Trials of the Magians and casual players.

[Zagen]

Yeah it has been, and usually is in any MMO. And its not just Support, its also often Tanks too.

Whats making this universal problem more pronounced is the shift the game has gone through. Pre-Abyssea, while the leveling rate for some jobs was slower than molasses, your average player was more included as a lot more partying happened and while there was a rift between Dynamis shell players and everyone else, it was possible for a more average player to make the leap into participating in that content if they wanted to. Even up to SoA's Skirmish there was usually something anyone could participate in if they wanted, however soon as Delve was released vast majority of non-Delve group activities dried up for the time being, and not everyone can easily participate. And Delve is not even planned as the very top of endgame content either it seems.

You must have forgotten about the days of "Sorry guys I can't find a healer in our level range" or "Sorry guys I can't find a healer willing to level sync". Oh how about the "Sorry guys the BRD or COR doesn't want to join because of XYZ reason".

Tanking while slightly an issue once people realized T-VT exp was much better than IT++ fighting that role became replaced by a DD.

[Sarick]

The great divide between players is just bad business. I guess this is also true when the game dies because of bad business choices. We can blame the developers for creating situations where $14.95 is a glorified chat program not a game for all types of players. I bet the people who have great gear spend a lot of time online. They a unqualified to understand or speak for this audience. This divides the player base if only there is only a hardcore or casual path for character development.

I think people who don't want trial weapons updated lack the foresight to think ahead more then 2 moves in a game of chess. There is only one thing that happens if people feel left out or the game becomes to much of a chore to play. They quit. This isn't a rant it's a truth. I've had many friends and family tell me they're quitting because in the direction the game is headed it isn't worth them keeping their subscriptions. They log on all their friends have quit or moved on and there is nothing casual left to do except craft or fish. (sigh)

The players who are fanatics about building paths don't feel alienated like the causal players because they have the resources and a lot of time to commit into their characters development. Unfortunately, these same players and the game developers fail to recognize a few things. If the casual players who can't participate or have nothing comparable to work with such as trials they'll be lost as subscribers making things worse for everyone.

Basically, to everyone who supports the status quo bias that also think casual players don't deserve content. You need a reality check. Games are supposed to be fun and entertaining for everyone who play. If those factors don't exist because the developers choose to ignore an audience then eventually most players will STOP paying subscriptions. What will be left is servers full of one play style without the ability to attract another.

Trials may not be the best gear but at least if they're upgraded it'll allow casuals something lesser to work with. It'll create diversity in play styles and welcome players who have a lot of time or resources. Like it or not developers and fanatics are pushing away the casuals without foresight. If they don't fix trials or create multiple advancement paths catered to BOTH audiences they'll lose these subscribers.

It's simple really, If casual players can't keep up with the demanding paths setup by the short sided developers then they'll look for other more plausible ways to spend that 14.95. After all It's only good business if it's making a profit and the severs are worth keeping up. Likewise that $14.95 has to be worth something.

[Hawklaser]

You must have forgotten about the days of "Sorry guys I can't find a healer in our level range" or "Sorry guys I can't find a healer willing to level sync". Tanking while slightly an issue once people realized T-VT exp was much better than IT++ fighting that role became replaced by a DD.

No I haven't forgotten that, or party disbanding within minutes after getting to the camp, 4 hour + waits without an invite, not being able to find right jobs to even start a party on my own and many other myriad things that thwarted group activities in the past. But the key was the community involvement outside of the end game events.

[Zagen]

But the key was the community involvement outside of the end game events.

You mean like BCNMs? Yeah those were great they didn't require certain jobs to be able to do them, I sure hope you had BLM or RNG leveled for Worm's Turn, NIN or RDM for Under Observation, SMN for Shooting Fish the list goes on.

Outside of soloing nothing in game ever functioned without some form of role/job requirement so I don't get how now is different from then besides we have more players at level cap.

[Hawklaser]

You mean like BCNMs? Yeah those were great they didn't require certain jobs to be able to do them, I sure hope you had BLM or RNG leveled for Worm's Turn, NIN or RDM for Under Observation, SMN for Shooting Fish the list goes on.

