Quote Originally Posted by Gormogon View Post
There has to be objectives that people can do at end game that are rewarding experiences. Yet gating all meaningful rewards behind the hardest content were only a very select few can tackle it the first month is a not the answer to longevity. Nor is it making all secondary and meaningless rewards a painful grind that feels like a punishment..
I'd even disagree with the idea that ARR provides players with meaningful rewards. If the game DID actually provide meaningful rewards, it would take much of the sting out of grind, RNG, or punishingly difficult content.


But gear rewards in ARR can neatly be summed up as = iLvl

To use (75capped) FFXI as an example, it was a total pain to camp, claim and defeat mobs that dropped items like Joyeuse, E-bow, Kraken club, etc.. but at the same time, those rewards were powerful, prestigious, and well worth the effort when you finally got them. They didn't have an expiration date either (at least not for many years). The time you spent would pay off in making battles easier and allowing for more creative builds.

What gear is worth the effort in ARR? Not only is it all iLvl vanilla, but every bit of endgame gear in ARR is one patch away from obsolescence. Furthermore, the even the work you put into obtaining it will be completely diminished by the subsequent nerfing of the content. Does it help in battles? Not much. In fact, depending on the fight, excessive DPS can actually make it worse.

So ARR really doesn't have any meaningful rewards... and all of it's rewards have an expiration date.



BTW, I'd add the following to your list of EC videos:

DEPTH vs COMPLEXITY, PERFECT IMBALANCE