The Decline of FFXI: Forums, Gameplay and Nostalgia

[Akujima]

Apologies, I worded it in the wrong place. Makes it look like im assuming those aren't your priorities. Also akuji, u should report whatever loser put that tag up. It's getting really immature. One things for sure, players still have no respect for eachother.

It's ok, it's bound to happen, but I'll leave the tags up. I'm not the type of person who gets offended easily or reports others so quickly. If anything, it is just proof of their immaturity, so it's kind of like they're insulting themselves lol.

PS. I love you too, and I don't think your posts are that harsh. But people are generally afraid of someone with strength of character^^<3

And...

@Karbuncle. Please take a look at my post before this one. Don't you think that would be a good idea?

[Karbuncle]

Well, Kinda. The idea of Balanced Casual and Hardcore content is truly ideal. But the problem is, if Casual content is met with equal rewards, The hardcore will complain the "hard way" should have better rewards.

If the Hardcore Rewards are better than Casual contents, Casuals will complain they're stuck with mediocre crap because they don't have the time/etc to do Hardcore Content.

Even though, in theory, more effort should = More Reward.

Its a tough call labeling something Hard-core. I personally thought Einherjar was "hardcore" due to its difficulty, not many "noob groups" Could tackle it, it took decent people. While some people only consider 21-24hr Kings "Hard-core".

The problem is, what would be labeled as "Hardcore", if its an Event like Einherjar, Thats actually great, because even though its difficult, its Available to everyone, any time of the day.

Like i said earlier, I want difficulty to, Its just i want Difficulty in the fight, not difficulty getting to fight it. (i.E claiming).

[Eeek]

Casual players don't have full +2 sets often, nor Empyreans, nor multiple full +2 sets ... etc.

Hardcore players are still allowed to excel, just not in having special "I botted this" drops like Ridill. You just end up further along a line of progression that everyone is on.

Yep.

The better/harcore players on my server are definitely ahead of me, and I'm perfectly fine with that. I accomplish what I can given real life constraints. What I *** love about Abyssea is that the best gear is accessible to everyone who wishes to pursue it. Very strong gear is very available.

I don't have an Empyrean, and I doubt I'll have one before 2012 rolls around. That's fine. I have the WoE Empyrean dagger along with about 10-12 other Magian daggers and staves, each one of them being a powerful weapon in their own right.

I don't have a single full set of AF3+2 gear. That's fine. I complete what I can, and as of this post, that I have 12 pieces of +2 gear: 4/5 DNC, 3/5 THF, 3/5 RDM, and 2/5 BLM. This is not impressive at all to hardcore players, but still a sizable number of players would love to be in my shoes.

I have lots of assorted r/ex drops from Abyssea ranging from an Atheling Mantle to a Hecate's Earring. I don't have all of the best gear, but I do have some of it.

I'll never have the best-equipped or best-played job on Asura. Ever. But I do aim to play and gear my jobs well, and that I can accomplish. They're all above average, solidly geared, and always improving. I'm happy with my progression thus far.

I greatly hope that, in the future, the vast majority of the game's content will be as accessible as Abyssea for players like me.

[Anewie]

Well, Kinda. The idea of Balanced Casual and Hardcore content is truly ideal. But the problem is, if Casual content is met with equal rewards, The hardcore will complain the "hard way" should have better rewards.

If the Hardcore Rewards are better than Casual contents, Casuals will complain they're stuck with mediocre crap because they don't have the time/etc to do Hardcore Content.

Even though, in theory, more effort should = More Reward.

Its a tough call labeling something Hard-core. I personally thought Einherjar was "hardcore" due to its difficulty, not many "noob groups" Could tackle it, it took decent people. While some people only consider 21-24hr Kings "Hard-core".

The problem is, what would be labeled as "Hardcore", if its an Event like Einherjar, Thats actually great, because even though its difficult, its Available to everyone, any time of the day.

Like i said earlier, I want difficulty to, Its just i want Difficulty in the fight, not difficulty getting to fight it. (i.E claiming).

agreed. Einherjar was hardcore but it was also casual too. I liked how quick it went. I remember dynamis gather/entry/stay time could get very boring. Einherjwas very quick-and-easy type stuff even if you timed out. Most people timed out as sopposed to wiping.
I miss einherjar and salvage more than anything.

[Olor]

Yep.

The better/harcore players on my server are definitely ahead of me, and I'm perfectly fine with that. I accomplish what I can given real life constraints. What I *** love about Abyssea is that the best gear is accessible to everyone who wishes to pursue it. Very strong gear is very available.

This is exactly how I feel. I have no problem with people who have played longer/who play more having better gear than I do. They always have and always will be better geared than I am.

