I think I'm finished; a new player's final thoughts

[Crevox]

Make the game even more of an easy mode

Hah. The fact of the matter is, none of the changes I mentioned have anything to do with "difficulty"; they are all tedious, tasks with zero difficulty that just involve lots of running around. I would not dare ask them to nerf monsters, bosses, or anything of the sort. I embrace difficulty, which is part of the reason I enjoy this game; because it is ruthless at times and battles are always a fun challenge, not a mindless button mash.

Don't even compare any of those quests to "difficulty." That word does not even apply.

I hope I'm being clear here. Based on another thread, players dislike having to do CoP in order to reforge armor. So is CoP the between stuff that turns you and your friends off, or is CoP something that you see potential in and it is a shame that it sits there untouched? And if it has potential, why such an uproar and eagerness to skip it? Do you see what I'm getting at?

CoP is the requirement that none of us wanted to do, but were forced to do if we wanted the armors and other things (Diabolos). I'm not saying CoP shouldn't exist. I went and got Diabolos (though it was annoying) and was done with CoP for the moment, but had planned to go back some time in the future to see the rest of the storyline through. It's a game. It's content. It's not like the story was bad, it was just time consuming to complete, and I had a lot of other things I wanted to see and do with that time first... I just needed Diabolos, so I went and got him real quick. No biggie. I'll fully complete it at some point, probably when my friends aren't online, to explore and experience the world and all that good stuff.

Then bam, suddenly, I find out I need to do it for the armor. CoP. All the way up to sea. Not good. THAT is annoying. Now I HAVE to do it, as soon as possible, to be able to trade the items I already went and got for the armor I was striving to obtain. It is no longer an act of choice, not something I can do at my own leisure when I feel like it; it is now a requirement that I get it done, a priority. That means it automatically gets in the way of everything else I wanted to do. I have to get it done before I can do the more interesting and fun things that I wanted to do. Ugh. How annoying. Not only that, all my friends need to do it now too, and they're not online often; when they are, we do something together. How the heck are they ever going to get it done? What a mess.

Maybe that gives you some more insight into my thinking.

Unrelated, but if you do decide to come back, they announced that Cait Sith is coming, but will require all but completing WotG to acquire. IIRC you did CoP and ToAU enough to get Diablos/Odin/Alexander but weren't thrilled with the requirement. Just something to keep in mind.

I know. Painful. Ultimately WotG was in the same situation as CoP. I heard it has a great story, it gives the refresh earring at the end, and I wanted to see it all at some point. No biggie, no rush. The only reason I didn't do it while my sub was active is because I got burned out by all the other stuff (CoP, ToAU).

It's still not as bad as the CoP requirement though. I couldn't even trade in my items for my Convoker armor unless I cleared CoP. WotG just has a nicer reward at the end for me when and if I do complete it with the addition of Cait Sith. Cait Sith, while nice, is not exactly a priority. The SMN armor on the other hand, felt like something I really needed; and it ended up being extremely useful. Armor that actually does stuff for SMN is not exactly easy to come by, and I had already spent all my sparks/gil on the items needed to trade, so it was pretty much a finality that I had to do CoP, like, now. It was in the midst of my great item hunt for SMN related things, and CoP stuck a giant stick right in those plans, and interrupted everything. Screwed up my whole order of things, set me back hard, and greatly contributed to me getting burnt out on the game. No, that does not mean I'm just butthurt at CoP because of what happened, it's still just a requirement I think shouldn't exist for that purpose.

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

Again using the I can't be bothered to do something or I seriously am having no fun due to travel time is perhaps the weakest reason to change something.

What's the quick route to the Sacrarium? Only way there is a long trudge through monsters that don't even aggro you at the area's old level cap. Boneyard Gully? Again a long yomp, again aggro-free at the old level cap.

Long walks that exist for nothing more than the sake of being long walks, and continuing to be long walks.

