Expansions should be for "catch-up" - not update patches (solution proposed)

In my opinion "catch-up" comes too frequently in this game and ruins the experience for the "average" player. The "main" purpose of obtaining higher stat gear is to take on more difficult challenges. However by time the "average" player is sufficiently geared and ready for the more difficult challenges, it is actually the lesser challenges that provide the bigger rewards. The system is fundamentally broken for the average player. Rather than "only" complain - I will eventually get to a solution proposal. Please read on.

When Heavensward came out the average player worked to complete the story, did the law tomestone / hunt grind, maybe began to dabble with Alexander normal / extreme primals and "possibly" even set their sights towards Alexander Savage. But before they could complete these tasks, 3.1 released. Roughly equivalent gear to Alexander Savage could be earned from Diadem, Void Ark, tomestones, etc. Just when the average player had the ability to challenge extreme primals, Alexander normal / savage, etc. - various "easier" options to earn "top-tier" gear opened up. Now lets say that player starts grinding void ark, diadem, tomestones, etc. and is finally geared and ready to take on Alexander Savage. Bam - 3.2 hits and mere tomestone gear now provides "better" gear than the raids the player just geared up for.

The average player thinks to themselves, why even bother? Why spend the countless hours gearing up to get to the party if the party is over by time you get there?

Prior to a new expansion release, there should not exist more "difficult" content that provides lesser rewards than "easier" content. I believe everyone should be able to experience the story which is why it is a good thing to have "normal" versions of "all" content. The game has normal / heroic versions of primal battles and raids. All it is missing are heroic versions of dungeons and then there's a perfectly viable solution to this problem. Imagine the below:

Patch 3.0: Normal difficulty dungeons / primals / raids let you earn up to item level 200 gear whereas heroic versions of each let you earn up to 210. Patch 3.2 - normal versions can get you to item level 205 whereas heroic versions can get you to 215. Patch 3.4, normal versions can get you to 210 where as heroic versions can get to 220. Patch 4.0 - expansion: everyone is caught up.

Is the system not broken when the content to earn item level 130 gear is "easier" than the raid content to receive item level 90 gear? Let's create incentive to actually play the challenges and then a year and half or two years later when an expansion is released - everyone is put back on equal ground.

I only completed my Alexander normal set after 3.1, also only bought the esoteric weapon yesterday (because I was freaking tired of that Masakaki Kai and there are NO learning parties for anything on Exodus, so I can't get my Thordan weapon) and now I feel like I wasted all the Esos on something I won't use because relic drops december 16th.

For someone who plays only 2-hours a day, it's almost IMPOSSIBLE to gear more than one class, and that's what I think SQEX should look up into. This game is supposed to be about changing jobs when you need, but you can't do that because lockouts and constant ilv changes don't let you gear all your alts in relevant gearsets.

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Originally Posted by Fevelle

I only completed my Alexander normal set after 3.1, also only bought the esoteric weapon yesterday (because I was freaking tired of that Masakaki Kai and there are NO learning parties for anything on Exodus, so I can't get my Thordan weapon) and now I feel like I wasted all the Esos on something I won't use because relic drops december 16th.

For someone who plays only 2-hours a day, it's almost IMPOSSIBLE to gear more than one class, and that's what I think SQEX should look up into. This game is supposed to be about changing jobs when you need, but you can't do that because lockouts and constant ilv changes don't let you gear all your alts in relevant gearsets.

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Absolutely agree. You my friend are the average player I am talking about. Very much like myself. You begin to ask yourself, "what is the point of gearing up?" I feel like the average player is tied to an endless cycle of grinding less challenging content.

I'd say don't raise the level cap at all cause it adds pointless leveling (there is no depth to it nor is it hard in FFXIV, just takes long) and invalidated content in one go. Heavensward literally killed off all of ARR and made the game start all over as if it was 2.0 again. Put the work into creating a multitude of content to work toward beating so we aren't stuck doing 2 dungeons for 5 months. Put the storyline through the content as well.

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Originally Posted by Magis

I'd say don't raise the level cap at all cause it adds pointless leveling (there is no depth to it nor is it hard in FFXIV, just takes long) and invalidated content in one go.

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I'd then go a step further and say there should not be progression at all, because it adds pointless grinds and invalidates content.

The final patch before HW was an extremely effective catch up tool.

