Valentines day event fail

If they really wanted to give Astrid some competition, they should have put her up against other sweetheart kids we've come to love. Imagine if it was Astrid, Khloe, and Yozan (one of the Hyur boys from the Doman Adventurer's Guild); it'd be a much different story I think, though probably best of luck beating Khloe regardless of what she pitches.

But yeah I have to agree, and they couldn't have shoehorned Astrid into a victory more than they have. I voted for her as well, but wanted to give them all a fair chance. In the end, despite how foolish and unprofessional it is to seek love from your clientele, it was the least pretentious of the three because at least it stands a chance. Nobody's finding love in a carpenter shop, and self-reflecting in isolation (actually pretty sure that's a damn good way to remain single).

Ironically, it seems Rodrigault's ended up with the best scenario for the guy:

https://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/R...27s_Revelation

https://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Bert%27s_Big_Idea

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Originally Posted by Klareh

Ironically, it seems Rodrigault's ended up with the best scenario for the guy:

https://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/R...27s_Revelation

https://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Bert%27s_Big_Idea

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...Not really, according to the line "...And where it has carried him is directly into the company of a most fetching young lass. A remarkable success, would you not say? Now come. Lisette will want to hear all about my success, and with all haste." suggests that his plan was actually to set Ywain (who is in in his 30s) up with Sylphie who is like 14.

I think many people just skipped all the dialogue and just went for the colour that they thought looked best, being unaware that you can actually dye the event glamour gear.

Astrid gave hands down the worst advice and it went just as awful as it sounded.

I thought Rodrigault gave the best life advice but his ending was even worse than Astrid's.

I voted for Bert because I will always support Beatin and the carpenter's guild, and I'm disappointed not only that we didn't get bonus Beatin content, but that we also missed out on what ended up being the best outcome anyway.

Well, that's disappointing. There's a lot about the event in general that is simply outright creepy. To say nothing of the FFXIV Reddit having had people fawning over Astrid since the competition began even to the point of drawing and posting inappropriate fan art of her.

It'd be interesting to have learned the exact results, because it's possible that Bert and Rodrigault received more votes overall than Astrid between them.

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Originally Posted by Liale

When someone wins on every server on every data center it should be pretty obvious you didn't make the choices very equal.

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There are two major mistakes:

1: We know Astrid already from previous events, the other two are complete strangers. It would have leveled the playing field by having all three be strangers or all three be characters we are familiar with.

2: Astrid's colour, red, is the only colour associated with the event. So this resulted in a lot of players choosing her to save the trouble of getting dye. The colours should not have been red, yellow and blue. It should have been red, pink and purple or another shade of pink/red (rolanberry red for example).

The second one is especially bad because there is a very clear more appropriate choice when it comes to choosing an outfit that best represents the event. Blue and yellow are not even vaguely associated with it.

The event is a lovely idea but it's obvious some elements of it were not given as much thought as they needed. I hope SE learn from this.

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Originally Posted by OskarXCI

I think many people just skipped all the dialogue and just went for the colour that they thought looked best, being unaware that you can actually dye the event glamour gear.

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They should have used unpopular colors that aren't associated with V-day. Like Green, Orange and Yellow

i voted astrid only cuz red is 1 of my favourite colors.

I picked Astrid because color and because I didn't really pay attention to the quest

I'm going with the hope that they ignore Rodrigault being creepy and she's just sprucing him up. She called him old anyway. I'll take him getting a makeover to show that he's eligible over being treated like s*** with Astrid's choice.

Reality is people wanted red and couldn't care less about anything else

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Originally Posted by Klareh

I'm going with the hope that they ignore Rodrigault being creepy and she's just sprucing him up. She called him old anyway. I'll take him getting a makeover to show that he's eligible over being treated like s*** with Astrid's choice.

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Rodrigault ended up being a creep but at least Lisette acknowledges it's not a match and that it's more about the makeover. Overall the whole ending ended up ignoring the actual advice people would have voted for which was to find himself, not get roped into a make-over. Best advice gone horribly wrong.

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Originally Posted by Sated

Rodrigault ended up being a creep but at least Lisette acknowledges it's not a match and that it's more about the makeover. Overall the whole ending ended up ignoring the actual advice people would have voted for which was to find himself, not get roped into a make-over. Best advice gone horribly wrong.

