AF gear - handed to you for dinging 45/50

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Originally Posted by Shiyo

Why is there absolutely no effort or work in obtaining the class defining AF armor? At level45, you basically just have to talk to NPC's, loot bags on the floor, or open random chests in a zone that's of no danger to you. There is no effort involved, it's extremely easy.
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I admit to missing the prismatic-type quests from EQ2 where you had to pretty much sell your soul to obtain the weapon.

I just think it would make most kids commit suicide these days, lol.

At times even in 1.0 triple/quaded melded gear was better than the AF.

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Originally Posted by Apricoth

At times even in 1.0 triple/quaded melded gear was better than the AF.

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At times, single-melded gear was better than AF in 1.0. >.> They got a pretty massive buff in ARR, and the major nerf to materia only made it more significant.
Of course, once people start running dungeons, the AF is going back in the armoire.

Hey, I don't see anyone complaining that we could obtain free Relic Weapons by checking under our beds in the Inn after the Final Save in 1.0... That was a big F.U. to us because of the long quest line to obtain a Relic that took hours, only to have an easy-to-obtain gift after the Final Save that we WOULD NOT be able to keep for ARR.

I haven't had a non-instance quest that i couldn't complete myself. I miss bugging people in my Linkshell for help.

I was actually disappointed when I saw Mammon as the quest reward for hitting 50 on my miner. I also had darksteel sitting on my retainer since the first few months of 1.0, so it was as simple as retrieving it to get it.

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Originally Posted by Kyp

It is the reward for beating the 1017 boss and his 2002, 10102, and 90000 adds

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Damn I hate that boos especially that one move that knocks you out of the game randomly.

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Originally Posted by Naraku_Diabolos

Hey, I don't see anyone complaining that we could obtain free Relic Weapons by checking under our beds in the Inn after the Final Save in 1.0... That was a big F.U. to us because of the long quest line to obtain a Relic that took hours, only to have an easy-to-obtain gift after the Final Save that we WOULD NOT be able to keep for ARR.

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A lot of silly people did complain... Over something that did not warrant any complaints. Getting to play around with a temporary item with no progress being saved was never a "big F.U." to anyone.

I don't know about you guys, but the idea of "stealing" my Monk AF gear back from bandits and shady dealers was exciting.
Was it hard? Not really. A piece of it was surrounded by level 49 spell casters and bombs but was still able to get it with little problem because I cheesed their sight aggro and was able to sneak in only having to kill a few bombs and a mob at the entrance of the location, and another surrounded by a huge pack of mobs of similar level that you could die to if not managed properly. But exciting? Definitely. I guess everyone doesn't have the same idea of imagination that I do though who was able to immerse oneself into really feeling like it was robbing the robbers.

im pretty sure there is several reasons for this:

1 to close the gap between new players and legacy players gear.
2 so you have the iconic class gear when you do your final class quest.
3 so everybody isn't running the 50 dungeons in terrible gear.

Lol I still remember the dragoon and warrior AF fight in 1.0 pretty intense and rewarding and the coffer hunting on ffxi those were fun moments. I guess I will focus on af1 and completing my relic

I think everything in the game should have some level of difficulty to get, that being said, is AF+1 out? Does it look exactly like AF? Or is it a different color like AF2 was in FFXI? Is it as hard to get as a relic weapon? If so then I understand giving away AF, it is just an identifier for hitting 50. AF+1 is the accomplishment.

I think that it's a better idea to help the casual players get some gear out the gates so that they have something to help them get the next tier should they choose the pursue it. Also it gives the hardcore players something to get going with so they can get into the real "fun" (lol) gear grind. There is a gear grind involved in this game... you will have to do it in order to get the best gear that you can get in the game... I guess SE just wanted people to have something without having to bend over backwards to get.

This isn't FF11. We don't need to make it so that all high end armor is stupid hard to get.

Here is the reason (I dont work at square, but it makes sense)
In FFXI it used to take a good party to obtain said items(back in 04~09), Of course FFXI was geared for party/hardcore people, and things were made hard to obtain.

XIV on the otherhand was/is geared for both Solo and party players, with that in mind they decided to make AF gear (semi-decent gear) easy to get for the casual or solo oriented player, so they could still occasionally take part in the more end game focused areas with out having to be a hardcore/party player.

However, on the other hand there is better gear to get that requires more work to be put into the game and thus better stats, this gear is focused for the hardcore gamers that will spend more time doing endgame content.
This way everybody can be happy, and/or not need to depend on other people for some gear, which to some people is important :)

The AF gear you are talking about is NOBB AF gear.

The real AF+1 is super hard to get

I think the way SE designed that you had a full set of AF gear when you complete all your class quests is great design on the developer's behalf given the fact that they wanted to make dungeons somewhat challenging giving everyone a set of early endgame gear by going through their quests just helps everyone as a whole.

