Questions About 3.2 and the Feast

I'm loving the discussions going on in this thread. Y'all got me all hyped for 3.2 and now I have questions nagging at me.

So I'm making this thread in the hopes that Dev will answer some curious questions...

Long post incoming. Whee~

All quotes taken from http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...-Update-Thread.

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[...] We will be changing the method for calculating the potency of physical attacks for tank roles in Patch 3.2. We’ll be making it so vitality affects the potency of physical attacks, and as a result the effect of strength on physical attack potency will be reduced.

From Patch 3.2 onwards, you’ll be safe using only vitality accessories as well as allocating everything to vitality as a tank. For everyone who is currently using strength accessories on their tanks, the damage will be lowered, so please prepare your vitality accessories ahead of time.

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Are these changes going to be applied to PvP as well?

I understand these changes were made because tanks are currently favoring STR over VIT to meet DPS checks (specifically in Alexander Savage) and to hold enmity better. However, PvP is a completely different ballpark and I'm curious if these changes might just be a PvE only to avoid any balancing issues in PvP content.

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[...] Culling Time
This time occurs when a player isn’t defeated for certain amount of time. If no one is defeated the debuff will continue to accumulate, but once an enemy or ally is defeated the debuff is removed. This will also affect the background and sound. [...]

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As a healer this terrifies me. The only thing we currently have in-game right now to relate to this situation is Wolves' Den... and in Wolves' Den, dead healer = dead party (usually). Survivability is really important as a healer more-so than the other classes, especially in a 4v4 scenario. So the idea of being pushed for... basically being a good healer and not dying, is a strange one.

So my questions are, will there be a re-spawn point for your team? Or is Culling Time just intended to keep matches from going on too long?

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[...] With the change of every season (3.5 months), both rank and your ranking will reset. [...] The special reward for diamond rank is equipment with a completely new design, and diamond ranked players can earn the entire set. [...]

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(I know I cut a fair but out of this quote, it talked a lot about rewards, but I wanted to focus on the Diamond Rank set as it's implied to be really special)

With the set being tied to the Diamond Rank, does that mean it will no longer be equiptable when the rankings reset?

I understand this ranking reset is to keep people motivated to keep striving for the top. However when you get this set (I'm going to assume it'll be available to equip upon hitting the Diamond Rank, much like PvP sets go off your Grand Company PvP Rank) and the reset happens, does that mean you can no longer use it until you claw your way back up to the top?

If that is the case, might I suggest that once you unlock it for that Ranking Season that you can still equip it for the next Ranking Season. However, if you do not reach Diamond within that 2nd Ranking Season you will no longer to be able to equip it until you earn your Diamond Rank back. (Example; Season 1: Diamond Rank, can use set. Season 2: Can still use set, however only earn Silver Ranking. Season 3: Cannot use set until hitting Diamond Rank again, as they did not hit Diamond Rank in the previous Season) This will keep people motivated to keep up with their rankings and also avoid funny looking glamors during resets, lol.

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[...] The mentor system is a system which will allow players to assist beginners. In order to become a mentor, players must earn specific achievements and talk to a specific NPC.

There are three requirements:
Must have one job from each role (Tank/DPS/Healer) at level 60.
It’s set up in a way so that the player can offer advice for each role.
Must have completed 1,000 or more instanced dungeons or trials.
You may feel this is a large amount of number; however, we believe a lot of players have this completed already.
Have earned over 300 commendations.
Additionally, there are requirements for those who don’t play battle-related classes/jobs.

Instead of the above requirements, players can also become mentors by completing the following:
Have at least one class from both Disciples of Hand and Land at level 60.
Have crafted over 100 collectables.
Have gathered over 300 collectables.

[...] You’ll be able to invite beginners to special chat channel. As a countermeasure against RMT, we will be allowing mentors to invite beginners to the channel as they see fit.

We’ll also be adding Duty Roulette: Mentor.

