Too many gameplay restrictions

[Bourne_Endeavor]

There is no reason to let us level up all jobs on the same character if we can't fully gear them all up, this is simply bad designed.
You would think that at least they would let us help our alts to play a different class, but no, they do the opposite.
Devs didn't implement any limitation on leveling alts, or they would have made impossible to create secondary characters, or make specialists server locked or something like this.
What they do is simply make our life harder.
You actually would play twice as much if you could boost your alt sending him stuff, instead of forcing people to start from scratch like a new player.

Currently, you can clear all but A7 and A8 Savage with the crafted ilvl 220 set. That is essentially 98% of the game's overall content. If people could fully gear up, many would farm whatever piece of content, then never do it again. Such is why tomestone limitations exist. Helping your alts negates the whole reason that limitation exists. They may as well just remove it completely in that case.

Because most players won't level an alt.

Most people will pick their preferred jobs, farm Alex once a week on all three, then stop doing it the moment they get everything. Not only does this potentially certain content's lifestyle, it sees people rolling against other players who may not want to level an alt. Say I take my DRK to farm Alex. I don't main it nor will I at any point this patch cycle, but I could gear it up and roll against other DRKs who do intent to main it. Sure, the same can happen now, though you'll generally want to week until you're geared your main to do that, thereby allowing other players to do the same.

And frankly, it keeps people subbed. SE isn't going to make it so people can do literally everything in 2-3 months then stop playing for another three. I'm not saying this wouldn't be convenience to have--- would certainly make leveling my alts easier. But I sincerely doubt that'll ever allow it for the reasons I said.

And in the same way they could easily check any 10/20mil transaction.
We pay, and they get paid, they are the ones that should make our life easier, not the other way around.

Most RMT transactions are 10-50M, which would amount to 3-5 trades in your scenario. I do that many just crafting furniture for friends. Comparatively, 1M means you'll have to do 10-50. One is far more suspicious than the other. No offense, but is it really such a massive inconvenience you need to make multiple trades?

There is a paid transfer service that gives you the possibility to transfer to ANY server, so if they didn't want people to do it they would have limited it to low population servers.
Funny you say that, since you are from balmung, you look like you are afraid of people transfering there.
Don't worry, i'm EU, i would never transfer there.

They aren't going to blatantly preventing players from transferring, however that doesn't mean they won't take measures to help deter it. The Raid Finder was designed specifically in response to the mass influx Greg saw due to it being the "unofficial" NA raid server. And I don't care what you do. I transferred to Balmung myself to play with friends.

Yeah, the same bosses that people complain that are unbeatable 90% of the time because of huge dps checks, or instant kill mechanics.
Probably flex raids wouldn't work in this game, but as I said in the open post I also think that 8 man raids are way too small to create a real raid strategy.
At the moment we have more jobs than actual "raid" spots.
Making the raids bigger would probably give us more interesting mechanics, if anything, surely not worse than what we have now.

DPS checks =/= boring damage sponges.

Perhaps. I would argue otherwise considering the sheer complexity of mechanics Savage throws at you. To each their own, really. Most raiders seem to be pretty content with Midas and Weeping City. So... what's there to add here? More of either would be nice.

[Voltyblast]

Perhaps. I would argue otherwise considering the sheer complexity of mechanics Savage throws at you. To each their own, really. Most raiders seem to be pretty content with Midas and Weeping City. So... what's there to add here? More of either would be nice.

Since I did some Coil back in ARR, I'd like to ask "What complexity is there?" From what I see on videos and youtube, it's always all about damage and nothing else. Sure it had some sort of "strategy" to them, but it all boiled down to "nuke as fast and without dying as much as possible, while avoiding these or that mechanic". And if you fail it's a insta-wipe...is this strategy? I've played raids where failing a mechanic didn't necessarily spell wipe, am I getting old or something? Last I played a raid that wasn't in this game, a Raid consisted on following tactics while doing a minimum amount of damage and possibly without dying, or else it would become harder, as in "You can still beat it but it'll take longer". When a dps dies in a raid here you might as well wipe, since the dps check usually fails at this part (usually, not always).

