Alliance Roulette means Cyrstal Tower

I wanna grind tomestones, but honestly, I hate queuing for the alliance raid roulette and I avoid it because I know it means I will get crystal tower.

The tower alliance raids are literally the worst content in the game. It's so easy that when I zone in to the raid and then AFK until it's over. What is the point of this?

Will SE every make them hard enough so we actually have to follow mechanics? I can stand in one place on every fight and survive.

As it is right now, Alliance Raid roulette equates to 25 minutes of AFK for few tomestones. Can we please make this content enjoyable?

It wouldn't be so bad if others came up more, but some people go to great lengths to make sure they only get those raids for roulettes, some even deliberately not unlocking later raid tiers if they can help it. They want the easiest route for the most reward, even if it's boring as hell. Then they claim to be good at the game while avoiding content with even the slightest difficulty like that.

There's lots of ways they can change it, like adjusting the min ilevel based on their job level. Perhaps something will come in 6.0.

I think they should just tighten ilvl sync on it so that it actually plays anything remotely close to how it did at launch. Then people might not be in such a hurry to cheese their ilvls to get it all the time.

Do you think SE will ever make changes to keep make those old raids fun again?

Well we may see a difficulty spike with older content post stat squish, but that's theoretical atm

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Originally Posted by Stepjam

Well we may see a difficulty spike with older content post stat squish, but that's theoretical atm

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Since they already said that they won't squish 1-50 we will not see any changes to Crystal Tower

I haven't done this roulette in over a year. Same reason I ignore MSQ roulette.

The exp and tomes aren't hard to come by so I am fine otherwise (especially since I've been all 80's for a long time).

The ShB relic making sure more players have unlocked more of the alliance raids was a good idea.
Now if only they could solve that issue where players can bait out crystal tower by manipulating their iLVL

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Originally Posted by ItMe

The ShB relic making sure more players have unlocked more of the alliance raids was a good idea.
Now if only they could solve that issue where players can bait out crystal tower by manipulating their iLVL

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It did nothing for the HW ones. Since you need to do the Ivalice raids to start the relic then yes (and I do see Ridorana and the Monastery a bit on the roulette). But the HW ones aren't even required for the step they are on, since you can grind out the things you need with fates. And with how people are with the Roulette, sometimes that's faster.
I don't think that making the roulette minimum ilevel/tighten the sync will solve the problem either. It'll just make people rage quit certain ones and then everyone hoping they STILL get Crystal Tower again (mostly easy doing mechanics still) or the Nier ones in the roulette atm (close to the level of your actual gear, and not too frustrating imo). Would I like to have them the way they were? Yes. But not everyone wants that.

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Originally Posted by Infindox

It did nothing for the HW ones. Since you need to do the Ivalice raids to start the relic then yes (and I do see Ridorana and the Monastery a bit on the roulette). But the HW ones aren't even required for the step they are on, since you can grind out the things you need with fates.

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Yup. That's why I said the relic helped ensure more players had unlocked "more" of the alliance raids, not "all."

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Originally Posted by Infindox

I don't think that making the roulette minimum ilevel/tighten the sync will solve the problem either. It'll just make people rage quit certain ones and then everyone hoping they STILL get Crystal Tower again (mostly easy doing mechanics still) or the Nier ones in the roulette atm (close to the level of your actual gear, and not too frustrating imo). Would I like to have them the way they were? Yes. But not everyone wants that.

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I wasn't talking about an iLVL tightening or synch.
I was talking about how people can manipulate their iLVL to bait crystal tower. If you que using the lowest iLVL you can, you'll ensure that no matter which raids you has e unlocked that you only get the first couple. People do this all the time to ensure they have a short and easy run, which exacerbates the problem of the alliance raid mainly giving crystal tower.

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Originally Posted by ItMe

I wasn't talking about an iLVL tightening or synch.
I was talking about how people can manipulate their iLVL to bait crystal tower. If you que using the lowest iLVL you can, you'll ensure that no matter which raids you has e unlocked that you only get the first couple. People do this all the time to ensure they have a short and easy run, which exacerbates the problem of the alliance raid mainly giving crystal tower.

