Patch notes - do we really need to know everything?

Just curious, would the gobbue have been more exciting if you had known nothing about it and suddenly saw someone on one? Rather than everyone rushing out to the location in the patch notes and "check done, content over" maybe they can have a few more stealth updates. One part of me loves the patch notes but the other part wishes there was a just little more discovery.

I'd have to agree with this. Maybe give us a hint in the patch notes.

I do see your point.

In a way, it's almost like reading a strategy guide on a section before arriving at the location in offline game. You know what to expect in this regard, you just have to live it first hand.

On one hand, I sympathize with the "too easy" feeling of logging in and going "wham, bam, thank you ma'am" to some of the smaller content, and for some even the greater patch contents hold little time investment in their initial finding.

The trick to FFXIV though is that it's not a grand MMO with a flourishing userbase. Those that do play and contribute to those forums are all great and I thank them for their efforts, but each of us is a crazy person who are paying for a horribly failed launch game still very much in development that will undergo a major overhaul before the year's end. Any and all information about new content in the game, regardless of how 'easy' it is to do, should be shown. S-E shouldn't hide any of the content they're making for a world that's very much on its way out: such things as Goobbue mounts may be enough to get people to subscribe, even for a month, or any of the new quests that will be added, such as the Job quests which could also draw and revitalize interest in the game. Publicly making "what's new" available in its patch notes is one of the best ways to do it. Word of mouth will have spread the existence of Goobbue mounts, yes, but ultimately slower than S-E being open about its goals and current implementations.

FFXIV shouldn't play coy at this part of its life, even if it all comes off as low mystery.

The real mysteries and speculation that help me keep my subscription lie in the plot, personally. I'm not deriding your desire in any way, though.

Hmm.. good point. Maybe they can be sneaky with their updates in a year or so. For now they're going to have to hold everyone's hand just to keep them playing.

As long as they don't go back to their old ways.

The original XI team wouldn't have told us there was a Goobbue mount. And the one chap who stumbled across it would have told everyone he got it from Taisai...

Ok ppl ask se to be specific about patches. Se does this.. Now ppl complain we know to much?? No thank you keep patch notes as they are, you dont want to know.. Simply dont click it.

Im not complaining was just interested peoples thoughts, thanks for sharing yours. There are advantages and disadvantages to having everything but strategy disclosed. But I do agree with Hachi Roku, was a good point. I didnt like the lack of info in FFXI, but you also donty have to go to the other extreme of telling exactly where to go and which NPC to talk with. The content can still be disclosed.

They should keep the technical side of the patch as detailed as possible, but yeah, in case of additional content they could reveal less, that would make it more interesting.

At this point the patch notes are the games way of advertising that there are improvements going on. I do agree that some neato stealth additions would be welcome especially if there were hints given ingame and perhaps in the lodestone newspaper articles.

surprises are always nice :)

Please, don't make them revert to their old ways. I like the way they communicate with us. That's why I am still here. :)

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Originally Posted by Soukyuu

They should keep the technical side of the patch as detailed as possible, but yeah, in case of additional content they could reveal less, that would make it more interesting.

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I agree with this, but I wanted to provide some examples.

For instance, the GC rank ups. They could have told us that there were 3 new ranks, and even what they were called, but they didn't really need to tell us what needed to be done in order to rank up.

New quests? Ok. List them if you want, but I don't need to know which NPC grants the quest.

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Originally Posted by Radiator

Just curious, would the gobbue have been more exciting if you had known nothing about it and suddenly saw someone on one? Rather than everyone rushing out to the location in the patch notes and "check done, content over" maybe they can have a few more stealth updates. One part of me loves the patch notes but the other part wishes there was a just little more discovery.

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We already have that kind of stuff happening, such as the Lamb of Dalamud fanatics (the purple aetherite in town). The problem with non-announced temporary stuff is they are temporary, thus one can easily miss it altogether and feel frustrated after.
I would much prefer if they announced even more stuff, not less. Why? Because if you don't want to know, don't read the patch notes. Simple, while the other way around is much more complicated.

I would be ecstatic if they were practicing this philosophy right now.

May those who do not use New Posts never find my evil.

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Originally Posted by Nakiamiie

We already have that kind of stuff happening, such as the Lamb of Dalamud fanatics (the purple aetherite in town). The problem with non-announced temporary stuff is they are temporary, thus one can easily miss it altogether and feel frustrated after.
I would much prefer if they announced even more stuff, not less. Why? Because if you don't want to know, don't read the patch notes. Simple, while the other way around is much more complicated.

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I enjoy reading the patch notes, I just dont think they should tell me the exact coordinates is all :P

Patch notes cannot be likened to strategy guides anymore than mmos should be likened to console games.

Mysteries are part of the livlihood of console games, while transparency is the guiding light in the mmo genre. SE needs to be upfront about what they're presenting as, as mentioned before, it informs the current playerbase and acts as a bit of advertising as well. Besides all that, SE still isn't nearly as transparent as other games in their update notes, but it's my opinion that they are forthcoming enough to still leave thay exploration bit.

On phone now so not gonna go find actual example but it's clear to see the difference when patch notes in other games sounds like this:

The recast time for the ability "Pwnz0r" has been reduced from 30s to 20s.
Abilities with an aura have had their radius increase from 10' to 12'.
Mage spells increase in powers by tiers. For each 10 INT, 100 damage is added.

Or how FFXIV patch notes are:
TP consumption for weapon skills used in combos is reduced.
The area of effect for Conjurer spells has been increased.
<Insert cryptic auto-attack table in last patch notes>

Yeah, there's a difference :).

Imperial assault and chocobo perfect runs are good examples of stealth content/achievements. I just wish there was more of it, lol.


Edit: with the exception that the majority of unannounced stuff isn't necessarily temporary. I agree that missing out on the content can be very annoying.

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Originally Posted by GreyJorildyn

The recast time for the ability "Pwnz0r" has been reduced from 30s to 20s.
Abilities with an aura have had their radius increase from 10' to 12'.
Mage spells increase in powers by tiers. For each 10 INT, 100 damage is added.

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Technical changes doesn't bother me.
Things like saying "NPC A has been added to the game. He is located at X,Y. Talk to him once to get mount." however does. Why bother to put the NPC far away when you are going to tell me where to find him?

Why NOT tell you where to find it? They do want you to go and get your new shiny. Something you have to understand about the average mmo player(/human) is that they are dumb. If it's not spelled out for them, it's "too hard". That's the world we live in sadly.

Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FpigqfcvlM and you'll see. It's been part of the decline of gaming for a very long time that things are too forthcoming, and now we're kinda stuck with that trend and it's become the rule rather than the exception :( It is almost insulting to the intelligent people who play games these days.

edit: a similarly related example right here in our own game...
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y26...ingmeright.png
Gee, I never would have figured that one out. Not in a million years.
(maybe you should tell me how to make linen deerstalkers of piety first).

What happens when they don't tell us...

Absolute Virtue, FFXI...
'Nuff said...