Tanaka back in charge?!

[Insaniac]

Yet he's been more active on the XI since December 2010 (Heroes of Abyssea) given the time of the staff rearranging notification on FFXIV's website.

So..yeah.

I don't recall anything mentioning him coming back to 11. I do recall them saying Tanaka would still stay on board with 14 in some facility. Either way I'm sure abyssea was already planned out if he came back at that time and there was nothing he could do about it no matter how much it hurt him to see people accomplish goals in reasonable amounts of time. Bottom line is Tanaka's approach to MMO design is "reward dangling in front a treadmill" where people keep playing because they want stuff but never get it which is what we've been seeing more of since his clandestine return. When he was away we got the "trail of goodies" approach where people get something they want and then move on to the next thing they want which, while less sustainable for a game in it's twilight with a low production budget, results in a much happier player base that doesn't rage quit over things like 1500 heavy metal plates.

[Atomic_Skull]

I don't recall anything mentioning him coming back to 11.

Right here

[Insaniac]

Right here

Yeah that doesn't really count as an announcement that he's back in charge lol and that only happened less than a month ago. BTW the second I saw that post my heart sank. I want him nowhere near this game. His ideals are too old school. Don't get me wrong a have nothing against a bit of elbow grease and hard work but ALL Tanaka cares about is keeping a bottle neck on anything that people might actually go after because it's the cheapest and easiest way to make sure the hard cores keep playing but you are gonna see nearly all of the games new and returning casuals jump ship just like they did before when they ran out of stuff to do that wasn't a grueling terrible task.

[Tawnee]

I don't recall anything mentioning him coming back to 11.

I wouldn't exactly want to make that public either if you know what I mean. But yeah, everyone should have known immediately after the changes to the Black Belt item NMs. This update just solidified the suspicions.

[Zaknafein]

I for one am very pleased to see the game moving back in the direction of LS based content vs the Mnk & Whm duo abyssea BS. With a bit of tinkering to WoE (3:1 coin trade npc) and to Voidwatch to make drops based more accurately by performance vs random radomness I think we would be headed in the right direction.

[Draylo]

I for one am very pleased to see the game moving back in the direction of LS based content vs the Mnk & Whm duo abyssea BS. With a bit of tinkering to WoE (3:1 coin trade npc) and to Voidwatch to make drops based more accurately by performance vs random radomness I think we would be headed in the right direction.

Same here, I am really glad Voidwatch has that now. Good linkshell event but the only thing is the drop rates are really terrible imo. Every run people complain about getting random synth mats like logs :/ so it kinda offsets the fun challenging fights with disappointment.

[Hayward]

I for one am very pleased to see the game moving back in the direction of LS based content vs the Mnk & Whm duo abyssea BS. With a bit of tinkering to WoE (3:1 coin trade npc) and to Voidwatch to make drops based more accurately by performance vs random radomness I think we would be headed in the right direction.

You say this so cavalierly, as though there wasn't such a thing as LS drama and politics in the past. I, for one, do not want to go back to a time where you had to apply to the right LS, kiss the right you-know-whats, and submit to the whims of a 15-year-old LS leader with a Napoleon complex in order to get the things you want from the game. I wanted nothing to do with that environment then, and sure don't want anything to do with it now. If that means getting ripped by idiots for wearing my AF3 +1 or +2 gear by 99, so be it. I will not compromise myself for digital trinkets. I didn't get into the game for that purpose.

[Vortex]

You say this so cavalierly, as though there wasn't such a thing as LS drama and politics in the past. I, for one, do not want to go back to a time where you had to apply to the right LS, kiss the right you-know-whats, and submit to the whims of a 15-year-old LS leader with a Napoleon complex in order to get the things you want from the game. I wanted nothing to do with that environment then, and sure don't want anything to do with it now. If that means getting ripped by idiots for wearing my AF3 +1 or +2 gear by 99, so be it. I will not compromise myself for digital trinkets. I didn't get into the game for that purpose.

100% agreed, i have dealt with to many 8 year old i want my bottle leaders and overly greedy stuck up prick members who the only thing they care about is gearing them sevles and seek to do nothing but use and toss aside anyone that is not them or kiss there so to get gear like i dealt with on a previous server and shell, i do NOT want to have to deal with any more linkshells like this cause all it is s drama and more drama. i don't mind things being hard to obtain but if it means dealing with how it was back in 06-08 count me the f*** out, main reason why i have refused to bother with any high end linkshells since i moved here because i simply don't trust them anymore.

But other then that, let's be honest here, if things DON'T change then this game is surely dead. if you can get everything in a week with new content what would be the incentive to even play this more.

[Insaniac]

But other then that, let's be honest here, if things DON'T change then this game is surely dead. if you can get everything in a week with new content what would be the incentive to even play this more.

I agree with this. The abyssea model doesn't work in a game with a low production budget because they can't pump out replacement content fast enough. Some kind of middle ground would be easily sustainable for ffxi though. NeoDyna/Relics are a reasonable grind now that will keep a lot of people playing for some time and that's the kind of model they should be using. Multiple medium level grinds for awesome gear that keep a semi-casual player busy for 2-4 months will extend the life of the game far more than 3 year grinds like 1500hmp and .2% drop rates on good gear from VWNMs. All these are going to do is discourage anyone but the hardcore players from even doing the content.

For the semi-casual player this update amounts to nothing more than a level cap increase that they will be done with in 3 weeks max. It's the same reason people left this game in droves when they got to level 75, got basic gear for their job, and the only thing left for them to do was level another job or camp an HNM for 3 hours against 120 people.

[Atomic_Skull]

100% agreed, i have dealt with to many 8 year old i want my bottle leaders and overly greedy stuck up prick members who the only thing they care about is gearing them sevles and seek to do nothing but use and toss aside anyone that is not them or kiss there so to get gear like i dealt with on a previous server and shell, i do NOT want to have to deal with any more linkshells like this cause all it is s drama and more drama. i don't mind things being hard to obtain but if it means dealing with how it was back in 06-08 count me the f*** out, main reason why i have refused to bother with any high end linkshells since i moved here because i simply don't trust them anymore.

But what about people who like huge mega shells, camping and endgame drama?

Yes those people exist, I'm one of them.