Seriously devs - the balance

[Hayward]

Playing for 7 years and seeing the garbage posted on Alla (usually by sockpuppets from other forums) for as many years, you'd be tired of elitists (or should I say egomaniacs, for which I have a low tolerance) too if you had to hear horror stories about various job discrimination issues (<insert flavor-of-the-month job> only, lol<insert whatever job is out of favor accoding to the talking points>, "Level a 'real' job", etc.), (H)NM claiming issues, and general ignorance on S-E's part on how to bring certain jobs up to par (particularly Summoner. I've enjoyed the job over the years, but I hate the fact that I've done so despite S-E's slow-footing on fixing the job for fear of "overpowering" it). That gets old really fast and nobody should have to put up with it without calling BS on it.

I have no hatred of HNMs at all beyond the unjustifiable drop rates and cheap tactics programmed into them. My beef is with HNM linkshells members who act like someone shot their mothers when those who were sick of the political BS were able to acquire good stuff in Abyssea and through Magian Trials with a little effort and persistence (Empyrean weapons aren't my cup of tea, but I still respect those who have come through those trials without losing their sanity). S-E did something so right in releasing Abyssea that the professional endgamers nearly had a collective case of cardiac arrest, it seemed. From experience alliances that allowed any job to get experience without waiting hours or days for a party, to AF3 sets that I hope will remain good up to 99, to item drops that are not only good but drop reliably, Abyssea is what MMOs are supposed to be about. Abyssea had the right kind of balance, with good rewards for honest effort.

You bet I get irritated when someone starts screaming "Easy Mode" just because we don't have to risk losing 4-5 levels for a Fire Crystal drop anymore (exaggeration, yes, but you get the idea). That stuff needs to be called out as well as absurdities being posted in response to threads looking for ways to make jobs stand out more than they currently do without requiring Empyrean weapons.

[SpankWustler]

general ignorance on S-E's part on how to bring certain jobs up to par

I think this is something that people are aggravated by across the board, and I'm not sure how it's related to player mentality since developer responses to player feedback are often dubious. To their credit, they did handle the recent AI changes for puppets like really awesome people doing a really awesome thing.

As for the rest, people are individuals and I think you're connecting dots that just don't connect. I'm sure it's cathartic somehow to blame every issue within FFXI on the far-reaching tentacles of one conglomerated group, but that group doesn't really exist.

In reality, just a handful of people feel setting up a bot and a few doodads properly should still be the pinnacle of the FFXI experience. I'd guess most folks who are old-hands at end-game stuff are in the "My imaginary person sat in a vomit-green room for three hours while I cleaned my house and learned guitar because, hey, what else was there to do in 2005?" club and are more than happy that things lean more towards active content now.

The FFXI community isn't the two-party system that far too many people perceive. There are people who want content to be less random but take more time and effort. There are people who want to try their luck with stuff that pops whenever it wants and drops whatever nobody wants. There are people who want more straight-up casual-friendly stuff. There are people who make topics complaining about Dark Knight's something or Summoner spirits forever and ever.