Now imagine if you had to complete a few of the 45+ dungeons without a partial set of this lovely armour? Yeah that would be a hoot.

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Originally Posted by Shiyo

Why is there absolutely no effort or work in obtaining the class defining AF armor? At level45, you basically just have to talk to NPC's, loot bags on the floor, or open random chests in a zone that's of no danger to you. There is no effort involved, it's extremely easy.
The level50 quests are slightly harder, having an actual boss fight, but still incredibly easy.

Why doesn't AF require dungeons? Or party bosses? Why is basically "free" full blue armor upon dinging 45 and 50?

I think AF armor should be an accomplishment, and some actual work involved, would make it more fun. Maybe make the gear a bit more powerful since it would require effort.

Sure AF+1 exists, and actually requires effort and dungeons, but I don't think your class defining armor should be so easily obtained. 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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Damn these forums need a dislike button in addition to the like button.

I won't even comment on what was there in 1.0 because yes, there was a lot of "fun" involved with obtaining them with group content and all. Let's go back and look at the predecessor game and its AF. In XI you had 2 quests where you needed a group and a bunch where you simply sat in the back of Garlaige, Onzozo or Davoi waiting for a coffer to pop. This was "work" but how much fun was that work? Yes, I wish the hat and chest had involved group based encounters, but its not the end all be all. Was AF in XI really awesome? No it was mid level iconic gear that was designed to get you over the hump and reward you for a job well done. That's all the current AF is for, and it does a great job at it.

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Originally Posted by reality_check

Maybe it's rewarding you for spending the 80ish hours required to get that level?

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Give me a break. in FF 11, you had to get to the level, THEN you had to do the (in some cases incredibly difficult or irritating) quests.

I find it funny that people are saying "AF gear is just handed to you, not rewarding and it's too easy. In 1.0 we hard to work for it and it was rewarding and challenging"

Because in 1.0 I remember people sayin "AF gear is just handed to you, not rewarding and it's too easy. In XI we hard to work for it and it was rewarding and challenging"

Ah, the more things change the more they stay the same.

Because it's not your end game gear. It's the starting point for end game. The rest is a LOT hard to acquire and upgrade. AF gear is more of just a visual nod to your class and a reward for achieving 50 simple as that.

That's not even the good AF gear

I have 2 sets of a all my AF gear... what am I supposed to do with it?

I would guess it's easy to get because in a about two months, it will be worthless. Much how the job quests (at least Dragoon) have been easier than pretty much anything prior to hitting level 30. I had heard the DRG quest to unlock it was near impossible solo, but I took a chance and was like... um... either I'm a Lancer God or I listened to a few people who have no idea what they're doing. I'd like to think the former, but I know it's not the case. As for AF, in FFXI, the quests themselves were easy, it was dodging the 500+ mobs that could eat your face that was the problem. If not for that, FFXI AF1 would have been a joke sans the ones that required fighting something that actually WAS challenging.

Yes, we all understand AF is worthless and it's handed to you blah blah blah, I want to know where I can find out about AF+1, and does it look different or the exact same model?

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Originally Posted by rution19

Yes, we all understand AF is worthless and it's handed to you blah blah blah, I want to know where I can find out about AF+1, and does it look different or the exact same model?

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Same model, different colors.

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Originally Posted by rution19

Yes, we all understand AF is worthless and it's handed to you blah blah blah, I want to know where I can find out about AF+1, and does it look different or the exact same model?

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Same look with slightly different features. Some, possibly all, have different colors.

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Originally Posted by Neasa

A lot of silly people did complain... Over something that did not warrant any complaints. Getting to play around with a temporary item with no progress being saved was never a "big F.U." to anyone.

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What I mean by the "big F.U." was that, "we are giving you Relics for free! Too bad you can't permanently keep them! ;) "

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Originally Posted by Naraku_Diabolos

What I mean by the "big F.U." was that, "we are giving you Relics for free! Too bad you can't permanently keep them! ;) "

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Well, I don't personally agree, but I understand what you're saying. I didn't mean to sound combative. I did see a lot of people complaining for other reasons, so I assumed the worst. Sorry. :x

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Originally Posted by Rewyen

I would guess it's easy to get because in a about two months, it will be worthless. Much how the job quests (at least Dragoon) have been easier than pretty much anything prior to hitting level 30. I had heard the DRG quest to unlock it was near impossible solo, but I took a chance and was like... um... either I'm a Lancer God or I listened to a few people who have no idea what they're doing. I'd like to think the former, but I know it's not the case. As for AF, in FFXI, the quests themselves were easy, it was dodging the 500+ mobs that could eat your face that was the problem. If not for that, FFXI AF1 would have been a joke sans the ones that required fighting something that actually WAS challenging.