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I know of that trick, I may have misread your comment then, and I apologise. I'm not sure how they would go about fixing it, but it would be nice.

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Originally Posted by Infindox

I know of that trick, I may have misread your comment then, and I apologise. I'm not sure how they would go about fixing it, but it would be nice.

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No biggie.

Yeah, me neither.
It's not a problem I believe we will ever be rid of.

The only thing I can see is if the system uses your iLVL on gear both on you and inventory, whatever is higher. That your queued job can use. That would make people put their gear on a retainer or something, and they probably still will if they really wanted to cheese it.

You could fix some of the issue with a change in requirements and a sliding scale. Some roulettes only let you que when everything on the list is unlocked. If that could be adapted here, then being level 60 means you now need to unlock the shadows of mhach series to use the roulette. And the sliding ilvl scale would also mean that level 60 player couldnt que with gear below i235. Repeat at 70 with the ivalice line and ilvl 365, and again at 80 with the nier line and ilvl 495. You would still see the highest percentage of raids being CT raids just because any player doing alliance on a 50-59 level class would be locked into them, and thus whoever they were paired with would be along for the ride. The people determined to cheat would probly start teaming up and making sure they always had someone below 60 in their group before queing, but it would at least be a step in the right direction.

Sliding scale sounds like a good option and likely the only one thats reasonable to implement. I have extreme contempt for people who deliberately lower ilvl to get into those boring lame raids; the tedium the Crystal Tower series provide only serves to make them feel even longer than the other ones, so is it really even a win? I suppose the sliding scale would be tied to the job you wish to queue up as, so that for example when you reach level 80 on one job and then go to unlock samurai you can still join the crystal tower despite not having the item level on that job for the level 80 job's requirement

Yeah, it would basically have to be tied to the class in question. The game checks your ilvl/class/etc when you que(including locking you into whatever class you are currently on for said que), so thats the natural point for the scale to be checked. Mind, if i were in charge i would still combine the stricter requirements with a tighter ilvl sync to make the raids harder. It also wouldnt hurt if the higher level raids gave more of an exp bonus at the end.

I just got Dun Scaith 2x in a row

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Originally Posted by Yuella

I just got Dun Scaith 2x in a row

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Dun Dun Duuuuuun!

Not sure about your experience, but 9 times out of 10 we've got a new person when I run it these days. Sometimes whole new groups. Or others who are just rusty. I end up explaining things a lot when we have issues.

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Originally Posted by Absurdity

Since they already said that they won't squish 1-50 we will not see any changes to Crystal Tower

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Was it 1-50 or 1-49 though? The top end at i130 might still see a reduction.

Also I still don't really understand the deal with stats when people are synched down vs naturally at that level, but battles seem to get quicker every time the max ilevel goes up. So a reduction in the power difference between a level 50 and level 80 character might have the opposite effect.

IIRC, it's less about us - the Warriors of Light - and more about the back-end of their systems where - because of our growing numbers demanding bosses have bigger and bigger numbers, it's getting to the point boss HP is getting worrisome and how it'll affect systems. So, the stat squish is actually going to hit the game as a whole, not only the Warriors of Light. Consequently, because we'll have lower numbers (and so will enemies) people are worried content will become more difficult despite assurances from development that it'll feel about the same in practice.

Though, one band-aid solution to crystal tower baiting would be to force equip the best gear when queueing for a duty or roulette. This isn't the best solution and is still manipulatable via just not having the better equipment on your person, which is why I said its a band-aid solution. I definitely hate baiting in roulettes as I'm generally hoping for more recent stuff when I queue it. Getting older content by chance is one thing, but being dragged there intentionally by others is an infinitely worse feeling.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

Was it 1-50 or 1-49 though? The top end at i130 might still see a reduction.

Also I still don't really understand the deal with stats when people are synched down vs naturally at that level, but battles seem to get quicker every time the max ilevel goes up. So a reduction in the power difference between a level 50 and level 80 character might have the opposite effect.

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The only difference between say a lvl 50 in i130 and a lvl 80 in 530 is that when the lvl 80 gets synced down to i130 their gear will have maxed out substats, so they're essentially wearing a slightly stronger version of the i130 gear. Considering that substats have a lot less of an impact nowadays it shouldn't make that much of a difference.

