Solo Accomplishments, Party Barriers, and Enhancing the Community

[Camate]

Hello,

We've been receiving a lot of feedback lately with the influx of new content in regards to difficulties joining parties, the ability to accomplish things solo, and other requests to make the game more enjoyable. I'd like to share the below comment from Producer Akihiko Matsui in response to this feedback.

Matsui here.

Thanks for all the feedback. Looking over everyone’s thoughts and opinions, I feel that there are three groups of players: those that want solo growth elements, those that want to join parties more easily, and those that want a way to be able to practice and learn content.

1. Reaching item level 119 gradually by spending time solo
   As there are a variety of different play styles, I understand that there are players who are not able to join parties, and as such we are currently looking into a route that will allow you to reach item level 119 solo by gradually spending time working towards it.
   
   Before we do this, we’d like to make some adjustments to wildskeeper reives. (However, please don’t take this as we will be adding item level 119 equipment to wildskeeper reives.)
   
   
2. Difficulty joining pick-up parties
   Due to the nature of pick-up parties, there is a trend of increasing the requirements for joining so that the success rate can be boosted, and I feel that this cannot be avoided.
   
   One role of linkshells and other forms of community is for situations like this so the players that are ahead can help support the players that are behind. I think the best thing players who feel it difficult to join parties can do is to play together with like-minded friends if you are trying to challenge content geared towards parties.
   
   While it’s a bit in the future, we are currently looking into enhancing linkshell features and other ways to support communities.
   
   As we are still in the planning phases I cannot say at the moment exactly how we will be doing this, but the development team feels this is something that needs to be addressed. Communities are not something that can only be built with a system, so we would appreciate your help and cooperation to make the game even more enjoyable.
   
   Besides this, we imagined job points to be content that would be enjoyed by parties, so with the addition of chain bonuses and other adjustments, I think the opportunities to form low barrier parties will increase.
   
   
3. Not enough opportunities to practice and learn content
   This is an issue closely tied with what I was mentioning about community.
   
   To start out, we will be making it so you can use Trust alter egos in party settings and we will also be increasing the content where you can utilize alter egos. With these adjustments, I feel it’s the first step towards making it easier to challenge low-difficulty content with groups that are just short of 6 players.
   
   We’ve also been receiving a lot of feedback about the high costs associated with entering content, and we will be looking into reducing entry costs gradually for content after a certain amount of time passes from implementation.

We’ll continue to focus on making Vana’diel even more enjoyable.

[Olor]

Great news! thank you! I am thankful the developers are aware of the issue where people get stuck because they have not done the content and people who clear it first only want to play with other people with similar gear. It's very frustrating for those of us with small linkshells who have fallen behind.

Also it would be awesome if wildskeeper gear was better than sparks gear. It really bothers me that I worked hard to get skirmish level 1 gear and wildskeeper gear but I feel like I need to wear UGLY sparks gear because it has a higher item level even though it was much easier to attain.

Could you also consider in the future not choosing the most ugly, noob-looking gear for things like sparks gear? I believe this further drives a wedge in the community because even though this gear is rather good in terms of stats, it looks so terrible people automatically think you are a bad player when they see you wearing it.

Please also keep in mind that systems like voidwatch, which reward players for taking many different kinds of jobs, are actually a great leveler when it comes to community. If you design content where there is room for people with less than perfect gear (or who have specialized skills/gear sets that are easier to obtain) can participate, it helps alleviate this problem

The only time in the game where I felt included with current endgame content was during the voidwatch era, because even though I did not have an ultimate weapon, I was still useful to the group as a blue mage working on procs.

Please consider creative ways of strengthening pick up group content.

Also please consider adjusting jobs like BST, SMN, PUP, GEO, RUN that do not really have a place in endgame. You can start by considering the plea from users of PET JOBS in the general forum.

Part what is keeping people from playing together is the inbalance in job strength. There are some jobs that are good at everything and other jobs that are almost useless. This leaves people who level those jobs out of current endgame content.

[Siviard]

One role of linkshells and other forms of community is for situations like this so the players that are ahead can help support the players that are behind. I think the best thing players who feel it difficult to join parties can do is to play together with like-minded friends if you are trying to challenge content geared towards parties.

The bolded section is the most inaccurate piece of blabber I think I've ever seen by Matsui. Sadly, the opposite is true. Players who have better gear and are "ahead of the game" do their best to REJECT players who are behind and won't allow them to come along for endgame content.

