Yoshi P: Please Consider a Better Raiding System in 3.0 - Beyond Statics

[Verlyn]

I think you should be encouraged to group with other people--not necessarily pug--to tackle difficult content. This is one of the core tenets of an MMORPG and it doesn't need to change. You know what the old adage is about what ain't broke. Someone above pointed out that DF (and pugging, by nature) is something of a lottery. You can't make difficult balance for a pug to take down. You need a group of people you can rely on.

Now, a flexible raid size would not be a terrible idea. Require at minimum the core number of people required to complete the mechanics (maybe a light party) and scale boss HP and damage according to how many people you bring up to a reasonable number of people.

Of course, that sort of thing brings with it its own challenges for the dev team. Imagine having to balance so fights designed for a group of 4-8 don't get unreasonable for two alliances.

As far as lockout goes, I think future raids like Coil should just work off of the Crystal Tower system. You can run however many times you run for appropriate soldiery+poetics rewards, but upon winning loot--are locked out of loot once per week.

But that is just my two cents.

[SekhmetM]

Personally, I think the current raiding system promotes elitist behavior and alienates the playerbase who doesn't participate in raid content. I think they need to lower the difficulty of raids and make them feasible for the common player in duty finder.

Savage mode is a good idea to give players a chance to play difficult content but it was improperly inplemented. Square-Enix should make Savage Mode drop guaranteed loot while normal mode (meant for duty finder and random pugs) has a 50% chance of dropping loot. This makes it so the whole community can start doing raid, everyone experiences raid storylines, and nobody feels left out.

I like the idea of a token system for endgame content as well. The current RNG system is terrible as a group without bards could get full bard drops.

Of course Square Enix needs to make it so drops are relative to the party jobs and stop with this wide RNG bull. If there aren't any dragoons in the party, then dragoon gear should not drop. If a player wants dragoon drops for their alt, they should be playing dragoon simple as that.

[Mutemutt]

As far as lockout goes, I think future raids like Coil should just work off of the Crystal Tower system. You can run however many times you run for appropriate soldiery+poetics rewards, but upon winning loot--are locked out of loot once per week.

Although it sounds nice on paper, I'm not sure I would like the idea. The thought that I would be encouraged to ram my face against those turns until I actually get something isn't a huge deal, but the bit where I'd have to either stick with the group till everyone gets something or keep trying to replace people for these challenging turns is bit much for me.

[Sapphic]

Savage mode is a good idea to give players a chance to play difficult content but it was improperly inplemented. Square-Enix should make Savage Mode drop guaranteed loot while normal mode (meant for duty finder and random pugs) has a 50% chance of dropping loot. This makes it so the whole community can start doing raid, everyone experiences raid storylines, and nobody feels left out.

Mews update, they already said last year they are adding 2 versions of 3,0 raid hard mode and extreme modes.

[PrimeEvilPanda]

I think you should be encouraged to group with other people--not necessarily pug--to tackle difficult content. This is one of the core tenets of an MMORPG and it doesn't need to change. You know what the old adage is about what ain't broke. Someone above pointed out that DF (and pugging, by nature) is something of a lottery. You can't make difficult balance for a pug to take down. You need a group of people you can rely on.

Every other MMO wants to have a word with you.

PUGs/LFG add to the life of a game, or do you magically think the games were carried by the backbone of the statics. Hardcore statics and core raid groups have always been at the forefront and we won't get anywhere unless they do the stuff first, but you do realize that when one static had a member missing and they did a pick-up member, that's PUGing in its sense right? Seeing LFG or the PF alive with shouts for pick-up groups is a sign of a healthy game.

Come see me in a few years when your server becomes a ghost town devoid of this chat and find out how bleak that makes the future of a game feel; I can guarantee you not many new starters will stay long in a game, coming so late in its life, to find that it will be hard for them to start raiding.

99% of why my friends quit is because of this and it wasn't due to lack of effort.

[Alistaire]

The last time Yoshi-P made some sort of official answer about the subject was like a couple of months later after the launch of ARR during an interview, to him, if I recall his words, he said something like "Mercenary players who does selling exist, they are a part of the game and can be considered as a role playing activity".

But 2.45 proved us that his opinion may have radically changed since.
No offence really but the answer is kind of obvious when you become a raider and experience the evolution of different mechanics they worked on since scob, they always heavily punished the mistake (or the inactivity) of a single player leading to the whole wipe of the team.

But see? Where's your proof of this radically changed opinion? What happened in 2.45 where he says he's against it? You're basically just perpetuating a rumor that either started/restarted or gained a wider audience around that time without a link to back up the statement. Especially if he's previously said it's ok, which I vaguely recall now that you mention that.

[Krr]

People still buy/sell raids?

Yes.

And yes, reducing the content lifespan is a valid concern, regardless how sarcastically you say it is.

S-E's item level curve and content reward distribution kills content faster than natural player burnout. SCOB was still being run in DF pretty much all day every day through the entirety of 2.4 and only died off when DF players all moved into hunts. Content lifespan being 'killed' by making it accessible to pubbies doesn't...actually happen, at least not fast enough with how the content cycle of XIV moves.

[Zohnax]

The whole reason we have mediums to converse with one another, (say/shout/party), and even group up with other players, (party finder/linkshells/free companies), is to form up groups to tackle content. Blaming statics for finding people who want to stick together for the greater benefit of each other is asinine. People like having consistency and not having to constantly worry about getting out-lotted on an item by some one who will probably leave the group after they get their item. Players just need to take more charge in attempting to lead with the knowledge of the raid and helping their teammates out once they've organized a group. As well as exercising more patience in learning without jumping to the whole, "Sorry I have a life," excuse that gets used wrongly way too often. Figuring out how to knock down a wall by observing and exchanging strategy ideas to improve chances for success is better than just repeatedly throwing eight bodies against the wall in hopes that it eventually falls over.

[Alistaire]

No thanks.

You wanna expand on that? Obviously voidwatch had its issues, mostly to do with the drop rate % for good stuff, but that's a long-standing problem with ffxi and not with the voidwatch model itself, which could easily be adapted to ffxiv's RNG system, as good or as bad as you may think it currently is, and still be better than ffxi's RNG by a longshot. The voidwatch content model is solid, the voidwatch drop rate model was terrible but kind of had to be to be in line with the rest of ffxi.

[LunaHoshino]

-snip-

Couldn't have said it better myself. There's nothing wrong with PUGing - I do it quite frequently myself, and in fact several of my clears for things have been from DF/PF groups - but there is definitely something to be said for having a group of people you play with on a regular basis. You know their playstyles, they know yours, and there's a lot more emphasis on working together as opposed to just trying to get the clear. I know that if I go with my static to farm Shiva, we actually will be able to farm Shiva. With a PF/DF group, there's no guarantee what you're going to get, and sometimes you just aren't in the mood for that.