Make the game even more of an easy mode like it seems he wants to and you will probably have a lot of older players quitting.

I note the introduction of Home Point warps doesn't prevent old players from still using the airship.

but can you really say that you wouldn't mind taking maybe an hour to explain a lot of stuff before finally doing delve that took some time just to get people to someone who just started the game five days

How long do you walk to get to Delve?

[Lithera]

Again I know a person who felt walking to boyahda tree from the out post was too much work. Quickest route to the sacarium is tavy ring or void watch and exit through the northern exit in coast. Compared to say walking all the way from Southren Sandy to Xarcabard is a much longer trip than the time it would take someone to travel from tavnazia to the sacarium. Specially when you can use a chocobo or sprinters shoes.

For boneyard gully void watch straight to either the maze or to attohwa it's self. Assuming the person of coruse has access to those void watch warps. If the person doesn't have a tavy ring or void watch there is the outpost warp. If no Outpost then yeah need to use the swirling vortex.

No it doesn't but airship travel went down long before home point warps were introduced.

It could take a while to get to where the fracture is that they want to get to if they don't have the closest bivouac. Though I said understanding how delve works, what all of the short hand in game ment. You know things most people who are doing delve or skirmish or the AA fights would assume the rest of the group understood. It would be like if you were in kazham making a party back in the day didn't only not know how to get to there but how to unlock it or what WS or SC meant. Only to find out the person didn't even know how to get to jeuno because they were that new. Would you really be willing to spend time explaining things to someone that new how to get to and do an event that took a while to get a group for, or would you rather take a person who knows these things already in order to prevent others in the group to leave because it's taking so long to do the event?

I never said they were short trips, but to have it as the only reason for something to be changed is being lazy. I would be all for the CoP areas to get more quicker ways to get to places. Like for instance a midway point on the map in Uleguerand Range would be nice. Like where flux 5 is in it's abyssea counter part.

Oh and don't forget the geomatic founts you can use with the proto-waypoint in Ru'Lude. Once you get any of those which you can go and get before any CoP mission asks you to go to some places it just takes a small amount of kinetic units to cut down on actual travel time. Only one that might be an out of the way to take would to use the riverine site B01 to get to the sacarium.

[Zarchery]

No, it's not. The game is a business. If you aren't attracting ANY new customers, or holding them for longer than one sub, there's a problem. And that problem needs to get solved if the game wants to survive.



Things like removing CoP as a requirement for getting the AF/relic armors doesn't hurt anyone, and yeah, there are older players that haven't yet completed CoP. In the end, everyone wins. Same thing can be said about unlocking all the jobs.

And like I said, if they're so impatient that CoP is a major roadblock for them, they're gonna burn out anyway, and complain about something else anyway and quit.

[Sapphires]

Hah. The fact of the matter is, none of the changes I mentioned have anything to do with "difficulty"; they are all tedious, tasks with zero difficulty that just involve lots of running around. I would not dare ask them to nerf monsters, bosses, or anything of the sort. I embrace difficulty, which is part of the reason I enjoy this game; because it is ruthless at times and battles are always a fun challenge, not a mindless button mash.

It's not like the story was bad, it was just time consuming to complete, and I had a lot of other things I wanted to see and do with that time first...

This game has survived 11 years and counting because it values the long term goals and journey through all of its content. You seem to come from a different generation of MMO player that just wants to skip through cutscenes/missions and teleport everwhere for the latest loot.

I think you need to step back and look at how obvious your hatred for something as basic as world travel is. All the warps are nice and convenient, but there is still a reason for all that space in between.
All of your arguments seem to rest on I can't complete my goals as fast I want to.

You've spent more than one thread and the 30 some pages of this one trying to bend SE to your sense of faster gratification, when you should really just go back to playing the game, slow down and enjoy the journey to your goals. You seem to love this game based on how much you argue about it, but you just need to be less impatient to truly enjoy it.

