Simplicity over complexity, time to change.

[skaterger]

This is what i want to see, my opinions are just opinions, we are here to see what the player-base wants, i think we all agree in one thing, this game is not perfect, and part of this imperfection is the simplicity of the game.

You think the gear progression is fine, but there is not real horizontal progression, in the end all that matters is ilvl, there's not real choice, we have 2 sources of gear, soldiery and HA, only these can be upgraded and most ppl will just get the easy route because, well the hard one is too hard and the difference is minimal. I don't think a wide range of gear is going to work, not with an ilvl system, but mya be adding more sources of gear and specialized stats will give us more freedom, real choices, there will always be min/maxers, but most ppl will just gear the way they feel more comfortable to them.

We can have horizontal gear progression w/o having an annoying number of sets.

Although I did not play 1.0 and ffxiv, I read about the gear swapping and how some skill sets compliment with certain type of gear, thus needing to farm 1 type of gear specifically. While that might give an illusion of choice it does not fit in with the ffxiv system

1. Combat in ffxiv is fast paced and fluid (though still slower than other mmos with a 2.5s gcd), having to keep swapping gear kills the flow of combat. Unless you want to go back to 1.0 style combat, I don't see how it can coexist. I remember having over 6 sets for my magnus exorcimus priest in Ragnarok Online and it was more of a chore than anything. It is an archaic system that should never see the day of light

2. By having gear that can be relevant for 2-3 years after its introduced, it will totally kill vertical progression. Imagine a trinket that boosts a certain skill by 20%. It might be better than trinket drops from the next 3 raids. Best gear should always come from raids. You can have alternative side grades, but not better than the one from end game content. This is a basic rule for any raiding endgame.[/QUOTE]

I don't see how.

If I didn't read your OP and know better, you sound just like http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...dying-steadily!

[Renik]

Although I did not play 1.0 and ffxiv, I read about the gear swapping and how some skill sets compliment with certain type of gear, thus needing to farm 1 type of gear specifically. While that might give an illusion of choice it does not fit in with the ffxiv system

1. Combat in ffxiv is fast paced and fluid (though still slower than other mmos with a 2.5s gcd), having to keep swapping gear kills the flow of combat. Unless you want to go back to 1.0 style combat, I don't see how it can coexist. I remember having over 6 sets for my magnus exorcimus priest in Ragnarok Online and it was more of a chore than anything. It is an archaic system that should never see the day of light 2. By having gear that can be relevant for 2-3 years after its introduced, it will totally kill vertical progression. Imagine a trinket that boosts a certain skill by 20%. It might be better than trinket drops from the next 3 raids. Best gear should always come from raids. You can have alternative side grades, but not better than the one from end game content. This is a basic rule for any raiding endgame.

Right, well i never asked for gear swaps , this wouldn't work on this game, and gear will never last 2-3 years,, while i want specialized stats, i think the game should keep using the ilvl system and the main stat progression to please all, the specialized stats would be there just for ppl that want to specialize their job a bit, choosing between boosting one skill or another, getting more cure potency or saving MP, but once the new wave of gear comes we will have to start getting it because in most cases it will always be better, this will lead to building another set, in the end it's the same we have now, but it would give us more personalization, and why not, some strategy lovers can get them all and change them out of battle depending on the content.

It should be enough to give us freedom and choice but w/o making it mandatory and everlasting.

If I didn't read your OP and know better, you sound just like http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...dying-steadily!

Well not really, i'm not saying this game is dying, it is indeed a commercial success, but it's losing players, and this is not a good thing for a business, more players means more money reinvested in the game, and that's good for us.

Some players who hit the end of coil, or hit a wall in coil, see how this game is too simple and plain for them. About the growing part, it was in context with another post, there are some kids that like how the game is fun right now for them, but as they mature they will find themselves looking for a more intellectual challenge different to what this game actually offers.

[skaterger]

Right, well i never asked for gear swaps , this wouldn't work on this game, and gear will never last 2-3 years,, while i want specialized stats, i think the game should keep using the ilvl system and the main stat progression to please all, the specialized stats would be there just for ppl that want to specialize their job a bit, choosing between boosting one skill or another, getting more cure potency or saving MP, but once the new wave of gear comes we will have to start getting it because in most cases it will always be better, this will lead to building another set, in the end it's the same we have now, but it would give us more personalization, and why not, some strategy lovers can get them all and change them out of battle depending on the content.

It should be enough to give us freedom and choice but w/o making it mandatory and everlasting.

I do miss the theorycrafting from vanilla wow and bc. There were discussions going on for months on forums on best skill rotations/talents and gear choices. I think a good starting step that ffxiv can take is to do something with the materia system. They can then move on to set bonuses (the GC set bonus shows that they had an idea in place, just not sure why they didn't push further with that) and then perhaps introduce a few new stats into the game. Items which give boosts to skill are nice to have, but do not forget that this means the game will be much much harder to balance. One big advantage of having simplified stats is that the game becomes much easier to balance, since they only have to account for stat weightage on the main stats and couple of secondary stats.

Well not really, i'm not saying this game is dying, it is indeed a commercial success, but it's losing players, and this is not a good thing for a business, more players means more money reinvested in the game, and that's good for us.

Some players who hit the end of coil, or hit a wall in coil, see how this game is too simple and plain for them. About the growing part, it was in context with another post, there are some kids that like how the game is fun right now for them, but as they mature they will find themselves looking for a more intellectual challenge different to what this game actually offers.

Has SE released any data other than the one with 2 mil registered accounts and 500k concurrent subscriptions to show that its losing players? If so, I haven't seen any. And going by personal experience, I have only seen the number of players increasing on my server. I don't really understand the kids part either. Most of the people I play with in the game are working adults, some have kids and families and they like the options that the game offers to them. The game is casual oriented and there is never the feeling like you are left behind even if you choose to come back after taking a long break from the game. I think SE recognizes this and develops their game around this to cater to them and it is a very smart decision by them. Days of grinding in ffxi are pretty much over because most people just don't have the time for that anymore.

[Renik]

snip

Well it gives more balance work to the dev team, but this is not for us to worry about, limiting the game because it could lead to more balancing work doesn't seems logic for me, we should worry about having fun, it's their job making it possible.

I think we agree about having specialized stats w/o making them mandatory and everlasting, they just have to find the perfect balance, and that's their job.

About the other topic, well this is more about personal opinions and experiences than feedback, just wanted to say that even if the player-base is still growing, it could be even bigger by retaining more players.