[Suggestion] Equipment from BCNMs only for instanced party.

[Alhanelem]

Another example since you mentioned not only TROVE.
Three days ago a friend who is our BLM in Ongo (we just got to ongo v20) didn't have twilight cloak. We went in separately to get more proc kills in a single day's blunt window. I was the one who saw the cloak drop.

If he had to participate in every run, it would have taken 3x as long to get him the drop.

It's an example of something that's being ruined by misuse, even though some people have good intentions. Mercing is a problem because it lets people get the rewards without doing the work. You might say it's fine to pay gil to skip content, but in many cases it also means paying real money to skip content.

This also has a secondary problem of people not learning from their experiences when they do this, causing people to be geared for content but without really knowing how to use the gear or play the game well.

[Sp1cyryan]

If the community is against the game being a F2P P2W Gatchaesque game then they should support basic measures like this. Blocking players from having avoiding interacting in a game which requires the community to do that. In order to pay RMTs and Mercs to skip the limited content we have. Is a recipe for the game ending in a socially painful and premature death.

[Tarmarkvar]

It's an example of something that's being ruined by misuse, even though some people have good intentions. Mercing is a problem because it lets people get the rewards without doing the work. You might say it's fine to pay gil to skip content, but in many cases it also means paying real money to skip content.

Doing the work? It's a video game. Besides, the "work" is mostly the aggravating step of spending an hour yelling to get people to join up and do something with you.

I get that for a lot of people this kind of pay to win strategy seems stupid, but so what? You can play the game however you want. I wanted the aeonic flute, and Honor March. I paid a mercenary group to take me through the Escha / Reisenjima NMs because I didn't have the kinds of social connections to get it done any other way. Then I started using it for stuff I actually like, such as Ambuscade, Omen, high tier battlefields, and master point levelling. I also paid for a single Tumult Curator win, because I wanted that box ticked off in my list of completed ROE objectives.

[Alhanelem]

Doing the work? It's a video game. Besides, the "work" is mostly the aggravating step of spending an hour yelling to get people to join up and do something with you.

I guess pride and sense of accomplishment mean nothing to you?

Yes, it's a video game. But that doesn't mean we don't feel accomplished when we succeed against a challenge placed before us.

And even if we ignore that, there's still the "I have the gear but I don't really know how to play the game because I have no real experience" syndrome.

Of course, it's a worse problem in games which actually sanction paying to skip content with items to level you up or skip content.

[VoiceMemo]

If you wish to merc, or hire a merc that is your own choice. There is nothing wrong with merc. Merc, ie hiring someone is the same as buying something with gil from a bazzar or AH. Those that are against merc, do you make EVERYTHING you use/have? Have leveled all crafts to make the gear that is synthable that you own? I highly doubt it, can't have it both ways, if you are against merc you should not buy anything from AH or bazzar and make it all yourself.

[Alhanelem]

If you wish to merc, or hire a merc that is your own choice. There is nothing wrong with merc

It has a negative influience on the game as a whole. It's not just about you or your customer. So yes, there is something wrong with it. And there is no reason to defend it unless you're participating in it and stand to financially lose.

Mercing rare/ex items that are not possible to be sold on the AH is nothing like selling items on the AH that were specifically intended to be sellable on the AH. The EX flag is there for a reason- it's meant to ensure that the player has to go out and obtain it instead of just buying it.

[Sp1cyryan]

If you wish to merc, or hire a merc that is your own choice. There is nothing wrong with merc. Merc, ie hiring someone is the same as buying something with gil from a bazzar or AH. Those that are against merc, do you make EVERYTHING you use/have? Have leveled all crafts to make the gear that is synthable that you own? I highly doubt it, can't have it both ways, if you are against merc you should not buy anything from AH or bazzar and make it all yourself.

You are mistaken. Buying something from the AH is a function of the game which promotes economic interaction between players. One which facilitates the overall functioning of the game. The sassy conclusion that you jumped to is nonsensical to say the least. It is most easily just summed up as blatantly wrong.

Paying a Merc to skip all content removes players from the pool to participate. Forming a group for any content from Divergence to HTBFs is significantly harder when players are refusing to participate when they can get their rewards anyway. This has further forced dysfunction in the economy where gil is not circulated but to sellers and buyers. This means people who previously crafted items you would want on the AH in niche markets no longer do so. Food items aren't made, as most other items that aren't upgrade materials or "BiS" endgame items. Why bother wasting time making money this way over mercing? Did anyone enjoy CP zones being monopolized by bots before SE made the Crawlers Nest S? It's another result of this culture of mercing and social breakdown in XI.

I could go on, but the point is no. Players mercing absolutely affects others in a negative way. Players are just either unwilling or unable to see it.

[Voidstorm]

So it isn't that you want to lock HTMB's such that only participants can claim the rewards, but you want SE to change their stance on Merc'ing to be considered RMT.

I'm not against that. I've been saying to new players for years that they shouldn't take the merc route but instead start PUG ambu groups to find those who also don't have statics yet, have similar playtimes, and are ready to begin party content.
From ambu PUGs you create a LS. With the LS you make groups for Omen, Dyna, Odyssey, etc.

[Alhanelem]

Frankly the worst part of the prevalence of mercing is like what Spicy said. You're removing people from the player pool of people to do content with. People relying on mercs makes it harder for others to do that content and just makes people depend on the mercs even more.

And really, what's the point in paying someone else to play the game for you? Aren't you supposed to want to play the game?

[VoiceMemo]

Mercing rare/ex items that are not possible to be sold on the AH is nothing like selling items on the AH that were specifically intended to be sellable on the AH. The EX flag is there for a reason- it's meant to ensure that the player has to go out and obtain it instead of just buying it.

So how does REMA compare? The result is rare ex, but the materials to turn in are not all rare ex, ie alex, dynamis currency, hp byald. Do you farm them all yourself? Buying none?

As I stated in my previous post it is freedom of choice that is what I am defending. It is a person's choice to hire merc. Just as it is their choice if they don't. Some of the drop rates are horrible, ie omen bodies. In my years I have done over 400+ runs of omen and only seen maybe 10 bodies at total, so I can understand why some would want to buy these rare ex items from those that are lucky to get them from trove.

Mercing items that say come from drop from killing an enemy is about paying the person/persons for the time/skill/ability to kill the mob. I view this akin to paying someone for a synth item that is beyond your skill to make and or craft.

I've been saying to new players for years that they shouldn't take the merc route but instead start PUG ambu groups to find those who also don't have statics yet, have similar playtimes, and are ready to begin party content.
From ambu PUGs you create a LS. With the LS you make groups for Omen, Dyna, Odyssey, etc.

Nothing is stopping players from doing that, again it is about freedom of choice.

Perhaps the BEST solution that I can offer is that SE needs to really crack down on those that buy gil, and the playerbase must go back to the time when gil buying was ostracized and looked down upon. If those people didn't have the gil, they wouldn't be able to pay for merc and would likely go the party up route.

I've played the game for 15+ years, have more than enough gil to buy anything I want, yet I choose to do events, synth and sign my own items that I could have bought long ago, but again this is MY choice. Over the years I've met players that have joined shells/discords that I'm in that are willing to help each other out, to give drops to others in the group that needs it. It takes time, sometimes years to find people that share the same views. Choice is what everyone has in game and what I am defending.