Make FFXIV more like FFXI and less like WoW

[Kiara]

Velhard, I don't think anyone is suggesting we bring back low drop rates and the 6 hour HM camps for an Ochuido's Kote. What they want is some permanence to the value of end game content. If we are going to get thrown for a loop every 3 months where the last content they released is going to become way easier to do, and the primary reason to do any of the content is to see the unique story thread for that encounter set (its an RPG after all), it doesn't leave much incentive to stick around to tackle the harder content. It really isn't about the gear or the achievements, but the fact that the payout for doing stuff is going to be devaluated relatively quickly. They are suggesting things like sideways progression because they want the value of the content to be preserved.

If you do horizontal, you have to balance how long it takes to acquire said item. Unless there is ideas I simply cannot think of, the best way to do so is low RNG and over the top time sinks to balance the longevity of the content.

The idea of devalue is all on your own opinion. I am not in favor of holding the same gear for a long period of time because I have some emotional attachment to it. I like that there is always a feeling of progression and no extreme road blocks. For many years I wanted a TP piece on my SAM that wasn't Haubergeon+1, an ugly piece that was lv.59 no less and couldn't even use the higher level versions of it. Ask how many people were disappointed that there was no gear progression past ilvl90 in 2.1. I felt a great sense of accomplishment beating all the content available in 2.0-2.1. I don't need gear longevity to prove that. The fact that I beat T5 in it's prime, which the majority of players have not is good enough for me. I look forward to repeating this pattern in 2.2 and so on. On how often gear gets outdated within a year can be debatable, but either doing horizontal or vertical, SE will never get it just right because there is no way to be right.

I have always said that people don't know what they want, they just know what they don't want. Make something one way, people complain. Cater to the will of the people, they still complain. Only thing developers can do is balance what is right and attempt to understand what people truly want, which is near impossible because I believe people truly don't know what they want anyways. You can throw me in that guilty party while you are at it.

Thanks for the reply Velhart. I think Fendred's response sums up my sentiment more: It's about the payout for finally accomplishing stuff in current patch being devalued pretty quickly by another patch. I *never* want to see a return to crazy 20+ hour HNM windows where everyone's camping and people are botting to claim, etc. I'm not asking for that. I'm not asking for 7 Year-long windows either.

Horizontal Progression doesn't necessarily have to mean playing the same dungeon over and over with no new content. Just as a quick example (I'm sure there are much better ones people can think of): Instead of raising Item Level every few months, why not explore sidegrades that bring something meaningful? Like having a piece of equipment that had "Enhances Stoneskin" or "Increases Holy Damage" or something?

Why not have more than the ~2 same boring Stats that get swapped out (in our current Allagan vs. AF+1 limited choices)? Instead of just Crit vs. Spell/Skill Speed, have more Stats that can be affected and be meaningful. Of course, with Yoshi P limiting and controlling our Stats so much (so VIT and [Core Stat] are always fixed and never deviate), and with no real Elemental System (his choice again), there is very little wiggle room to do anything except vertical.

I'm all for more dungeons, interesting battles / scenarios to engage us with patches every few months; I never said I didn't want that, that would be great. You said that for you, "The fact that I beat T5 in it's prime, which the majority of players have not is good enough for me."

So if the fact that you beat a challenging fight is "good enough for you" (and we get new fights every few months with a patch), then why would it bother you if some of us are asking for the accomplishment / payout for clearing the latest and greatest not be devalued so quickly?

You're right that SE (and probably any company out there) may never get it exactly right, but every few months feels far too fast, considering the previously mentioned time to actually figure out the fight, overcome it with your own group of friends, then actually try and earn some of the rewards (let alone all of them) for your particular Job, and then trying to get all the pieces (and then some for your secondary, tertiary jobs, etc.).

It's like we barely have time to "breathe," before it's all "reset" again.

[ApolloGenX]

It's like we barely have time to "breathe," before it's all "reset" again.

It will always be like that for the people that barely beat content before the next patch. The benefit to being the slowest completers is that you constantly have content to work on.