So where is 5.45???

I want my glowy frypan!

Shooter!

Hopefully sometime this month at least. Should be getting 5.41 in a week or two, or at least I would think so. Nothing has been announced yet as far as I'm aware.

5.41 will probably be January 12th. Nothing happens first week of Jan in Japan due to it being big holiday new year season.

5.45 will most likely be 3-4 weeks after that. So don't expect anything on that until early to mid February.

It'd be nice if SE was more respectful of their player's time and let us know further in advance when their patches were coming. I've had to turn my entire life upside down and the lives of those around me in order to try and "guess" the release date of 5.41 so I can have 10 days off for the time-sensitive, time-intensive competition they aren't giving us any updates about. It's incredibly inconsiderate and they do it every single patch, waiting until it's far too late for any working adult to make plans before announcing patch dates. It's not like they don't know the date themselves, they just withhold until like 1-2 weeks before the date for some reason. I can only assume it's because they are only 99% sure of the date and not 100%, but seriously, just give us a tentative date at least a month in advance so we can have *some* idea what the heck to do.

Yeah its generally a month between each minor patch, 5.4, a month, 5.41, a month, 5.45, kind of deal. I suspect they'll delay things for a week for 5.41 though, to give devs a break for the holidays.

Mid or late January is my guess.

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Originally Posted by Espritduo

It'd be nice if SE was more respectful of their player's time and let us know further in advance when their patches were coming. I've had to turn my entire life upside down and the lives of those around me in order to try and "guess" the release date of 5.41 so I can have 10 days off for the time-sensitive, time-intensive competition they aren't giving us any updates about. It's incredibly inconsiderate and they do it every single patch, waiting until it's far too late for any working adult to make plans before announcing patch dates. It's not like they don't know the date themselves, they just withhold until like 1-2 weeks before the date for some reason. I can only assume it's because they are only 99% sure of the date and not 100%, but seriously, just give us a tentative date at least a month in advance so we can have *some* idea what the heck to do.

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SE patch release cycle has been very predictable and consistent... but do you really expect that in a pandemic situation?

Can't wait to hear more stories of people obsessing about craft rankings. Then complaining that they totally had to do it because Reasons™.

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Originally Posted by Raikai

SE patch release cycle has been very predictable and consistent... but do you really expect that in a pandemic situation?

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So you know the exact date of 5.41 then? There's a world of difference between having a general idea you can't do anything with ("sometime in January") and an exact date that is required for scheduling time off, which is something SE never gives us until it is too late to matter.

And uh, yeah I DO expect that in a pandemic situation that has become business as usual over the course of a year of dealing with it. SE knows when the patch is coming but they just aren't saying due to "reasons".

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Originally Posted by TheMightyMollusk

Can't wait to hear more stories of people obsessing about craft rankings. Then complaining that they totally had to do it because Reasons™.

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The usual "I don't care about something therefore nobody should care about it" response.

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Originally Posted by Espritduo

The usual "I don't care about something therefore nobody should care about it" response.

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Hardly. Just waiting for another round of the circular complaints in multiple threads, because checking to see if there was already a thread first is too much work. If you're so into it that you're literally scheduling your life around it, you do you.

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Originally Posted by Espritduo

The usual "I don't care about something therefore nobody should care about it" response.

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Actual kid stomping his feet lmao. It is predictable and it is business as usual during COVID. Chill, 5.41 is due in a couple weeks. There’s plenty of sources with a best guess that’ll most likely be right. SE in no shape or form expects people to take off work for this patch and as such sees no reason to “Warn”(lol) people of 5.41 patch weeks ahead.

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Originally Posted by TheMightyMollusk

Can't wait to hear more stories of people obsessing about craft rankings. Then complaining that they totally had to do it because Reasons™.

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As much as I can't fathom putting that amount of sleepless work into a mere chance at a title, I do think SE shouldn't be designing the contest in a way that encourages people to do that.

Perhaps make it more focused on quality and skill - give out a specific limited number of a special ingredient each day, say enough to craft 20 hand-in items, then people hand in their best 10 (to even out variations due to luck). Keep people coming back each day without encouraging them to all run themselves into the ground for fear that someone else might be running even harder.

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Originally Posted by TheMightyMollusk

Can't wait to hear more stories of people obsessing about craft rankings. Then complaining that they totally had to do it because Reasons™.

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I avoided the last one because it wasn't worth the stress, so no we don't have to do it, but that doesn't make it good design.

