FFXIV : Stormblood - The State of Hunts

*Disclaimer: This thread was intended to be one long post, but it is very much "tl;dr" and well over the 1000 character limit. I shall be breaking it up into post(s)

Preface: Hello, I'm Fais Yila on Odin server in EU Datacenter. I started playing during Heavensward with the release of the first leg in the Alexander raid, and I quickly became largely invested in hunting -- being a part of 8 linkshells dedicated purely to spawning/hunting, and actively participating in the spawning of S ranks along with calling out hunts. I may not have the experience many players from ARR have in regards to hunts, but speaking as someone who has been active since Alex was introduced in HW, and as someone who loves to introduce new players (and older players alike) to hunts, I do believe that some changes need to be made, not only for the sake of keeping hunts interesting for those of us who have been doing them for a long time, but also for those who are new to hunting altogether.

The meat of the issue (pt 1)

Ever since hunts have existed, there have been problems that the community has said Hunting has: "Leechers," "early-pullers," "ninjakillers." Such things have existed since hunts have existed. The hunt community is in a state of constant disagreement. Hunts are too easy vs too hard; open world content vs implied need to work together. Many times these issues have been discussed, and many times the argument goes out: "Do not be entitled," "This is open world content," "If you want the hunts, do not allow leeches," "You are not a true hunter if you are not spawning and killing," "There is no such thing as early-pulling," "Ninjakilling does not exist," "If you want the hunt, be online," "I do not have time to wait for other players," etc.

The meat of the issue (pt 2)

Speaking as someone who contribute to hunts, these same issues apply to both the people who claim they are not a problem and the people who complain about these issue. For example, by pulling with an 'early-puller' players are contributing to the issue they themselves have with hunting.

A common argument is that Hunt content is meant to be solo'd which, given how the mobs were scaled back in their relevant content, was not SE's intention. It was obvious -- and with Stormblood, remains obvious -- that A ranks and S ranks have, and will remain, content that was (or, in its relevant patch, is) meant to be done as a group. As the gear level increases, this older hunting content becomes irrelevant -- in my opinion, it is done with the intention of keeping the current hunt content relevant. That in and of itself is of little consequence. It is good that SE continues to push forwards and attempts to keep the current content rewarding.

Added issue: Newer players & older players trying for Centurio Tiger mount.

Since the developers have added the Centurio Tiger mount to the achievements, I've seen a sharp upspike in intentional malicious activities during hunts, and intentional misreporting of hunts being downed to prevent others from even attempting to assist in spawning/hunting. While I understand there is, and should be, no sense of entitlement when it comes to hunts, the benefits of being able to contribute to the hunting community as a whole outweigh the vacuum of assistance. Before this continues, however, let me make clear: I have no issue with how 'difficult' it is to obtain the Centurio Tiger. It is a sufficient reward for those who were active since hunts were introduced to FFXIV.


This thread is not made to address the vanity mount of the Centurio tiger, I merely wished to address the tiger, seeing as it is a driving factor for multiple players' issues with hunts.

Proposed solutions I have seen, or that I suggest (with pros and cons) pt 1:

Introduce a level sync to non-relevant content hunts (ARR&HW)

I've seen this one brought up a lot. While this could definitely help in some instances, I feel that many players would feel that a Hunt sync would not be seen as trying to reinvest older hunters, but instead be seen as a nuisance to those who want the convenience of the quickly killed ARR and HW A & S rank marks. Additionally, those of us who have hunted since HW (and likely those who have hunted it before then) know many of the mechanics for these mobs or outright ignore the mechanics due to current gear level. It is a hit and miss solution. I would love, however, to hear other people's input on it. Considering hunts should remain relevant for the content that the player is current able to access, this would put ARR/HW hunts within reach for sprouts that are pre-61.

Proposed solutions I have seen, or that I suggest (with pros and cons) pt2:

Keep hunts the way they are

While I do agree that, in Stormblood, there is no serious inherent issue with how the hunts currently are (with the purely community etiquette issues of 'early pulls' and 'leechers' aside), I do believe that A Realm Reborn and Heavenward hunts need to have some level of reworking to keep their relevancy. Do note, this is content that takes up space. They talk to us about not being able to add more housing objects, but keep hunts that are completely irrelevant to current patch. An important factor is keeping things that are kept in the game relevant.

Proposed solutions I have seen, or that I suggest (with pros and cons) pt3:

Introduce a Centurio Tracker NPC independent of the Hunter-Scholar

This is an idea I'm personally proud of. Much like the weather NPCs, this NPC could keep track of the timers of hunts in various areas. This would be a surefire way for players who are dedicated to hunting to attempt to spawn S ranks or search for A ranks, and eliminate some of the issue the Hunt community is currently having. It appeals to the 'open world content' argument, the 'If I see an A rank for ARR or HW I kill it immediately, I will not wait for leechers' mentality, and the 'early pullers' issue. I cannot see many cons with this one, as players who are dedicated to hunting can check up on when the hunts will be up again, and set time aside to be available at this point.

