Do something about the AH and lower level gear????

[Flunklesnarkin]

use conquest gear.... quit being a noob and look it up

[blowfin]

use conquest gear.... quit being a noob and look it up

How do i shot conquest?

[RAIST]

Who's arguing that the AH is the only way to acquire gear?

Btw thanks for pointing something out that was contextually pointed to only one of your examples.

Maybe you haven't been reading all the posts here, but a large part of this thread is complaining about the lack of gear in the starter and Jueno AH's, and the flat out refusal to consider NPC gears, or the concept of either crafting something themsleves or requesting crafting assistance for the items they want. Ever stop to think that if crafters start seeing a lot of shouts/tells/lschat requesting gears in certain sets or certain level ranges that they might actually start to provide some of it?

And the context has been consistent. People just refuse to accept the fact that things are already in place for new players, they just refuse to use it. I'm not the only one that has been trying to point it out...please forgive those of us that have actually been trying to inform people of the alternative options to getting adequate gear from the AH.

I have been trying to provide examples and links to information for those that may not have it already. Throughout this entire thread, only TWO people have given something specific for us to explore to compare/contrast the options available.

What is the solution being pushed in this thread? Changing the entire Vendor, or crafting, or AH system (or a mix of them)? What is my solution? Learn how to use the EXISTING SYSTEM to meet your goals....just what is so bad about that?

[RAIST]

The point is that if the AH had decent stock levels, it's a far more efficient and convenient way to get your gear than crafting it yourself or having someone else craft it for you. I'm sure people are well aware that there are other means of getting gear. You're pretty much insulting people's intelligence by repeatedly implying they don't know you can craft weapons and armor.

It's not that I think they don't know.. they just write it off like it's not an option, when in fact it is common practice.

[Selzak]

What is my solution? Learn how to use the EXISTING SYSTEM to meet your goals....just what is so bad about that?

If you genuinely think that the people in this thread don't know how crafting or conquest points work, then nothing is bad about it. Thanks for your help, we understand now.

However, it isn't a solution it's a remedy. We're discussing something that is broken and you're telling us how to live without it. No one is arguing with you if you're just telling us that items are obtainable before they go on the AH, and I'm not sure that you've informed anyone of anything that they didn't already know- but if that was your intention, then I apologize for having the wrong impression about your posts.

[Sparthos]

I guess you haven't been around long enough to see half of the jobs on the game be nerfed at some point?

SE quit nerfing jobs when they took the new approach where players actually mattered. The age of harsh nerfs because the devs didn't forsee events playing out are over. Besides the RDM sleep/dispel/bind "nerf", everything has been steady improvement for all jobs.

While I agree that there would be some backlash (I've taken advantage of Abyssea leeching myself, especially for subs), I think that the overall balance of the game has been damaged far too much to just count our losses. This is different because it effects everyone and not a single job, but the game's history does include comparable situations that at least provide some insight into how big the impact would be.

There are various things SE could do besides imposing a nerf in Abyssea. Alternatives are superior to pointless nerfs that only further force older players out the door. You want to give people multiple options instead of taking away options.

-Make certain zones of Campaign like Bastion - fast EXP, low time investment. Cater certain areas to fit certain level caps.

-Create NPCs that warp players directly to ENMs/BCNMs, lower resets to 1/day and reward EXP for clearing BCNMs.

Taking Abyssea away completely, yeah that would cause a lot of harm. Taking away the ability to readily leech a job from 30-90 would only upset people who already take this game so seriously that they probably wouldn't quit anyway. At the end of the day, the game would be much better off if it was structured so that people actually play in parties for the bulk of a job's progression again.

Party play is over. Even before Abyssea, the idea of an EXP party was on its knees. Either SE revamps the old systems to make them of any use or they will continue to sit idle. The greater problem is at the top end where content is lacking rather than at the bottom where very few people care.

You do bring up a good point when you talk about content that has already been beaten to death, and this is why more needs to be done (ontop of raising the cap on Abyssea) to revamp but not eliminate the traditional experience. Whether that is incentive based, new content, or all of the above...people need reasons to do it. The EXP boost was great, but not quite enough.

The problem in XI atm is twofold. You have a lack of being able to the cap without leeching that could and should be addressed via adjustments to old systems and the greater problem of introducing new content to keep people playing.

In a top heavy game, priority should be towards all new content. A nerf on Abyssea access benefits no one and would not make people use the current slow systems, it'd just simply be the middle finger to quit the game.

[Mirage]

What is the solution being pushed in this thread? Changing the entire Vendor, or crafting, or AH system (or a mix of them)? What is my solution? Learn how to use the EXISTING SYSTEM to meet your goals....just what is so bad about that?

You don't need to change the entire vendor system to revise the prices on some of their gear, and what they carry. That, along with the merging of AHs, is probably going to sort out most of the problems.

[Olor]

I guess the question is - do you want this game to be friendly to absolutely new players y/n?

Cause if you want it to be friendly to new players, saying "look up the ingredients on a third party site then shout in Jeuno (which you may never have even been to) for a crafter high enough to make it" is counter-intuitive.

As far as I can tell people arguing against much needed adjustments on the grounds that someone could craft it... well, they might as well be arguing the game never needs new players ever.

This isn't 2003 anymore. People expect certain things from a non free-to-play mmo. Look at XIV - half the reason it is a complete mess is because SE thought they could pull the same crap they pulled in 2003 in 2010. The fact is, they can't. That's why they aren't charging subs - because people logged in when the game went live and couldn't buy anything but a level 1 weapon and weren't really interested in waiting three months for the crafters to catch up to demand.

[Leviticus]

Crafters won't make something that isn't worth their time to make. It's simple economics. Demand is low for low tier items, so there's no necessity or incentive to make them...
...There's two options available: Make it yourself, or offer crafters something worth their while to spend their time to make said item.

One of the major problems with crafting is the difficulty in finding even BASIC materials which makes materials expensive on the AH or tedious to obtain, which makes crafting not worth it, which makes making money difficult, which makes crafting no longer worth it because the market players (for example: new players or players on new jobs wanting low level gear) don't have enough money.
Inventory stacking issues aside for carrying the materials, crafting materials are just too difficult and/or tedious to get a hold of to make even the simplest items.

[GamerGuy]

It is true that first the variety of ammunition disappeared (poison bolts for example) and just last night I could not find any decent armor for nin42 to level up my subjob now that main is almost 90. Is this a result of fewer players and/or fewer players who craft? If so, the pending server merger may be all we need. If that is not enuf, we need to ask the development team to give us some relief in the next upgrade (u know, the equivalent of a Federal bailout...lol) by lowering the crafting requirements or raising how many items can be created with the same old ingredients or even stock the NPC's or AH themselves with items or make the drops more valuable or put more items in the treasure chests, the same way that they have made getting exp and skillups easier to get. Any other ideas?