Hi all,
Just some of my thoughts/feedback on some of the more annoying parts of FFXIV. I've only played a week or so, but these are some of my "top x pet peeves" thus far (meant constructively). My most annoying at the top:
- Inventory Management; endlessly moving things from retainer, to inventory, to sale, to ... where was that ... oh, now I have to search for it ... it was in the retainer and now I have to go to a summoning point, which takes away from the task I was just trying to do ....; stopping me from doing what I want to do to move items around .... recipe for quitting; the isearch is helpful, though, it is necessary; the splitting items like the armoury is helpful, though it would almost have to be applied to all types (ingredients, reagents, food, stone, etc.) to help solve the problem
- At night (in game) it gets really dark; too dark; you have to turn up the contrast, brightness/contrast, etc, still, often, you can't see where you're going... literally ; just give me a "maximum darkness setting" please
- "Repair All"; It's not really a repair all; you have to Repair all "equipment", then Repair All for main, then Repair All for .... and after you've done repairing all with Dark Matter, you have to do the same thing, again, at the vendor for the ones you can't repair ; annoying, not fun, ruins the game; please give a "repair everything I have anywhere" button :)
- Out-levelling content; I think the "Road to 60" and other exp buffs to catch new players up-to-speed are good, though, I would say this also comes at a cost; specifically, the worst for me is not being able to access content; for example, I'm level 50+ for several jobs, like gathering, though I can't access the "above level 50" areas until I finish the Goliath "Main Scenario Quests" ... talk about endless, and by the time you're halfway through, you just want to the MSQ done, or do something else ... like play another game .... this can become a particular issue in crafting/gathering in that you can't get your materials, so essentially all jobs slow to a crawl above 50 until you finish the MSQ; I think there is a valid counter "just finish the MSQ", though that takes .... full days maybe weeks of endless monotony, just so I can start reusing my other jobs now; I'm not sure I have a suggestion for this, I'm just saying it's an emergent property of the game
- You have to run to a Aethernet shard to teleport while in cities .... while in a city, I want to just teleport to a destination shard (like the Aethernet teleport); frankly the Smith/Armor Guilds need a shard
- "Enter the {location}" defaults are set to "No"; I want to go in there, but I have to select Yes, then enter (on the keyboard) ... why annoy me with 100's of extra detracting, "move the focus from 'No' to 'Yes'" on the 1 out of 100 off chance that I don't want to go in?
Once again, all this meant as constructive, though certainly enough of the points annoy me to no end :)
Pet Peeves/Feedback from a new player
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08-23-2018, 11:07 PMCommonerPet Peeves/Feedback from a new player
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08-24-2018, 12:40 AMRymm
Welcome to the game! It's always nice to get new blood in the community. :D I hope your enjoyment of the game is enough to offset your annoyances. The game can obviously be benefited by some QoL improvements but is still a great game and has come a long way since 1.0 and even 2.0.
1. This one I honestly don't notice too much. When it comes to crafting, it's mostly about prep-work; I either just make sure I've already got what I need on me or I hunker down somewhere near a retainer bell/MB and work there. I don't know if I'm just used to the system or what, but I've never really had a problem with the inventory aside from item bloat. (Seriously, for an omni-crafter the two default retainers are just not nearly enough space.) My husband, on the other hand, played a lot of Guild Wars before coming to FF14 and complained long and loud about not being able to craft with mats that weren't in his personal inventory, so ymmv I guess.
2. Another one I've never noticed. It gets fairly dark for about 1 in-game hour (3ish minutes real time) at midnight and then the sky starts brightening up again to the point where most everything is visible, if a little shadowy. Is your monitor set darker normally? Or it could be a video card thing, maybe? That's getting more into the technical side of the game and is admittedly out of my expertise.
3. God yes, this one is super tedious. I've no idea why it's broken down like this but I've noticed that it is grouped the same way at the armoire and glamour chest, so there may be some 1.0 spaghetti code shenanigans at work here. An actual 'repair all' button would be nice.