Though there won’t be a ton of rewards, you’ll have priority matching for the content that has not been cleared yet by the person you are queuing with. Completing this a certain amount of times will yield achievements and rewards. Additionally, you’ll have a crown mark added next to your name, and you can turn this off and on as you like.

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Why is PvP not included in this? D:

I can forgive the Wolf Marks not being including in the relic grind simply because we have so many options... But come on! D: This system plus a new PvP mode is a near perfect way to get new people into PvP. I know there's a Mentor Roulette, but even Crafting and Gathering is going to have Mentors and they can't register for duties!

It's really daunting when you have no idea what you're doing in PvP, it really is. I remember being new, it was awful and confusing. There isn't really a way to practice PvP (those Striking Dummies in the Pier aren't really "practice"), so you kind of have to dive into the content and without any support or guidance, that can be a really hard thing for some people to do.

If someone doesn't know the PvP community on their server they might not even know where to look for advice (not too many active PvPers actually hang out in the Pier), even if the PvP Mentor System was a chat-only affair, it would help so much. It would give curious new PvP players a place to go in the game where they can find the help that they want/need.

Out of all the things I asked, in my opinion, this is the most important. Please, please consider adding PvP into the Mentor System. D:

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Thank you for reading! If anyone else has any other questions/thoughts/comments/anything they'd like to add, please feel free to leave a post. o/

[EDIT] I really hope this post doesn't sound dumb. QwQ I stayed up all night trying to make it not sound as dumb as I could.

1. I think it's likely that the VIT change will apply into PvP as well, especially since we currently have access to VIT PvP gear. Depending on how much STR attack potency is reduced and how much VIT affects attack potency, this could be a nerf to tank damage with an increase to their health pool.

2. They mentioned somewhere that players who die over and over will drop fewer medals, so I think this implies that there will be a respawn point of some sort, and if no one is dying at all, Culling eventually occurs.

3. The diamond tier set question is a good one. In my opinion, if you earned diamond rank, you should be allowed to wear the gear permanently, regardless of a season reset, and the following season should have a new diamond tier set to strive for.

4. No PvP mentor system seems like another wasted opportunity to help new players become familiar with PvP. This should really be implemented at some point. Perhaps players who reach a certain rank tier could be eligible to become a mentor for Feast, and players who have achieved a certain amount of Frontline victories could be a mentor for Frontline.

Culling Time sounds dumb.

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Originally Posted by MeeDeggiThePunisher

Culling Time sounds dumb.

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I get the impression its to put an end to stalemates.

In the original Wolves Den, 2 evenly matched teams could battle eternally or until the match timer expired. If the had equal dmg and heals, the fight would literally not end until it was a draw. The deciding factor was most often which healer ran out of MP first, but the lvl 60 cap had provided new ways for them to replenish Mp.

In FL, they solved this problem by changing the game mode to 3 way fights between the GCs. People did not like it, but there was always a wild card that stopped the possibility of stalemates or drawn out fights.

FEAST will be another 2 team match up (similar to WD). To me, Culling Time sounds like a way in which they can ensure that matches don't stretch on forever in a constant back and forth where no one actually dies. Odds are, in most matches the Culling Time debuff won't even come up, but in high end matches (like between 2 equal pre-mades) it will probably make a big difference, and you'll see a lot of tanks saving their Full Swings for when it comes up so they can power down another player and turn the tables of the match.

These kinds of mechanics are usually implemented with "league matches" in mind. Which, to me, is a very good sign. It shows that SE is thinking ahead for player organized tournaments, league match ups, etc. The only thing they have to do now is follow through on it.

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Originally Posted by nickx

1. I think it's likely that the VIT change will apply into PvP as well, especially since we currently have access to VIT PvP gear. Depending on how much STR attack potency is reduced and how much VIT affects attack potency, this could be a nerf to tank damage with an increase to their health pool.

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The reason why I ask is because the balancing differences between PvE and PvP are very different. AST for example was considered very weak in PvE when it was released, but they were pretty strong in PvP. When their potencies were increased (intended to help them with PvE content), it made them even stronger in PvP. With balancing being so different between PvP and PvE, I'm mostly just curious if it was considered.