Don't have Aegis/Ochain on your Paladin? You're not wanted. Don't have Gjallarhorn or Daurdalba on your Bard? Leave now. Don't have Annihilator 119 on your Ranger? Don't bother responding. etc. etc.

[Demonjustin]

The bolded section is the most inaccurate piece of blabber I think I've ever seen by Matsui. Sadly, the opposite is true. Players who have better gear and are "ahead of the game" do their best to REJECT players who are behind and won't allow them to come along for endgame content.

Don't have Aegis/Ochain on your Paladin? You're not wanted. Don't have Gjallarhorn or Daurdalba on your Bard? Leave now. Don't have Annihilator 119 on your Ranger? Don't bother responding. etc. etc.

That's part of what he's talking about though. He's not saying that's what shells are doing, but rather that's what they're supposed to do. He understands the community is stuck in a rut where we're not performing that duty and instead players are being left behind the way you mentioned. Look at what he was talking about before that...

Due to the nature of pick-up parties, there is a trend of increasing the requirements for joining so that the success rate can be boosted, and I feel that this cannot be avoided.

and right after it...

As we are still in the planning phases I cannot say at the moment exactly how we will be doing this, but the development team feels this is something that needs to be addressed.

To me it sounds like he understands the issue entirely, and while they're not sure exactly how to address it, they understand it is something that does deserve some attention. It's not inaccurate to say that's the function they're supposed to serve, rather it would be if he were to say that's the function they are currently serving, at no point during that did I get the feel like he meant they're doing that right now.

[Raydeus]

It's good to see they have these issues in mind. And hopefully Fellows will be included in future plans to allow Trust in battlefields for solo players and small parties.

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The bolded section is the most inaccurate piece of blabber I think I've ever seen by Matsui. Sadly, the opposite is true. Players who have better gear and are "ahead of the game" do their best to REJECT players who are behind and won't allow them to come along for endgame content.

Don't have Aegis/Ochain on your Paladin? You're not wanted. Don't have Gjallarhorn or Daurdalba on your Bard? Leave now. Don't have Annihilator 119 on your Ranger? Don't bother responding. etc. etc.

That's a community issue, not a gameplay/design one. And he already understands the attitude players take and how they try to minimize risks as much as possible, he said it right there in his post.

In the older days when more people were playing and the community was much stronger it was not rare at all to have higher level players helping the LS. But nowadays with how sparse the community has become not many have the will or patience to help others. That is precisely why he also says he needs the help of players to make a better community with a better attitude, because mechanics alone are not enough at all.

[Siviard]

It's good to see they have these issues in mind. And hopefully Fellows will be included in future plans to allow Trust in battlefields for solo players and small parties.

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That's a community issue, not a gameplay/design one. And he already understands the attitude players take and how they try to minimize risks as much as possible, he said it right there in his post.

In the older days when more people were playing and the community was much stronger it was not rare at all to have higher level players helping the LS. But nowadays with how sparse the community has become not many have the will or patience to help others. That is precisely why he also says he needs the help of players to make a better community with a better attitude, because mechanics alone are not enough at all.

I'm going to have to disagree with your assertion that the problem is a community issue and not a gameplay/design issue.

Here's why.

I do believe that the Development Team did well in lowering the total HP of Delve NMs in the fracture based on the number of people in the group was wonderful and it really did help out a bit. However, they did absolutely nothing to the NMs themselves, especially the Mega Bosses. The Mega Bosses still SPAM TP moves and those moves still have the power to destroy a full 18-person alliance. IMHO, that is a serious design flaw. Serious enough to the point that in order to defeat those Mega Bosses, only a select few jobs with very top-of-the-line gear (and 3rd party programs) have a shot at winning. Anything else involving a combination of different jobs? Complete and utter failure 100% of the time. Again, that is a very serious design flaw. NOT a Community problem.

Lets also not forget the very serious problem that is plaguing the 3 pet jobs (BST, SMN, PUP) despite the fact the pet job community has been asking, begging, and pleading for fixes, for ANYTHING that will help their job become wanted in any endgame content, have all fallen on deaf ears. Again, that is a design flaw, which then leads to the community issue.

[detlef]

I do believe that the Development Team did well in lowering the total HP of Delve NMs in the fracture based on the number of people in the group was wonderful and it really did help out a bit.