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All 3 choices seemed to flop, which kinda makes the event end on a sour note.

I will admit, it was 3 AM when I voted and I completely misinterpreted what Astrid meant by "New Horizons". The next morning when I read the forums about what she really meant made me feel a tad guilty. The result of the quest ended poorly as well and made me wish I voted Bert. So sorry Ywain, hope to make it up to you somehow. Maybe play floor tank for a year.

I just understand the pattern of the event- each of the three stands for one typical guild in Gridania:
Astrid - Leatherworker guild
Bert - Carpenter guild
Roadrigault - conjurer guild

People shouldn't be voting if they're ignoring context, though unfortunately there isn't really a way to avoid that happening. At least it's consistent for seasonal events to be written rather poorly, though...

More thought seems to go into the decorating of the housing districts/original city states than the actual quest chains with only a few exceptions.

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Originally Posted by Theodric

People shouldn't be voting if they're ignoring context, though unfortunately there isn't really a way to avoid that happening. At least it's consistent for seasonal events to be written rather poorly, though...

More thought seems to go into the decorating of the housing districts/original city states than the actual quest chains with only a few exceptions.

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The real takeaway here is that voting happened the same way it does in real life. People vote for a color instead of what people say.

There should have been at least one world on each Data center for each one. Most people don't seem to be paying attention anyway, and they haven't shown us any actual numbers. At least those that care about the story could have jumped to another world to see the one they wanted.

I doubt this result was intentional on the part of the dev team's, but there's 'slightly biased choice' and then there's 'EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE 68 FFXIV SERVERS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD ALL GOING FOR ASTRID.' Especially when she's widely considered to have the worst advice, and has the worst end result!

It's weird at best, and downright suspicious at worst. I get that seasonal events are a good chance for the devs to experiment with new ideas, but this one was a bit of a dud. Especially because I've heard that the other two quests literally had to be datamined for people to actually see the other ways this event could have gone down.

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Originally Posted by Theodric

People shouldn't be voting if they're ignoring context, though unfortunately there isn't really a way to avoid that happening. At least it's consistent for seasonal events to be written rather poorly, though...

More thought seems to go into the decorating of the housing districts/original city states than the actual quest chains with only a few exceptions.

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and people souldn't be telling others what to do if people want to vote and ignore context they are free to do so.

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Originally Posted by Rahela

I doubt this result was intentional on the part of the dev team's, but there's 'slightly biased choice' and then there's 'EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE 68 FFXIV SERVERS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD ALL GOING FOR ASTRID.' Especially when she's widely considered to have the worst advice!

It's weird at best, and downright suspicious at worst. I get that seasonal events are a good chance for the devs to experiment with new ideas, but this one was a bit of a dud. Especially considering that the other two quests literally had to be datamined for people to actually see the other ways this event could have gone down.

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Unfortunately, many don't care about context and just wanted red without having to do anything. Again, very analogous to real world voting.

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Originally Posted by Kusanagi7

and people souldn't be telling others what to do if people want to vote and ignore context they are free to do so.

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A distinction isn't made between them, though a vote based on investment is much more valuable than a vote cast without meaning.

If they hadn't wanted to have differently named pieces for male and female, they could have just had it give a single set of pre-dyed gear, or even just the crate and the appropriate dye set for it.

The purposes behind Rodrigault and Bert's suggestions were sound. Figuring out what you're looking for in the relationship and picking up a new hobby instead of being "work only" would both be good steps to bettering your chances at finding something. Astrid's suggestion was just problematic, with looking among your workplace or clients. Then again, maybe we could have tried hooking him up with the elezen from the HW dragoon quests, I forget her name.

None of the suggestions on their own were very good. Maybe the whole point of this year's event to set up next year with "they need to work together."

Considering the results and why they were so ...unbalanced, I think they should've left the outfit and voting system separated entirely and just be something you can buy off the vendor regardless of who you chose...both guys were robbed and even Lisette was very bad at hiding her bias.

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Originally Posted by Gemina

But yeah I have to agree, and they couldn't have shoehorned Astrid into a victory more than they have. I voted for her as well, but wanted to give them all a fair chance. In the end, despite how foolish and unprofessional it is to seek love from your clientele, it was the least pretentious of the three because at least it stands a chance. Nobody's finding love in a carpenter shop, and self-reflecting in isolation (actually pretty sure that's a damn good way to remain single).

