Relic Weapon Exchange Slip- Optional Item

Hello, my wife and I are huge FF14 fans but like many people we don't have time to play for several hours a day. We've been working on our relic weapons for months already and are currently stuck on Animus->Novus. We like to have fun on FF14 but it is still a game and taking care of our daughter and the numerous other tasks life demands does come first. I find it incredibly helpful that the difficulty of obtaining the different steps of these items is often lowed as updates roll out but that still comes at a cost; Quantity. I've read numerous posts where people wish for "easier" relics and they are often ganged up on by angry relic weapon owners who had to "do it when it was much harder" but what these people often forget is that the value of that step today is incredibly lower than what it meant back then and it will only become more so. (Continued Below)

Animus is ilvl100 which was impressive or at least usable several months ago but now, at a max ilvl135 the value of it is down right laughable and in addition to this materia prices are and will only continue to rise making that particular step even more difficult except for those already firmly planted in the market and backed by a truly impressive time spent in game(which is quite an overlook in the step's design in my opinion). Despite all of this however I am NOT here to ask for "easier" steps but instead simply an optional item available for purchase in the Mog Station that allows us to exchange a relic weapon for another of equivalent level. This doesn't make it easier for me to complete a relic weapon but stops me from having to invest that time and money again if I should ever want to switch jobs for one or more of the numerous reasons often encountered in Eorzea. My suggestion is as follows:

Mog Station Optional Item - Relic Weapon Exchange Slip
Cost:$10
Description: Used, in addition with current Relic weapon, to be exchanged for a different weapon and quest line of equivalent level. All progress on current quest line is reset.
Note: Can only be purchased once every X months and cannot be exchanged to a class currently working on or with a separate relic weapon. Cannot be used to exchange weapons for a new class/job until X months after its release.

This allows casual players to switch classes but not progress should the need arise(but not freely) meanwhile not diminishing the effort put forth by many players who have obtained several weapons or want to be the first in obtaining it for a newer class/job while simultaneously bringing in more revenue for S.E.

This sounds like a great idea, but i'm still part of the playerbase that believes there shouldn't be a cash shop and such features like this should be given somehow, perhaps with in-game gil or by a quest that gives an item like fantasia.


It put a bitter taste in my mouth to witness SE following the crowd of in-game purchasing games and encouraging them to make such items as you've suggested a real-money purchase options is a bad thing in my mind.

I too, struggle to find the time to play this game but i try my best, i don't have a lot of cash right now either but i feel the game is worth it. the problem is it's not just this game that does in-game purchases and if you play a lot of games, the temptation to spend extra cash when the game introduces a new shiny item is high.

I play Counter-Strike quite frequently and there are skins you can purchase for your weapons on a market system. the difference however is that it does not affect the game play whatsoever, no weapon boosts, no armour-piercing bullet options, no accuracy boots etc. it's just a simple skin, which if people want to spend their real money on then fine, it's just a cosmetic thing. but when you're talking about a cash-shortcut because you can't find the time then that makes it a little unfair on some people.

That's a different case though. This is not a "shortcut" you're not gaining anything, you're trading something. It's not like "buying a new weapon" it's more like "preserving your current progress" after-all maybe I trade my Bow for a Book, yeah maybe I just "shortcuted my scholar but now I also don't have a bow.
I'm with you in feeling like it shouldn't be a cash shop at all but SE is a company and ideas are more likely to be pushed through if they can generate revenue in some way.

I definitely agree that they should do something more about the insane grind of the older relic stages than they have already done.

Even with increased FATE drop rates, they should add in alternate methods for Atma/Alexandrite, GC seals would be nice.
The books with the 100 monsters/3 FATEs/3 dungeons should be cut down somehow.
The nexus light has been buffed and is recent enough that it's fine for now.

As it stands I refuse to go through all that crap a 2nd time, so I stick with alternate weapons for alternate jobs.

The biggest issue here is post Novus stage the weapons have customised secondaries, how do you decide during the exchange what secondaries are present on the weapons? I would vote that you could exchange the current weapon + fee (gil,quest,MGP,GCP whatever) for a different one with no secondaries thus forcing you to complete the sphere scroll novus phase to customise it. This way it not only gives people the option to swap weapons there is enough of a downside to stop people from abusing it.

You can already buy sphere scrolls and outfit them as you wish for other jobs in advance anyway (AFAIK) so it wouldn't even render you with a disadvantaged weapon if you wished to be prepared.

This is a shortcut. How? Get a warrior relic, do the atma stage as a tank and laugh at dps ques. Do everything with the short tank/healer ques then change it to a dps relic and laugh at people who's doing it the right way. This is not a casual weapon. It's a grind weapon now. If you want a casual weapon might as grab a ilvl 110 or a shiva weapon. If this happens, cash shop is not purely for cosmetics anymore. It will provide an edge to people who uses it. Yes I do use the cash shop but I strongly disagree with this.

Ps. Yes I have a full time job, yes I know how long the grind is, yes I have bills to pay and I still think the suggestion will bring more bad than good.

You also have to learn everything that goes with playing a different class. You can sit there and say that because you're a tank you can get a relic done considerably faster which it may seem like however you then need to learn a completely new role, need OTHER armor, and everything else that comes with it. Yes, maybe it would help but it's not something you can do often. In addition to this your example only applies to those people who are grinding these out one after another which the time gate is aimed at stopping. On top of all of that, so what? More tanks, more healers, more money for SE that's not bad for anyone.

