Can you please Ease Up on Atma now?

[Nyhmrae]

If they don't meet the ilvl requirements then they can do the hard mode dungeons to gather gear. If ya don't wanna do dungeons, then you're stuck with hunts and FATE's. It's also not stopping them from putting forth an effort to look for statics, either. Even if you're already in a FC, you can still look for a static. We have one dude who is already in a FC, yet runs with us as part of our Coils static. Yeah, RNG sucks, but how else do you expect your Atma to be given to you? Some people get their Atma quick, other's don't. I guess I'm just tired of hearing people basically scream along the lines of, "This should practically be given to me." because that's what this whole thread wreaks of, imo. If you want something, you work for it. My husband's pally is ilvl 103 and he doesn't even have pieces from Coils yet. Out of the whole zodiac quest line, Atma is the easiest. You still have to grab eight tomes, Animus, and then Novus.

Edit: Spelling errors cause I type too fast like a derp.

[Lemuria]

I guess I'm just tired of hearing people basically scream along the lines of, "This should practically be given to me." because that's what this whole thread wreaks of, imo. If you want something, you work for it.

Again, I ask... why shouldn't Atma be practically given away? It has no benefits whatsoever. It's basically just an ilvl increase, which is worthless. So you literally spend 3 weeks or more grinding away the same boring content just to progress to another grind, and then only when THAT grind is completed can you get your ilvl 110 to match existing soldiery weapons.

Alternatively, I could spend those three weeks getting Soldiery tomes and pick up Yagrush... oh wait, I did. And it felt a LOT more rewarding than the grinding I'm doing on my Paladin trying to achieve the same goal with these awful zodiac trials.

[Nyhmrae]

Alternatively, I could spend those three weeks getting Soldiery tomes and pick up Yagrush... oh wait, I did. And it felt a LOT more rewarding than the grinding I'm doing on my Paladin trying to achieve the same goal with these awful zodiac trials.

^ Then why is it even an issue for you? Not even a week after the Zodiac quest line dropped, a *lot* of people already had their Animus. Progress has to be gated. A big issue for 2.1 was that users only logged in on Tuesdays to run Coils. A carrot has to be dangled in front of the players to keep them going, it's the nature of MMO's. SE has a reason for that type of carrot. Take World of Warcraft with their legendary cloaks. The cloak was still a grind, but a lot of people were able to obtain it quick. I'm sorry, if something is going to be labeled as "legendary", I better not see a lot of people running around with said item not long after it's been implemented.

[Nestama]

but how else do you expect your Atma to be given to you?

If you read some of my previous posts (which was repeating something someone else said in this thread), you'd see that there's a way to make the Atma grind both RNG + progress. Every time don't get an Atma from a (completed) FATE, the drop rate % goes up by 1%. Say the Atma's current drop rate is 1%. Now imagine it going up by 1% every time you don't get it (resetting back to 1% any time you change zones and/or get an Atma). There's a chance you'll get it before FATE 99, but in case you're one of the very unlucky few in the world, at least you know the 99th FATE is a guaranteed 100% drop.

Atma is the hardest (for some) due to the RNG. Nexus is the easiest as you apparently just spam Cape Westwind or Moggle Mog HM over and over again (once again taking away the feeling of accomplishment and replacing it with "glad that's finally over with", which is unfortunate as the original Relic quest was actually fun... when the content was actually hard).

[Nyhmrae]

@Nestama: Look at my post to Lemuria. If you were to raise the drop rate by 1%, then it would be no time before everyone was caught up. You have to factor in the people that hardcore eat, sleep, and breathe this game. Not even a week after Zodiac was released did people already have their Animus. Progress has to be gated, else people would then complain about having nothing to do. As my husband pointed out, I'm fighting a losing argument, but those are just my two cents on the matter. *shrugs*

[Nestama]

And what's wrong with people catching up? When most of us did the Relic quest back in 2.0, Titan HM was the only wall blocking us from getting our Relic. He remained a wall for many/some until 2.2 hit (which introduced Trial Roulette), which then introduced the Atma. RNG has been an obnoxious wall to deal with, made worse that you can not tell if you're about to get an Atma or not. Once you're done with the Atma, the Animus, Novus (which was delayed because Yoshi-P said not enough people had an Animus) and Nexus are a breeze.

