New Letter from the Producer, XII

[Jericho]

While this is only concept phase right now, we are planning to increase the rank cap for growth once every 1-2 years, and will be implementing elements such as additional classes and jobs in the future.

I'd rather not work hard for 2 year sprints only to have the level cap raised and all the gear I've obtained become useless. And do it all over again.

[Rowyne]

I'd rather not work hard for 2 year sprints only to have the level cap raised and all the gear I've obtained become useless. And do it all over again.

Happens in WoW with every expansion. My bank is full of endgame armor sets that are now obsolete. I keep them for prosperity. :/

I used to really rebel against it. But to be fair, it does let an MMO grow and change, and continue to give us new goals.

[Jericho]

Happens in WoW with every expansion. My bank is full of endgame armor sets that are now obsolete. I keep them for prosperity. :/

I used to really rebel against it. But to be fair, it does let an MMO grow and change, and continue to give us new goals.

I guess playing FFXI as my first MMO screwed me over. I can't wrap my mind around it, and when the raised the level cap it broke my heart. Yes, you all get to hear another sob story. There are memories attached to all that gear, the rewards that come with a challenge. I just don't get it. There isn't anything like it. The fact that rewards for missions were relatively balanced for 6-7 years made me feel like I was playing different pieces of the same game, which made me feel like I wasn't wasting my time. At least until the level cap rose and 8 years became obsolete. Now its a different game. I don't want FFXIV to be a new game every 1-2 years. If I'm going to invest that much time into it, I can't be feeling like I'm wasting that much time.

[Gicker]

I guess playing FFXI as my first MMO screwed me over. I can't wrap my mind around it, and when the raised the level cap it broke my heart. Yes, you all get to hear another sob story. There are memories attached to all that gear, the rewards that come with a challenge. I just don't get it. There isn't anything like it. The fact that rewards for missions were relatively balanced for 6-7 years made me feel like I was playing different pieces of the same game, which made me feel like I wasn't wasting my time. At least until the level cap rose and 8 years became obsolete. Now its a different game. I don't want FFXIV to be a new game every 1-2 years. If I'm going to invest that much time into it, I can't be feeling like I'm wasting that much time.

8 years didn't become obsolete for the sole fact of what you just said. Because of your memories. At the end of the day that's all a mmo has to offer us. Are you going to look back 20 years from now and say, man I still have the best ffxi end game armor in by guild bank, I rock! or are you going to remember the times you had with your friends getting that armor.

You should be focused on maintaining the glory of those memories and focus on making new enjoyable ones. Right now you are letting a purely objective thing spoil the only thing you have to show for 8 years... good memories.

[Brotech]

I guess playing FFXI as my first MMO screwed me over. I can't wrap my mind around it, and when the raised the level cap it broke my heart. Yes, you all get to hear another sob story. There are memories attached to all that gear, the rewards that come with a challenge. I just don't get it. There isn't anything like it. The fact that rewards for missions were relatively balanced for 6-7 years made me feel like I was playing different pieces of the same game, which made me feel like I wasn't wasting my time. At least until the level cap rose and 8 years became obsolete. Now its a different game. I don't want FFXIV to be a new game every 1-2 years. If I'm going to invest that much time into it, I can't be feeling like I'm wasting that much time.

This is my feeling of it. FFXI's endgame never got stale for me, like it did for Wolfie, the fact that it was all sidegrades, and not Manditory Upgrades that will make you useless if you don't have, meant it was something you could work toward, but not suck if you didn't have...

[Rowyne]

I guess playing FFXI as my first MMO screwed me over. I can't wrap my mind around it, and when the raised the level cap it broke my heart. Yes, you all get to hear another sob story. There are memories attached to all that gear, the rewards that come with a challenge. I just don't get it. There isn't anything like it. The fact that rewards for missions were relatively balanced for 6-7 years made me feel like I was playing different pieces of the same game, which made me feel like I wasn't wasting my time. At least until the level cap rose and 8 years became obsolete. Now its a different game. I don't want FFXIV to be a new game every 1-2 years. If I'm going to invest that much time into it, I can't be feeling like I'm wasting that much time.

It's not a sob story at all. It is hard to accept at first. When my husband finally pulled me away from four years of FFXI, I started playing WoW with him shortly after the release of The Burning Crusade, its first expansion. Everyone in his guild was devastated about how their epic raid gear they worked for months and months to get in Molten Core and Blackwing Lair wasn't just obsolete, but completely obliterated by quest rewards they got after spending a half hour in the new expansion's starting zone, Hellfire Peninsula. That was like a slap in the face. Being that FFXI was the only MMO I'd ever played previous to WoW, I couldn't wrap my head around it, either.

That's what is really wrong about how WoW treats new content. It overlaps in a way that makes the old content prematurely obsolete. And they not only do it between expansions, but with raid progression within an expansion.

During Wrath of the Lich King, four endgame raids were introduced, the second being Ulduar. Ulduar was arguably the most beautifully designed raid in the game with unique fights and an amazing story that revolved around the Titans and the Old Gods. It was the only raid that unlocked a hard mode depending on how you completed the encounters, with four bosses defeated in hard mode granting access to a special end boss that you only had one hour per week to defeat.

Before most guilds had a chance to clear and really enjoy this content, Ulduar was made obsolete when they prematurely released the third raid, Trial of the Crusader. ToC was a joke by comparison, being nothing but five single boss encounters (no trash) in a colosseum-style setting. If this wasn't bad enough, the armor sets could now be purchased with badges (which dropped off 5-man heroic dungeon and raid bosses). So, you only had to set foot in a raid to get weapon upgrades.

Now, to my point. Even to this day, Blizzard will admit that what they did with Ulduar/ToC progression was a huge mistake. But they will only admit that their mistake was in the premature timing. They have zero problem with making their massive loot tables within each raiding tier completely obsolete approximately every six months. If SE is really smart about it, I believe they can find a way to make gear last longer and retain its value (because who wants to see cherished pieces like AF become worthless trash). So that when expansions come and level caps increase, we feel like we experience character growth--not start over, progress, rinse, repeat. I don't ever want to see FFXIV sink to the depths of a game that recycles gear as fast as my local department store.

[Sorel]

I'd rather not work hard for 2 year sprints only to have the level cap raised and all the gear I've obtained become useless. And do it all over again.

If the Development Team does it right, some gear will never become obsolete regardless of what the cap happens to be at the time. RDM Duelist's Armor never made Warlock Armor obsolete, for example.

[Sine]

I'd rather not work hard for 2 year sprints only to have the level cap raised and all the gear I've obtained become useless. And do it all over again.

While I don't mind the cap being raised every so often and some gear being replaced, I hope they make some lower lvl gear relevant when that happens. Maybe not to the extreme like FFXI, but a few pieces here and there (ex. lv33 neck item being best in slot for a long time).