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Yeah...I voted for Astrid as well since at least her idea involved him talking to people and being more social. Best to keep work and romance separate in my opinion though.
Looking at the quest result text I honestly think Rodrigault's is the worst. At 30+ hanging out with a young teen is creepy. Even if it's just intended to be as friends Rodrigault's dialogue about it does not help.....
Of the three I consider getting a hobby to meet people being the best general advice but the specifics of joining the carpenter's guild was a bad idea with a predictable end if you're familiar with the guildmaster.

I know a lot of my friends don't care about seasonal events enough to do them unless they want the reward. Would not surprise me at all if a lot of people just skipped through everything to grab the red outfits unaware (or not caring) about the dye option.

Edit: I also share the disappointment of the same character winning on every server. Did SE not realize how badly they skewing things in Astrid's favour by giving her red? Being the only known npc versus 2 new ones? It seems like they wanted her to win with even Lisette shilling for her, but then why have a vote at all?

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Originally Posted by Khiinroye

None of the suggestions on their own were very good. Maybe the whole point of this year's event to set up next year with "they need to work together."

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There was no need for choice if not only you could dye any of them any color you wanted, but the design was essentially the same. And as much as I want to believe this is "future proofing next event" its still a horrible execution when there was no "alternative outcome" according to the current feedback.

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Originally Posted by Moomba33

I know a lot of my friends don't care about seasonal events enough to do them unless they want the reward. Would not surprise me at all if a lot of people just skipped through everything to grab the red outfits unaware (or not caring) about the dye option.

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Pretty sure this was the case in the end.

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Originally Posted by Theodric

People shouldn't be voting if they're ignoring context, though unfortunately there isn't really a way to avoid that happening.

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Ideally, yea.
Maybe if they hadn't attached the voting to the rewards. Like if they awarded the outfit (red only) for accepting the quest and listening to everyone's proposals, and having a completely "optional" quest afterwords that only awards chocolates regardless of who you vote for.

If the intent was to test the actual story with as little cosmetic bias as possible, making it dyable wasn't enough. I think they should have put more thought into other things that might influence choices (not all players are going going to realize or care that they can dye their pieces - even the item names almost swayed me since they're something I can never change).

Hopefully next year's event will go better. For those we can yet save.

Is the result posted outside of the game or do I need to view it in game? And can I see every world's results or just my own?

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Originally Posted by Moomba33

Yeah...I voted for Astrid as well since at least her idea involved him talking to people and being more social. Best to keep work and romance separate in my opinion though.

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See, I sorta read it in this direction, but taking it further. Everyone's all "don't hit on your clients, that's bad!" But, nothing is saying he specifically has to pursue the clients themselves. He's just chatting them up, being social and friendly. And if one of them happens to know somebody that's single and maybe tries to set them up on a blind date...

Picking up a new hobby won't amount to anything, the guy would still just be a loner, with a new hobby. And in this particular case, not a very sociable hobby.
And "figuring out what you're looking for" doesn't really solve the problem either. The guy needs experiences and interactions more than anything. Arguably easier to discover what it is he doesn't want in a partner before trying to build up impossible standards.

No. Opening up to clientele, not strictly pursuing, but simply engaging, seemed like the only real hope for progress. The goal isn't love right away. In this case, what was needed was to get him out of his shell. Astrid was the only one to recognize that need.

Part of what bugs me too is having a 'bad ending' felt forced.

Astrid's suggestion was a straight up bad idea with forseeable reasons for failure. The failure of the other two scenarios from what I've read feels incredibly forced. Nothing about the blue elf's suggestion hinted that he'd be spending a weird amount of time with a young girl for example, the same way Astrid's suggestion of seeking romance from clients had easily foreseeable bad outcome.

