Patch 2.2, Accessibility, Difficulty Levels, and Throwing Away Content

[Malamasala]

This games problem atm is not that it is new I keep see people say this... the games problem is the core philosophy of content progression we have. It is just a flawed model.

Actually it is a problem with the users who are gamblers. You know, those who enjoyed FFXI and old MMO design with kill the monster and get 5% chance at drops. These kind of people gladly do 10 hours of the same thing every single day, just because the chance is there. However remove the chance or have something without a reward, and they won't touch it, claiming "it is boring and pointless".

For all intents and purposes most of the people in this thread would enjoy poker more than a MMO. Because they like spending money on a challenge with a small chance at reward.

I am not denying some things could be better, but if the complaints are "I'm unmotivated to play because of the item progression", then you clearly are not enjoying the CONTENT at all.

[Bufkus]

Without going into specific MMOs, it is difficult to talk about why certain MMORPGs crash. The biggest problem of the last decade was developers copying WoW's system down to the letter and trying to put a new coat of paint on it. SWTOR was a monumental project with a lot of hope behind it that turned into the colloquially named "Tortanic" due to every aspect of its gameplay being a direct WoW rip off. The real issue though, came after the release, where the developers blamed the quickly bleeding player base on a lack of end game content, when clearly many of the players were leaving before they even reached end game.

Wow, way to have zero understanding as to why recent MMOs like SWTOR failed. Protip: it didn't fail because it has vertical progression which you seem to be blaming everything on.

[MasamuneBranford]

Solution: Give the ability to play all content under its original conditions and reward an achievement for doing so.

Therefore -5 years from now - If i'm bored, I could gather my friends and enter the original turns 1-5 of BCB and be given the option to remove all echo buffs and be item level capped at ilevel 91.

Such an easy solution to implement that would literally please everybody.

So ummm, nobody liked my idea? Got zero comments and I feel that it truly would please everyone. It basically would allow you to have a time capsule to replay all the historic battles throughout the life of the MMO.

[NefGP]

Actually it is a problem with the users who are gamblers. You know, those who enjoyed FFXI and old MMO design with kill the monster and get 5% chance at drops. These kind of people gladly do 10 hours of the same thing every single day, just because the chance is there. However remove the chance or have something without a reward, and they won't touch it, claiming "it is boring and pointless".

For all intents and purposes most of the people in this thread would enjoy poker more than a MMO. Because they like spending money on a challenge with a small chance at reward.

I am not denying some things could be better, but if the complaints are "I'm unmotivated to play because of the item progression", then you clearly are not enjoying the CONTENT at all.

Says the spoiled kiddies who have to have their new shinies right away or they throw a tantrum?

You need to realize of course that the reason most of us (it's a very, very tiny minority of folks who actually enjoyed the sadistic grind and absurdly low drop rates) stuck with XI for long was because it was a quality game, despite its many apparent flaws (was also the 1st MMO a lot of folks including myself ever played. I tried to like WoW and others but hated them all.)

You people need to stop generalizing XI players.

[Hvinire]

Greetings everyone,

To clarify specifically about dungeon difficulty, as the game progresses, we're planning to offer players the Echo buff to make themselves stronger in order to challenge older content, not necessarily just lowering the difficulty of the dungeon or encounter itself. Also, those who wish to complete the dungeon without assistance may remove the Echo buff.

While there are no plans to give bonuses to those who cleared content before the addition of the Echo buff, we did submit the feedback that some of you had for more horizontal progression on rewards.

[Gesser]

Thank you Hvinire, I'm very glad to hear the Echo buff will be optional.

Related, may you please look over this thread & politely ask them to reconsider having no current plans to award pre-Echo/Unlock contenders?

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...se#post1820725

I'm not one to reward elitists or 'hardcores over casuals', but you have to consider... the many, many hours and weeks spent over farming for pieces pre-Echo/Unlock, only to have everything homogenize post-2.2, it can be disheartening for many.

As a fair & equitable compromise, the "rewards" are very miniscule, especially the 'slightly different color palette' one.

Additionally, I know MMO's haven't ever historically done this in the past ("your reward is you get to do the next tier-content sooner than the rest!" or "you already have the gear, why do you care that others now have easy-access to it, get over it!")... I just don't think it 'has' to be done like that still.

Honestly, a slightly different coloration to the same armor items for pre-Echo/Unlock isn't much to ask to 'honor' the legacy of players that spent countless hours grinding away for those pieces while it was still tough & lockout still existed.

[MasamuneBranford]

There doesn't have to be a bonus for clearing before the echo implementation; but there should be some sort of achievement for clearing with echo turned off and participating under original conditions (IL91).

[abzoluut]

Just change the color of the "easy mode" Coil. Don't understand why SE always wants to focus on the casual gamer. A color change is the least they could do instead of only double-nerfing Coil (assistance + everyone doing it in i85+ gear).

We need a horizontal game, not the boring "waiting for next patch" vertical game.

[YarozeX]

So instead of bronze make the Echo gear silver (in looks)?

[Riv]

It's Abyssea all over again.