The bigger contributing factor to old content just melting are the changes made with every expansion, pretty much all our abilities have increased in potency significantly compared to ARR and we might even have new abilities that we originally did not have at 50.
Every time SE reworked the jobs so far we saw an increase in dps at lower levels. What also came with these reworks most of the time was a reduction in complexity, and regardless of what you think about jobs becoming easier the fact is that it means the average player in a 24man will deal more dps than they would've done in previous expansions.

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Originally Posted by Iscah

Also I still don't really understand the deal with stats when people are synched down vs naturally at that level, but battles seem to get quicker every time the max ilevel goes up. So a reduction in the power difference between a level 50 and level 80 character might have the opposite effect.

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It's not because of the stats, but because of potency creep in our kits.
The numbers we synch down to don't change, so it doesn't matter if our crit is 3,000 or 9,999, the duty will have it synch down to the same max value.

The only adjustment I can lightly think of is to reward players based on the duty chosen & added amount depending on their queued iLv in relation to the chosen duty’s iLv cap—which the latter makes up the larger & significant portion of the two. If it’s possible, might as well throw in additional reward for queueing with higher ilv than required, too.

I honestly don’t think tightening up the ilv range or making the content harder would do anything better to alleviate the situation. If any, it would just make the queue last longer. When a lazy player is denied of their easy access for hefty reward, they will simply not going to bother.

I have grown tired of seeing crystal tower myself, enough that I dread doing it, but hey tomestones so might as well. I had come up with a potential solution. How about enforcing that people of a specific level like lets say 71-80 must equip gear equivalent to the item level of holminster switch or higher, and same for prior level ranges to queue into Alliance Roulette. This gives enough leeway for people who aren't geared for endgame but still enforces that people can't cheese alliance roulette.

I feel something needs to be done, because one of my biggest gripes is that unless I queue for an Alliance Raid specifically, I almost never see it. And I am sure that many others won't get a chance to ever see it beyond their initial run, and people wonder why so many people can't do the mechanics for those raids. They never get a chance to improve unless they actively aim to do so on their own time outside of the roulette. It's such a shame that so many of these raids (especially the Ivalice ones, which I felt were a lot of fun) never get seen anymore. and anything that encourages the possibility of them showing up more is good in my eyes.

If people really want their mind-numbingly boring runs of Crystal tower, why not just add them to the MSQ roulette, especially since they are required by the MSQ now to progress. it'll add some variety to msq roulette, and give other alliance raids a chance to show up. add some exp modifier to the CT raids and there you go, everyone should be happier.

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Originally Posted by ItMe

The ShB relic making sure more players have unlocked more of the alliance raids was a good idea.
Now if only they could solve that issue where players can bait out crystal tower by manipulating their iLVL

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An easy method would be the lower the maximum ilvl for Labyrinth and Syrcus Tower, bringing them in line with World of Darkness on difficulty. Example, Labyrinth being locked at a max of i90, Syrcus at i110. This lowers just exactly how easy you can make the fights, and forces people to having to do mechanics again for them. It will also make people not want to abuse ilvl sync for them, considering that Labyrinth has a LOT of mechanics that can cause problems.

they won't do anything suggested here enjoy your eternal crystal tower i know i will when i do more resistance weapons

Maybe an unpopular solution: Undo the nerfs they have done in CT and if thats not enough, put an iLvl Cap on CT1 and CT2, so that they will get more equal to the other 24 player raid series in kind of duration an difficulty.

CT1 and 2 are just so easy, because most mechanics can be completely ignored or will not show up at all, as the bosses die so fast.

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Originally Posted by _Koneko_

they won't do anything suggested here enjoy your eternal crystal tower i know i will when i do more resistance weapons

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Do casrum instead, it gives 5 memories, i was sick of crystal tower and only did castrum for all of them.

Alliance Raid is irksome in general so I for one appreciate if I get Syrcus Tower. Since that means it will end very quickly.