[Zarchery]

Then bam, suddenly, I find out I need to do it for the armor. CoP. All the way up to sea. Not good. THAT is annoying. Now I HAVE to do it, as soon as possible, to be able to trade the items I already went and got for the armor I was striving to obtain. It is no longer an act of choice, not something I can do at my own leisure when I feel like it; it is now a requirement that I get it done, a priority. That means it automatically gets in the way of everything else I wanted to do. I have to get it done before I can do the more interesting and fun things that I wanted to do. Ugh. How annoying. Not only that, all my friends need to do it now too, and they're not online often; when they are, we do something together. How the heck are they ever going to get it done? What a mess.

No. You're just outright wrong here. This is what's infuriating about you. You say obviously wrong things and won't own up to it.

You could have done CoP at a leisurely pace. Taken 6 months to do it. Taken a year. Not done it at all. Use sparks or skirmish gear in lieu of reforged AF and reforged relic. Don't use Diabolos. But you're so insistent I WANT IT NOW I DESERVE IT NOW GIVE IT TO ME NOW that you built up these strawman criticisms. You don't accept that you have time to do things. You don't accept that you have to put effort into things. You don't accept that you don't intrinsically deserve everything in this game immediately and without effort. You don't accept that you and your friends, who burnt out and quit after less than half a year, are not exactly a moneymaker for a business that depends on recurring monthly membership fees.

[Zarchery]

This game has survived 11 years and counting because it values the long term goals and journey through all of its content. You seem to come from a different generation of MMO player that just wants to skip through cutscenes/missions and teleport everwhere for the latest loot.

I think you need to step back and look at how obvious your hatred for something as basic as world travel is. All the warps are nice and convenient, but there is still a reason for all that space in between.
All of your arguments seem to rest on I can't complete my goals as fast I want to.

You've spent more than one thread and the 30 some pages of this one trying to bend SE to your sense of faster gratification, when you should really just go back to playing the game, slow down and enjoy the journey to your goals. You seem to love this game based on how much you argue about it, but you just need to be less impatient to truly enjoy it.

Sapphires,

That was so beautifully put that I wish I had 10 accounts so I could Like your post 10 times. I wish you were on Carbuncle so I could high-five you in game.

[Afania]

I hate the fact that something like completing quests has now become a reason why people should go play another game when FFXI's combat and overall gameplay is fairly different from other games.

Personally, I love FFXI gameplay, I hate many things about the game outside of it though, such as the drop rates on items, the augmenting systems they use for things like Skirmish, or the travel that is literally the very reason I never completed WotG or my even my home nation's mission line. Yet, apparently due to how I feel about subjects such as CoP or travel I should go play WoW, or FFXIV, because even though their gameplay is different, and I may not like it as much as this, it's the only option I am apparently supposed to have. There seems to exist no middle ground, the fact these things need not be used by others and in general many changes asked for in these instances would have no negative effect on other players who are either finished with the content(CoP) or don't wish to use the features(travel reduction) but yet we are told if we want the changes we ask for, go play another game.

Because there are ppl that still enjoys FFXI/MMORPG as a whole, not FFXI/MMORPG with just jobs/battle/combat.

I want to play FFXI as a whole, including the running, long CS, "long journey to the end" feel. I want to feel like living in another world.

I don't want to play a MMO which I log on, hit cap in 2 weeks, and the only purpose of playing is to hit cap so I can do the "real content". I don't want to feel like I'm playing a game to beat a boss and get achievement.

After all the crazy 30 pages I'm not sure why this still goes on. There are titles that feels like living in another world, with slower pace, more walking and more running/boring quests. Because the point of this kind of game, is to live in a virtual world and keep playing the game as another life.

There are also titles that focus on endgame and difficult raiding. With epic boss and loot, and complicated combat system. Everything from lv1~cap is meaningless. FFXIV/WoW is this type of the game. The point of this type of game is instant gratification.

