What does Heavensward actually bring to the table as an expansion?

[DawnSolaria]

There's many aspects of this game that just aren't up to the standards of a modern mmo.

Please show me some examples of "standards of a modern mmo". Which mmo out there right now doesnt feature time gating and repetitive grind? F2P game where you pay to skip grind and time gate? No thanks.

[LunaHoshino]

since you can automatically tell BiS gear by it's item level.

Untrue. The Demon Tabard of Aiming was the non-crafted BiS chest piece for BRDs pre-HW despite being i120 instead of i130. And need I mention the pentamelded i110 gear?

[Evtrai]

That's not the same situation. The majority of issues with FFXIV 1.0 were not related to the story, were they? The things that 'killed' the game were the ridiculous platform requirements and performance. I'm not aware of what complaints there were about content or battle system - or whatever else - because a) I never played v1.x and b) they were not the primary reasons for the problems that FFXIV 1.0 faced..

That's not the point I cited that as people will defend issues no matter what, and even so, at least post crap launch when Yoshi P took over, at least FFXIV 1.0 had some depth in it's stats and gear, more over so than just simplistic stats, at least gear wasn't boring as hell, with just one possible combination of the best which is what there is right now, 2.0 system is just so bare bones that even the profile page displays so much redundant and useless information, that much alone, tells you how they basically went back on their word that on a expansion the system would have a bit of depth but it din't, Are you a monk? well stack STR as a main stat, then Crit, Det got nerfed a bit so it's not as important anymore, but skill speed is, but doesn't change the fact that only one gear combination is good, the relic is pointless to have customization that you can add other stats or vitality, whatever you want to add it because it's pointless and sub-optimal, these are issues with the game and popular ones now that I have actually stopped to read what other people and comunities think and surprise surprise, they are my issues too.

[Vickii]

The relic sidegrades were pathetic at best. There was always a higher item level weapon which would overshadow it in terms of raw damage for DPS, which is all anyone truly cared about.

Maybe it's all you cared about. You need to remember that different people play the game for different reasons and like different things about it.

I am a new player, doing the relic quest and using my relic weapon even though someone in my FC offered to make me a white weapon which is way better.

Why? 1) I like the lore and quests. 2) I like the thought behind a relic/legendary. 3) I like the 'prestige' of having completed it.

People who only care for stats and BIS are catered to somewhat, although there are probably better games out there for you. Final Fantasy at the end of the day is kinda about the story and the content is there for enjoyment rather than being the best, although like i said, you are catered to as well in many respects.

[Ayuhra]

There's many aspects of this game that just aren't up to the standards of a modern mmo.

The main flaw of Heavensward as I see it is, aside from flight, they didn't really shake up mechanics or create new ones. Instead they dumped things on top of what was already there in an uncomfortable fashion. Classes feel much clunkier than I think they should. I wouldn't say the game isn't up to the standards of a modern MMO, though. I've played most of the MMOs on the market and the only one that exceeds parts of this game in my eyes is World of WarCraft. WoW still plays like a dream....but ask anyone who's been there lately and they'll tell you that and the raiding content is all there is any more. As a whole package it's awful.

FFXIV could use some game play tweaks to make it more user friendly and accessible (NOTE: "Accessible" doesn't mean "easy". I mean the difference between doing something in a button click vs having to navigate menus. That sort of thing.) I'd enjoy a form of lateral progression, too.... It plays a bit awkwardly...but the passion the design time has for it is obvious. And I think it shows. FFXIV is better than most MMOs on the market in everything except raw, basic gameplay. That's a huge deal, no doubt, but it's not the only thing that makes a game. I'd still rather be in Eorzea than Azeroth these days.

[Kosmos992k]

That's not the point I cited that as people will defend issues no matter what, and even so, at least post crap launch when Yoshi P took over, at least FFXIV 1.0 had some depth in it's stats and gear, more over so than just simplistic stats,

You want the elemental wheel back so that certain casters become mandatory for some content and others are completely undesirable?

at least gear wasn't boring as hell, with just one possible combination of the best which is what there is right now,

Armor is armor, weapons are weapons, they accomplish the same thing, without horizontal progression, the only difference is how they look. In that regard, they are hardly boring as hell. As far as horizontal progression is concerned, if you don't want disenfranchised players, you can't create situations where one class/job is dramatically preferred to others in content, which makes Horizontal progression much more difficult to implement and balance.

2.0 system is just so bare bones that even the profile page displays so much redundant and useless information, that much alone, tells you how they basically went back on their word that on a expansion the system would have a bit of depth but it din't,

If this is your main complaint, then why is your post full of hand waving about cookie cutter designs and complaints about raiding content?