4. The lvl 50 MSQ grind is infamous; I passed it long before Road to 60 was a thing but I can only imagine how it exacerbates the problem. I do have good news for you though! SE learned from their mistake on this one and post-ARR the MSQ is much more streamlined and their storytelling vastly improves. As long as you stick to it on your main job and don't do sidequests or grind dungeons/deep dungeons, the MSQ in HW and SB will give you just the right amount of xp to keep your level on par with the content you have unlocked.
5. Not sure why this would be a thing. As someone who played a lot of MMOs in the past where you had to walk everywhere, the aether shards in the city already seem like a huge luxury to me so walking 20 feet to the nearest one doesn't phase me. It would admittedly be nice to mount up in the cities but with the number of people who think it's funny to block NPCs with huge mounts, well... "this is why we can't have nice things." And the aftcastle aethershard's placement has always seemed a little off to me too. But heck, we finally got one in Ul'dah next to the MBs, so maybe there is hope for SE changing that one around too!
6. I'm not even sure what you mean on this one, sorry. :( I just click yes with my mouse, or are you on a console? I've no idea what the UI is like there so I can't comment on this one. -
08-24-2018, 02:12 AMCommoner[/QUOTE]Quote:
Originally Posted by Rymm
Thanks for the response.
Definitely with a large, complex, immersive game, the large amount of good has side effects. I've crafted/gathered a bunch, and inventory issues are the worst. And there is no way I will pay for extra retainers, for what is essentially a broken inventory system (be it console limitations, or 1.0 spaghetti code the client doesn't really care); when they become too much of an issue it will be time to leave.
For #2, standard card; it's just too dark in some areas/times, or at least google turned up some others with the same complaint without good resolution.
For #5, speeds in cities are just too slow, particularly for areas without close teleports that need to be visited regularly; perma sprint might be helpful; game time is precious and limited, especially considering there is so much content, and everywhere tons of quests I have to pass by and will likely never do
For #6, try entering areas (like homes, etc) with your keyboard and the "Confirm" key (under the System keybinds). You always have to switch from "no" to "yes" -
08-24-2018, 02:16 AMMahrzeQuote:
Originally Posted by Rymm
Confirmation text is by default set to "no". Seems they have a global rule of all at no or all at yes.
Understandable in confirmations for raises by literally you have to confirm doing everything. -
08-24-2018, 02:40 AMCommonerSeems like it, though not in other places. For example, "Hand Over" items, uses the positive path; Often I can just hit confirm 3 times and it will hand over the items. Which is especially nice now, as I'm handing over an item to different characters 8 times. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Mahrze
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08-24-2018, 02:57 AMRymmWhoa, all these years playing the game and I never realized there were commands to interact with the environment via keyboard, lol. I always just used my mouse for movement and interaction (to use your example, right-click the house and then left-click yes) and keyboard for hotbars and ui shortcuts. Learn something new every day, I guess.Quote:
Originally Posted by Commoner
I can see how it would get tedious correcting that all the time if you use your keyboard for interactions. Maybe if SE added some option that you could set the default to the option of your choosing? I guess add that to the list of small QoL adjustments that would improve the game. -
08-24-2018, 03:05 AMNixxeThis game's UI is generally pretty cumbersome, which might be fine, except it doesn't allow addons. There are a ton of areas of the game that require pretty pointless menu navigating simply because the system was designed in accordance with archaic norms and then never updated. Retainers are an especially egregious example of this, and the fact that you can't move items between retainers directly and have to close out of one, then go into another are just a lot of pointless busywork. It'd be much better if accessing any retainer's inventory opened up a shared interface where each retainer was its own tab and you could sort all of them simultaneously or select individual retainers to be excluded from sorting. It would also help immensely if there were more explicit categories for crafting reagents that the game recognized so that you could select certain retainers to prioritize storing those items. For instance, you might set your 8th retainer to several options, including ingots, lumber, and cloth, and then when you deposit a stack of cobalt ingots, it will go to that 8th retainer, even if your 1st retainer has an open slot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rymm
Another issue is that you can't use your retainer without pulling all of your stuff off the market board while you do it, which is just obnoxious. I'm sure it's a limitation of the design, but it's one that really needs correcting. At a minimum, it shouldn't pull my stuff off the MB unless I open up the window for placing items on the MB. -
08-24-2018, 03:59 AMSkivvyMy buddy and I used to joke all the time about the game feels like it's almost always night time. And if it's not night, it's raining. Bonus points if it's night time AND raining.Quote:
Originally Posted by Commoner
But yeah, I agree. The night does feel a bit too dark to me as well. My monitors are fine, my settings are fine. It may just be a prefernce - my other MMOs don't bother me in this way. -
08-24-2018, 04:16 AMStormfur
I'm glad this game doesn't allow add-ons. If they ever did, they'd need to allow console players to have them too, which likely won't happen. I just don't want to have to install a bunch of third party stuff to do what SHOULD have been do-able in game.
