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

[Imoen]

The loading screens are an unfortunate result of PS3 limitations. Even 1.0 had them between regions, they were just hidden in the form of walking through straight tunnels for a bit.

I'm pretty sure that was not just ps3 limitations. There was hardly anything in the zones at all, just a lot of repeated sections. The more you stuff in the map the more that cuts into resources, and I don't think square has the best streaming solution yet, XV looks like it is trying to step into that open world thing more.

[Souljacker]

-Tab targeting

You know, I've been seeing this comment a lot but I don't understand it. I personally hate the tab targeting in this game - it's so unintuitive to select enemies left to right as opposed to closest (and then left to right). I have messed with the settings but I can't get this tab targeting to work the way I'm used to in other games. It makes PvP nearly impossible.

What is it about this tab targeting that is so good? I really don't understand it and after years still can't get used to it.

[Kaurie]

You know, I've been seeing this comment a lot but I don't understand it. I personally hate the tab targeting in this game - it's so unintuitive to select enemies left to right as opposed to closest (and then left to right). I have messed with the settings but I can't get this tab targeting to work the way I'm used to in other games. It makes PvP nearly impossible.

What is it about this tab targeting that is so good? I really don't understand it and after years still can't get used to it.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I like tab targeting (GW2, WoW, FFXIV) as a system over action combat (Tera/Wildstar). Personally, I like the hybrid of GW2 more and the better algorithm of WoW.

[Darsho]

I love XIV for what it is, and it's in a good place in terms of population. If you look back at each patch in the 2.0 series there is no shortage of new content that was added and the amount of people in Heavensward areas reflects that.

For most of us many of our experiences in XIV are positive enough to keep us playing to the level cap, however many people myself included are asking "what can make this game better?"

It's not that there isn't an abundance of content to do, only that it's becoming predictable. This thread would have died out long ago if the playerbase did not want anything different added along the side of what we're getting currently. The general consensus seems to be that we want diversity in content. Long-staying content that is different and unique would certainly keep more people satisfied with what is available if it's well planned and executed because it shows. The more things we have to chose from in between patches the longer we can stay subscribed and happy.

Constructive criticism does not mean we hate the game, we all want our voice in improving it to the best it can be. SE has built a solid foundation for XIV, now is the time to take some risks while Heavensward is still fresh and the playerbase is ready to accept something new.

TL;DR: None of us want to spend all our time on the forums criticizing the game when we could be praising it for its innovations, however there's just none to be had right now and resting on its laurels isn't going to keep the game going in the right direction.

[Daralii]

Constructive criticism does not mean we hate the game, we all want our voice in improving it to the best it can be. SE has built a solid foundation for XIV, now is the time to take some risks while Heavensward is still fresh and the playerbase is ready to accept something new.

TL;DR: None of us want to spend all our time on the forums criticizing the game when we could be praising it for its innovations, however there's just none to be had right now and resting on its laurels isn't going to keep the game going in the right direction.

While you're right, there are plenty of people that aren't at all interested in being constructive. They don't care about feasibility, or interest, and frequently don't suggest anything at all beyond "Fix it or I quit."

[Velhart]

Was discussing it with people the other day and I still don't understand why raids were set the way they are. Making an easy mode of Alexander (my opinion) was a big mistake. Right now we have it as normal is way too easy and savage is too punishing for normal groups. They should of gone off WoW's design on this and made Alex(Normal) on the difficulty of say Final Coil and then they could of gone out even more with Alex(Savage) to truly save it for the best of the best while still offering a lesser yet hard challenge for people who are not as hardcore.

I have seen so many groups break up because Savage is not just hard, but ridiculous come AS3/4. Which is fine, Savage should be like that. The complaint lies more in Alex(Normal) being way too easy. People will argue and say "Well some of us wanted a story mode", and you got it, but you got stupid easy fights in return that require little to no thought process. Normal should be Final Coil level and if people don't want to endure it, then they can wait till the next patch where an echo buff and gear carry would be a thing for it. There has to be a middle ground here, and right now the raids are too extreme in their direction.

Right now, Heavensward brings to the table well...the same thing. Just now people do not feel like raiding anymore and are now bored with the content given. 3.1 sounds enticing, but I think people will blow over it quick and we will be right back here discussing the expansion's future. I don't have a solution to make it better, but developers should acknowledge that they can't keep doing these predictable patches forever. Like I said before, I know its very hard to pull off, but I think they have the capability to do it, they just need to work more outside the box.

[Kaurie]

While you're right, there are plenty of people that aren't at all interested in being constructive. They don't care about feasibility, or interest, and frequently don't suggest anything at all beyond "Fix it or I quit."

Although constructive criticism is more valuable to the development team, not everyone has great ideas of how to fix something. They aren't professionals in the field and have no experience in the matter. All they know is they are unhappy with things as they are.

It's more valuable to a company to have people voice negative opinions than to be amiable and quit without saying a word. So yes, constructive criticism > "fix it or I quit" > quitting silently

[Windklinge]

they HAD thier chance to work "outside the box" WITH heavensward afaik. but instead they made the HUGE mistake of focusing many dev resources on basicly useless leveling fluff and wasted 5 dungeons there which could for example all been part of expert roulette. level cap raises are not good for modern mmos. yoschi copied something from wow here that was garbage mostly. raising the max level is just a paid for endgame reset basicly. if they spend all thier resources on endgame content instead we wouldnt be in the situation we are now.

lets see if they learn for 4.0 from this. until then dont expect ANYTHING big or new sadly because not enough resources.

[Velhart]

snip

I don't think they lack resources. I think if anything, it would be their time constraints with 3-4 month patch releases. Don't quote me on that though.

[Colorful]

snip

I dislike when people keep saying it wasn't a mistake, it wasn't. Many, many others enjoy the option to enjoy the content with a group of randoms, or just FC mates that don't often play together. I can guarantee that more people are happy with it than aren't, you have to appease the majority rather than the minority, this is especially true with the lack of any endgame content in FFXIV but those two dungeons and RavEX. As for your idea, that would have been pointless as the reason Normal exists is for the players who don't want to spend potentially 100+ of hours raiding to see the content, and the reason we never got Final Coil Savage was the lack of interest with Second Coil Savage. I think Alexander normal should have been tuned to the difficulty of Ravana EX though, maybe a little higher, but it's good for the mid core player.

The best solution would be to have Alexander (Story/Normal), Alexander (Hard/Extreme) and Alexander (Savage).