One of the main problems I've had with PvP is that there isn't really anything worth using Trophy Crystals on if you've been actively completing the Series pass up to Lv25 each time.
The only things non-exclusive being all the recolor glamour sets, which just take up more glamour slots anyway if you even want them, but even then I have gotten A LOT of them.
I thought it would be a good idea to add the old Feast rewards as a heavy Trophy Crystal dump but they went the other direction and added them for Commendation Crystals which are harder to obtain AND you can't even get enough for them unless you've already been actively doing ranked AND still placing highly.
So now that this decision was made, they still didn't even add NEW Trophy Crystal rewards for a major patch?
Can we at least get like a Trophy Crystal -> Commendation Crystal exchange like they have for Wolf Collars, and just make them more expensive, like 5000 Trophy Crystals = 1 Commendation Crystal? I mean even 10,000 Trophy Crystals for 1 Commendation Crystal seems better than nothing...
NO new Trophy Crystal rewards? Are we being serious?
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12-17-2025, 04:36 AMzeth07NO new Trophy Crystal rewards? Are we being serious?
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12-17-2025, 06:43 AMReinhardt_AzureheimI understand the lack of additions to the Trophy Crystal vendor or having any actual good Trophy Crystal sink is upsetting, but turning the ranked-only currency that got introduced in season 7 because of a lack of tangible rewards in Crystalline Conflict Ranked into just another casual currency is not the way to go. There should be better & more Trophy Crystal rewards, yes, but not Commendation Crystals. Let Ranked have unique things.Quote:
Originally Posted by zeth07
Top 100 gear is prestigious for a reason and rightfully deserves to be in Ranked, especially with its designs not being FOMO-locked anymore. The problem is more that they are forgetting about western Ranked population being NOTHING like JP servers - for us even getting Omega & Ultima tier is NOT ordinary and this will not get any better if the metal tiers have no reason to play (lack of rewards / bad reward structure) to facilitate faster queues, MORE queues and make the mode have a healthy population. We don't play if there is hardly any tangible reward unlike japanese players.
No all-tier GOOD reward structure (think ranked-only wolfmarks) = low population for ranked = less access to Commendation Crystals for those that invest time. -
12-17-2025, 02:21 PMzeth07Counter points:Quote:
Originally Posted by Reinhardt_Azureheim
- Wolf Collars were originally ranked rewards for TOP 10, which is obviously above Top 100 rewards...and those are able to be exchanged for with the weapons. And for the other ranking tier rewards at the time with Feast for ALL the tiers. So to me that automatically invalidates any argument about how Commendation Crystals are given out if they had no issue giving out Wolf Collars for the weapons.
- The entire "issue" of the Feast ranked rewards were how they were obtained and gated off, besides the FOMO and the win traders. So going backwards with making Commendation Crystals even a thing and now the way to earn those alternate versions of the Feast rewards seems completely out of touch with the CURRENT PvP situation and not really reflecting on the whole issues of the past and arguably worse since you need certain ranks for Commendation Crystals compared to Wolf Collars previously... -
12-17-2025, 06:17 PMReinhardt_Azureheim1.) Your information is only partially correct. Wolf collars & Hellhound weapons were introduced in Feast Season 5. You gained 10 Wolf collars for being Top 10, but you also gained between 3 and 7 Wolf Collars by achieving skill tiers from Bronze to Diamond, each tier increasing it by one collar respectively. They became available for Trophy Crystals with the introduction of Patch 6.1's Crystalline Conflict & Trophy Crystal vendor, two expansions down the line.Quote:
Originally Posted by zeth07
Sources:
https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/Wolf_Collar
https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes.../reward/5/solo
2.) Wolf Collars becoming freely accessible with Trophy Crystals wasn't inherently a bad thing, but it left a gaping hole in the reward structure for Ranked. They went "backwards with making Commendation crystals even a thing" because without, Ranked has absolutely no tangible incentive to be done for more than one season. The initial two seasons went alright because the mode was new, but the shine fell off quickly because each season gives the exact same Portrait elements with a different number attached to it along with a pitiful amount of Trophy Crystals, which you overshoot manifold by just actively participating in a season.
The main issue is that the access of Commendation Crystals is complicated because it lacks organic player retention for the mode - metal tiers have no incentive to play if they somehow can't reach at least platinum for a chance to diamond, and there is generally no reward for playing beyond reaching specific tier thresholds. Commendation Crystals would be far from a problem to obtain if Ranked could be played as often as Casual, which to my experience has been having active games way into the dead of the night on many occasions.
