go to VW and let me know how that works out. My bet is it won't work at all.
WoE popular? All I hear is people complaining about WoE and the only ones I know or heard of who are doing it are just doing it to sell the new scrolls from there. First time ever I'm hearing that someone actually likes WoE.
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