Necessary Free Company Qualty of Life Upgrades

I was actually hoping to start seeing indoor gardening options since the new addition of private quarters, perhaps say like a new type of window that can grow one or two plants from the window sill. I love my FC to death but 8 spots on the garden can leave many of the lower rank members unsatisfied and hoping for more. If there was indoor gardening available, that would really help make the FC private quarters feel more like home.

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Originally Posted by Lazearus

Since the FC room is an instanced area, why not just suspend the room in limbo when kicking the person out of the FC?

When the person joins a new FC, maybe allow the person talk to the FC housing door to register the room to regain access to it.

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I think it has more to do with immersion. The room is tied to the house you're purchasing it from and being kicked from the house (FC) would mean you no longer have access to that room.

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Originally Posted by Gemma

Unless the leader was a complete A-hole to begin with I highly doubt this will happen.
This is a needed feature, wasn't very smart to add personal rooms & take the control out of the FC Leaders hands.

Besides 300k really isn't hard to make, can do it with Duty Roulette and maps alone.

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The 300k isn't a massive deal but people don't just have empty rooms. It's the furniture and such. If I invest over a mil decorating my personal room I don't want one of the FC leaders to take a hissy because he's having a bad day and kick me for no reason. We're going to go from one extreme to the other.

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Originally Posted by KamikazeMan

I think it has more to do with immersion. The room is tied to the house you're purchasing it from and being kicked from the house (FC) would mean you no longer have access to that room.

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I would like to see that immersion mixed in :D

A. Losing your room like that would be pretty lame. Specially since you can spend -significant- money on this stuff.
B. Since houses were announced I wanted to have the door from Howl's Moving Castle.
C. It would be reminiscent of the mog house flower quest in FFXI, and FFXI players love nostalgia.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PDK-Cn92yM...s1600/door.png

For those who haven't seen it, or the many like it, the basic idea was the door connected to a number of other fixed doors- which they could go through as a sort of portal.

Could make the personal room a pocket of aether quest earned from a city; therefore, allowing players to always have their room regardless of FC. Would also make a unique growth system easy to allow- adding a quest that expands the aetherial space of your room/house is easier to do than making a new zone or loading another cloned zone.

The pocket idea is an easy scapegoat for many things, like expanding room size, adding an outside, allowing you to change the outside environment entirely, letting you connect the entrance to many arability locations. Physical locations are great except over time if you add newer better locations the older ones will likely die out unless you create significant barriers to entry. Meanwhile a completely mutable location can always function towards the new without killing the old (instead of buying the "Gridania house location" you would buy the "environmental theme" and could use some variation of either previous or new).

Social interaction between non-related FC would be significantly more difficult this way though....

Plus making housing more accessible would mean more housing items sold. I'm not a huge fan of the personal room at the moment as the system seems sticky (due to a seemingly lack of possible connective/continuous growth and awkward power responsibilities).

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Originally Posted by Lazearus

Since the FC room is an instanced area, why not just suspend the room in limbo when kicking the person out of the FC?

When the person joins a new FC, maybe allow the person talk to the FC housing door to register the room to regain access to it.

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I'd like to see this for 2 reasons: 1) to allow people to not have to keep setting up their room 2) so that a FC that sells off it's hous to purchase a larger one doesn't need all members to clear it all up before hand(since atm I assume a FC can't remove the house with rooms still in there).

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Originally Posted by Namasu

Quick question: Whatever happened to the FC alliance system that was supposed to be out in 2.2 according to one of the community rep's post? Can we get some insight on this? It's so odd to hear that a unique game mechanic is MIA for over 3 months.

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It's been more than 3 months they mentioned this before ARR ever came out, then was not heard of again until 3 months ago and silent again.

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Originally Posted by Grekumah

Greetings,
Separate from this, we will also be looking into making it so the FC master can remove the chocobo from the stables without removing the player from the FC.

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this should be a top priority since for some reason you let it be allowed to feed a chocobo who cannot get any more xp, too many wasted krakka roots....

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Originally Posted by Lyrinn

"Can be?" Not "will be?" As in, this yield-increasing fertiliser is currently in the game? Fertiliser, as in something similar to Fishmeal but for yield?

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Heh - that was exactly the same first though I've got when reading the post ...

And - I totally agree about FC chest size - it needs at least two more tabs - one for gardening and other one for food and other new stuff released. It was already (although vaguely) "promissed" so just let's hope we wouldn't need to level our FC to lvl 20 or something silly like that ... Also - can we have option to move items between FC chest tabs plus option to move / store / retrieve multiply items at the same time. It's SO tedious atm to do any re-organization of the FC chests ...

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Originally Posted by Lithera

The 300k isn't a massive deal but people don't just have empty rooms. It's the furniture and such. If I invest over a mil decorating my personal room I don't want one of the FC leaders to take a hissy because he's having a bad day and kick me for no reason. We're going to go from one extreme to the other.