The system is far from perfect, I'm not gonna lie, but I am not going to entertain the idea that it is somehow unfair that Ranked Mode gets things you can't get outside of it. Higher difficulties of content net better rewards; competing in ranked/on ladder should not be treated any different. -
12-17-2025, 06:37 PMHyperiusUltima
While that's true on the ladder side, I think Ranked is more stick than carrot is the problem. Sure, if someone wants to go after a specific thing? That's them - but that's going to be rare considering the fact that climbing isn't the problem. The problem with Ranked is that there's literally nothing there. If anything they could scrap Ranked and still retain Casuals for Series while still retaining the same rewards if they were to do so, and people would still have the same opinions on it.
Generally I feel like Ranked isn't lacking on the Commendation Crystal side - we're lacking variety in rewards. I still remember the Controversy back in Stormblood over throwing the chair into the Top 100, making A LOT of people mad in the process. Did it incentivize PvP? Probably for the season. Did it retain people? No. Generally I think it'd be worth it if they added something that wasn't just previous Feast rewards to the pool and instead get creative like they did with Series rewards. Either way, the argument is sound on both sides when you look at reward structure.
Casual: Series is a FOMO Structure. Not enough time in the day with work. Ranked Rewards shouldn't be locked behind Ranked because there's no point in doing it.
Ranked: Ranked has no tangible rewards past making first season for portrait. Commendation Crystals are just a stackable similar to Wolf Collars that may or may not have value in the future.
The whole thing stinks of FOMO, and I think they really need to scrap that framework and actually put something in for both. Previous Series Rewards was already something people have wanted for a while now that we're already deep into this, so it's important that those be made available in some form via PvP. Ranked needs a long-term incentive similar to other long-form content, so mayhap they could throw something interesting into the pool of Commendation Crystals that will get people to want it. It'll make some mad it's behind PvP, but it being a long-term goal is really part of the point of doing a lot of the content in this game once you hit the endgame and could even reward the player with Commendation Crystals as you climb for the season(one time per season per Rank above Bronze). Will it mess with previous rewards? Probably, in exchange for better longevity instead of the staleness you get now.
Even trading in Trophy Crystals(a whole damn stack of them) for 1 Commendation Crystal is progress to people on the Casual side, so it'd help on their side as well by engaging in content(which let's be honest, all casuals just engage in Frontline because it's a daily). -
12-17-2025, 09:05 PMValence
Hard no on making a bridge between ranked rewards and casual rewards, at least when the content is current, else it's like asking savage/ultimate rewards to be farmable with a lot of tomes. If there is a lack of rewards behind specific currencies (both crystals and commendation crystals for sure), then add more independently, targeting different levels of involvement and performance each.
Always funny reading EN comments about pvp, it's always about rewards this, rewards that. Meanwhile JP just plays the fucking game and it instapops 24/24. -
12-18-2025, 01:01 AMSpritePR
I hate having to spend mine on wolf collars just to be able to advance my battlepass :[
Let me spend them on SOMETHING useful (WOLF COLLARS DONT COUNT)
Here's a suggestion. Make a trophy sink thats purchasable with a ton of wolf collars (or just increase trophy crystal cap to 100k or something. 20k is wayyyyy too low). A really cool mount or armor set would work. -
12-18-2025, 02:15 AMMoonlite
So lets say the devs are busy and don't want to put any real work into fixing pvp currency problem. Just put a gacha pull like GC seals. Is it good, no. But it is the least amount of work. We already have random loot pulls for retainers, gc seals, airships/sub what is one more.