It makes no sense to then add new content that is ALSO super fast to go thru from day one. Just the stuff that precedes it.

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Originally Posted by MasamuneBranford

snips

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thanks for the laughs, i'm sorry but that how i see it.
you are complaining because people get good stuff and? no i'm asking because even while BC2-BC3 i had no incentive reason to do both...why? because the gear inside was not needed! the gears of the raid are generally only good for...raid.... they are useless outside it.
now that the gears difference is less visible people complain that they have no incentive reason to get this stuff... waking up after 2 years.
the trouble is not the catch up patch or stuff... but litterally the fact to make all the endgame tie to the raiding.... outside raid what is the point to have 210 gears? none... you get this gears in the raid for the raid. the world outside can be clean fairly easy in i180-190....

until they add another content of endgame more player friendly and more interesting the gears in this game is a joke.

ps: did you see the participation in the savage raid? pîtifull.... until they understand that they need to change the approach we will have this sort of talk.

I don't want SE to further punish us for having more than one Job as it is. The current formula only works in keeping current content relevant. SE should focus on revitalizing old content and change gears to a more horizontal progression. That way old content will still be relevant long after it's release patch. I don't mind the leveling myself but I want stuff to mean something for a long time to come.

I don't think you quite grasp what an expansion is. It's not about catching up, it's not about gearing up (though it is about new gear), it's about expanding the game. Hence the name, expansion. If all it was was to give people more means of leveling and gearing up it wouldn't be called an expansion. It'd be called a version update. That's what the numbered patches are all about, version updates. And Square does all this already so there's nothing to solve for. And the average player who's been with the game long enough to know there's a party to gear up for had already been ready for the party for weeks. Months even for some. They were ready well before the expansion launched. Those who are late, though, have one heck of a treat as every quest they've been doing has all been leveling them for Heavensward. One of our company members hasn't even reached Leviathan yet and is already halfway to 60.

I agree, I would rather see top end gear thats hard to get but lasts the whole expansion then constant easy to get gear that only lasts a patch maybe 2 before it's outdated. This is more of a FFXI way of doing things though and probably wouldn't work well with FFXIV/WoW community that we have.

So, every 6 months (give or take a month) is too soon.

3.2 is not a catch-up patch. At all. They're likely delaying or even eliminating gear from the story mode of the next arm of Alexander too. So you better be good to get the best stuff.

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Originally Posted by PArcher

So you better be good to get the best stuff.

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What does this add to a discussion about "average players who can't gear up classes properly because of weekly lockouts and bad itemization"?

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Originally Posted by Fevelle

What does this add to a discussion about "average players who can't gear up classes properly because of weekly lockouts and bad itemization"?

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Well, you can. It just takes longer. 6 months is long enough (I have 4 jobs over i200, and another one over 190, and could have more but I got lazy. Then again, I have a lot of Savage gear to help me, so...), and if it is not you are definitely not an "average" player (funnily enough, most of the "average" players I know have at least two geared, not even touching Savage or doing much Diadem, and they don't care to play more than those jobs anyway.)

And if you don't have the time to gear up one or two jobs in 3 months, you don't have the time to do much raiding either. Which is the main point of gearing up in the first place

Isn't the constant cycle of 2 monthly catchup patches (which is advantageous for "people with alts") trading depth for breadth? because right now, the gearing process is a friggin lake with the depth of a puddle.

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Originally Posted by PArcher

Well, you can. It just takes longer. 6 months is long enough (I have 4 jobs over i200, and another one over 190, and could have more but I got lazy. Then again, I have a lot of Savage gear to help me, so...), and if it is not you are definitely not an "average" player (funnily enough, most of the "average" players I know have at least two geared, not even touching Savage or doing much Diadem, and they don't care to play more than those jobs anyway.)

And if you don't have the time to gear up one or two jobs in 3 months, you don't have the time to do much raiding either. Which is the main point of gearing up in the first place

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I gear up because I like my characters to have relevant gear when I want to play them. The main point of gearing is up to the player, not to commom sense of "why is gear useful for". Let's be honest, what's the point on having an armory system if you can't gear all your jobs properly because the develpment team cap tokens, drops and content?

Expansions should not be used for catchup. update patches should still be used as catchup. I would have for an entire expansion be used to allow players to catch up, leaving the average player nothing.