Another patch - no change to the Atma drop system

I had really hoped that there would be a change in the Atma drop system with the 2.3 patch - I don't want to see it made super easy, but something that rewards the player for persistence and participation.

But they've released the new patch notes, and not a single mention of Atma. Despite significant user requests for some kind of change, despite accusations that it's lazy and mindless grinding, despite many claiming that they want to quit the game over it.

There's lots of new content, and it looks really exciting!
But there is one quest line, the Relic Weapon, that is still prohibitively difficult and needlessly unfair.


I am really growing to hate this game as time goes on

If it wasn't for my FC I'd have unsubbed over Atma. Worst game design I've ever seen. Took my gf over 120hrs (of active, aggressive farming) to complete a set of Atma with several FC members having the exact same experience. I'm currently on a 50+ hr (of active farming) streak without an Atma dropping.

As it stands I cancelled my alt/mule subs in addition to my main's automatic renewal and I downgraded myself from enthusiastically shelling out the 180day subscription to cautiously getting 30 days at a time, hoping they turn this crap around... I was similarly disappointed to see the patch notes...

If atma is so depressing why don't you guys just get alternative weapons? with this patch they made it super easy to get i95 weapons and some ways to get i100 weapon and even i110 with tome from ct and sands from hunts.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zankes

If atma is so depressing why don't you guys just get alternative weapons? with this patch they made it super easy to get i95 weapons and some ways to get i100 weapon and even i110 with tome from ct and sands from hunts.

---

So much this.

If you cancel your sub over atma.....idk what to say. Must be some sad lazy souls.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Chrisbox

If you cancel your sub over atma.....idk what to say. Must be some sad lazy souls.

---

You serious that the said person is lazy or that is a bigotry comment?

There was a buff to the atma drop , no credible sources but it was rumored to be from 1-5 to maybe 10% now to be honest and no lying I patched 2.3 this morning ran two different fates and got one right of the back (Fish) to be exact with no luck for the past week maybe it was luck , but with more and more content coming out I think they would increase the DR due to players falling behind people are still climbing and not to mention the grind for animous and I don't even know what to do for novus so yes I solely believe in a increased drop rate due to my exp. this morning

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zankes

If atma is so depressing why don't you guys just get alternative weapons? with this patch they made it super easy to get i95 weapons and some ways to get i100 weapon and even i110 with tome from ct and sands from hunts.

---

That's completely facile. It isn't about the weapon itself or a lack of alternatives. The relic quest line isn't even really required except for the flavour and the ongoing progression. The issue is that the content is insipid and patronizing. It's the kind of content a company releases that says they view their customers as mouth-breathing dollar signs.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Chrisbox

If you cancel your sub over atma.....idk what to say. Must be some sad lazy souls.

---

Our subs are the most relevant form of feedback the company can get. When SE does well, I'm happy to reward them and to tell others about how fun the content is. When they do poorly I'm certainly not going to keep rewarding them. There's a reason a relevant number of people quit the game over this "content." Some people love to make arguments like "ohhh just skip that content," "there are alternatives," and "you're just lazy." Well...no.. I'm 50 in all clases, maxed stats in all DoH/DoL, damn near full at least AF2+Zenith in all DoW/DoM, and made my FC's large plot, house, and furnishing with over 99% of my own grinded gil. More importantly, I'm a conscientious consumer. I'm not about to start white knighting when a company drops a steaming load on our collective chests with content that is unimaginative and lacks any semblance of thought/fun/creativity/challenge. I'll take no/delayed content over rushed/crappy content any day. All rushed/crappy content does, for me, is make me lose hard-to-earn faith in a compnay. Game design is an artform and people shouldn't feel the need to roll with the punches if developers blow their nose and present it to you as part of their game's design.

Inequity is the other major issue here. Some people take over 120 hours to complete a set while other people manage to crank out multiple sets in fractions of the time per set. It's been over 50+ hours of active, aggressive farming since I've had any more Atma drop.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ZhycranaDranix

There was a buff to the atma drop , no credible sources but it was rumored to be from 1-5 to maybe 10% now to be honest and no lying I patched 2.3 this morning ran two different fates and got one right of the back (Fish) to be exact with no luck for the past week maybe it was luck , but with more and more content coming out I think they would increase the DR due to players falling behind people are still climbing and not to mention the grind for animous and I don't even know what to do for novus so yes I solely believe in a increased drop rate due to my exp. this morning

---

I suspected they might do something like that. I'll be disappointed if it just turns out to be dumb luck, especially with them ameliorating the Myth grind aspect of subsequent stages,

Honestly The atma grind is nothing compared to previous grinds in MMO's. 1 its RNG your going to luck out or not. Campared to FFXI relic gridn this is cake, and don't complain about time invest vs reward because all the time you spent grinding for Atma you might have beaten coil 2 or something. The grind is long simply for the sole fact that your are casually playing to progress your character instead of straight up death memorization and group syncing to win. Welcome to MMO's if you don't like it it will never change, the grind is real despite how you don't want it to be.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Chrisbox

If you cancel your sub over atma.....idk what to say. Must be some sad lazy souls.