I do have a problem with not being able to pursue the best gear in the game at all.

[Olor]

I miss einherjar and salvage more than anything.

They haven't gone anywhere...

[Akujima]

Like i said earlier, I want difficulty to, Its just i want Difficulty in the fight, not difficulty getting to fight it. (i.E claiming).

Ok I agree with this as well. Claiming probably was annoying after doing it for years and years. But it still doesn't mean that there can't be SOME claiming type battles going on (for whoever liked going AFK to watch a movie between fights, or whatnot). I don't really consider botters, because cheating isn't in my vocabulary. But making the drops rare/ex was a smart move from SE to stop RMT, eventually lowering the amount of bots as well.

The gear issue would be solved by tipping the scale VERY slightly and offering something different. Something like WoW PvP Gear sets. There was an equally good set designed for Player Vs Player combat, but it had "PvP Stats" that made it more useful to players who wanted to PvP often. And then there was a Raiding Gear Set, that was designed for PvE combat.

But the same is possible for FFXI. You give the Casuals gear that works well while solo'ing/duo'ing/trio'ing in their casual content areas, but is not so crappy that hardcore players would never invite them to their events. Hardcore players would still be able to get all the content that is available to the casuals, and the casuals will still be on par with the hardcore players when it comes to gear types.

The only thing that would be different is that the casuals won't be penalized for not being able to put in long hours at 1 single time.

And what I mean by "Hardcore" is events that take more than a PT of 6 to complete. AND are difficult battles even with 18 people. I think the problem of the past was not the type of gear that these events/bosses dropped, it was how frequently you could attempt them AND how much stuff they dropped, just didn't satisfy all 18 people who came to the event.

I really believe this is possible, to have Equipment that is Equal in Power, yet Different Enough so that there is merit in having either/or for whatever situation or play style you prefer.

[HFX7686]

Casual players always want what hardcore players have without doing the work.

You can add all kinds of casual/solo events with gear that is almost as good as what the hardcore players have and the casual players will still be upset because they don't have what the hardcore players have (without doing the work).

The game right now is really well balanced in terms of casual and hardcore players. Hardcore players have a lot of Abyssea gear finished. Casual players have a few pieces of Abyssea gear finished but still have the opportunity to complete more.

I remember old FF11. I started playing a couple months after NA release. It was slow, annoying, and had me awake at 4am to try to claim Nidhogg against 200 other people doing the same thing. I don't want it back.

[Karbuncle]

Casual players always want what hardcore players have without doing the work.

You can add all kinds of casual/solo events with gear that is almost as good as what the hardcore players have and the casual players will still be upset because they don't have what the hardcore players have (without doing the work).

The game right now is really well balanced in terms of casual and hardcore players. Hardcore players have a lot of Abyssea gear finished. Casual players have a few pieces of Abyssea gear finished but still have the opportunity to complete more.

I remember old FF11. I started playing a couple months after NA release. It was slow, annoying, and had me awake at 4am to try to claim Nidhogg against 200 other people doing the same thing. I don't want it back.

That is simply just not true. At least not about anyone who has posted here.

We don't want all the gear hardcores have with no effort, We want content that we can access when we want. We want challenges from FFXI that we can experience. We don't want Systems like Kings where the challenge is the claim, not the fight. Or content where if you lose claim, You don't get to participate or enjoy what that content had to offer until the next window, so long as it doesn't interfere with work, School, or your sleep schedule.

We want content that while challenging, difficult, and enjoyable, is accessible by everyone. Events like Einherjar, While challenging, was still available to all players to participate in when their schedule allowed, not when its window was up.

[Akujima]

...We don't want all the gear hardcores have with no effort, We want content that we can access when we want. We want challenges from FFXI that we can experience...

...Events like Einherjar, While challenging, was still available to all players to participate in when their schedule allowed, not when its window was up.

Like I said before. We won't stop hearing the complaining from BOTH sides. The only solution is to find a healthy balance between the two.

In my personal opinion, Abyssea does not "feel" difficult in areas at all. Instead it feels like a time sink with the illusion of progression. Battles are watered down in difficulty, and getting better gear just makes these battles even simpler, without adding many awesome, super powerful, well thought out, boss battles that actually require good gear in the first place.

Abyssea feels like a farm-fest, where people go shopping for equipment. But events like Nyzul Isle took some practice and teamwork to climb those floors. The problem with FFXI of the past is that, most SUPER powered up rewards came from "Hardcore Time Sinks" and not so much from actually "Hardcore Challenging Events" that required teamwork and rewarded more than just a few players who put time and effort into it.

Difficulty Level and Time Sinks are two very different things.