FF14 has always been a game that respects your free time, then they suddenly turn around and create a competition where the only real way to reach top 12 is spend an unhealthy amount of time each day crafting the same recipe over and over, for 10 days straight. On top of this, while there were many legitimate top 12's, it's not a guarantee the top 12 ranking will be entirely free from bots.
Keep in mind this is the only endgame we have for DoH/DoL now, sure we can skip it but there's almost nothing else left besides a small dinosaur mount for 500 hours grind. Even if we aren't forced to participate there's nothing wrong with leaving feedback that it's terrible content.

For example, if they made an absolutely terrible Savage raid tier that was only available 10 days per patch and no other raids, do you think people would smile and say how it's fine because they aren't forced to run it?

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Originally Posted by Caitsithhh

Actual kid stomping his feet lmao. It is predictable and it is business as usual during COVID. Chill, 5.41 is due in a couple weeks. There’s plenty of sources with a best guess that’ll most likely be right. SE in no shape or form expects people to take off work for this patch and as such sees no reason to “Warn”(lol) people of 5.41 patch weeks ahead.

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Most people take off work for patches, not just this one and not just for Ishgard rankings. It's not a kid stomping his feet, it's an adult with adult things to do who needs to know what days to schedule off to enjoy the content they want to enjoy. Best guesses don't fly when you need hard dates. Best guess a week or so ago was Jan 5th, and it seems that ain't happening, so what now? 12th is what I am "guessing" but if I'm wrong, there goes my whole vacation again. I guessed the last two ranking periods and was wrong, and my ability to participate and enjoy the content was impacted greatly. The same goes for EVERY patch, not just this. This is just the worst case because it actually has timed content you HAVE to make time for during a specific period. If they are going to make content like that, regardless of whether you think it's important content or not, then they need to respect people's schedules at least a little bit.

And stop using COVID as a scapegoat for anything and everything. It was understandable back in March, it is just an excuse now. SE themselves have said they've gotten themselves reoriented and mostly back in working order in this new COVID work from home situation.

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Originally Posted by Espritduo

And stop using COVID as a scapegoat for anything and everything. It was understandable back in March, it is just an excuse now. SE themselves have said they've gotten themselves reoriented and mostly back in working order in this new COVID work from home situation.

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It was an issue then, still an issue now worldwide. Just because they are set up to work from home doesn't mean they can do everything there and at the same speed.

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Originally Posted by Vahlnir

It was an issue then, still an issue now worldwide. Just because they are set up to work from home doesn't mean they can do everything there and at the same speed.

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That's not the point. They can take all the time they like with the patches. They could schedule 5.41 for 2022 and I'd be fine with that, I got tons of stuff backlogged I'd like to get to before 6.0. But they need to let the players know what is going on so WE can plan accordingly. They're dealing with COVID, but so are we and a little communication on where things stand and when things are coming out is greatly appreciated. Take your time, make the patches great again and all that, but just let us know when they are coming far enough in advance so we can properly enjoy them.

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Originally Posted by Espritduo

That's not the point. They can take all the time they like with the patches. They could schedule 5.41 for 2022 and I'd be fine with that, I got tons of stuff backlogged I'd like to get to before 6.0. But they need to let the players know what is going on so WE can plan accordingly. They're dealing with COVID, but so are we and a little communication on where things stand and when things are coming out is greatly appreciated. Take your time, make the patches great again and all that, but just let us know when they are coming far enough in advance so we can properly enjoy them.

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But that is the point. They have to plan around what they have to work with and how long. Communication is not their strong suit though, I will give you that. I'd like to know these things as well. They usually do a week in advance, but I know that isn't going to allow some people to work it into their schedules accordingly. Usually we get an "early January" or "middle of February" as timelines for various patches (not literally those, but just examples) but we haven't even gotten that much out of them.

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Originally Posted by Espritduo

It'd be nice if SE was more respectful of their player's time and let us know further in advance when their patches were coming. I've had to turn my entire life upside down and the lives of those around me in order to try and "guess" the release date of 5.41 so I can have 10 days off for the time-sensitive, time-intensive competition they aren't giving us any updates about. It's incredibly inconsiderate and they do it every single patch, waiting until it's far too late for any working adult to make plans before announcing patch dates. It's not like they don't know the date themselves, they just withhold until like 1-2 weeks before the date for some reason. I can only assume it's because they are only 99% sure of the date and not 100%, but seriously, just give us a tentative date at least a month in advance so we can have *some* idea what the heck to do.

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I mean they usually announce a month in advance if it dropping. In the meantime smoke a bowl and relax. the game isn't going anywhere.

