The Current Status of FFXIV Patch 3.1 and How to Address it Moving Forward

[Velhart]

This has been posted several times in here, but I think the developers need to see it over and over again.



Raiding is going to take such a nasty nose dive in 3.2. Its like they are trying to sabotage the game. Why are casual players even taken into consideration in making them? The intent with them to begin with was to cater to players who were looking for a challenge that 95% of the game does not provide. Now we have to make sure the casual players have access to that also. Dev's, do you even MMO? Your only option if you really want casual players into the raids is to make a three tier difficulty (Easy/Normal/Savage). There should be nothing taken from raids that are in expense of the players they were intended in design for. What you believe is right (since you only can pick two according to you) is Easy/Normal. Seriously, where in the thought process was this a good idea? All you are doing is satisfying people in the short term and not in the long time. You seriously plan to have Easy/Normal stretch out for not one, but two patches? When has this ever been a thing besides 3.0? Wouldn't the logical thing to do is make Normal/Savage, then in a later patch put an echo buff on Normal so casuals can have an easier time? Then when lets say 3.4 comes out, you can make Normal mode very accessible and then have Savage set on a capped ilvl to retain it's challenge and difficulty to make it last till the game shuts down.

I'm sorry, I know common sense is not a thing in the development process. The hardcore scene of FFXIV is going to die even more than it already is right now. If they believe it was simply item level issues in why the game is such in a bad state right now then they clearly have no grasp of how their own game works.

I really expected more from Yoshi-P and his team, but each time they do something or make an announcement, it just makes me more disappointed. I see they do wrong that even the worst of MMO's do right. Please get your act together, team.

[Tenkuu]

Raiding is going to take such a nasty nose dive in 3.2. Its like they are trying to sabotage the game. Why are casual players even taken into consideration in making them? The intent with them to begin with was to cater to players who were looking for a challenge that 95% of the game does not provide. Now we have to make sure the casual players have access to that also.

All content is made with the intent for as many people as possible to clear it, even raids. With Alexander Savage it's clear that almost no one has cleared it, hence forcing them to revise it.

I'm sorry, I know common sense is not a thing in the development process. The hardcore scene of FFXIV is going to die even more than it already is right now. If they believe it was simply item level issues in why the game is such in a bad state right now then they clearly have no grasp of how their own game works.

The people I know who've quit have definitely not done so for lack of extreme/savage content, but rather because other bugs or changes bothered them. Personally I appreciate it when even hardcore content gives everyone a chance to at least try it out and work at it. For instance, I've cleared T9 with a lot of practice, tips and help from other players, and I enjoyed it all the more for it.

[Velhart]

All content is made with the intent for as many people as possible to clear it, even raids. With Alexander Savage it's clear that almost no one has cleared it, hence forcing them to revise it.

Sounds like nothing but poor design choices if the intent is for everyone to beat it. Heroic Raids in WoW were not meant to be beaten by the average player, they were made and dedicated to the better skilled players seeking a challenge. For crying out loud the mode is called "Savage." If people not willing to better themselves can't beat it under fair conditions, then mission accomplished. All SE should be mostly responsible for is giving access to the content to the player, not dumbing it down to their needs.

Sorry, but like I said, casuals should -not- be taken into account when making raids -unless- the developers can create resources for three difficulty modes. If you can only pick two, then you obviously need to cater it to who the content was designed for, people seeking challenge out of a game that barely provides any. So the common sense thing is have Normal be on lines of Final Coil difficulty, and have Savage be there to take on after you beat Normal for the best of best players. This is what keeps longevity in raiding for two patches over. Catering to casuals only makes it worse.

The issue with raiding is that the only two choices were a mode that was too easy, and a mode that was too hard for a lot of midcore raiding groups. There was no balance. It was one extreme or the other. You can't convince me that you rather have content that's longevity will last a month at best over two modes that would legitimately stretch across two patches and make midcore and hardcore players happy. You know, the two player bases that raiding was designed for.

Sorry, but Casual Joe can wait a patch or two for the story. They dealt with it in 2.0, they can deal with it now. This game severely lacks challenging content and people asking for basically story mode is not helping it and only making it worse.

[TheGrimace]

Sorry, but Casual Joe can wait a patch or two for the story. They dealt with it in 2.0, they can deal with it now. This game severely lacks challenging content and people asking for basically story mode is not helping it and only making it worse.

Those Casual Joes, as you describe them, take up 90% of the playerbase. They also put a lot of story into Binging Coil which plenty of the playerbase, 1.0 players included who were extremely invested in the story, have still not done because of issues linked with your beloved ideas. Alexander (and Savage) may not be perfect, but I think that it was a step in the right direction. I also do think that Savage needs to be tuned for the raiders much better than 3.0 did, but going back to the way things were isn't going to cut it. I don't think 3 levels of raid tiers would be extremely popular with the playerbase either.


Stories that impact the game like this should be seen by most of the playerbase, not just a select few. You're suggesting to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

[One_Time]

Those Casual Joes...

Agree completely. As a Casual Joe, I don't mind having -10 ilvl gear because I'm not going to invest in clearing Alexander Savage, but I did want to clear Alexander and see the story elements and receive some gear. I still haven't completed Turn 5 of first coil. I don't consider myself a bad player, I'm just not social and can't commit to 3-4 raid nights with a group. Hoping they continue this pattern for future content.