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Originally Posted by Frizze

You could fix some of the issue with a change in requirements and a sliding scale. Some roulettes only let you que when everything on the list is unlocked. If that could be adapted here, then being level 60 means you now need to unlock the shadows of mhach series to use the roulette. And the sliding ilvl scale would also mean that level 60 player couldnt que with gear below i235. Repeat at 70 with the ivalice line and ilvl 365, and again at 80 with the nier line and ilvl 495. You would still see the highest percentage of raids being CT raids just because any player doing alliance on a 50-59 level class would be locked into them, and thus whoever they were paired with would be along for the ride. The people determined to cheat would probly start teaming up and making sure they always had someone below 60 in their group before queing, but it would at least be a step in the right direction.

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You'll run into an issue on this, due to SE allowing people to level out of the expansion they are on. I have a friend right now, who was lvl 60 before starting Heaven's ward, and is over 70 and just now starting Stormblood.
They have not finished Alexander, and have not unlocked the 2nd set of alliance raids.

Not because they want to cheese the roulette, but because they have so much to do. Most of the time we don't even run the Alliance Raid Roulette due to it being so late after them running MSQ. The ilvl part would probably be the way to go with it. My friend can afford the Crafted gear that would allow them to run the Ivalice line, but isn't there story wise yet.

I get Crystal Tower (usually Syrcus Tower) about 75% of the time. Mostly besides that it's Void Ark, but I do get Dun Scaith, Ivalice, and Nier quite a bit.

Just make the roulette have a min item level that is the same as the newest one you have unlocked. It won't solve the issue of people deliberately not unlocking them but that's minor compared to the people queueing naked. Then you are only going to get CT when people who are actually at that level are doing it.

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Originally Posted by TheRealQuah

Just make the roulette have a min item level that is the same as the newest one you have unlocked. It won't solve the issue of people deliberately not unlocking them but that's minor compared to the people queueing naked. Then you are only going to get CT when people who are actually at that level are doing it.

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That would hinder the players doing the older raids as new ones come out if players who have unlocked later ones are basically ineligible to join them.

The point of the roulettes is to get players who have done the content into the older content to help new players get bodies into the raid, dungeon, trial in order to progress.

This is especially true for The Crystal Tower raid series now as it is required for the MSQ.

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Originally Posted by VivirAmosa

Do you think SE will ever make changes to keep make those old raids fun again?

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At the very least there will be no more belts in Endwalker so people who want glams don't have to deal with 80% belt loot drops.

You are not alone with this constant ct raid in the daily roulettes. I also puke every day just watching that extremely boring ct raid. I now only go offline or wait for a kick. What players are currently doing with the Alli Raid Roulette is simply antisocial to all other players who are looking for good content in the Daily Alli Raid.

My suggestion would be to take the entire ct Raid out of the roulette and offer it separately as Daily Roulette. So those cheater players can put up with this completely bored raid and those who crave good content can take the other Alli Raid Roulette.

The syncing thing by itself won't do any good because there are always some peoples who cheat themselves through it. Unfortunately. :(

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Originally Posted by Dicentis

You are not alone with this constant ct raid in the daily roulettes. I also puke every day just watching that extremely boring ct raid. I now only go offline or wait for a kick. What players are currently doing with the Alli Raid Roulette is simply antisocial to all other players who are looking for good content in the Daily Alli Raid.

My suggestion would be to take the entire ct Raid out of the roulette and offer it separately as Daily Roulette. So those cheater players can put up with this completely bored raid and those who crave good content can take the other Alli Raid Roulette.

The syncing thing by itself won't do any good because there are always some peoples who cheat themselves through it. Unfortunately. :(

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Well, you can't blame players for being 'antisocial', when in the sentence before you flaunt that you willingly stop participating. Not doing stuff you signed up for and just disconnecting or standing around and waiting for a kick is antisocial none the less.
Eat the penalty or haul .butt (just to stay in the guidelines)

And of course would the sync help a lot. If the raid is no longer that faceroll-y people wouldn't just drop their ilvl. They do it exactly because it is so much faster and you don't really have to do anything, so you can level classes you're not proficent in.

All the raids were good when they were at level content on no one was stupidly overgeared. That's what you have to tackle, just excluding it would only hurt people that genuinly have to do it for story progression.
We don't need more roulettes, people need to get better.