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Originally Posted by Espritduo

So you know the exact date of 5.41 then? There's a world of difference between having a general idea you can't do anything with ("sometime in January") and an exact date that is required for scheduling time off, which is something SE never gives us until it is too late to matter.

And uh, yeah I DO expect that in a pandemic situation that has become business as usual over the course of a year of dealing with it. SE knows when the patch is coming but they just aren't saying due to "reasons".

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They can't give exact dates far in advance because they don't know what unforeseen circumstances are going to interrupt their development schedule.

Players are going to get angry if they don't mention a date until almost the last minute. Players are going to get even angrier if they mention a date then don't deliver. They're better off staying silent until they're able to set a firm date.

Once we got 5.4's release date, Jan 12th became a reasonable guess based on their past release schedule though I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be the 19th since we usually get about 10 days warning and nothing was said yesterday.

5.45 will likely be Feb 16th or 23rd (I'm leaning toward the 23rd).

Work and leisure inevitably are going to come into conflict if you're relying on a schedule outside of your control. We're adults, we learn to accept it happens.

the way some "adults" act around here... that's questionable lol

Honestly I hate this whole ‘take time off work to farm diadem’ thing.

I’d like to get a ranking because god knows I’m the best botanist EU, but I’m almost a grown adult with responsibility and I can’t compete with kids who are off school, let alone grown men who are taking time off of work for this.

Just everyone chill and play it casually when it comes. This is not WoW or Korea.

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Originally Posted by Liam_Harper

I avoided the last one because it wasn't worth the stress, so no we don't have to do it, but that doesn't make it good design.

FF14 has always been a game that respects your free time, then they suddenly turn around and create a competition where the only real way to reach top 12 is spend an unhealthy amount of time each day crafting the same recipe over and over, for 10 days straight. On top of this, while there were many legitimate top 12's, it's not a guarantee the top 12 ranking will be entirely free from bots.
Keep in mind this is the only endgame we have for DoH/DoL now, sure we can skip it but there's almost nothing else left besides a small dinosaur mount for 500 hours grind. Even if we aren't forced to participate there's nothing wrong with leaving feedback that it's terrible content.

For example, if they made an absolutely terrible Savage raid tier that was only available 10 days per patch and no other raids, do you think people would smile and say how it's fine because they aren't forced to run it?

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Ishgard restoration is absolutely fantastic content. The only single bad issue with it is the rankings. Because all of you savage raiders descend on us and try to take them, then you cry to SE that it’s bad content so we won’t get something like this again.

Me and my friends spend literally all our time in the diadem and could care less about savage raiding. We do not call it ‘terrible content’.

Just because you don’t like something doesn’t make it bad. Ishgard restoration generally has been the best feature of the expansion for many people.

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Originally Posted by Vickii

Ishgard restoration is absolutely fantastic content. The only single bad issue with it is the rankings. Because all of you savage raiders descend on us and try to take them, then you cry to SE that it’s bad content so we won’t get something like this again.

Me and my friends spend literally all our time in the diadem and could care less about savage raiding. We do not call it ‘terrible content’.

Just because you don’t like something doesn’t make it bad. Ishgard restoration generally has been the best feature of the expansion for many people.

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I think people are mostly upset about it because of how easy it is to game the system. This includes crafters, for the record. Not sure why Savage raiders needed to be brought up but whatever floats your boat I guess. I don't mind Diadem, and I don't mind the idea of Ishgard Restoration even though I don't participate in crafting. But I also wouldn't call them the best features of the expansion. They give some neat things and kill time. That's basically it for me. But if you enjoy it all THAT much then that's fine, but if you are going to make some big claims you'll need some proof to back them up. Has it really been the best for many people? And are those pesky savage raiders really taking rankings away from crafters, despite everyone being able to participate regardless of their preferred content? Feel free to enlighten me. :) I'll be waiting.

The Diadem is something I have mixed feelings about. We're currently in the third version of it after the original two flopped, so it's hard for me to consider it to be 'excellent content'. It's...alright, I guess. Though it's really just a case of flying around, gathering stuff from nodes and occasionally using a blaster on passive enemies to get a bunch of materials. Seeing Ishgard rebuilt is neat and it brings the server's community together in a way that is satisfying. Yet it's all very grindy, be it trying to get on the ranking system or just aiming for the achievements.

