AF gear - handed to you for dinging 45/50

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Originally Posted by Caar

Well I compare them to the AF1 of FFXI which required only quests if I remember right.

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Yeah, those required quests and coffers. These ones require talking to NPCs (literally). Well, except for the level 50 piece, which is now an easy solo battle.

I thought it was a bit odd, at 45 I got better gear than most stuff.
I got the robe for the white mage at 50 and sadly the same day I replaced it for an item from one of the instances.
Which looked exactly like a reskin from all the other items from 45 to 50.

I think they could have done more with it.

Too many design cues from post-WotLK WoW. Aka, the versions of WoW that have never actually posted a SINGLE increase in subs in ANY quarterly investor call.

No one is going to stay subbed to an MMO that doesn't offer much past the first few weeks of play.

I hit 45 yesterday and got 4 pieces of AF just by walking around and opening some chests. It didn't feel like I achieved anything. It was lame. Nothing at all like how I felt in XI, or even collecting my first "iconic" set in WoW (the Shaman's original "Elements" set from the 5-15 man dungeons in vanilla).

I do find it a little lame that players from 1.0 had to work for their AF's while 2.0 is just tossing them out like cheap candy. They should give new players a sort of "Unfinished AF" like they do with the Relic weapons, and go through a short questline to give them the polished AFs. That's just my opinion.

I have to agree with the OP. It wasn't just easy... it was just given to us. Kind of weird.

I don't think there can be anything more generic than af. It is the very definition.

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Originally Posted by Shiyo

When every single person is running around in full AF the second they ding 45 and 50, it makes it feel a LOT less special and more generic.

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You must be coming from XI. Get that out of your head. In XIV AF is not supposed to be special, nor is it supposed to be great armor. It is *supposed* to be generic. Thats the entire point of it. You get a generic lvl 50 armor set which you will then replace as soon as freakin possible. Think of it as the last of your quest gear.

AF1 is only good for looks. Its not fit for any endgame content. You use it to get by so you can get something thats actually worth wearing.

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Originally Posted by Drakkan

That's part of the problem, they made something that was iconic into something that you're only going to use for a short time. That's an addition to the problem, not justification to it.

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Shouldn't this be a non-issue once the vanity system is put in?

My biggest issue is that AF is IMO the best looking gear in the game, for it to be easily obtained and then easily replaced (with dull looking stuff) is kind of sad. Im hoping to get my war af+1 soon because the darklight body/head is horrendous.

Casuals ruined AF in this game too. Thanks casuals.

Remember when getting your AF and AF2 actually meant you had to get coffer keys, find coffer chests and avoid all the aggro? Finding a group of people to help you open the doors in Garliage Citadel? Now it's just welfare gear, ala WoW.

Gross, BOO YOSHI-P, you're just another casual pretending to be hardcore.

The level 45 AF quest is just lame. You go around talking to people...and that's it...you really don't get a sense of accomplishment.

I was hoping it would be epic where you would need a group and when you have your AF...you really earned. But they really just give it to you. Then again, it doesn't sound like the AF gear is really that hot?

who gives a bloody crap its not like this is the best were gonna get and the game is still new anyways its just nice to have

what about all the people who dont get jack in most dungeons and can finaly have something usefull

I can understand why people would be bummed that its easier, but remember (like someone mentioned earlier) there is a type of AF2 you can buy with Allegan Tomes in Mor Dhona that is way better then the AF you get in the Job quest but its gonna be something you'll have to work at. Plus they are slightly different looking too ^_^b

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Originally Posted by Roaman

inb4 all the 1,0 players start a riot

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What's there to riot about? I'm happy getting AF is soloable now. That means people won't be stuck on certain parts of the AF questline like I was back in 1.0, where I spent over a month without the last two pieces because I couln't get help for the last two quests of the PLD questline. If anything, this is an improvement and helps people prepare for the level cap content. That's a good thing.

You gotta remember, in FF XIV, AF is really just entry lvl 50 equipment. Almost all the gear from lvl 50 dungeons and up is better.

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Originally Posted by Jennestia

It doesn't take that long unless you're counting log in attempts. They literally hand it to you, even compared to 1.0 it was part of the trial as you leveled up - But they are going the route where things are handed to you (typical of "standard" MMOs of today) so no one should really be surprised.

They at least have you raid for the upgrade to them though.