---

dumb comments like this, i don't know what to say either. I guess some people lack the ability to read..or simply don't know what the term lazy means.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sipherous

Honestly The atma grind is nothing compared to previous grinds in MMO's. 1 its RNG your going to luck out or not. Campared to FFXI relic gridn this is cake, and don't complain about time invest vs reward because all the time you spent grinding for Atma you might have beaten coil 2 or something. The grind is long simply for the sole fact that your are casually playing to progress your character instead of straight up death memorization and group syncing to win. Welcome to MMO's if you don't like it it will never change, the grind is real despite how you don't want it to be.

---

No, it's not better than FFXI relic grind. In FFXI you made constant progress by doing fun and potentially challenging endgame content as part of a team with the side benefit of earning your AF2 in the process. It required coordination, long-term planning and organization, and leadership. Even the upgrade quests to take your relic up to higher levels weren't nearly as bad because every EP kill was progress, not RNG retardation. Hell even nerfed Dynamis was better than this Atma crap because at least the mobs could kill you if you weren't careful. If someone dies farming Atma they must have fallen asleep at the wheel or had a stroke in real life. FFXI relics were by far the best weapons in the game whereas in FFXIV relic weapons are generally tied for best weapon. At any rate, it's about content quality, not the reward itself.

The vast majority of people upset about Atma aren't "casuals" and hundreds of hours spent intensely spamming FATEs is hundreds of hours spent intensely spamming FATEs, no matter how you slice it. RNG =/= grind. RNG is RNG. Bad content is bad content.

I really hate the Atma drop system.

1 month.

It took me 1 month to get 1 Atma.

Whenever I could, I played everyday and stayed in Middle La Norseca to get just 1 drop. Clearly, I'm not happy about this. I don't mind having quests that require an item with a chance drop rate. I do mind when its unfair and wastes my time like this. There's a goal that people see and the conditions are clear enough to acheive said goal . This however spits at anyone's efforts. "Go get the other weapon." is an excuse. Someone may be using their soildery to get body gear over the weapon first, having trouble clearing coil or even just getting Levi weapon. These are just examples and the funny thing is, all of these alternatives are "easier" to obtain over the Atma path which is an "inferior" weapon! So why is the Atma drop rate (followed by the books...) is so damn hard???

I began Atma farming in early May. As of 7/9/14, I have 2 Atmas left to upgrade my first relic.

Yay. More "WAAATMA" threads. And I've only got 4.

SE has done something about the ATMA grind. They've given you a very reasonable alternative way of obtaining gear that you would otherwise have to raid for. If you want a novus, you're gonna have to go through the grind. That's how it works. If you just want a i110 weapon and can't do coil: Good news! SE is handing them out for a few days worth of work now.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ShiroSteve

SE has done something about the ATMA grind. They've given you a very reasonable alternative way of obtaining gear that you would otherwise have to raid for. If you want a novus, you're gonna have to go through the grind. That's how it works.

---

No, that's how it works until it's nerfed like every single other aspect of the game always is, has been, and will be. You have to be either lucky, obsessed, or short sighted to not realize that the precious "grind' is going to be gimped into oblivion, as it should be, in relatively short order. Even worse, the pre-nerf is absurd compared to what the post-nerf will be in order for a healthy enough percentage of the playerbase to enjoy future progression, especially considering the weapons aren't even especially good. This isn't FFXI where relic >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> all else. In FFXIV, relic is caught up in a perpetual two to three way tie for bis. Additionally, as I've already stated, it's not about the weapon itself or alternatives at all... it's about being sold garbage anti-content designed specifically to bog players down in fear that people will unsubscribe from the game if they aren't constantly bashing their heads against some sort of uninspired tripe of a grindwall.

RNG needs a buff asap, its currently just a lottery, i would like to grind fates for an hour or 2 and at least know i will get something because thats a more sensible way to say look to did this for a certain amount of time heres your reward, you've earned it! it shouldnt have had to be any more complicated than that because now these hunts are allowing people to be ilvl 110 within 2 days because for every hunt theres a reward so why couldnt they have started atma's off with this concept?

They're not going to buff the ATMA drops until they've moved far enough ahead in progression that the grind is no longer valid, and then they'll make it easier just to allow players to catch up. They're perfectly content with where things are right now, and I honestly don't see ATMA changing until the 3.0 expansion.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Chrisbox

If you cancel your sub over atma.....idk what to say. Must be some sad lazy souls.

---

It's funny how people can say they go 50 hours without a drop and people will still say nonsense like this.

When the only form of success is Luck, effort is irrelevant.