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Originally Posted by Espritduo

It'd be nice if SE was more respectful of their player's time and let us know further in advance when their patches were coming. I've had to turn my entire life upside down and the lives of those around me in order to try and "guess" the release date of 5.41 so I can have 10 days off for the time-sensitive, time-intensive competition they aren't giving us any updates about. It's incredibly inconsiderate and they do it every single patch, waiting until it's far too late for any working adult to make plans before announcing patch dates. It's not like they don't know the date themselves, they just withhold until like 1-2 weeks before the date for some reason. I can only assume it's because they are only 99% sure of the date and not 100%, but seriously, just give us a tentative date at least a month in advance so we can have *some* idea what the heck to do.

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It'd be nice if people stopped for a moment and realised that they aren't the center of the universe and thought about things like the fact that programing actually takes alot of work especially in Japan where its not uncommon for the workers to literally sleep at thier desk and work 90 plus hours a week to make sure the work is done as soon as possible.

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Originally Posted by kidalutz

It'd be nice if people stopped for a moment and realised that they aren't the center of the universe and thought about things like the fact that programing actually takes alot of work especially in Japan where its not uncommon for the workers to literally sleep at thier desk and work 90 plus hours a week to make sure the work is done as soon as possible.

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They’re grown adults remember? Not kids stomping their feet demanding a day to be set in stone, actual “adults” taking time off “work” to compete in a crafting contest.

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Originally Posted by kidalutz

It'd be nice if people stopped for a moment and realised that they aren't the center of the universe and thought about things like the fact that programing actually takes alot of work especially in Japan where its not uncommon for the workers to literally sleep at thier desk and work 90 plus hours a week to make sure the work is done as soon as possible.

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It'd be nice if trolls stopped for a moment and realized it's basic courtesy to let people know what is going on in a timely manner before making fun of people for caring about something they don't. You seem to think I'm demanding they release the content NOW!!! so I can play right NOW!!!. Which is not what I am saying at all. They can take all the time they like to do whatever needs done at whatever pace they need to do it at. That isn't the issue here, even if you want to make it the issue so you can belittle me. I just would like them to communicate what the release dates are further in advance so people who*gasp* want to take time off to enjoy the things they enjoy can better plan for it. I don't think that's asking much beyond basic courtesy.

And we're not talking "exact date 6 months in advance or I want my money back" here. Giving a tentative release date at least 1 month in advance for people to plan around should be just standard. Give a disclaimer the release date is subject to change or whatever, but at least give us something to work with, and keep us in the loop when there is a delay so we can prepare as best we can.

I just wish the Ishgard restoration Fates weren't just sad little jokes where you click on a thing, move to X, click on another thing, move to Y, repeat. Make them extra special, make them incorporate your chosen crafting or gathering. Maybe the gatherers go around and "gather" the rubble, but at the same time are trying to salvage bits that are still usable, baubles lost in the destruction, etc, and they slowly clear a path, while the gatherers build tools to move the rubble initially, and specialized wagons to haul them out. Fishers and culinarians could work together to provide food to keep a new special "energy" meter up for everyone, and we could all legit be using all of our skills to help each other accomplish this. Basically the exact same assets, too, nothing wild.

I really hope they get more ambitious. The concept is awesome, but I found the execution pretty lame, at least in terms of the big FATE. Diadem itself is alright, I don't hate it, but it too needs something to spice it up. Doesn't have to be combat, obviously, but would be nice it it felt just a smidge more involved.

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Originally Posted by Vahlnir

It was an issue then, still an issue now worldwide. Just because they are set up to work from home doesn't mean they can do everything there and at the same speed.

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Was SE not one of the japanese company embracing a permanent work from home solution? If that is true shouldn't they be close to ironing out the system? Also from reports from people from japan it has not seen nearly the lockdown other countries have.

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Originally Posted by Moonlite

Was SE not one of the japanese company embracing a permanent work from home solution? If that is true shouldn't they be close to ironing out the system? Also from reports from people from japan it has not seen nearly the lockdown other countries have.

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COVID is also on the rise again there, just like it is in those parts of the US that have populations ignoring the "do not gather" requests.

As for the permanent work from home solutions, that was only being offered to SE's executive employees. It's not very practical in production environments. While some work from home is possible, there's always going to be those tasks that need to be carried out at the workplace. Game companies tend to be very careful about the security of their systems and that's hard to achieve if you have to monitor hundreds of unsecured workplaces (homes) instead of just a couple secured locations.

A patch is never late, nor is it early. It arrives precisely when it means to. It'll get here when it gets here.

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Originally Posted by Jojoya

COVID is also on the rise again there, just like it is in those parts of the US that have populations ignoring the "do not gather" requests.