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typical of "tier progression" games

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Originally Posted by Shiyo

I know it's not very good and easily replaced, but it could be made better and actually require some effort to obtain.

What is more fun and feels better, having something given to you for free, or working hard on something then finally getting it after all your hard work?

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You said it yourself... It is not very good and is easily replaced. This tells me it is more or less a taste of endgame and to allow jobs to have the look and feel that they have had in previous games so that players can get some satisfaction from getting that far in the game regardless of how easy/hard it may have been for them.

I just wanted to look cool :(

Not like AF armor really has much meaning other than part of the gear treadmill anyway now, no pieces even have skill bonuses anymore. It's just playing dress up as your favorite job.

Getting the AF armor in 1.0 was hardly any different either, you still just went around to different zones clicking coffers and picking up the pieces, except 2 chests were locked in dungeons that you only needed to get a party together for 5 minutes worth of effort inside to reach. And the final piece was obtained through a battle, albeit much harder than the solo quests in ARR.

Most modern MMO's do this and it makes sense.

Since players differ in how they level (occasional grouping all the way up to hard core raid guild member) you need to have a 'equalizing' set of easy to obtain gear that acts as the base line to move into a new tier of content.

The more hard core players will obviously move beyond this gear rather quickly, but the casual players will use it for much longer. This gear will prevent casual players from being locked out of the next tier of game play just because they don't raid or don't often repeat dungeon content for drops.

Even games like Rift and WOW do this with each expansion pack. If you have played other MMO's you have noticed that each expansion pack includes a set of easy intro quests that drop gear that has very good stats but is not as good as you can get from putting a little effort into the new dungeons that were released with the expansion pack.

This game is all around easy mode - it takes easy mode to all new levels.

I'm really interested to see what people think of this game they're all gushing about in 2-3 months - if they last that long. What will there be to do when the entire game is handed to you?

Why wouldn't they give you loot like this? They give you xp via fate zergs that's only one small step shy of just getting piles of xp every few minutes on a timer. Whoa, you have to hit a few mobs to get full credit for participating in the zero challenge, zero threat, zero effort massacres. Let us not strain ourselves, eh?

At least now I know how all the new 50's on my server are all running around in full blues with ease.

pretty sure AF is just there to make sure you have something reasonable for endgame stuff.
both level 50 dungeons and crafted level 50 stuff pretty much blows it away, and then darklight is better, and then relic is even better

but being limited to 300 mythology seals a week and each piece costing like 500 means the dynamis gear is gonna take some work

Pft. In 1.0 AF was like a highschool diploma. If someone sees someone with a double melded crafted gear, you got shafted unless you were just a 'body'.

So if such a useless piece of equipment is easier to get, then kudos, because I don't want to break my back to get a piece of equipment that isn't going to be used for the hard-mode fights/get me judged to get shafted. It just lowers the stepping stone to the more important stuff.

i think you all's attachment to AF gear is clouding your judgment.

so very few times do you see a game where actual care and time was put into making gear for each race class and gender.

there is no reason to believe there wont be upgrades to the AF gear. sure AF gear is iconic, but that was ff11...this is 14. let us get over it and move on shall we?

AF armor is essentially a balanced armor that allows the average player to do average end game content, it is nothing great.

AF armor does not give enough DPS to beat garuda or titan on hard so do not use it(you may get away with it, depending if other pick up the slack, but do not rely on AF armor). It is not top of the line and I do not understand where new players think it is the best. So new player told a legacy tank today to not use the double melds he had because it doesn't offer the defense of AF armor.

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Originally Posted by Koldhara

i think you all's attachment to AF gear is clouding your judgment.

so very few times do you see a game where actual care and time was put into making gear for each race class and gender.

there is no reason to believe there wont be upgrades to the AF gear. sure AF gear is iconic, but that was ff11...this is 14. let us get over it and move on shall we?

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This is a Final fantasy, AF gear is iconic to this series.


Nice try-

I'm not sure how the new 2.0 AF quests are. But in 1.0 it was a fun thing to get just like it was in XI. Each job had to go through certain dungeons and open chests(boxes) to obtain certain pieces. Its a shame that it sounds like that isnt the case anymore.

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Originally Posted by Ptolemy

This is a Final fantasy, AF gear is iconic to this series.


Nice try-

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This is a MMORPG, the darklight is the iconic piece of your end-game.

Nice try-

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Originally Posted by Nayto

This is a MMORPG, the darklight is the iconic piece of your end-game.