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12-18-2025, 03:59 AMHyperiusUltima'Rewards this, rewards that' in a game that doesn't respect the player's time? Yeah, I'd think that's a valid concern to have for a mode that already doesn't attract 80%+ of the playerbase worldwide, and is further minimized when you go into NA/EU regions. As a stark reminder, we're on a literal 4 month schedule. That's 3 patches in a year to shake things up outside the mid-season adjustments they do(which honestly they'll never nerf DRG). PvP lives or dies by balancing, as well as the 'fun' of the mode which it isn't right now from what I've been hearing both in Revival and here as you've stated about SCH and PCT specifically in a different thread.Quote:
Originally Posted by Valence
Know what pops all the time? FRONTLINES. Why? It's in a Roulette on the front page of Duty Finder. Crystalline Conflict and Rival Wings don't have that luxury, so it becomes a matter of what rewards the Top 300 get. Considering everything is Commendation Crystals, it's important to look at the quality of the rewards. Is it a set you want? Might as well spend them. If it's not, you're essentially holding the bag on what potentially could be something you want. This is why Mounts have lasting power in keeping people engaged until they get it. The moment they get it, they'll either keep playing or just leave the mode entirely - but regardless there needs to be a long-term driver for the PvP community when it comes to Ranked without having Casuals scream out their lungs about how they can't access it.
Saying 'just play Ranked' is easy until you hit the wall that is the learning curve, where PvE players have to learn an entirely different game. That's where you create the grind on the Casual side so it's not just being forced to wait for your Ranking to lock in so you can get your damn rewards in the next Major Patch. Because otherwise? Once Ranked dies and you're not in Diamond-Crystal? It's incredibly difficult to get Bronze-Gold outside of community engagement. It's not rocket science and is as simple a fix as setting a high requirement of Commendation Crystals and a high Trophy Crystal -> Commendation Crystal Ratio to push them towards Ranked to get those rewards faster compared to playing hundreds of games. -
12-18-2025, 05:17 PMzeth07Re-read my post if needed. I already mentioned that aspect that they were given in ALL the ranks, which is exactly why I said what I said.Quote:
Originally Posted by Reinhardt_Azureheim
With Commendation Crystals you have to hit Diamond or Top 300. Wolf Collars were ANY rank and Top 10, but still added later for Trophy Crystals, which is why I said the justification about Commendation Crystals doesn't really hold any validity.
I would go so far to say the crux of the problem with the previous Feast rewards is exactly why they changed PvP to what it is now with the Series pass + Trophy Crystals. Which I also mentioned, and why them doing Commendation Crystals at all is already going backwards on the problem, and now taking the replica rewards and basically repeating that exact problem almost identically minus the fomo.
If they gave any Commendation Crystals regardless of rank it would be a step in the right direction because you at least have to attempt it and getting just "1" in Bronze doesn't do you much good when the costs of the pieces are A LOT like I mentioned if you weren't already getting the Commendation Crystals previously. But ANY is better than zero.
Or again letting us get them as a trophy crystal dump would help as well.
Even prior to this situation I also thought they should just change it off being two separate modes and just have it exist as one entity of Crystalline Conflict. Then it wouldn't have a split playerbase of an already niche mode. And if it just existed as one thing they likely wouldn't have to do the weird datacenter change thing every time which again is likely because of the small userbase.
And I should point out how bad the actual Ranked matchmaking even is, since I haven't done ranked in a while it puts me at the lowest Bronze but it matches you all the way up to at least GOLD which is absolutely insane in any other game comparisons. Also because of the lack of players I imagine, since it should obviously just be bronze vs bronze but they already screwed that up with the changes previously and the playerbase can't maintain that. -
12-18-2025, 07:29 PMValenceOkay, I'm not necessarily opposed to the idea, I'm just afraid that people are going to think "I can just go casual instead of playing ranked". If it's very long term comparatively to getting it during the same season when playing ranked, much like savage rewards vs getting them unsynced later, then perhaps it could work? I don't know.Quote:
Originally Posted by HyperiusUltima
Ranked dies even in Diam Crystal, just look at this last season, it popped for one week at launch and then for a handful of days before the new patch. Thus my comment on western mentality. -
12-19-2025, 02:54 PMDraxianI really like this suggestion. Hell, they could even do glowy versions of the series reward glamours if they don't want to create a whole bunch of new stuff. If they do feel like creating something new, having some sort of pinnacle PvP glamours that take caps of trophy crystals per piece would be fantastic.Quote:
Originally Posted by SpritePR
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12-23-2025, 08:50 PMAidorouge
Adding new trophy crystal rewards only works insofar that the rewards are something I care to get. At the moment the only thing I'm spending them on is Hellhound weapons (7 out of 21 so far) because I'm now caught up on all the old Series rewards and I'm not interested in the Tactical, Critical or Tropias glamour sets. (And even then, it's just the base Hellhound weapons because I don't play Ranked and don't like huge particle effects on my weapons anyway.)
