[Interview] Zodiak weapons, Philo removal, 3.0 and more

[Alipoprocks]

I'd like to know why your type cares SO much about being better than everyone else in a video game--in fact, this borders on obsession. In your minds, it seems like no one else should be allowed to enjoy this or any other MMO.

I don't think it is so much about being better but more about success. Some people just don't have patience to try to assist someone who may be struggling and just want to go in a dungeon and get it done with no mess or fuss. /shrug

[Hayward]

I don't think it is so much about being better but more about success. Some people just don't have patience to try to assist someone who may be struggling and just want to go in a dungeon and get it done with no mess or fuss. /shrug

Success wouldn't be nearly as much a concern as the posts on this thread. What these posters seem to want is something that a HIGH number of players--80-90% would be my guess--would see as nigh impossible to complete (think 30,000 Alexandrites), all in the name of lording their "accomplishment" over everyone on their server. Wanting content that excludes such a number of people simply for the enjoyment of seeing others not have what you have is about as close to obsession as I can think of.

[LineageRazor]

Success wouldn't be nearly as much a concern as the posts on this thread. What these posters seem to want is something that a HIGH number of players--80-90% would be my guess--would see as nigh impossible to complete (think 30,000 Alexandrites), all in the name of lording their "accomplishment" over everyone on their server. Wanting content that excludes such a number of people simply for the enjoyment of seeing others not have what you have is about as close to obsession as I can think of.

Honestly, I don't see any harm in having an ueber-item available with a ridiculous time commitment - as long as the time commitment is ridiculous enough that no sane player would expect striving for such a weapon to be the norm. FFXI Relic weapons used to be that way in the early years of Dynamis. Yes, there were folks with the time and commitment to get them, but you certainly were not considered a bad player for not having one.

FFXI Mythic weapons maintain that status even today. "N00b where ur mythic??? No mythic = boot!" may be joked, but never spoken in earnest.

There are endless threads by folks whining about there being nothing to do, nothing to grind for. Give them a grind of this magnitude, and maybe it will quiet them for a while.

[stephenjd3]

Honestly, I don't see any harm in having an ueber-item available with a ridiculous time commitment - as long as the time commitment is ridiculous enough that no sane player would expect striving for such a weapon to be the norm.

I for one am one of those folks complaining about there being nothing to do, I leveled the few classes I wanted to 50, got all my crafting to 50, enjoyed selling 2 stars on the markets in the early days, got my 10 clears of coil achievement, got 6 or 7 ex primal weapons around the 6th or 7th week they had been released. I need something to hold my attention in between patches. I need something to race other players for, something that takes time and dedication. Something that when a player gets before me, I stare stary eyed until I get my own.

[Duelle]

Honestly, I don't see any harm in having an ueber-item available with a ridiculous time commitment - as long as the time commitment is ridiculous enough that no sane player would expect striving for such a weapon to be the norm.

This depends on what you mean by "items". Weapons and armor, no way. Titles, achievements and vanity gear, sure.

The trick is more how these rare items affect progression. Giving people something to aim towards is a good thing, but general balance between players is also important.

As for why relics weren't mandatory in FFXI, most relics were considered a joke for a considerable part of FFXI's lifetime, with the only two exceptions being Gjallarhorn and Aegis (since both ignored mechanics of their respective classes). No one cared about stuff like Gungnir, and even laughed at the BLM weapon (that was outclassed by lv50 elemental staves). There's a reason LS's prioritized Gjallarhorn and Aegis over pretty much everything else.

There are endless threads by folks whining about there being nothing to do, nothing to grind for. Give them a grind of this magnitude, and maybe it will quiet them for a while.

Those threads will continue regardless of what is done. It's better to ignore that bunch instead of risking making the experience harsher on those who are having fun with the game.

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I'm curious to see how this approach of pushing the gear down will pan out in the future. The idea of darklight being pushed down to being dungeon drops is interesting and I'll admit I don't think I've ever seen anyone do that. I can see the Zodiac weapon stuff being more along the lines of Val'Anyr (bosses drop fragments, kill bosses repeatedly and collect all fragments). At least I hope so. Don't need the "you must kill a boss in a specific way to progress" objectives that Shadowmourne had.

[Alipoprocks]

Success wouldn't be nearly as much a concern as the posts on this thread. What these posters seem to want is something that a HIGH number of players--80-90% would be my guess--would see as nigh impossible to complete (think 30,000 Alexandrites), all in the name of lording their "accomplishment" over everyone on their server. Wanting content that excludes such a number of people simply for the enjoyment of seeing others not have what you have is about as close to obsession as I can think of.

Well, even if that's true, why does it bother you? Why obsess over someone else's obsession? If it makes them happy, so what?