Even parsers vs. non-parsers, if they'd tell us how we personally did, that would be a huge help...but I don't think they will. I'm not sure why. -
08-24-2018, 04:49 AMSkivvyObviously the console players are a concern, but in my limited experience with games that allow add-ons, they were great. In a perfect world, the developer should be able to provide these features, but most times they don't. The gaming community is incredibly clever and can create some amazing things to make your experience more enjoyable.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormfur
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08-24-2018, 04:50 AMCommonerYeah, at least the stats totals would be so nice; individual, or otherwise. It feels like the dark ages not having this information. Add ons I can see being a lot of work and possible problems, but showing how well you're doing damage/heal/etc can't be that bad or difficult ...Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormfur
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08-24-2018, 06:09 AMNiwashiThis used to bother me a lot. I tried adjusting brightness/contrast, but when it was high enough to see at night, it made things look really weird in daylight. A while back I found another setting that really helped, but unfortunately, it was long enough ago that I no longer remember what I changed to fix it. I just know that it no longer bothers me the way it used to.Quote:
Originally Posted by Commoner
Sorry, I know that's not very helpful. When I'm back in game, I'll look and see if I can find what I changed.
I usually just repair my current equipment and leave the rest until I'm on the job that uses it, so I've never been particularly bothered by this, but I have thought they seem to have a really weird concept of "all".Quote:
Originally Posted by Commoner
I more often find myself wanting to use Aetherites as though they were Aethernet Shards. It just seems odd that when you're standing next to a big Aetherite, you can't do anything with it (unless it's in a city where it serves as both aetherite and aethernet shard).Quote:
Originally Posted by Commoner
This is often annoying. (I play on console, which has the same "confirm" button pattern as keyboard.) Defaulting to "no" should be limited to things you cannot easily undo if you hit it by accident. If I go up to a ferryman and talk to him, and then select a destination, it's a fair bet that I want to go to that destination. Even including another confirmation of it is stretching it, but at least let that confirmation default to "yes" so it's just another click on the X button. If I somehow talk to him, select a destination, and confirm that destination, all by accident, then I'll just turn around and take the ferry back again.Quote:
Originally Posted by Commoner
My guess would be that it's probably due to some special situation within some quest, where there's a similar "go here?" confirmation that doesn't give you the ability to turn around and go right back again, so they wanted to be extra careful that we really meant it, but I wish they hadn't made that a universal rule that all "go here?" type confirmations would default to the negative. -
08-24-2018, 08:32 AMNiwashiOk, I can't find anything special to account for it, unless I had first tried adjusting my TV's settings without much luck and later got it to work with the in-game display settings or vice versa. (On PC, you might have a third possibility with Windows' display brightness setting, but although PS4 has a few display settings, none of them seem relevant.)Quote:
Originally Posted by Niwashi
If it matters, my in-game settings have: System Configuration -> Display Settings -> both "Gamma Correction" and "Character Lighting" at 100. -
08-24-2018, 09:27 AMAurouTry adjusting this.Quote:
Originally Posted by Commoner
https://i.imgur.com/mFzQo8V.png -
08-24-2018, 12:41 PMCommonerYes I have. Thanks. Both this and the character lighting setting are high; both of them help a certain amount.Quote:
Originally Posted by Aurou