Not to say they shouldn't add more to the trophy crystal vendor (and the collars vendor too), but it needs to be something really worth chasing after. -
12-26-2025, 05:37 AMStriderShinryu
It definitely does feel odd that we get so many Trophy Crystals compared to what we can buy with them. I do think the few things they have put in for Crystals are actually too cheap in cost so that's one issue that feels like it could be easily rectified.
I also do like the idea posted in this thread about some sort of loot box you could buy with excess Crystals. Not sure exactly what they could put in them but I do still regularly dump my extra GC Seals on those loot boxes so maybe just having them would be enough. And I think it wouldn't be too out of line to put Commendation Crystals in the loot boxes at a very low drop rate. I can understand not wanting to just let people buy them outright (and I say that as someone who doesn't do ranked PvP so I have literally zero chance of getting them myself) but I think letting them drop very rarely from a loot box that costs, maybe, 10000 Trophy Crystals wouldn't be a bad thing. -
12-26-2025, 11:37 PMAelin_Ashryver
Was looking forward to more pvp gear for crystals and once again SE fail to deliver. Why is the new gear gated behind the ranked currency? ,-, When we've had a butt load of currency sitting needing used for ages and most players don't enjoy ranked pvp. Ranked pvp in any MMO is a joke, if I want to be competitive in some sort of pvp game mode I play league of legends not xiv.
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12-30-2025, 06:42 AMMercury_Grey
At this point i jsut do trophy crystals into wolf collars for wolf marks. THen turn those into glamour or was as it adventure items?
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12-30-2025, 07:28 AMStormfur
It's wild to me how originally there were just wolf marks. Then collars became the new prestigious item to get, and depending on how you ranked, you could save up a few seasons to get a weapon. That was a move in the right direction IMHO because you got SOMETHING for your time, kind of like trophy crystals now. And then they made Wolf Collars so ridiculously easy to get and commendation crystals became the new hot item. I still have 99 wolf collars in my inventory in case they ever release something that requries that many. Would be nice to get an honest-to-god wolf mount, maybe like those aether ones from shadowbringers with the blue glow. How much you wanna bet that they'll make another change that makes commendation crystals easier to get over time?
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01-12-2026, 11:23 PMCommander_JustitiaThey accept the changes easier, but they didn't particularly like them or hoped they would be made in a certain way. The PvP players that posted for the first time in 10 years on the forum got the most upvotes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Valence
They also say how easy it is to reach Diamond and Crystal on following sites.
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...6%9C%9B/page16
If the answer always is "just wait, it will be made easier with time, you will get it for almost no effort in the future" you will not make people play PvP but the opposite happens after a short time. It just looks desperate to me and this is why I never really supported it.
Yes, they didn't have to change anything after wolf collars existed. It would be still really easy for them to add 1 mount or several rare items for 100 wolf collars as a long term grind. And increase the currency caps with that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormfur
But this is said since like 4-5 years. I am playing free login right now. I don't feel the motivation besides Series rank25 which can be done in a few days. Why would I sub? -
01-13-2026, 01:30 AMValenceI must admit that I'm not totally sure what's being argued about there? What changes? Maybe I've lost track it's been a while.Quote:
Originally Posted by Commander_Justitia
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01-13-2026, 01:40 AMCommander_JustitiaOP wants commendation crystal for trophy crystals. To get rewards even easier, but JP disagrees as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Valence
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01-13-2026, 06:06 AMThemarvin
You don't need every single time....
Your goal should be playing the game you like to play first of all. -
01-14-2026, 06:31 AMAidorougeThat would require PVP to be fun though, and I stopped getting enjoyment out of it once I realized every match was predictable in the first 2-3 minutes, assuming it even lasts that long in the case of CC.Quote:
Originally Posted by Themarvin
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01-14-2026, 08:00 AMTimotheusReedThis is very easy to say for JP who has very active queues all of the time. But if you are playing on EU or OCE, there is currently a problem of not enough matches happening for people to rank up consistently.Quote:
Originally Posted by Commander_Justitia
For EU and OCE players alternative methods of obtaining commendation crystals would be very much appreciated.
Whereas people in JP and NA can consistently reach Dia to qualify for the commendation crystal reward, a lot of people on EU or OCE can't really consistently reach Dia or Crystal.