Also, dps checks in most mmorpgs weren't in every fight: they were used for gear checks more than anything else, which means that it was usually 2 or 3 at best in every raid...although most raids I played had more than 4 bosses.

Plus Azrael IS right: we don't have raid spots, they are jobs. I have constantly witnessed my static changing people for the sake of the raid, because he wasn't doing his best, or because his playstyle didn't work, or whatever was wrong. Sure some of them legit played badly or not good enough, but it was something that I never witnessed in an MMORPG since the early days of Ragnarok (I dunno, maybe because I'm EU and my server is NA: raids in EU seem to be much more easy going).
But yes, as far as I'm concerned a raid spot acts like a job in this game: you miss it once you might lose your spot. I know that because during FCOB I had to use another computer because mine was broken, and if I hadn't that ready I would've probably be replaced. After all the hardships to join it and learn the mechanics, to be replaced for just missing one day? That would be insane.

But if players are fine with how things are, I guess it's fine. But bigger raids would mean more people to raid with, just saying...

[Kewitt]

1.
To slow RMT but should be increased to 2-5 million at this point.
2.
This is to prevent dub items. This was an issue in FFXI where people could glich the system and make 2 of an item.
3.
Should be free for all. Doesn't matter what GC you are from
4.
one again this is a RMT issue.
But I do disagree with it. I would love to not have to gear up an alt if I was playing 2 characters but the system does discourage this because one character can max everything Well used to be able to stupid Master Doh
5.
How long does it take you to put items on the market. While interacting with retainers ones again DUB items If they where still on the AH someone could buy it and you remove it from market.
6.
Agreed but I don't know the market on all servers and if I switched with my 18m gil to a poor server I would be rich but on balmung 18m isn't a lot
7.
Raiding in FFXIV is hard, where 1-2 mistakes are unrecoverable at times, More players more chance of mistakes.
8.
This one I fully agree with.
9.
Y-P talked about this. And that 4.x would like be water based and that they may add this function. but I am guessing only in new zones.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Since I did some Coil back in ARR, I'd like to ask "What complexity is there?" From what I see on videos and youtube, it's always all about damage and nothing else. Sure it had some sort of "strategy" to them, but it all boiled down to "nuke as fast and without dying as much as possible, while avoiding these or that mechanic". And if you fail it's a insta-wipe...is this strategy? I've played raids where failing a mechanic didn't necessarily spell wipe, am I getting old or something? Last I played a raid that wasn't in this game, a Raid consisted on following tactics while doing a minimum amount of damage and possibly without dying, or else it would become harder, as in "You can still beat it but it'll take longer". When a dps dies in a raid here you might as well wipe, since the dps check usually fails at this part (usually, not always).

Also, dps checks in most mmorpgs weren't in every fight: they were used for gear checks more than anything else, which means that it was usually 2 or 3 at best in every raid...although most raids I played had more than 4 bosses.

Plus Azrael IS right: we don't have raid spots, they are jobs. I have constantly witnessed my static changing people for the sake of the raid, because he wasn't doing his best, or because his playstyle didn't work, or whatever was wrong. Sure some of them legit played badly or not good enough, but it was something that I never witnessed in an MMORPG since the early days of Ragnarok (I dunno, maybe because I'm EU and my server is NA: raids in EU seem to be much more easy going).
But yes, as far as I'm concerned a raid spot acts like a job in this game: you miss it once you might lose your spot. I know that because during FCOB I had to use another computer because mine was broken, and if I hadn't that ready I would've probably be replaced. After all the hardships to join it and learn the mechanics, to be replaced for just missing one day? That would be insane.

But if players are fine with how things are, I guess it's fine. But bigger raids would mean more people to raid with, just saying...