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Originally Posted by Sco_The_Hunter

On top of all of that, so what? More tanks, more healers, more money for SE that's not bad for anyone.

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Except for you know the people who put the time and effort for whatever relic they choose. I have almost lvl 50 everything in DOW from tanks to heals to dps. Armors fall from the sky and you can get everything you need for whatever class in one day(soldiery armor) and that's more than sufficient to complete any relic. There's nothing to learn for most people. This is just an advantage for people who don't wanna deal with que times or too lazy to start on another relic and the money for it which is a disadvantage for people who wants to do it properly. This will bring imbalance to the game along with other stuff.

First is gonna be this then, "waaahhhwe can't down t5,9,13! Give us something in the cash shop that will allow us to down it like a ticket for $50 then if we click it, it will give us the achievement! I wanna know the story behind it and I work full time and I can't dedicate any time to this game but I want everything in a click of a button that other people bashed their heads on for hours! I'll pay any amount!"

Cash shop needs to stay cosmetics ONLY. Nothing more, nothing less.

RL > FFXIV An idea would be to not play a game with this type of time sync?

@ OP - if you're stuck on the Alex stage and have trouble affording the materia, you can just bind it with crit/det up to level II or III grade materia (whatever you can afford). Then bind the rest with accuracy, skill speed, piety or whatever you want to move onto the novus stage.

During the novus stage you can still gather light for the nexus AND go back and modify your alexandrite stats 1 at a time with no penalty (other than you have to buy that expensive grade IV materia). This allows you to make money, grind out the next stage and go and fix the melds you put on there as a placeholder.

For casual players, the Alexandrite phase is one of the worst, since it requires gil and not everyone is a crafter to make the amount of gil neccessary.

I'm pretty certain your idea will not be realized anytime soon, as it is very clearly pay to win and not supported by most of the playerbase from what I can tell in game and in the forums. Allowing people to pay real life money to literally upgrade their iLvl and thus, damage/healing output of their character is not a good idea for a subscription based game.

Allowing people to, once every few months for real money, switch which class has a relic weapon by no means, NO MEANS, means that they would, should, or even consider cash shop boosts to clear harder content and the fact you're using that as a defense is frustrating, insulting, and purely idiotic.

In addition to this as I said before, who cares if people are paying for a very slightly faster relic via being able to que as a tank or healer? That means faster ques for all the other DPS. And for what? A relic weapon that may or may not be BiS?
Finally this has zero effect on people who as you say "want to do it properly" because guess what, the person getting this relic is also giving up one. You want more than one? Let's say he did "take advantage" of this and make it first on a tank? Seriously. Give me one legitimate reason why it would be game breaking and unfair for him to que as a tank if he so chose to to save a tiny bit of time despite the time gate? You've yet to do that.

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Originally Posted by NovaDetio

RL > FFXIV An idea would be to not play a game with this type of time sync?

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The other idea is that if telling people they don't have a right to borderline vanity content because they have real responsibilities is your idea of both a solution and constructive input then frankly you can get the hell out because im in no mood to deal with crap like that.

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Originally Posted by m3eansean

I'm pretty certain your idea will not be realized anytime soon, as it is very clearly pay to win and not supported by most of the playerbase from what I can tell in game and in the forums. Allowing people to pay real life money to literally upgrade their iLvl and thus, damage/healing output of their character is not a good idea for a subscription based game.

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This is not "pay to win" and if you consider it as such I feel comfortable in saying I doubt you have have any experience with real "PtW" games.

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Originally Posted by Sco_The_Hunter

The other idea is that if telling people they don't have a right to borderline vanity content because they have real responsibilities is your idea of both a solution and constructive input then frankly you can get the hell out because im in no mood to deal with crap like that.

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Um I responded with a logical answer, and any parent that wants to play games over raising a child should be able to decide that no prob. Oh and I forget saying your opinion in forums is to much for typing tough guys/girls. Good day

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Originally Posted by NovaDetio

Um I responded with a logical answer, and any parent that wants to play games over raising a child should be able to decide that no prob. Oh and I forget saying your opinion in forums is to much for typing tough guys/girls. Good day

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You responed with a troll answer.
"Dun play teh game if u aint got timez, bra"
Your "logical answer" doesn't contribute to anything and it isn't worded as a opinion either.

No and reason is that even if it just transfers the progress to a different weapon it would still truly start the game down the road of pay to win. SE has made it clear that no raid it good gear will be bought from the cash shop.

There are people who hate the grind and do have limited play time but they still do it sometimes twice and people will be doing it all over again once the new jobs come out.

If your progress is very slow due to more important real life obligations, then I think relic weapons are not the right path for you. The little time you have to play is being spent on this weapon, and you are still behind enough that a weapon you could buy from the market board has more power than the animus stage you have reached.

If they allowed you to exchange the weapon for a fee, then your problems have just increased. Now you will say, I spent all this time on this questline AND paid real money, but I am left with an obsolete piece of junk because the game moved on faster than I did.

So my suggestion would be to cut your losses and abandon progress on the relic now, so you don't feel that you've invested too much of yourself into a weapon that has become obsolete and avoid further disappointment. A silver lining would be you've got this nice trinket you can use for glamor purposes if you wish.