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For the coffers I just sneaked and invisible myself until I got to my chest. Even the doors at Gar was not that bad. Normally a party XPed at the first gate and would open them up. If a chest was at the last door I would just wait someone else to get it.

I don't see what the big deal is. It's sort of like a " Congratulations on hitting 50 on this class/welcome to level 50." The gear looks great and sure, it is handed to you, but it is not the best gear in the game by any means. It's not as if they are handing the best gear to the player or anything like that.

My only complaint is that I think the AF gear is currently the best looking gear in game. I hate that we have to switch it out for other gear lol. But that's how it goes.

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Originally Posted by Pandastirfry

I find it funny that people are saying "AF gear is just handed to you, not rewarding and it's too easy. In 1.0 we hard to work for it and it was rewarding and challenging"

Because in 1.0 I remember people sayin "AF gear is just handed to you, not rewarding and it's too easy. In XI we hard to work for it and it was rewarding and challenging"

Ah, the more things change the more they stay the same.

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Proof that the game went from easy to easier.

you never really use AF for long as soon as you start doing high level stuff you'll start replacing each piece.

My reaction as a 1.0 player with full AF upon seeing how easy AF was to obtain in ARR :

http://up-ship.com/blog/wp-content/u..._With_This.png

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Originally Posted by w0ng3r

Proof that the game went from easy to easier.

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I guess... If you call the only appreciable difference being no longer having to pointlessly gather 3 to 7 other people to help you "easier"

"it's replaced by greens from level 50 4 man dungeons".

That's entirely my point, your iconic amazing looking set of gear that makes you look like your class in a final fantasy game is handed to you with zero effort, so everyone has it, then is outclassed by easily obtainable 4 man gear that isn't anywhere near as good or cool looking as AF.

People keep bringing up it's not good, it's worse than 4 man 50 dungeon gear, etc etc, but that's bad too, and I understand this. Why are you all ok with your iconic looking set, that looks so cool and amazing, being easily obtainable then easily replaced by level50 greens? Why isn't the AF the gear you get from level50 4man dungeons instead(buff its stats)? Darklight gear looks ok, but nowhere near as cool as af1.

Yes, af2 exists, and is hard to obtain, but why can't both of the AF sets be hard to obtain? Are you ok with everyone walking around with their iconic gear for dinging level50?

Also - please do not bring up FFXI, I am not comparing this to FFXI, I am comparing it to the current game, where you get it handed to you for no effort at all(Except level50 bodies, but they are still very easy soloable quests).

What is more fun and feels better? Having gear handed to you for free, or putting in work and effort to obtain something?

For me, the feeling of working towards something, and finally getting it is a much better feeling than "oh I dinged 50 and did some easy quests, now I have my best looking armor in the game".

Its the same way in ffxi besides the head gear for jobs blue mage is the only job where you had to have help to gain your gear.

I'm fine with the AF gear being what it is. People who really enjoy the look will switch it on and wear it around when they do some things and switch back to their better gear (if they have it) when it's time to take care of buisness.

If you really enjoy the look of the AF gear, when the vanity system arrives you can make yourself wear it all of the time. Really no big deal. I like the way it looks on pretty much every Job, but yeah when you do see 100 people running around in AF it's a bit wierd, but not wholly unexpected.

((Personally I wish I could get the Dark Summoner gear.. that version of Smn AF looked so awesome))

Personally I'm fine if every other dragoon out there (at first) is wearing the same gear as I am. I like the way the gear set looks so the fact that it's so "easy" to get doesn't bother me in the least. I like the fact that when I hit 50 I will have on a set of a gear that I like and it's not like every other mmo where you're wearing a complete jumbled mess of assorted pieces. Just as everything in an mmo shouldn't be simple to achieve, not everything needs to be difficult either. It's all about options and the options are there to either use what you get from questing, or putting in the time in endgame content.

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Originally Posted by Shiyo

What is more fun and feels better? Having gear handed to you for free, or putting in work and effort to obtain something?

For me, the feeling of working towards something, and finally getting it is a much better feeling than "oh I dinged 50 and did some easy quests, now I have my best looking armor in the game".

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It's all about perspective. It's not "oh I dinged 50 and did some easy quests, now I have my best looking armor in the game." It's "I've put a number of hours into my character leveling and playing my way through 50 levels worth of quests and now have something neat to represent that."

You've put in the effort to clear this portion of the game, hopefully to your satisfaction. The moment a game becomes "work" is the moment I uninstall it - I play games as a recreational pursuit outside of work, not to give myself more of it.

I look forward to the outrage when people realize most of the "effort" they put into their characters is "invalidated" when the cap is raised.

AF is but a taste of what is to come.