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It was already mentioned by devs in another housing thread that if you'll be dissmissed from FC while having personal room while you'll indeed loose the room itself as well as any non-retriavable items but all other items will be stored at special NPC for you to retrieve from later on.

Sorry for off topic, but I really want to ask a question here regarding chocobo stable,
if there are 3 or more chocobos stabled, which 2 will be displayed ?
Thank you.

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Originally Posted by Nicobo

Sorry for off topic, but I really want to ask a question here regarding chocobo stable,
if there are 3 or more chocobos stabled, which 2 will be displayed ?
Thank you.

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The two that are displayed are the two most recent chocobos to have been stabled.

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Originally Posted by loreleidiangelo

The two that are displayed are the two most recent chocobos to have been stabled.

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Well - kinda - untill you take one of them out and put it back again, then it will somehow "shuffle" them. Lets say I've stabled 5 chocos from 1. to 5. in that order so in the end I can see chocos 4. + 5. in the stable. Then you take 4. out and see lets say 3. + 5. so you'd expect once you put 4. back to see either 4. + 5. again or 5. + 4. but instead you'd see 3. + 4.

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Originally Posted by niwaar

Please clarify that there is currently fertilizer in the game OTHER than Fishmeal.

Your statement here suggests that it does in fact exist but there is nothing other than seeds, soil and fishmeal marked as Gardening currently. If you want it to be a secret we find... we can understand that, but if its in the game and just tagged as a reagent or something please let us know.

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Maybe it's just "information noise" and the Shroud Soil is meant instead??

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Originally Posted by Grekumah

The amount of food you can obtain from gardens can be increased by using certain fertilizer. We will look into making it so you can obtain them through other content; however, we would like to maintain the way gardening functions as content, so we will not be making adjustments so you can get a large amount of this food. (I.e. sell them in shops, etc.)

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Please clarify that there is currently fertilizer in the game OTHER than Fishmeal.

Your statement here suggests that it does in fact exist but there is nothing other than seeds, soil and fishmeal marked as Gardening currently. If you want it to be a secret we find... we can understand that, but if its in the game and just tagged as a reagent or something please let us know.

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Originally Posted by loreleidiangelo

The two that are displayed are the two most recent chocobos to have been stabled.

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thank you very much^^

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Originally Posted by Grekumah

Greetings,

I have a few pieces of information I would like to share with everyone regarding FC quality of life improvements.

We will be releasing the feature so that free company masters can remove players with private chambers in patch 2.35. We also expect that the feature that will allow masters to remove players who have stabled their chocobos will be ready at the same time. Separate from this, we will also be looking into making it so the FC master can remove the chocobo from the stables without removing the player from the FC.

The amount of food you can obtain from gardens can be increased by using certain fertilizer. We will look into making it so you can obtain them through other content; however, we would like to maintain the way gardening functions as content, so we will not be making adjustments so you can get a large amount of this food. (I.e. sell them in shops, etc.)

We’re still looking into some of the other requests brought up here, so please give me a bit and I will get back to you with any information we receive.

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I never expected an actual dev response! Thanks Grekumah. I'm excited for some of these confirmed changes, and I'm looking forward to any new information you might be able to give us in the future. I hope some of the other ideas other users have added are being considered too.

Now to frantically find this magical yield fertilizer. We know about the yield soil, but we tend to use the inter-crossing one instead since we are gunning for the onions.

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Originally Posted by Grekumah

making it so the FC master can remove the chocobo from the stables without removing the player from the FC.

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This could be nice, if I understand how it will work. Many times people go out to do quests or fates or whatever and forget to retrieve their bird from the stable before they go. If I could get the chocobo out of the stables for them so they could summon him, it would be helpful. :)

Gonna laugh if new fertilizer increases yield but does not increase growth speed like fish meal. trade off net zero

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Originally Posted by AggieRick

Gonna laugh if new fertilizer increases yield but does not increase growth speed like fish meal. trade off net zero

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Not necessarily true. While yes it's possible to halve the growth time it's nearly impossible to perfectly fertilize plants 24/7 to actually achieve that goal. In the end you don't loose that much time off the top due to realistic limitations in player schedules. So a 5 day plant might come down to a 4 day. If the yield enhancing soil is any indication (they double the yield) then it should work out to a net increase.

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Originally Posted by Namasu

Quick question: Whatever happened to the FC alliance system that was supposed to be out in 2.2 according to one of the community rep's post? Can we get some insight on this? It's so odd to hear that a unique game mechanic is MIA for over 3 months.

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I swear I remember them saying something about this recently...lemme see if I can find it.

EDIT: Found it. From last month:

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Originally Posted by Camate

Greetings,

The ability to form some an alliance with other free companies is still being developed but is only in the early planning stages. Once there are more details we will be sure to share.