Isn't this essentially the opposite of what Matsui said? How can you encourage veterans to invite noobies while simultaneously introducing content that discourages you from inviting noobies? Why do something with 18 people when 6 can accomplish the same thing and receive exactly the same drops as the alliance? Would you bring another person along for the win when it means the NMs will have thousands more HP and you have to split the drops with an additional person? You might think twice, right?

Why bring a full PT to Ra'kazner Skirmish when only one person can get the Transmelange key item? Seriously, why did they make it so terrible? Bringing another person lowers your chance of getting it and the chances were low to begin with. Why team up to earn capacity points when the penalty for PTing up is so steep? It makes more sense to XP solo with trusts that to PT up. It makes more sense to do Dynamis or Salvage solo rather than group up. The only content I can think of that encourages you to bring more players might be Divine Might where more players lets you tackle higher difficulty levels and everybody gets more Rem's Tales. Oh and Meebles too I guess, for what that's worth.

Basically the game gives you no incentive to PT up. Back in the day, the only downside to bringing a larger group was splitting the drops amongst more people. Now we have events where you have to split drops amongst more people and the content is harder.

[Demonjustin]

Isn't this essentially the opposite of what Matsui said? How can you encourage veterans to invite noobies while simultaneously introducing content that discourages you from inviting noobies? Why do something with 18 people when 6 can accomplish the same thing and receive exactly the same drops as the alliance? Would you bring another person along for the win when it means the NMs will have thousands more HP and you have to split the drops with an additional person? You might think twice, right?

This is really why 6-man Delve was a terrible idea, and even though I supported the idea at the time I now look back on it as the terrible idea it was. It only allowed people to reject even more players from the content and since the update I've been basically excluded from these runs personally because now no one even needs my job. Before people took not only more people but more jobs, it was common on Phoenix to take a mix of DRK, WAR, SAM, MNK, DRG, WHM, BRD, COR, SCH, GEO, and RDM. I was always the RDM in this setup and proud to do so because I finally had a use for my main again without having to bug others for an invite. However even with that being said we've moved to the point where parties go with MNK, DRK, DRG, BRD, WHM, and SCH only, and really the DRK & DRG are fairly rare. I've not seen 1 normal shout for an 18 man run at the new zones since release. I've been in 4 Tojil parties in 2 and a half months. The change was disastrous and it's all due to the very thing you're talking about.

[Siviard]

How can you encourage veterans to invite noobies while simultaneously introducing content that discourages you from inviting noobies?

My point EXACTLY!

As I've been saying, DESIGN FLAW that in turn leads to Community issue which leads to people being excluded from said content because they don't have the right jobs or the proper gear on the right jobs.

In essence.....FFXI has become BlueGartr

[Raydeus]

I'm going to have to disagree with your assertion that the problem is a community issue and not a gameplay/design issue.

Here's why.

I do believe that the Development Team did well in lowering the total HP of Delve NMs in the fracture based on the number of people in the group was wonderful and it really did help out a bit. However, they did absolutely nothing to the NMs themselves, especially the Mega Bosses. The Mega Bosses still SPAM TP moves and those moves still have the power to destroy a full 18-person alliance. IMHO, that is a serious design flaw. Serious enough to the point that in order to defeat those Mega Bosses, only a select few jobs with very top-of-the-line gear (and 3rd party programs) have a shot at winning. Anything else involving a combination of different jobs? Complete and utter failure 100% of the time. Again, that is a very serious design flaw. NOT a Community problem.

Lets also not forget the very serious problem that is plaguing the 3 pet jobs (BST, SMN, PUP) despite the fact the pet job community has been asking, begging, and pleading for fixes, for ANYTHING that will help their job become wanted in any endgame content, have all fallen on deaf ears. Again, that is a design flaw, which then leads to the community issue.

I'm sorry, but people trying to burn fights and getting owned because they feed the mob endless TP without a strategy is nothing new. It has happened since the beginning of the game and it is a usually a player problem.

(Yes, there are fights that are broken at launch, but they are usually very specific cases that get patched fast most of the times.)

But anyway, since I don't want to post a wall of text the only thing I'll say is that the dev team should post a few videos of every fight about a month after their release where they show a few different party setups beating the fight and without overgearing. So players see that it is actually possible to do it and try to figure things out for their particular groups instead of complaining about it.

This of course is not meant to solve job/gear elitism, but instead to simply show to all the other players that overgearing and job discrimination is not the only way of doing things.