Thank you!Quote:
A lot of people seem to be confusing "stronger mobs that require more strategy" with "make us group together with specific job classes" which is not the point of this thread.
R
Thank you!Quote:
A lot of people seem to be confusing "stronger mobs that require more strategy" with "make us group together with specific job classes" which is not the point of this thread.
R
i think everyone has said what we mean about strategy, in WoW you could go bashing mobs at will without any trouble, the tank could keep up with 10+mobs at the same time, so for me that was boring. In XI you had a feeling that if u mess up everyone could end up dead, so u had to watch your moves and pulls in order to survive and do exp. So at the end u were engaged all the time while being on exp parties. Right now u can even link with other mobs by mistake or something and not end up dead because the mobs are too weak so they die too fast. If they changed the exp earned and the mob difficulty you could get the treat feeling, like being nervous all the time to get aggro from certain mobs.
I remember a Tonberry temple where you had to go avoiding mobs contact in order to get to a quest place, so all the way there you were watching everything around you and were immersed in the game.
Take for example the leves, go to leve camp as lvl 30 in any class and put 2 or 3 stars and you'll see what i mean about the need of tactics, try the ants leve in nanawa mines and see if u can keep up with 2 ants at the same time, now bind one and kill one by one and tell me what you think after, and add to that if you could get a lot more exp for that having the same difficulty with a full party exp grinding and you'll see wich one you enjoy more.
I'm a bit torn on the issues the OP addresses. The balance is hard to strike and I can't say that I enjoyed XI's system over XIV.. entirely.
I do miss the strategy required and the time in order to fulfill a well thought out strategy in a party setting during experience but I can't entirely disagree with XIV's pacing either.
I noticed that battles go by too fast in a party, but are perfectly paced from a solo perspective. I find the pace of combat in a party makes typing almost inconsequential as I'm too involved with triggering the next action to legitimately make a statement during the flow of battle, let alone in a multilingual party. I can't honestly say that's a bad thing though.
Ultimately I prefer XIV's system over XI's system from day one and pace has a lot to do with that. I like that I have to think more strategically when solo but in a Full Party I can chill a bit more when I have "Strength in Numbers*".
This MMO, form a social perspective, does need some sort of optional in game voice communication though. I love being able to chit-chat and get to know people when I'm in a party but it's almost impossible strictly from a design perspective. The flow of battle with the manual dexterity that is required, seems to act as the ultimate deterrent to communication via text. I often use Mumble or Ventrilo to talk with my friends but it's a bit frustrating because non Vent/Mumble players don't have access to the same level of ease in regards to communication. This will only be exacerbated when the PS3 version is released as none of those players will have access to the common VoIP programs available to PC users.
Regardless, I love actually playing my characters. Controlling them to the extent so far in XIV has been an absolute blast and gives me that Secret of Mana style of nostalgia. I'd also be afraid to see the slower, steadier, more static combat that was prevalent in XI come back to XIV. All things considered, if I had to pick a side, I'd happily trade playability for communication even in an MMO because people leave regardless of circumstances and I can always save conversation for outside of battle. I'd rather not be distracted anyways, but I think a viable in game-software based-cross platform voice software would be wonderful and would solve at least some problems that I have with the commuication/gameplay conundrum.
I find that light parties are a lot of fun as well and is still a good balance, pacewise, between solo and full party play. To add, the strategy involved with higher scale battles such as boss fights is a good way to get that strategy craving under control. Unfortunately even then, once you've beat the boss it pretty much becomes second nature and entirely too repetitive. Mix the current drop rates in and the rewards seem to only be certificates of sadism rather than trophies of accomplishment
All in all, I'm still conflicted.
I appreciate the breath and the tone of the opinions expressed so far on this thread. Thanks go to all who have contributed. Other than this, I think I need to clarify a couple of points.
It was my perception that the new development team had promised us a 2-avenue game. These 2 avenues were as follow: a) A path on which you could build up your character by soloing and sometimes gathering in light groups with your other casual-minded friends, and b) another different path of progression on which tactical, strategy-demanding, and more formal gameplay would be available by means of content devised specifically for full groups (and those wanting to deal with the complications and vagaries of full-party gathering and management.)
So far this 2-pronged approach has not materialized. I cannot blame solo oriented players for wanting to play the way they enjoy most, but I feel I'm being penalized, and forced to play in a way I don't enjoy, solely for the preservation of that group's rights. It's not surprise I have started to resent them a little.
This stings particularly since the same company that is creating this situation in this game killed my favored play style in my native world of Vana'diel. A world which, by the way, besides being one of the cradles of that play style, had become its only refuge in the vast and ever-expanding MMO universe.
R