It's become a chore to even log on to the game

[Tazo]

For better or worse, the dev team has done a stellar job in making this game hyper-accessible and familiar to WoW players. Now that they have them subbing, I hope they branch out from this 'marketing phase' and start incorporating some of the great design concepts that FFXI and FFXIV 1.23 had.

Not gonna happen, these forums will explode if they do that

[Zantetsuken]

Not gonna happen, these forums will explode if they do that

Its not that difficult.

Ease them in slowly.. make the content 'optional' for a while... but interesting and rewarding.

Start cutting the 'flashiness' (glows, radical weapon designs, etc) out of the vertical grind stuff and instead add it to the difficult-to-obtain horizontal content.

Make alternate iLvl >95 gear that gives buffs to certain abilities like 1.23 AF, or has procs -- like 1.23 primal weapons had. But it needs to be more challenging to obtain than grind/rinse/repeat.. or memorize boss pattern. There needs to be some RNG to it *evilgrin* and it needs to cover a wide spectrum of gameplay. The point is the players don't HAVE to pursue it, and the more challenging it is, the more prestigious the items will be for those who obtain them.

People will work for items if they are interesting and rare, if not necessarily the most powerful. For a clear example, watch people flock to Odin or Behemoth FATEs to get worthless iLvl50 gear/bardings/furnishings. It's the RARITY that attracts them to it... The devs just need to harness this interest and energy and incorporate it into endgame.



Back in FFXI, relics were a total pain to obtain.. I never got one, but I enjoyed seeing other players with them as they proved it could be done... it was a far-fetched dream that made the player think that there was a vast ceiling for growth in the game, a way to 'touch the sky', even if they personally never reached it. <--- That is what ARR is missing right now. **

Instead we have growth gated by patches. And that gets old fast.


**Not to get too political/philosophical... But what we are seeing in ARR is a clear demonstration of the differences between 'Freedom' and 'Equality'. ARR is a game bent towards 'Equality'. Though many people like the idea of 'Equality' and pay it lip-service - in reality, 'Equality' is stifling and it oppresses in order to achieve equilibrium.

'Freedom' on the other hand, allows potential to be realized. It opens the doors and allows dreamers to go as far and as high as their effort, talent, persistence and dedication will fuel them - as a result, there will always be disparity between those who pursue their goals and those who settle for less. Note that those who would champion Freedom must be free of Envy -- because Envy is the the path that leads away from Freedom and towards Equality.

[TrystWildkey]

Considering that the dev team has done a stellar job in making this game hyper-accessible and familair to WoW players, I hope they branch out from this 'marketing phase' and start incorporating some of the great design concepts that FFXI and FFXIV 1.23 had.

Thank you!

See, this is the kind of thing we're expecting when we post here. Not necessarily that we only want to see agreement, but this post is non-judgmental, not demeaning the OP, and opening the avenue to real discussion.

Anyway, yeah, I loved the fact that 2.0 was designed to be accessible, since I'm not the best gamer out there, and you make a good point about 'marketing phase.' That's one of the reasons I haven't given up all hope yet. I'd like to think that the dev team has a long term plan and I'd like to give them the benefit of my patience since I've supported them for so long.

[Tazo]

snip

I would love them to do this, which is more inclined with horizontal progression. But again, it will not work, these forums will explode.

The casual player base will whine to no end about it being too hard...they don't have as much time to play, why can't they get it as well in a shorter amount of time...etc.

[Vensaval]

I would love them to do this, which is more inclined with horizontal progression. But again, it will not work, these forums will explode.

The casual player base will whine to no end about it being too hard...they don't have as much time to play, why can't they get it as well in a shorter amount of time...etc.

I think that kind of mentality is what holds the potential of this game back. The way it is now, there's hardly any sense of accomplishment once you've completed something. Very little moments of overcoming obstacles to reach your goal. Everything's far too simple in a sense. Casual or Hardcore, as long as you keep playing, you'll eventually complete everything the game has to offer. Not enough content requires any significant amount of effort. There're only patterns the players need to memorize, and few of them will feel the satisfaction of discovering those patterns since all of the information is already out there and is pretty much expected to be studied beforehand.