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Doesn't help much because, like you said, it was originally announced as part of 2.2. But there it is.

Before patch 2.2 they made it seem like it was a feature they were just about ready to implement. But from that quote, it sounds like we might not see it until the expansion. I currently have two FC's i'm waiting to ally with so I hope they decide to implement this sooner.

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Originally Posted by Grekumah

Greetings,

I have a few pieces of information I would like to share with everyone regarding FC quality of life improvements.

We will be releasing the feature so that free company masters can remove players with private chambers in patch 2.35.

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what if they kick the person on purpose and the person wasted 300k on a private room.

it's why I think whoever buys a private room gets to keep it even if they move to a new free company.

With the launch of individual housing, I'd like FC houses to get some kind of content that discouraged 1-man FCs, and encourage these players to disband their single-formed FCs to go to an individual house instead, and join an actual free company.

For example, the airship building content in the FC house could require multiple FC members to be online and in the house at the same time and work in coordination.

Here on Balmung there are almost no plots left, and what is left is a few Large plots. There are many small, but actual, free companies that cannot afford a large plot and are left with no small/medium plots; a lot of them are taken by 1-man FCs of people who wouldn't wait for individual houses to come out, and who knows how many of these will free the FC house plot to move to an individual house when the patch comes...

Please, implement something to discourage single-player FC houses >_<!

You "like" the way that gardening functions as content? Have any of you actually played this game with a group of people you don't know? Have you ever actually PLAYED this game? Gardening is TERRIBLE as content. It's not a fun experiment for people to explore, it's a way for FC's to make money that pretty much only the leaders use. I've yet to see a true profit-sharing FC that actually works, nevermind the fact that other players simply aren't allowed to use the garden. Don't use your poor planning in chocobo implementation as an excuse to keep content exclusive. I thought Yoshi-P's goal was to be an accessible and fun game? Or maybe you DON'T aspire to more than the 500k-1m subscribers you currently have.

No, this is the wrong answer. You can leave the yields as they are or even lower them, but you REALLY need to revisit the exclusivity of the garden as content. Take a look at FFXI, a shimmering example of how gardening can be personal, AND still have big ticket items that people who put in the extra time and research can grow. Systems in XIV pale in comparison on a LOT of fronts, and it's surprising since last I checked, you were the same company.

So we scoured the list and couldn't find something that seemed to work as another fertilizer. I guess he was thinking soils when he made that dev post?

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Originally Posted by Bluevann

and who knows how many of these will free the FC house plot to move to an individual house when the patch comes...

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That would be - ZERO! (Unless somebody'll pay them for all the gill invested in HUGELY ovepriced plots and houses). They'll simply purchase private rooms for each of their alts if there will be any additional benefits like private rooms gardening, currently there is only one benefit to have private room(s) in one man FCs anyway (and that's only form small or medium plots). Then they'll go and purchase private housings for each of their alts as well to have more gardening and / or chocobo raising slots and keep their FC house anyway.

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Originally Posted by Bluevann

Please, implement something to discourage single-player FC houses >_<!

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Like - being able to send items between alts? NOBODY with private / "one man" FC will give that out - that's for sure.

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Originally Posted by Eekiki

I swear I remember them saying something about this recently...lemme see if I can find it.

EDIT: Found it. From last month:


Doesn't help much because, like you said, it was originally announced as part of 2.2. But there it is.

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lol...he went back and edited his post to make it sound like it's not coming on 2.2. So underhanded -_-

Has anything been said about what happens to the room? Do we have to pay for a new one if we move to another FC?

Here I am still requesting a board in each GRAND Company headquarters that lists all FREE Companies enlisted under that Grand Company. So that anyone searching for a new company can peruse each of the companies enlisted in that Company so they can find one that fits their needs, and then can apply to that company right there. :)

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Originally Posted by HEC

Well - kinda - untill you take one of them out and put it back again, then it will somehow "shuffle" them. Lets say I've stabled 5 chocos from 1. to 5. in that order so in the end I can see chocos 4. + 5. in the stable. Then you take 4. out and see lets say 3. + 5. so you'd expect once you put 4. back to see either 4. + 5. again or 5. + 4. but instead you'd see 3. + 4...

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Thank you for this information! ^^

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Originally Posted by Bluevann

...Here on Balmung there are almost no plots left...

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It is working as intended, YoishiP did tell everyone to purchase their desired plot of land before the price reached the bottom. ^^;

//quote
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...802-03-2014%29
...it's likely that once free companies begin buying land, the plots you've been watching may be purchased by another free company. We expect this trend will start this month, so be ready!
//end quote

Hey there!

I was able to get some details regarding the Free Company log system. As the latest activity overview is often taken up by gardening-related happenings, the dev. team is going to look into making it so that gardening-specific results are grouped together via other methods. This should free up the activity log to show more information that is taking place throughout the day in your Free Company!

