Urgently Change your Approach SE

[Parz3val]

I just don't see how any of these problems are worth making angry threads insisting "these problems are urgent fix them now!" when at most they're just some minor gripes. You put the blame on SE rushing out content too fast which I don't really see how that could even be related to some of the things you mentioned, and most of your complaints seem to be a product of you simply having absurdly high expectations for things. Desynthesis? I have no idea what you could have possibly expected desynthesis to turn out like. You call one thing too simple, then say another thing isn't simple enough. This is just a general complaint thread of your personal nitpicks involving really minor things no matter how you try to restate it otherwise in a big red font.

Well, one, I'm not really angry so much as concerned or legitimately worried the path they're going down. Frustrated, yes, though I think fairly.

As well, I might have high expectations but that's generally because SE essentially told me to expect as such. I explained how Desynthesis was pitched as something it's not, or how Personal Housing was advertised as being different from FC Housing.

Minor gripes, sure, but those minor gripes add up & have begun piling in droves over the life of this game.

And some are major (Personal Housing), at least imo.

Either way, this isn't a complaint thread so much as it's me trying to help SE see the big picture of how they keep harming their relationship with a fair portion of the player-base little by little.

And how the ramifications of that won't bode well for them in the long-run if they don't reform.

It's a call to action more than anything.

You might not agree anything has to change & that's fine. I think it does & so I share my opinion.

[Eekiki]

-snip-

Unpleasant for you, not unpleasant for all. Not unpleasant for enough people that SE's approach, while it will always need constant updating and tweaking, does not need to "urgently change".

Which is why those who are so disappointed are kindly invited to go do something else if it's so unpleasant. And it's why lots of players will quit for months and only show up when a major patch hits. And there will always be a significant amount of players that will do that no matter what, so it isn't worth worrying about that.

Yet still the armchair devs pour out their rhetoric, believing they have the magic formula that will make this the Perfect Game. And woe to anyone who may question their infallible ideas.

"'tis foolishness! If all were so easy, why, none would suffer in this world!"

[Maero]

actually speaking of mount, it is looking like perhaps down the line we may have a Odin mount, seen it on ffxiv database if i recall.

[RakaMaimhov]

Unpleasant for you, not unpleasant for all.

I'm unsure whether you're defending some cause, just here to play the devil's advocate, trolling, or something else.

"Not unpleasant for all." Sure, there are people who enjoy the game as it is right now. But there are a lot of people who don't, and I believe they outweigh the ones who do.

Don't try to single me out with the way you word your replies. "Unpleasant for you..." yes me, and many others. I am not alone. OP is not alone. I speak for my friends who also share my views. As well as the empty Linkshells I belong to, my Free Company most of who are awaiting patch 2.4, and my somewhat deserted Server.

The thing is, they do need to change their approach. Urgently, perhaps. They might have millions of subs right now (supposedly), but things are starting to get old and stale. Even "new" content feels old and stale shortly after it comes out, as it is not innovative but just more of the same type of content.

They had to re-make this game once. You were here for it, judging by your join date. Do you really like the game the way it is right now? Is there nothing you wish to see change?

[Kaaylryn]

As a former software QA Analyst (retired) I can sympathize with developers. However, what gets developed is not always how an end user expects something to work. I delved into code and logs to figure out what was so broke the application could not work properly but I also did QA from a user standpoint, and often the developer and user vision were miles apart. Communication and often compromise was key in a lot of situations.

Like with this game, what a developer considers might be fun, may just be agony in the end for the consumer. A developer must set expectations from the beginning, if communication goes dark, like with the housing, atma or hunt debacles, then the end user only has their own likes or wishes to reference to. In the end, we will get what we get, but it is always up to the end user as to whether or not they feel their money is well spent with the final product. And sometimes a developers brainchild is just an ugly baby and not the joyous bundle they thought it would be.

[MythToken]

I think the fact that SE has taken a slightly unique approach to the mmo genre is escaping a lot of people.

SE is creating a multipath system, in which there are many ways to do the same thing, and yet none are required.

There will always be a perceived optimal path, and the non optimal paths will be seen by the min/max community as bad. But it really isn't about the fastest way or "best" way to achieve a goal.

Instead SE has chosen to just give people multiple paths and to choose which they like.

This creates a very unique environment in which players are not forced down the same tube. On the flipside you will have people complain about the paths they do not like. And these people are completionist or min maxers who feel slighted.

Take 115 weapons, there is Nexus and HA. Both very different paths, with very similar outcomes. You are forced to do neither. More options are always better. And you should stop and think what 115 weapons would be if only HA existed/or if only Nexus existed.

I think people should be more open to the idea of having options, and try not to be so negative.

[Exstal]

I spent 2 months alone trying to get 1 atma in Thanalan.

Maybe you shouldn't do only 1 fate a day.

Let this sink in; there is a guy on Reddit who has 9 Animus weapons and it took him 3 months to get all 9.

[ColorOfSakura]

It's my thread

I would like to just point out that you are technically not a moderator and so you aren't in a position of authority to demand anything of anyone else in a thread. You can ask, but you can't come down making claims of "My thread my rules" because that's not how the forum system works here.

That said - people being civil to one another really should be how it is regardless. Not everyone is going to agree on these matters, and so civility is paramount.

[Eekiki]

"Not unpleasant for all." Sure, there are people who enjoy the game as it is right now. But there are a lot of people who don't, and I believe they outweigh the ones who do.

I believe they don't. Does either one of us have the verifiable evidence to prove which of us is correct?*

Do you really like the game the way it is right now? Is there nothing you wish to see change?

Yeah, I do. I also liked it before it was remade. Is there anything I'd like to see changed? Of course. But there's a difference between the "I'd like to see these specific changes" approach to feedback and the "I don't like this. Change it or else dooOOOoooooommm... (oh, but I don't really know what I want so try to figure it out for yourself kthxbai)"

* No.

[MythToken]

A very good point to make. While I do appreciate this style & favor it in fact, I believe SE hasn't been very effective at implementing it... at least, not yet--I hope for them.

Maybe it's that they're spreading themselves too thin or are having trouble striking a good balance, idk it's just my opinion.

It simply comes down to this for me: I think they could make things overall a lot more "fun".

FATE's could stand to be more interesting (bosses with mechanics).

Dungeons less steam-rollable.

Frontlines less restrictive (unable to play alongside many friends/FC mates).

So on, so forth.

I agree with these points, but I think your forum title is a little off. Their approach has largely been successful, and they have listened to the community on a number of issues.

I think as long as SE continues to try to improve, they don't have to get everything perfect the first time. This game has come a long way, and is def on the right path. (imo)

As the community we should continue to look for improvements that could be made, while understanding that not every game element can be made specifically for an individual and must benefit the whole.