Outside of soloing nothing in game ever functioned without some form of role/job requirement so I don't get how now is different from then besides we have more players at level cap.

If I was doing BCNM's I tended to do Royal Jelly. Plus BCNM's were a lot more optional for progress, most used them, and likely still do, for making gil. Though I did level Nin and War for CoP stuff,and had all but a few jobs leveled to at least 37 back then just for subjob use as needed.

The difference is the amount of community involvement. Just consider the amount of time that was spent in working XP parties from 10-75 compared to the amount of time it takes to go from 1-99 now. Granted it is nice being able to level a job to cap in a weekend or two now, but is a tiny fraction of the time that was spent playing with other players. Not saying need to return to the long XP grind either, just using it to show how community involvement was a lot more widespread because of it compared to now outside of the active end game events like Delve.

[Demon6324236]

Yeah it has been, and usually is in any MMO. And its not just Support, its also often Tanks too.

Whats making this universal problem more pronounced is the shift the game has gone through. Pre-Abyssea

Just saying this real quick, Abyssea itself helped this problem a bit because everyone had easier access to great gear for the job and could level up any job in a matter of days rather than months. I admit reading your post I am not sure what you are saying the exact thing is that is making this worse as I have seen no direct change other than people still preferring to mindlessly bash things in the face rather than support those doing it. But if you were saying that post-Abyssea it was worse I would have to disagree since it let more people have access to support jobs even if normally they would have never thought about doing it because of the months it would take.

[Boomslang]

except you forgot one thing you're hypothetically telling me to go level a job or jobs that I may or may not like for the sake of getting a weapon for a job I enjoy...... Sarick has it spot on, to many selfish players in this game I'm tired of seeing so many people telling me I have to do something against my will in this game because it's for the better or something similar to this line..


This game is broken, but it's not the developers fault or coding sadly.

Matsui has said on several occasions that they will not design content that can be completed with every job. He has basically said: 'Go level another job if you want to gear the job you want to play' on several occasions. He says it's due to the job change system. Suck it up, level whm.

[Hawklaser]

Just saying this real quick, Abyssea itself helped this problem a bit because everyone had easier access to great gear for the job and could level up any job in a matter of days rather than months. I admit reading your post I am not sure what you are saying the exact thing is that is making this worse as I have seen no direct change other than people still preferring to mindlessly bash things in the face rather than support those doing it. But if you were saying that post-Abyssea it was worse I would have to disagree since it let more people have access to support jobs even if normally they would have never thought about doing it because of the months it would take.

Reason I mentioned pre-Abyssea there is because I only had barely touched the game again before SoA came out, so I can not comment a lot on the Abyssea era other than the level of shouts I saw regarding it and Voidwatch prior to SoA being released. Was trying to show the amount of interaction with other players for non-endgame geared players is or has undergone a drastic reduction since Delve was released.

[Osmond]

The great divide between players is just bad business. I guess this is also true when the game dies because of bad business choices.

I always wondered why players should even considered doing end game content a business. If that was the case then they are doing a horrible job especially to the majority of the customers who wanted the same items as the minority(those who already have them). All that is that u are telling the consumers that we only pick the best to buy our stuff and leave the rest behind, that's a red flag saying u gonna go bankrupt real quick once the best got what they wanted.

[Osmond]

You mean like BCNMs? Yeah those were great they didn't require certain jobs to be able to do them, I sure hope you had BLM or RNG leveled for Worm's Turn, NIN or RDM for Under Observation, SMN for Shooting Fish the list goes on.

Outside of soloing nothing in game ever functioned without some form of role/job requirement so I don't get how now is different from then besides we have more players at level cap.

I believe back then it felt more of a balance, that everyone felt safe that the content they played won't be "DEAD". Even if ppl had relic or other high lvl gear u can catch up w/ the other players w/ being required of some sort if endgame weapon to do mass dmg or DPS. They know that alone won't cut it. It felt more of a even playfield. Idk if I explain that well, but that came to mind.