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08-24-2018, 01:57 PMPentheaI understand how this can be irritating but it's something that can be easily fixed by managing your inventory better. You can designate one retainer to hold crafting materials while the other has misc items for example. Another thing you can do is just keep crafting materials you use super frequently in your character's personal inventory. I craft several times a day and I just found it easier to do this than interact with my retainers several times in short intervals.Quote:
Originally Posted by Commoner
This is quite literally the first time I have seen someone complain about this and I doubt everyone has an ips monitor. It appears that some good people here already pointed you to ways to help you with it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Commoner
This is minor but I agree that it's not what it says it is, and that it should be changed to actually repair everything. Or alternatively have both "repair equipped items" and "repair all" buttons.Quote:
Originally Posted by Commoner
I think players should be able to turn the Road to 60 buff off (as far as I know you can't) because it really does mess up the lvling experience of the game. The majority of content in this game is locked behind quests, which is normally fine but the Road to 60 buff turns this mostly smooth gating into a journey full of roadblocks. You can avoid the buff by not playing on certain servers but that's not really an option for people who want to play somewhere for a specific reason such as wanting to be with their friends.Quote:
Originally Posted by Commoner
Yea I completely agree that some inner city locations you may frequently go to are too far away from an aetheryte. Ul'dah got an extra aetheryte recently, and I do think if another city does it should be Limsa. Some spots are poorly connected.Quote:
Originally Posted by Commoner
Hmm this is not something I noticed but I'm a pc gamer so I don't have a cursor that defaults to anything. I would hazard a guess that all "yes no" prompts default to "no". If so it's probably like this to prevent players from accidentally hitting yes for something irreversible such as destroying or trading an item.Quote:
Originally Posted by Commoner
The parser debate is a heated one among the community. Some players want them, some don't and some are on the fence. SE don't like that parsers can be used to exclude players so they will never introduce an official one for the game. Having seen this for myself in other games, their fears are not unfounded. Parsers are very useful tools but sadly they're often deliberately or accidentally abused.Quote:
Originally Posted by Commoner
While I agree that someone under-performing should be dealt with, simply glancing at a parse result often doesn't give a clear picture as to what is going on but unfortunately this is how many people use them. For example a red mage's dps could look bad because a lazy healer forced them to off-heal or a melee dps could be having trouble landing positionals and lose dps from it because the tank has done very poor mob placement or moves the mobs too much. Yes an experienced or knowledgeable player would do more than merely glance at dps numbers, but the fact is people often don't. These people sometimes start throwing abuse at the player they perceive to be playing badly, or even vote kick or remove them without even saying a word. I have seen this happen in other games and I don't see any reason how FFXIV would be any different if there was an in-built parser. People are people. They're the same in every game. It just so happens that in some games it's easier to be unpleasant.
SE's official stance on parsing is a big fat no. But in reality they turn a blind eye if they're only used for self improvement. As long as there is no evidence of abuse or kicking as a result of a parse, they don't have a problem with it. If there is and you get reported for it...well, things may not go well for you.
There are in-game tools to test your dps. There are special dummies with a timer for raid content bosses. The idea is if you can kill them before the timer runs out, you have the dps needed to do the encounter. For more indepth information you will have to turn to third party sources.
But I wouldn't worry about any of this until you're lvl 70. Classes are not designed to be balanced while lvling.
Wow what a long post. If you have read this far OP, thank you and I hope you're enjoying the game ^^'