ATMA - The thing we all love to hate.

[Dusky]

Hello there. First real post on the forums so I'd like to address an issue we've all been having.

Atma farming.

I've heard people from FFXI saying how this is nothing compared to what they had to do. I've heard people saying how this is fine as people should have to work for what they want and otherwise they can just grind leviathan ex or buy their book. I've also seen people say that they think it's completely fair because they managed to get all their Atma in under a day.

Using these three examples. I'd like to explain a bit.

Firstly. FFXIV and FFXI are two completely different games. Yes. They are both MMO's and yes, they are both developed by SE. But the amount of content, the quality, and the gameplay is completely different. Comparing them are like apples and oranges. Yes they are the same type of game, but they are two different things and honestly you can't compare them. As that's an opinion, and everyone has a different one. One might say FFXIV is more of a casual MMO. Anyone can pick it up and play, and it even guides you through how to work as a team with the early guildhests and such. And with the Echo buff, it allows people to focus less on quality and gear, and more on learning mechanics.

Secondly. Working for something means that if two people put in equal effort and time. The should receive equal reward. So if someone has to spend 7+ hours in a single zone (myself in Eastern Thanalan for example) compared to someone who came in for a single fate and got their Atma first try. That's hardly equal work, That's luck. Pure and simple and luck can not be considered a means of productivity.

Thirdly. In regards to there being other options? Yes you're completely right. There 'are' alternatives than to grind for your Atma weapon. Go find a group. Get your Leviathan weapon, have a jolly cheer. Huzzah! Suddenly when the next patch or relic upgrade quest rolls out. You're now locked out of it because you still have to go back and get those blasted little stones. Of course there will be more alternatives at that point, as there always is. But why is it we can grind stones and such to get those alternatives (heck. Even pre 2.2 we had to grind 900 myth and quite the sum of philosophy to even GET the weapon, but for Atma weapons we need to obey the RNG for nothing but an appearance alteration without any stat bonus. That's the second half of the quest which has nothing to do with RNG!)

I'd like to pose a suggestion instead. And I'm sure everyone's already been like "oh well some people already have their atma" etc etc. Well guess what? the vast majority don't and have been grinding for several days and still have barely anything to show for it. While I know people who have two or three atma weapons already and are having no issue with the collection. It's random. And that is not something you want to artificially inflate game time.

To my understanding. The reason for the Atma grind being random. Is to allow new players coming to PS4 to play with old players and tag along for fates and generally just populate zones again. But the thing is. Every day there are new players coming to Zones, and every day there are old players returning to grind up a new class. gather materials. etc.

So rather than have it completely random, why not just make it so there is an actual goal?

We need 12 atma. Which are apparently the crystalization of a powerful monster in a zone. I was unaware the north shroud opo-opo counted as a powerful monster! Why not let the friendly gentleman who gave us the quest for atma. Give us the 12 stones we need and have us go charge them in each zone! perhaps they require 50 or 25 points for each charge. So give us a quest that has each stone listed. and a percentage of how much of a charge it has each time we complete a fate. Get gold? three points, Silver? two points. and Bronze? you guessed it. One point. This way you still get to have old players come to the zone and work with newer players. But you also are now creating actual work for people. where equal time and effort will result in equal reward. And it will still take around an hour or so of constant work to fill each Atma.

This way we have less complaining from the people who lady luck frowns upon. And it meets a middle ground for those 'hardcore/oldschool gamers who think that RNG and hard work are the same thing" (Fun fact. In coil? yeah you could only get between 1 and 2 drops per coil per week. with a total of 10 total drops, some of which you might not want. But the thing about that, is that you could at least choose to get the item even if you didn't need it for that specific class. There was still the possibility for some reward, as opposed to getting nothing at all.)

Anyboo that's my rant really. Hopefully it addresses some issues we're facing, Maybe something will be put into practice. in the end? As much as I dislike it. I'm off to grinding Atma number 11, which i've been working at alone for 27 hours straight (not counting sleep and breaks).

[TreemanX]

Having spent days farming atmas, mostly in the east shroud with no success, I've begun jumping around between areas in hopes it may change my luck. I've managed to only pick up 4 atmas, and more and more I'm watching more atma weapons appear. Needless to say I'm finding it more and more depressing and less fun with each and every fate.

[Tanama]

You can edit your first post to bypass the character limit.

[MilesSaintboroguh]

I fail to see how the current mechanics are acceptable. As the OP said, you can say screw it to the Atma quest and go for the alternatives (whose drops are ALSO RNG), but then when the next relic quest gets patched in, you're locked out while the top 1% wave their new toys around. I really do not understand how RNG in a quest is acceptable.

[Dusky]

You can edit your first post to bypass the character limit.

Ah thank you, I'll remember that for future rants!

[Odd]

You should even edit it now, make it all flow together better.

Having said that, I completely agree with you, OP!

[Dusky]

You should even edit it now, make it all flow together better.

Having said that, I completely agree with you, OP!

Alright you all win, I'll edit XD

[Morphiana]

Thirdly. In regards to there being other options? Yes you're completely right. There 'are' alternatives than to grind for your Atma weapon. Go find a group. Get your Leviathan weapon, have a jolly cheer. Huzzah! Suddenly when the next patch or relic upgrade quest rolls out. You're now locked out of it because you still have to go back and get those blasted little stones.

This right here is important.

[Aelis]

I PAY FOR PLAY NOT PAY FOR WASTED MY TIME