This is almost a month old but while waiting for the fates to refresh... IMO:

1) RNG. Basically, it is even possible to get no drop at all as long as I live. Even though that is luck and I can not blame Square Enix for me not getting anything, but as said, it's just ridiculous to see that your effort are rewarded with a kick in your butt while the guy living next to you get them easily within 12 hours...

2) The way we spent our time. Fates are most annoying things: Being downscaled, not able to use the skills you are used to, running around the map, getting stuck in obstacles like fences or small rocks because you have the map open to check out what way you going to take. You scale down, hit a few mobs and restart. Over. And. Over. And. Over. Even with Hangover in TV and good music this is just a terrible experience. I think I am waiting for it to be more reasonable (not necessarily easier!) obtainable. It's like the big Myth inflation that happened a few weeks ago.

i can handle just about any grind, and, while i will continue to complain about atma, i am still doing it. i wen three months of grinding since i started, and i finally got my first atma last week. thats 3 months of 2 hour grind sessions every day thats 60 hours every month, for 3 months. 180 total. now, you try grinding that much and see whos a lazy, sad soul.

the drop rates need to be adjusted. having such a low drop rate is a terrible idea, and leaving it to luck is even worse.i will hate the atma grind because it is a terrible idea. there is no reason i should have to grind for almost 200 hours for ONE atma drop. i got the 100 weapon for PLD in 2 days, and used the seals to buy the logs, trade them in and get my 110 weapon.

I've been grinding 4 hours a night the past two weeks and (un)luckily have 3. Tried the loljapanese way, tried server times, tried each area for only 1 hour each, but RNG is RNG. I just try to keep a positive attitude, listen to music, find random hunt mobs between, and purchase Ventures with all the seals I get. I think I've got like 300 Ventures now, lol.

I think with the limited usefulness of the company seals - SE should maybe consider something for FATE grinders to look forward to without suddenly flooding players with Atmas.

For example, they could make certain Atmas purchasebale with 50,000 Seals (the maximum you get currently). Limit them to 4 atmas per GC - so people will rank up in all GCs and have something to look forward to in the case they become extremely unlucky to reach 50,000 seals without any Atmas.

This way, Atmas will become more accesssible to the masses WITHOUT having a sudden flood of Atma weapons. And at worst, if someone pays enough effort they could easily get 50,000 seals per week (equals to at least one atma per week). Again, people could spam Militia item hand-ins if they wanted to and therefore stimulate the market.

I guess my biggest problem with this drop system is this: it takes absolutely no skill to earn this upgrade, only time and luck. It's a cynical attempt to get us to play more.

I do like this game, really. I've played JRPGs for over a decade, doing my best to complete everything each game has to offer. I mind that there's no guaranteed reward investment for my time. Will I get super lucky again, or will I be as unfortunate as my friend who had to grind an area for a month before getting his drop? It's no secret that the best weapon in the game will be the relic weapon; it's only natural that players want one for their main class. The current requirements to put the darn thing together after Zenith are absurdly harsh on the players, however. If you're going to have an RNG system, don't screw your players with it.

There is a nice benefit to this patch. spirit binding must be done in gear correct areas. low level fates will be great for spirit bonding. Next many of the atma fates are low to mid level to more spirit binding while chasing atma drops. Last, GC seals, you will need i55, i70 and i90 crafted gear to SB in certain dungeons and raids. Use your seals to buy the i70 mats for making i70 gear. Make it yourself or sell the mats. the mats will be worth a lot of gil. The i90 is more myth tome items and if you have extra, sell the myth items or find a 3 star crafter to make you something. from the sound of it, i70 has a high chance of lvl IV materia and my guess is i90 is even higher. So this patch helps you make gil while working on atma and getting materia you will need for novus. I think it is a win for many ppl.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Millen1

...

---

All of this was the case before the patch change. All it did now was restrict SBing to require those specific level ranges, if not make it worse because when I personally try to SB from FATEs, it goes atrociously slow compared to open world farming (for Animus Books).

Nor does this help with getting IV materia for novus.

Lol, so yeah. I've gone from worrying about Atma (finally completed it a while back after a two month or so grind) to worrying about the materia for my novus (currently on book 8/9 of Animus). Thanks SE, LOVE your decision :/

They really need to do something. I don't really pay much attention, I just do things. I was working on the 3000 fate achievement while making sure to do my atmas at the same time. and so far I went from around 300 atmas when I started to 1140 currently, and I've only received two of them.

This really isn't fair at all. It's broken. I don't care what you say, its completely broken. There's way too much content in this game for me to keep up with without atmas. Leveling a legendary weapon from zero to amazing is one of my most favorite things to do in RPGs ever. Starting with a crappy sword in Dark Souls or Skyrim or the Abyssion in Vesperia was way too cool. But this just isn't fair at all. At this rate I'm going to have 3000 fates done with only 5-6 atma. Really broken and unfair.