Deducing how to deal with mechanics or mitigate damage is strategizing. Most youtube videos are clears, where the group already knows what they need to do. If you watch live raids on twitch or look for video breakdowns like what Elysium posted here, you get a better idea of what strategies are involved to beat these fights. In the end, all fights in every game can be boiled down to "do x amount of damage as fast as possible and don't die." Complexity comes from the mechanics they throw at you and how quickly or efficiently you can avoid them. And groups can survive a death or two, depending on the phase.

This is true of every game though. People will kick out players in GW2 or WoW for sub-optimal performance if that's the kind of group they are. The harder the content, the higher the expectation from players. Midcore to casual statics are more likely to accept a string of wipes compared to hardcore groups, especially if they're all friends/FC mates. Switching out people whose playstyle differs enough to hinder the raid isn't necessarily a bad thing. If they can't adapt, then it's probably better for them to find another group where it won't be an issue. That said, I wouldn't raid with a group demanding enough I'll be kicked if I have a legitimate reason I can't show up. Most groups though will ask for a temp to fill your spot that week only. I see a lot of those in PF or even on Reddit. So it sounds like you just had a very impatient group.

But you also get more mistakes. Funny as it might be, Weeping City Savage would... well, live up to its name.

[Voltyblast]

That said, I wouldn't raid with a group demanding enough I'll be kicked if I have a legitimate reason I can't show up. Most groups though will ask for a temp to fill your spot that week only. I see a lot of those in PF or even on Reddit. So it sounds like you just had a very impatient group.

No, this was in all statics I saw. Yes saw, because I couldn't join most of them: they required far too much for me to join, things like "must know everything until last phase" or "3 mistakes then kick". I was touched by lady luck to get a group back the FCOB back then, without mentioning that I had to ask for a carry for t9 (because my previous static wouldn't care about helping me). Again, it's all a job: if you're useless, you're not going to be picked in. Except this is a game: last I checked it shouldn't be this...stiff and hostile? Even in other games I can join groups without knowing tactics: people would explain me what to do.

And this leads to another big issue I have with the raiding scene in this game: the experience required. Not even a day after 3.3 hits and people already demanding nidhogg ex super duper expert people to finish it. I get it, they beated the boss, good job and I'm glad for them: I'm not blaming them for requiring expert people for this and I'm sure everyone would do the same, but how can I possibly join a group if I have zero experience? Join a learning team? No! They also require experience! Yes even training groups requires me with knowledge of the fight. How can I receive experience if I need experience? It's philosoraptor all over again!

And this could be fixed with larger raids, even 16 man, to allow more people to learn things up. Smaller groups means also less room to make mistakes: if you screw up A or B it's over, it's usually not going further than that. But with 16 or 24 it's easier to learn without necessarily wipe it. Yes it also means there's more chance to mistakes, but also allows more room to error. You don't see Machi wipes if one dies or something, but while doing my raids of coil in ARR if someone died, it was game over. DPS died? Fail the dps check. Healer dies? Not enough mana, and tank dies. Tank dies? Not enough hp to receive a tank buster (ah without mentioning that you also lost your tanking stance back then! Wasn't that lovely?). You say you can recover, but I never, EVER, witnessed a recovery during my raiding times. I was a tank anyway.

So until then, I'm not going to touch raiding scene of this game: it's far too toxic and too hostile for my tastes (maybe because I'm EU? As I said, I always had nice teams in other games and would explain me what to do. In this game is very rare). However I'm also not going to change their ways of playing, but just wished that it allowed more people in it and just be a tiny bit more open for everyone to learn things up. And yes there's the raid finder: it doesn't work.

Speaking of "do x amount of damage as fast as possible and don't die", the problem are the dps checks and not the amount of damage itself. Infact this also leads to the problem of parsers, which is heavily required beacuse of how basically everything is a damage check. This isn't related though as there are a ton of topics in the forums about this, but it shows how it could be fixed by making the raid fights less about outputting damage and more about actual tactics.

If you don't agree, then so be it anyway: I experienced raiding in ARR and I'm not going to go over that stress over again.
And no, I'm not new to raiding.