As for the permanent work from home solutions, that was only being offered to SE's executive employees. It's not very practical in production environments. While some work from home is possible, there's always going to be those tasks that need to be carried out at the workplace. Game companies tend to be very careful about the security of their systems and that's hard to achieve if you have to monitor hundreds of unsecured workplaces (homes) instead of just a couple secured locations.

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The article I read must have been more PR spin then.

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Originally Posted by Sophie_Lo

A patch is never late, nor is it early. It arrives precisely when it means to. It'll get here when it gets here.

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Thanks Gandalf!

Also curse you Gandalf. Now I have a mighty need to watch LOTR.

Honestly, a pandemic is more of a reason to have a schedule laid out rather than the reverse, so I don't know why anyone, after having to deal with Covid for this long, would think the opposite. Let's also factor in that a statement was made that everything was "back on schedule" so everything would be business as usual.

With that in mind, if you play as a healer, you'll know that radio silence on a particular subject is business as usual for FFXIV.

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Originally Posted by MintnHoney

Honestly, a pandemic is more of a reason to have a schedule laid out rather than the reverse, so I don't know why anyone, after having to deal with Covid for this long, would think the opposite. Let's also factor in that a statement was made that everything was "back on schedule" so everything would be business as usual.

With that in mind, if you play as a healer, you'll know that radio silence on a particular subject is business as usual for FFXIV.

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To be fair, the FF XIV dev team is has not been known for their foresight for a long, long time. Usually a lack thereof more often than not.

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Originally Posted by Vahlnir

I think people are mostly upset about it because of how easy it is to game the system. This includes crafters, for the record. Not sure why Savage raiders needed to be brought up but whatever floats your boat I guess. I don't mind Diadem, and I don't mind the idea of Ishgard Restoration even though I don't participate in crafting. But I also wouldn't call them the best features of the expansion. They give some neat things and kill time. That's basically it for me. But if you enjoy it all THAT much then that's fine, but if you are going to make some big claims you'll need some proof to back them up. Has it really been the best for many people? And are those pesky savage raiders really taking rankings away from crafters, despite everyone being able to participate regardless of their preferred content? Feel free to enlighten me. :) I'll be waiting.

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Well I can’t say how many people think ishgard restoration is the best part of the patch. But there are lots of people there during normal times and some people there at off peak times.

I also don’t know if savage raiders are successful in getting rankings, but yes they do try. This is why they didn’t release ishgard Restoration with the patch, because otherwise the world first people wouldn’t be able to rank.

Sadly ranking is about people having no life and not the best crafter/gatherer. I have best gear and best melds and hit all the caps. I also have every item from the restoration and lots of skybuilders points. But if I cannot play 24-7 then I will not get rank because someone is willing to do so. And those people generally are savage raiders/mentor of mentor type people.

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Originally Posted by Vickii

I also don’t know if savage raiders are successful in getting rankings, but yes they do try. This is why they didn’t release ishgard Restoration with the patch, because otherwise the world first people wouldn’t be able to rank.

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They didn't release it with the patch because you don't slap a 10 day competitive ranking window down at the exact time you release new MSQ, a new Trial, a new raid and new crafting recipes?

Sure the Restoration is decent content, but we're specifically talking about the ranking system and the flaws it has. Not sure why you're off on a tangent about raiders, plenty of the top 12 barely touch raiding. Like you said, the ranking is designed that you must no-life to top, rather than your skill as a crafter and that's exactly what we're complaining about and wish they'd address.

Given that for a long time before Covid, for .x1 and .x5 patches we generally haven't gotten a solid date until the maintenance announcement the friday before with possible special site adjustments the Thursday before hinting at it, I don't think all the Covid discussion is relevant. This is business as usual for the mid patches. Only on the main number patches do we get 10-14 days notice.

As for 5.41s date, today news post on Ishgard rankings stated that the ranking end on 22nd of January. Given that they'd receive absolute hell for having the third ranking period be longer or shorter than the previous two, 12th of January is a safe bet.

It's weird that they don't confirm it in that post but my guess is they have a policy on only revealing patch dates in news posts directly related to the release (like maintenance ones) or streams like the Live Letters.

I get that there might be frustration about lack of notice but games companies have been stung often from announcing things too soon and SE seem to like doing things in a set way. More notice would be nice for stuff like rankings and hopefully they can find a way in future (and hopefully not have a gruelling 10-day ranking period for anything after this).

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Originally Posted by Vickii

And those people generally are savage raiders/mentor of mentor type people.

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Or they could be anyone with crafting being so accessible.