And the reason isn't even a lack of skill or effort, but instead the inability to even play Pvp, because of no matches happening. -
01-14-2026, 11:33 AMCommander_JustitiaI am on free login right now. I played last 2 days from unranked, I am diamond 2 star. Stop lying.Quote:
Originally Posted by TimotheusReed
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01-15-2026, 01:53 AMTimotheusReedMhmmm. That is weird. I didn't see you in any matches. I queued during the last days and there were not really any matches popping in Plat.Quote:
Originally Posted by Commander_Justitia
And I am pretty sure I didn't see your character in any of those matches.
When exactly did you play? At which time exactly.
You also seem to have gained +22 stars in a day, which makes me curious at which time of the day you did play.
It couldn't have been at the times I queued. -
01-15-2026, 02:02 AMCommander_JustitiaI had less games than I hoped to get last days, on that I agree. Barely any games before 8pm, which might be because of raiding idk? You had near constant games 8pm-1am European Central Time. I think after 2am or 3am people will stop. I cant say for first day if plat popped because I was unranked-silver.Quote:
Originally Posted by TimotheusReed
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01-15-2026, 02:30 AMTimotheusReedLooking at all Top 300 you are basically the person who won the most matches in all of Top 300 yesterday. No one in Top 300 on all EU won so many matches like you did yesterday.Quote:
Originally Posted by Commander_Justitia
So i honestly would be interested at which exact time you did play. And you obviously also seem to be experienced in Pvp because you immediatly went from bronze to Dia 2.
But I question the narrative that at 8pm the matches started popping. I queued at 8pm during the last days and I had to wait 30min in queue before i quit searching. I don't know what happened maybe after 11pm.
But at 8pm there was nothing happening in Plat.
Also honestly you can't expect everyone in EU to queue and play during and till midnight in a normal work-week just to even play. If matches only pop at midnight or close to midnight you can basically consider EU matchmaking almost dead.
This is not even comparable to NA or JP who have even more chances for queues to pop during the day.
You can even see this by looking at Top 300. Wheras in NA and JP everyone in Top 300 is at least Crystal, people in EU are in Top300 with Diamond 4.
This already shows that the situation is worse in EU and OCE. It is a lot easier to even reach Crystal in NA and JP and earn those commendation crystals because the player pool is larger.
The amount of commendation crystals you get shouldn't depend on the datacentre you are playing at, which it obviously does. -
01-15-2026, 02:45 AMCommander_Justitia
Like half of the top300 are above 100 victories or several hundred. Many will start higher rank, so they don't need to play much. I am below 100 victories.
I did play many in the last days, I just wanted new series rank 25 quickly, which lines up well with each new free login period.
Well 8pm was popping for me. I have a screenshot for 9-10pm ST.
I think it being on Chaos this time adds to slower queue. Having to dc travel for PvP, when doing PvE on Light, is bad.
Or it means it is easier to get top300 in EU, because there is not much competition. -
01-15-2026, 02:54 AMTimotheusReedYeah but still even worse for anyone below Top300, because they don't even get commendation crystals at all just because of a low population.Quote:
Originally Posted by Commander_Justitia
Fact is in NA you can get commendation crystal without even having to reach Top 300.
In EU and OCE you have it basically worse. I am open for other alternatives which make queueing in EU and OCE easier.
But if SE doesn't improve queueing i would líke there to be different alternatives to get commendation crystals. -
01-15-2026, 03:44 AMValenceIt's a bit weird in a way. You get commendation crystals for reaching specific ranks starting at Diamond, so this mostly relies on your skill and availability of games, which is lower especially in dead DCs like OCE.Quote:
Originally Posted by TimotheusReed
On the other hand, you get a lot of commendation crystals for reaching top 300 and specific positions, which is incredibly harder on busy DCs like JP (top 300 generally starts around 2500+ rating in omega there), while it's a joke in OCE, you literally rank bronze and you're top 300...
You'll laugh but seasons on Chaos are always a lot more active than on Light. Just look at the last season and you'll see how barren it was on Light. It's really annoying, I hate traveling when I don't even know if I have chances for it to actually pop.Quote:
Originally Posted by Commander_Justitia
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01-15-2026, 08:12 AMTimotheusReedQuote:
Originally Posted by Valence
Yeah that is my experience as well. Queues on Chaos seem to be popping more often than on Light.
But I still think they need to adjust the method to obtain commendation crystals, especially to address the problems lower populated DCs. Otherwise queues will die even more on EU and OCE