Monotony is a word I keep bringing up because it describes a large amount of the content currently available. It's not enough to keep us engaged. That's why there's been a lot of these threads lately. That's why we keep voicing our opinions, hoping that they'll be heard and be taken into consideration. We're trying to help a game that we do love and want to keep loving. There's a lot that can be done to improve this game and keep people like ourselves wanting to play.

Someone mentioned variety earlier. That's one of my favorite words. It's something I adore. Especially in video games, because it makes the whole experience that much more enjoyable. If this game could reach a state where monotony is a word that I can no longer associate with it, I would happily renew my subscription at a moment's notice.

(I can make melodramatic paragraphs.)

[Zantetsuken]

I would love them to do this, which is more inclined with horizontal progression. But again, it will not work, these forums will explode.

The casual player base will whine to no end about it being too hard...they don't have as much time to play, why can't they get it as well in a shorter amount of time...etc.

Why would they? Do casuals complain about not having Allagan weapons? True casuals are well-accustomed to not having the best gear, after all.

No, the Casual/Mid-Core base *which I consider myself a part of* will either: A) realize it's not worth the effort, and follow the more general path to endgame gear (ie, the path we have now). or B) dedicate their time exclusively to the task of obtaining the gear - to the abandonment of most other content.

If I had to guess, I'd wager that the "Elitist/Powergamers" will be the real complainers.

The Ultra-Hardcore/Completionist types (Mostly Japanese, if FFXI was any indicator) will work their asses off for it and after a long time, considerable hard work, and some luck, they'll get it.
But the 'Elitist/Powergamers' will whine about how they can't Get all the things because it takes more than above-average hours and brute-force to achieve -- No instant gratification/epeen enhancement will ruffle their feathers a bit.

It'll be humbling for most of the elitists to not have the Best-in-Slot within their reach, and most would agree that people with humility are pleasant and easy to get along with~

[Rekujen]

If you don't like it, move on... nobody want's to hear your one-sided OPINION about the game.

World doesn't feel dead/boring to me actually, the music is nice, the plants move, the rivers/water look amazing and the lighting works nicely with each zone, they are breathtaking if anything. They don't feel dead at all, from fishing, mining, cutting trees, running around doing quests/fates and watching the weather change.. again, how does this feel dead? let me guess, you're a FFXI veteran (i am too) but I remember hopping on a chocobo and taking 10 minutes just to run through a zone, a zone with nothing but plains and boring grass/rocks everywhere... no thanks, take your nostalgia somewhere else.

[TrystWildkey]

If you don't like it, move on... nobody want's to hear your one-sided OPINION about the game.

World doesn't feel dead/boring to me actually, the music is nice, the plants move, the rivers/water look amazing and the lighting works nicely with each zone, they are breathtaking if anything. They don't feel dead at all, from fishing, mining, cutting trees, running around doing quests/fates and watching the weather change.. again, how does this feel dead? let me guess, you're a FFXI veteran (i am too) but I remember hopping on a chocobo and taking 10 minutes just to run through a zone, a zone with nothing but plains and boring grass/rocks everywhere... no thanks, take your nostalgia somewhere else.

You realize we can say the same thing to you? That no one wants to hear your opinion about this thread?

If you don't agree with the thread and don't think it's valid, move on, nobody wants to hear you berate someone for having an opinion.

[Rekujen]

You realize we can say the same thing to you? That no one wants to hear your opinion about this thread?

If you don't agree with the thread and don't think it's valid, move on, nobody wants to hear you berate someone for having an opinion.

There's a difference between having an opinion compared to having an opinion and bashing the game at every chance you get....

OP move on, don't even visit these boards anymore if you have unsubbed for reasons that won't change... ever.

[JanVanding]

I'm confused by this post. You claim what you said in that long post of yours previously is providing "constructive criticism" but all you did was complain? That's like most of the posts on these forums about this same topic and even the OP is all just whining and complaining. Nothing constructive .

So would you have prefered me to approach it with rose tinted glasses? The idea is to get to the issues and bring them to light and get them adressed, not to sit High Fiving" the Dev Team over a game that may be in danger of being forced into the Free to Play Market to break even on its developing expenses.

Yes they have done things right, some of which I pointed out, but they want to know /Why/ the players are Exiting, so that's the feedback mainly provided.