Proposed solutions I have seen, or that I suggest (with pros and cons) pt4:

Eureka Mobs giving Centurio Seals + counting for achievement (after the consolidation of the Allied Seals + Centurio Seals currency)

This would certainly help, as it would keep Eureka relevant for those who do not wish to wait for A rank/S rank hunts, or are not involved in the Hunting community at large. Additionally, if it counted towards the A or S rank kills, players whose sole mission is to farm Hunts for the Centurio mount / achievement would instead dedicate themselves to farming Eureka, which would further help in making -- and keeping -- the Eureka content relevant outside of the Relic Armor.

Thoughts and feedback are more than welcome, as I love to hear what other hunters think about these issues -- or in some cases, perceived issues -- and proposed solutions. ...I'm very passionate about hunting content.

All I've read in response to requests to change S ranks in ARR and SB is that it's to benefit the level 50s. I am level 51 and I do not benefit from S ranks because level 70s come swarming in huge numbers on faster mounts and kill them long before I arrive. I am in 7 hunt linkshells but they don't relay the relinks fast enough as I have seen people in huge numbers seconds after the announcements. I've asked for better linkshells but they are all full. 2 minutes isn't enough time to reach some of the hunts that are at the other side of the map from the nearest teleport and it's unfair to the level 50s that haven't yet obtained all the maps and can't because 6/10 times we either get no seals or reduced credit from not being able to dps enough before the level 70s shred them. Either the level 70s need to stop being so anxious to kill them or changes need to be made to the S ranks so us level 50s have a chance to arrive before they die and can get full credit for participating.

I like the idea of the centurio tracker, but instead of giving specific times like some websites do it a simple this hunt is on respawn time, this hunt is off respawn and could spawn soon, and this hunt is roaming around (not sure about the last one, could make it too easy) but this way we have a in game way of seeing if those websites that track hunts are being used correctly.

On old content hunts, those are free kills that im not gunna call out and don't expect people to call out.

As a dedicated hunter who regularly works towards spawning even some of the most elusive S ranks(Nunyunuwi, Senmurv, The Pale Rider), I agree that Hunts need to have their mechanics revised and tweaked.

I would side with whichever prospects the majority of players feel are appropriate, provided said potential changes were reasonable to implement.

I'd strongly encourage everyone who partakes or wishes to partake in hunts to offer prompt suggestions and feedback.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Naelynne

Proposed solutions I have seen, or that I suggest (with pros and cons) pt3:

Introduce a Centurio Tracker NPC independent of the Hunter-Scholar

This is an idea I'm personally proud of. Much like the weather NPCs, this NPC could keep track of the timers of hunts in various areas. This would be a surefire way for players who are dedicated to hunting to attempt to spawn S ranks or search for A ranks, and eliminate some of the issue the Hunt community is currently having. It appeals to the 'open world content' argument, the 'If I see an A rank for ARR or HW I kill it immediately, I will not wait for leechers' mentality, and the 'early pullers' issue. I cannot see many cons with this one, as players who are dedicated to hunting can check up on when the hunts will be up again, and set time aside to be available at this point.

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I agree with and like this idea as well, but only to an extent.
I feel the aforementioned NPC hunt tracker should only specify whethere an S or A Rank has their variable spawn window open or closed.

Hunts are designed heavily around the RNG aspects of their respawn timers, and if everyone knew exactly when an A or S rank can / will spawn, that would break how hunts were intended to work.

In particular, many of the S ranks have simple spawn conditions, and it would take little effort for me to spawn a lot of them on my own if I knew exactly when to spawn them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Naelynne

Proposed solutions I have seen, or that I suggest (with pros and cons) pt4:

Eureka Mobs giving Centurio Seals + counting for achievement (after the consolidation of the Allied Seals + Centurio Seals currency)

This would certainly help, as it would keep Eureka relevant for those who do not wish to wait for A rank/S rank hunts, or are not involved in the Hunting community at large. Additionally, if it counted towards the A or S rank kills, players whose sole mission is to farm Hunts for the Centurio mount / achievement would instead dedicate themselves to farming Eureka, which would further help in making -- and keeping -- the Eureka content relevant outside of the Relic Armor.

Thoughts and feedback are more than welcome, as I love to hear what other hunters think about these issues -- or in some cases, perceived issues -- and proposed solutions. ...I'm very passionate about hunting content.

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Also would like to add that I've seen a few times A ranks die at the hands of a solo 70 who didn't even announce it to anyone or arriving at an A rank and not being invited so I only get 3 credits. I made a complaint about it in one hunt linkshell where the people who pulled were in it and instead I got flamed at and told that they don't have to invite me if they don't want to and then blacklisted. So I ask again how is keeping level 50 hunt targets as they are benefitting level 50's when they're being solo'd by level 70's?

They really need to just remove the RNG from the more annoying requirements like big fishing and treasure maps and make it so you can know whether or not it's even possible for a given hunt to spawn in-game from the hunter-scholar in each region, because potentially wasting hours trying to spawn something that's not even available because someone killed it without marking it on a tracker is silly.