-The walls to Animus is Myth and FATE's taking minutes-hours to spawn (you could still see you were making progress).
-The walls for Novus was Alexandrites and materia melding (again, you can see your progress)
-And Nexus, as already said, is spam the easiest Trials that give the most Lights (no walls, otherwise. Can also see your progress).

Atma is the only Zodiac quest where you are unable to tell if you're making progress or not. Even when you have 11 Atma, you have absolutely no idea how long it will take you to get that final piece. Could take you minutes, hours, days, weeks or even months. Years if you'd like me to exaggerate.

[Duelle]

People went into the relic questline after being told it was a substitute weapon since the best weapon at the time was supposed to come from coil. 2.2 comes and makes the relic take significantly longer than the new alternative they added, Gerolt's Masterworks that take less time to acquire (in a predictable way that feels like actual progression, even if it is just saving tomestones for tokens) and could be upgraded to ilvl110. Hunts enter and make that particular process significantly faster while relics sit there walled behind RNG x12.

I'm not sure what can be done anymore. I guess you could have three weapons to choose from for players moving forward:

1) Raid weapons that are highest ilvl equipment implemented in the patch
2) Placeholder weapons (original relic, Gerolt's Masterworks, etc) that can be upgraded at a reasonable pace but are 5 ilvls below raid weapons
3) Relic that takes a long time to upgrade but has the potential to catch up to raid weapons and has a storyline attached

Of course, this would leave me annoyed at the fact that at launch I was suckered into making a relic in the first place, but I'm willing to put that aside if we get reasonable alternatives moving forward.

[Mikey_R]

@Nestama: Look at my post to Lemuria. If you were to raise the drop rate by 1%, then it would be no time before everyone was caught up. You have to factor in the people that hardcore eat, sleep, and breathe this game. Not even a week after Zodiac was released did people already have their Animus. Progress has to be gated, else people would then complain about having nothing to do. As my husband pointed out, I'm fighting a losing argument, but those are just my two cents on the matter. *shrugs*

The people that 'hardcore eat, sleep and breathe' this game and the ones that had animus after a few weeks already have their weapon upgraded, they have no need for another set of atma unless they want another relic and most of the hardcore players do already have their second or even third atma weapons. However, the unlucky ones are stuck behind this wall that doesn't need to be there anymore.

As for having nothing to do, you still have the animus, novus and nexus upgrades, and again, the hardcore players will already have them, the rest will either grind it out or take their time, but they are still behind everyone else and with a new upgrade coming in about a months time, why should we prevent them from being able to catch up? There is no reason to stop them from progressing.

[Nestama]

There is no reason to stop them from progressing.

Especially when SE make it so you no longer have to fight certain EX Primals to unlock the new EX Primals (Leviathan drops weapons that are better than the Atma, which can be upgraded to the same ilvl as well as its stats, already making the Atma weapon worthless).

Before: Garuda, Titan and Ifrit EX were required to unlock and fight Moggle Mog and Leviathan EX. Once 2.4 hits, Moggle Mog and Leviathan EX will no longer be required to unlock Ramuh EX. It's strange that people are fine with this, yet are so against giving people who have been stuck on Atma a chance to catch up.

[Nyhmrae]

@Nestama: Orrrrrr, you could save up three weeks worth of Soldiery? Soldiery is gained via dungeons. Don't want to Atma? Then Soldiery it. Soldiery takes less time than Atma. Soldiery is not plagued by RNG. So why waste your "days, weeks, months, and years?" You even just admitted that the Atma weapon is worthless. You can go from brand new to the game, to Coils, in roughly two-ish months without dedicating every waking minute to the game. I watched a FC mate do it. There are *multitudes* of ways to upgrade your gear without relying heavily on Atma, which is just going to be replaced soon enough, anyway. It just astounds me why people still complain about Atma when it's not your only method to obtain nice gear. Essentially the argument I'm hearing is, "I don't raid, yet I want my gear to look just as shiny as theirs."