Are you a monk? well stack STR as a main stat, then Crit, Det got nerfed a bit so it's not as important anymore, but skill speed is, but doesn't change the fact that only one gear combination is good, the relic is pointless to have customization that you can add other stats or vitality, whatever you want to add it because it's pointless and sub-optimal,

If you read my post;

Since there is only 1 stat that boost damage done, then the relics do in fact offer opportunity for some side-grades to secondary stats, even if it's just boosting VIT or PIE a bit for more HP or MP.

I absolutely agree about secondary stats, and the nerfing of parry and block really bugs the hell out of me because that's kind of where Paladins are coming from, blocking and parrying for maximum defensive benefit. And yet now, we're by no means the best at parrying, parry itself has been made worthless as a secondary stat, and our ability to block damage has been nerfed considerably. You'd think that since we are by far the crappiest damage dealer in the game, we would at least have been left with superior parry and block capabilities....

Then you'd already know I agree that secondary stats are a problem, but that isn't what you complained about in your original post. You're shifting the ground here, but acting like this is what you always meant.

these are issues with the game and popular ones now that I have actually stopped to read what other people and comunities think and surprise surprise, they are my issues too.

It's no surprise that there are issues with the handling of secondary stats. It is however, surprising to read you saying this is your issue, in light of your original post - in which the main complaint was quite literally having to run Alex Savage until the next patch and not secondary stats.

[Evtrai]

Maybe it's all you cared about. You need to remember that different people play the game for different reasons and like different things about it.

I am a new player, doing the relic quest and using my relic weapon even though someone in my FC offered to make me a white weapon which is way better.

Why? 1) I like the lore and quests. 2) I like the thought behind a relic/legendary. 3) I like the 'prestige' of having completed it.

People who only care for stats and BIS are catered to somewhat, although there are probably better games out there for you. Final Fantasy at the end of the day is kinda about the story and the content is there for enjoyment rather than being the best, although like i said, you are catered to as well in many respects.

I don't want to sound and do not intend this on a mean, but you said the key word here, you are a new player, anyone just started the game will feel overwhelmed by the content, and have fun, the story alone imo even though some people dislike it is one of the most fun aspects and one of the fun parts that I also enjoyed about XI and thought it was unique among MMO's, enough that SWTOR tried to mimic and it went horribly bad for them, but when you are up to date with the game you realize what's being complained here about atm as it stands right now, I doubt you'll trully understand the issues with the game unless you experience them. The problem is entailed on what you are supposed to do once you caught up with the content, ive played several MMO's and I gotta say FFXIV trully is one of the less attractive endgame MMO's ive played. Unless you are into glamour collecting of course, but if you are actively looking into ways to play your character to optimize, improve your play with your class, there's literally none other than just stack the best stats.

Also note, the current relics are nerfed, they weren't as "interesting or ok" to do like they are right now.

[Evtrai]

snip

If you actually read my post, I clearly stated my main post with the most strong issues that there are others, but those are the ones that push me into unsubbing, I can work around the core system, I dislike the core system but it's not a gamebreaking issue for me, but you are bringing up matters as positive that are tailed also as my negatives, and you are bringing the worst ideas as what would entail on adding depth on the system such as the elemental wheel, there's so many things that could be added besides the elemental wheel, but you decide to post the elemental wheel as a counter argument.

[Phyllo]

You want the elemental wheel back so that certain casters become mandatory for some content and others are completely undesirable?

No... Just no, there are dozens of ways to make the elemental wheel a part of the gameplay without rendering the others useless in some case, removing the wheel is just a lack of creativity or fear of complexity and to be fair, removing the wheel is actually what makes caster closer to being mandatory than having a wheel,if they lash out the same damage no matter what they do, then it becomes even easier to make em mandatory.

[Vickii]

snip.

Yeah but you're not looking at the bigger picture. You are looking at you, how you feel and what you think and coming to the conclusion : expansion bad, game bad.

You're forgetting that you've had a very long time where you admittedly enjoyed the game, and you're blaming SE for having nothing to do when perhaps you need to ask yourself, 'should i maybe do something else until the next expansion comes out'?

You can't say a game is bad, because you have exhausted all the content that you want to do. There is still a lot of people (myself included) who enjoy the game, and you seem intent to label us all as blind defenders, for disagreeing with you. As people have pointed out there are lots of things you could do in game if you chose to.

Honestly, just sounds like you maybe need to move on or take a break for a while. There is enough content here for most people, but it's never really struck me as a super hardcore game or anything.