(Besides, doesn't the idea of a tank that has 20k HP and can hit as hard as a DPS scare you just a little bit?! XD)

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2. They mentioned somewhere that players who die over and over will drop fewer medals, so I think this implies that there will be a respawn point of some sort, and if no one is dying at all, Culling eventually occurs.

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I viewed it more as a, "Just because you die, it doesn't mean you're a hindrance to your team" because -5 points for deaths in Seal Rock means people can get really angry at each other. So I thought maybe this was them trying to get away from that mindset and negativity.

I have seen Wolves' Den matches go on for 11+ minutes after a team is wiped out just because an AST can jump around and shield themselves for a pretty long time with good MP management. So I can understand if Culling is there just to prevent matches from going on for too long in cases like that, but I'm just worried about it. XD

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3. The diamond tier set question is a good one. In my opinion, if you earned diamond rank, you should be allowed to wear the gear permanently, regardless of a season reset, and the following season should have a new diamond tier set to strive for.

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I was worried about that being too many sets, but with each new Season being months apart that might actually be pretty viable. I didn't think of that. :o

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4. No PvP mentor system seems like another wasted opportunity to help new players become familiar with PvP. This should really be implemented at some point. Perhaps players who reach a certain rank tier could be eligible to become a mentor for Feast, and players who have achieved a certain amount of Frontline victories could be a mentor for Frontline.

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Yes! \o/

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If you’re worried about dragging a team down because you feel like you’re going to get killed over and over--have no fear! The amount of medals you drop will become fewer and fewer the more you are defeated, so there is no benefit to defeating the same person continuously. Depending on the amount of medals your opponent drops, there will be various effects.

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from

PLL questions and answers.

Now this could mean a few things.

1, you can respawn and if the enemy keeps on focusing you, at first you might drop 10 medals, second time 8, third time 6, etc

2, you can't respawn but if a healer revives you and you are killed again, you drop less like above.

Also about tanks in The Feast. Do not forget that the more medals you have, the more damage you take. Now the smart thing to do is to make your tanks hold all your medals, they are harder to kill than everyone else. So yeah the tanks will have high HP and high damage, but if the opponents are making the tanks hold the majority of the fallen tokens, than their high HP isn't as big a problem.

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Originally Posted by Selli

The reason why I ask is because the balancing differences between PvE and PvP are very different. AST for example was considered very weak in PvE when it was released, but they were pretty strong in PvP. When their potencies were increased (intended to help them with PvE content), it made them even stronger in PvP. With balancing being so different between PvP and PvE, I'm mostly just curious if it was considered.

(Besides, doesn't the idea of a tank that has 20k HP and can hit as hard as a DPS scare you just a little bit?! XD)

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SE often does not consider PvP when making changes to classes.

SE's primary concern is making sure that Jobs function the way that they should in PvE content. For this reason, all of the on-going forum arguments over SMN and AST being over powered in PvP are pointless. SE will never make adjustments to a job based on PvP. The PvP content is too small, and SE has to look at the whole picture. If a specific job got too unbalanced for PvP, I could sooner expect to see SE banning it from PvP than changing it. It's unfortunate, but that's the way it is.

As for the tanking changes, I wouldn't worry too much. The adjustment to the dmg calculation was to address the discrepancy with dropped fending accessories and melded ones. Stat allocation will not change all that much. Most people will hardly notice it, and tank dmg is still expected to still go down a little in Vit gear. Their health will increase, but more Vit does not = more defense, so, really, not much will change. Plus, the heavy medal debuff should compensate for any tanks (or any player, for that matter) who is overextending or abusing their job's exploitable abilities (Smn's beware and be warned).

It's also noteworthy that the tanks, themselves, are getting adjusted. SE singled out Pld, specifically (about time), but we really don't know the extent of the changes being made. They could very well nerf the dmg output of War's and Drk's as well. We won't know until 3.2. I'm, personally, excited to see what they do, but that's mostly because I play Pld a lot and have been painfully hindered by its faults.