Nice try-

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Because of the outdated use of "Tiered progression"

Nice try-

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Originally Posted by Nayto

This is a MMORPG, the darklight is the iconic piece of your end-game.

Nice try-

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Actually AF2 is the new iconic set in 2.0 since it has better look and better stats than both Darklight and AF1.

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Originally Posted by Ptolemy

Because of the outdated use of "Tiered progression"

Nice try-

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What else could there be?

Horizontal progression?

Gross.

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Originally Posted by EdwinLi

Actually AF2 is the new iconic set in 2.0 since it has better look and better stats than both Darklight and AF1.

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Ah true forgot about that. Then again these guys want the first AF to be 'meaningful' still.... which it isn't.

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Originally Posted by Xerich

What else could there be?

Horizontal progression?

Gross.

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Funny, "gross" is pretty much my opinion about pure vertical progression.

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Originally Posted by Nayto

Ah true forgot about that. Then again these guys want the first AF to be 'meaningful' still.... which it isn't.

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it never was meaningful, any double meld in 1.0 easily beat it. The only meaning it has left is looking decent.

Although I'm not at that level yet, I'm kind of glad it's sort of handed to us. Getting stable gear has been fairly difficult for me and having a good base for endgame will help a lot. Plus, having reached 50... I'll want to look like what I am!

When vanity slots arrive, I'll probably use the base gear despite whichever true endgame I'm using, I do love to look good :P

Still, I understand people who think it's too easy this way. I just hope others are right in that it really is pretty basic and essentially "good enough" to start with. Even more useful since having to keep up multiple gear sets for several classes can be very difficult.

I'm guessing you haven't played PLD, you have to do quite a bit of fighting during it's series of job quests. Bard also had some extended fights near the end, and one of the AF pieces required you to travel deep into Sylph territory. Every single job quest I have done so far have had some combat at some point. the final piece tends to be an extended battle that you have to use everything you learned to win.

Still, AF has never been endgame gear, and it shouldn't be as difficult or time-consuming to acquire as endgame gear.

I'm guessing that the reason why the quests are easy is because the AF armor has been already out for quite some time. The quests themselves were not that easy (well, you needed a party for certain quests, which could be comparable to XI). Considering that this AF is now easy to get, and that Darklight gear is fairly easy to get (for those 1.0 players), I'm really not surprised.

Perhaps the quests are easy to get 1.0 character's reaquainted. At least there is AF2 now...

Also, one other thing to consider: although level 50 is cap in this game, is this going to be the cap forever? Though no one knows when the cap is going to increase (or to what level), I think it's safe to say that with higher caps come higher level gear, and obtaining that higher level gear might be the challenge everyone is looking for. Not to make excuses or to draw conclusions, but it is food for thought.

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Originally Posted by CyrilLucifer

Funny, "gross" is pretty much my opinion about pure vertical progression.

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There's room for "side-grades" - I never said it had to be pure progression.

Anyway, this is off topic.

ON TOPIC:

AF gear is end game starter gear. It's the gear you see when you create your character. It makes sense that it would be easily attainable (gamewise) - to give the player a feeling of accomplishment, and welcoming, to the end game. Does anyone even RP anymore? It takes a minimum amount of effort to realize that a lot of time has passed in the game world since your character first arrived on that carriage. For you, the player, it might have been a week, or maybe even 3 or 4 days. However, for your character, it has been months of blood, sweat and tears.

Therefore, artifact gear. Duh! (logic)

We can all agree this game is a bit more casual and more fun in a way.

But I do feel kind of bad that everything which was harder to do/get is now easy.

Remember the annoying pain it was to get the your chocobo?

Remember how annoying the class advance quests were?

Albeit there is more worth in something that's harder to get... but I think we just need harder end-game dungeons and the sort. Not the "if you get this better armor set you can do the next dungeon easily to get that armor set, then move onto the next one fairly easily"

In all honesty I want end game gear/dungeons to be hard as balls that way less people have it as quickly and it's more of a feat.

Oh man, how could they do this?

They gave us mediocre gear as a "gift" for hitting level cap and completing our class quests and becoming true carriers of the job title. I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now, clutching a printed out screenshot of my BRD AF2 from FFXI (that game was SUPER POPULAR and if they stray from it they have totally messed up!!!) while I dream of a day when the game is tailored to my specific taste and playstyle.