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Originally Posted by MsQi

They should have used unpopular colors that aren't associated with V-day. Like Green, Orange and Yellow

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Or give three different version of the outfit: The one we did get, one that was one solid colored, and a third one (maybe stripe-patterned or white as an accent color instead of black).
They could then keep all of them the default red but it would give players another reason to choose certain players.
On top of that, players who chose the underdog(s) would then have their own special gear that was rarer AND SE could of sold them on the Mogstation (not that I support it, mind you). :B

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Originally Posted by Mimilu

Or give three different version of the outfit: The one we did get, one that was one solid colored, and a third one (maybe stripe-patterned or white as an accent color instead of black).
They could then keep all of them the default red but it would give players another reason to choose certain players.
On top of that, players who chose the underdog(s) would then have their own special gear that was rarer AND SE could of sold them on the Mogstation (not that I support it, mind you). :B

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Or just make one outfit, give it to the player no matter their vote, and decouple the reward from the vote entirely. I mean we effectivley got one outfit anyway that we just dye to look like the others if we want. It really didn't need to be tied to the vote at all.

Not that I think it made a difference I think cute elezen kid vs yellow highlander and blue elf man would have still won easily anyway.

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Originally Posted by Bright-Flower

Part of what bugs me too is having a 'bad ending' felt forced.

Astrid's suggestion was a straight up bad idea with forseeable reasons for failure. The failure of the other two scenarios from what I've read feels incredibly forced. Nothing about the blue elf's suggestion hinted that he'd be spending a weird amount of time with a young girl for example, the same way Astrid's suggestion of seeking romance from clients had easily foreseeable bad outcome.

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I think it's supposed to be less of a bad ending and more along the lines of a gag that shows that their solutions weren't easy fixes to his problem.

Besides, him getting advice from Sylphie isn't inherently weird in and of itself. Rodrigault's comment that she's a "fetching lass" is a little uncomfortable, though!

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The colours should not have been red, yellow and blue. It should have been red, pink and purple or another shade of pink/red (rolanberry red for example).

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Red, Pink, White.

My friend actually did choose red for... red. I chose red for... hmm.. I liked Astrid. Yellow's idea was kind of dumb, what was it like going out and chopping down trees or something? Blue's if I remember right was going and meditating or something?

All 3 endings are played as jokes. Lisette pretends each was a success even while Ywain doesn't get what he wants. That was never going to matter. Just look at Eureka's choice.

Players picked the thing that actually mattered to them. Dalamud red dye is more expensive than Othard blue and millioncorn yellow dye on the marketboard. Red dyes are mostly pinks. Dalamud red is the only real red color. There's plenty of choices of good looking blue and yellows including ones on the vendor. If you want red, you are just about forced into dalamud red. It is hardly a surprise to me Dalamud red won.

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Originally Posted by Ariane

All 3 endings are played as jokes. Lisette pretends each was a success even while Ywain doesn't get what he wants. That was never going to matter. Just look at Eureka's choice.

Players picked the thing that actually mattered to them. Dalamud red dye is more expensive than Othard blue and millioncorn yellow dye on the marketboard. Red dyes are mostly pinks. Dalamud red is the only real red color. There's plenty of choices of good looking blue and yellows including ones on the vendor. If you want red, you are just about forced into dalamud red. It is hardly a surprise to me Dalamud red won.

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Dalamund Red Dye is a level 30 recipe with paltry materials. That speaks of their laziness levels to the extreme. Though it seems many could care less about story.

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Originally Posted by Barraind

Red, Pink, White.

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If that's pure white, it auto wins. That's about 1.5 million gil worth of dyes. You would have to be stupid to pass up on an outfit to default to pure white and go for pink or red (which is only worth a few hundred to thousands gil worth of dye). Even its just snow white it still has an advantage. Its similar to dalamud red. Snow white is one of the only two white dyes and comes from crafting or from Ixali maxed rep. The only group of 3 dyes that are equal would be all from normal vendors.

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Originally Posted by Ariane

Dalamud red dye is more expensive than Othard blue and millioncorn yellow dye on the marketboard.

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I did notice that they picked 3 dyes which were craftable, making the dye situation more fair than it would have been otherwise, but there really shouldn't have been a dye situation in the first place.

There's really no perfectly fair way to do it though, there'll always be some bias involved. Even if Lisette just listed the three options herself without us knowing who suggested which while the three of them stood behind her, the top option would probably get more votes even if they were just listed "1" "2" and "3". Unless maybe the order was randomized for each player.

It'd be interesting to see how close to unbaised they could get, and the above is the best I can think of, but it's so much extra work just to get around the inconvenience of dealing with players who aren't interested in quests, or just don't read.