I'm not sure why is it so hard to understand that everyone has different taste, and why do people like Demonjustin/Crevox continue to linger in FFXI, but hating FFXI for what it is.

I don't like WoW and FFXIV, I quit instantly because I know it's not my cup of tea. I don't yell on their forum, asking for the game to change focus. I don't "hate" every element in games like FFXIV. I love the boss mechanics in FFXIV, it's fun, but the lack of role playing element made me quit. I don't linger in FFXIV just because I like 1 aspect and hoping every other aspect to change to fit my taste too. Being an instant gratification MMO is part of FFXIV, it's just what it is. I can't have a game with fun boss mechanics AND a virtual world. I either play FFXIV for fun boss mechanics or quit for another MMO for virtual world.



So you like FFXI job/battle system? Sure. But just face the truth, a MMORPG is more than "log on and have fun beating the boss with a cool battle system". A MMORPG, at least this game, is everything. Walking, running, watch CS, make friends so you can do content, buying stuff and selling stuff, dealing with retards, grinding RME, it's all part of the gameplay. Something someone else enjoys. Maybe someone else who haven't finish everything also enjoys it, and now you're asking SE to take it away from them too

If you don't like grinding/walking/watching CS but only like the battle system, make a decision, leave and give up on the battle system, or stay but tolerate the aspect you don't like. I don't think I've ever play a game and found myself loving every aspect of it, there are always a few aspect I don't like, so what's the big deal?

Stop asking dev to change the game into another instant gratification MMO where everyone's only purpose is to kill boss, thanks.

[Lithera]

Oh snap Afania just got back into the thread ya-all. This is gonna go for at least 5 more pages. Go get your popcorn and have a seat.

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

Again I know a person who felt walking to boyahda tree from the out post was too much work.

And S-E added a faster way.

Quickest route to the sacarium is tavy ring

If you already have a Tavnazian Ring, why would you need to go to the Sacrarium?

or void watch and exit through the northern exit in coast.

The correct answer is "From the Qufim Island outpost," but that's neither here nor there. It's a heck of a lot longer a hike, regardless of the starting point, than you seemed to believe with the "They added teleports to everywhere!" insistence.

Compared to say walking all the way from Southren Sandy to Xarcabard is a much longer trip than the time it would take someone to travel from tavnazia to the sacarium.

But a good many jobs need never go to the Northlands to get AF109.

Specially when you can use a chocobo

Did you seriously just suggest using a chocobo in the Northlands or around Tavnazia?

You're insisting new players do stuff that you obviously can't even remember doing yourself. How are you fit to comment, let alone pass judgment, on this topic?

Assuming the person of coruse has access to those void watch warps.

Ah, so not only are new players obligated to progress through CoP, but headway must also be made in WotG in order to complete CoP.

And again, do try to remember that you're insisting that new players go through all this, while old players can just flit around amongst waypoints and home points to access their shiny new content. Shouldn't the burden be instead on the older, more experienced players, kinda like how there is no Tu'Lia outpost?

No it doesn't but airship travel went down long before home point warps were introduced.

And this hurts your play experience how? Did it deny you all the enlightening conversations you had with other passengers that I'm sure you had?

It could take a while to get to where the fracture is that they want to get to if they don't have the closest bivouac.

/pcmd kick

Would you really be willing to spend time explaining things to someone that new how to get to and do an event that took a while to get a group for, or would you rather take a person who knows these things already in order to prevent others in the group to leave because it's taking so long to do the event?

Congratulations, you've just made the OP's point for him: new players are excluded from popular gameplay.

I never said they were short trips

Only parts that have some travel time would be getting to both castles.

Oh and don't forget the geomatic founts you can use with the proto-waypoint in Ru'Lude. Once you get any of those which you can go and get before any CoP mission asks you to go

Thereby making it easier to return to places you only need to visit once. Make no mistake: those are for ENMs, not missions.