Alliance based content

[Mefuki]

The top end gear should be to the people who are most dedicated and are able to field the things necessary to win it.

So, you're saying there should be content in this game that people just can't do, not because of a lack of skill or effort they're willing to put forth, but because of how many people they know?

Granted, I do think it's strange that 6-man seems like it's going to have the same drop rates and such as 18-man.

[Zhronne]

So, you're saying there should be content in this game that people just can't do

Yes and no. Getting to the point of "some people can't do" is a bit too much for these days, but there has to be a difference somewhere.
What I find to be the best compromise is for "tiers".
As the level cap/ilevel raise, new content tiers are released. Once the new one is out (efficiently doable only by organized groups and people with some dedication to the game, not necessarily only freaks who play 24/7 of course) the old one becomes easier thanks to: 1) temporary zone buffs, 2) new gear
That way everybody gets to try content, but casual player will complete it later.
This is how it works in most other MMOs, FFXIV included. It would need to be adapted in several ways to work in FFXI, but it's something they could and should definitely do.

It sounds "elitist", but there has to be a difference somewhere, for the sake of EVERYBODY, not just the elitist.
It gives hardcore player something to work for to sedate their thirst for glory and power.
It gives other players something to look forward to, as far as it may seems, a far goal that will give them a sense of progression.
If everybody looks the same, plays the same, does the same... it all becomes boring and you slowly stop being interested in the game in a small time, eventually dropping it.



Back in-topic.
I'm fine with how SE is allowing scalable content. I would have enabled it a few weeks/months after the normal 18-men version, but in the end I'm fine with it.
What I'm not fine with is the balancement of drops.
Currently a 6men Delve group gets the same Plasm and MORE rewards than a 18-men alliance, of the same quality, with what is overall an easier to organize and easier to complete content.
This is not fair and as far as I can think, FFXI is the only place where this happens, especially to this extent.
They need to give 18-men some further motivation, some tweak, some perk.
It would be hard to add exclusive drops, but at least they could make so that just like difficulty scales, so does the amount of Plasm you get and the amount of item slots from megaboss.

The current situation is just completely insane and unbalanced.
It could be fine if lowmanning were so much harder than 18men (I remember we used to 7men Tojil long time ago, without HPscaling etc), but since it's the other way around it's really unfair.
Why should people even bother to do something that's harder to do, harder to organize and give you LESS stuff?