We don’t have a timeline for when this might be implemented, but I will update you as soon as I hear anything.

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Originally Posted by Camate

Hey there!

I was able to get some details regarding the Free Company log system. As the latest activity overview is often taken up by gardening-related happenings, the dev. team is going to look into making it so that gardening-specific results are grouped together via other methods. This should free up the activity log to show more information that is taking place throughout the day in your Free Company!

We don’t have a timeline for when this might be implemented, but I will update you as soon as I hear anything.

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Category tabs would be appreciated for this sort of thing. Gardening can have its own tab, activity type B its own tab, C its own, and so on. Possibly even customisable like the chat log filters but just basic tab split functionality would be a great start.

Improvements to the Activity log are a must. However there is one thing that I really think is a glaring omission and something I still cannot quite believe we are still missing and having to request.

Company masters *need* a way to communicate with the company members, if your company spans more than a couple of timezones, it's not practical to simply speak to everyone via the FC chat channel. The Company Board is a miniscule message, barely enough for reminders, never mind a communication from leadership to membership. Even the Moogle mail is only marginally better, but for that to work you have to send many, many messages to ensure you hit all the members - even assuming that you can actually friend all of them. I mean, sure you can talk to whoever is online, but there is zero way to communicate with those offline.

Please can you implement some kind of company bulletin board where company masters and officer can post messages with a decent length (>2000 characters), this would ideally be somewhere in the Company House, and members would receve a notification when there are company messages waiting to be read.

Alternately, may we please have an extension to the Moogle mail that allows company masters (and designated officers) to select a Moogle Mail address like "All Company Members" so that we can at least use the Moogle mail system to contact members whether or not we are on their friends list. A longer message would be nice as the length of a Moogle mail is little better than the insanely short Company board.

And before anyone says PS3 limitations or something like that as some kind of excuse for the stupidly short messages we can send in this game, I led my NekomimisFTW! guild in White Knight Chronicles a PS3 based online RPG. That game allowed guild leaders and others to mail the entire guild membership and messages were not limited to 200 characters - in fact I think the message size was in the region of 32K characters, and all handled on the server side.

Seriously though, the FC system is really nice, but the inability to communicate with ALL members is a glaring omission IMHO.

That is great!

While we are at the topic, maybe you could consider the same for chocobo raising?
At the moment our activity log is a mix of gardening messages and chocobo messages.

Just wanna add some features that another well known game had for their guild system.

a Guild/Company member rank-up system that allows members to earn rewards such as mounts, gear & other cool & usefull stuff.
(Sorry havent read all replies in here, so if someone suggested same thing, well derp me.)

100% with the OP

It would be cool if the free company activity log said WHO did certain things. For example in my company, "So and so was promoted to Officer" is very common as we trust our members to tend for their own plants, and then demoted once they're done. While we haven't had any problems with this system, there was a concern before implementing it that someone could 'steal' someone else's plants this way, but it isn't possible to see who did the promoting. A simple "was promoted by so and so" would be great!

A free company Calendar system would be nice, so if we have several groups in a FC that raid / events, we can place them on the calendar for all FC to see and plan accordingly from inside the game.

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Originally Posted by Kosmos992k

Stuff was said points were made

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I agree with the communication and while a board might be something that planning and design would be required I think a quick adjustment to allow FC mail listing to allow certain FC ranks to mail multiple or all members at once and to make it even more simple just text and no item linking. So many people forget they even have mail and will sit around waiting for me to tell me one thing or request a craft. If it was less of a hassle I believe mailing would see good use within a FC.

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Originally Posted by Souljacker

You "like" the way that gardening functions as content? Have any of you actually played this game with a group of people you don't know? Have you ever actually PLAYED this game? Gardening is TERRIBLE as content. It's not a fun experiment for people to explore, it's a way for FC's to make money that pretty much only the leaders use. I've yet to see a true profit-sharing FC that actually works, nevermind the fact that other players simply aren't allowed to use the garden.

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The FC I run shares our (one) garden in our small house perfectly fine, we help eachother fertilize whenever possible and the profits are distributed (glazenuts for example), the person that grows them puts 3 into our FC chest to further make into brooms or sell for guild profit and then sells the rest he gets, and puts a quarter of the gil made into our coffer, everyone in our guild does this, without being required or asked to.

I really like the mass mog mailing idea. I hope they consider that one as well.

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Originally Posted by Camate

Hey there!

I was able to get some details regarding the Free Company log system. As the latest activity overview is often taken up by gardening-related happenings, the dev. team is going to look into making it so that gardening-specific results are grouped together via other methods. This should free up the activity log to show more information that is taking place throughout the day in your Free Company!

We don’t have a timeline for when this might be implemented, but I will update you as soon as I hear anything.

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This is great news! Thanks Camate.