Unofficial Census 2016 for FFXIV

[Ksenia]

The majority of players I know that raid have an alt to run the raid twice. So I believe that the real number of people that cleared Midas savage is far less than those numbers.

And myself and I am sure several others flagged this not only in time gated dungeons but with red script crafting and gathering. Are they going to gate content on the premise we all have 3 to 8 fully capped characters?

Atm I am pondering if it is really worth it to do this. On one hand I already have a lvl 60 alt stashed on Balmung that would be easily geared up, on the other one I am not sure I want to spend additional time and money on something I consider a design flaw - there are way too many timegates and lockouts

Yep and they don't resolve anything. The game is destined to implode at each expansion number patch.

[Sandpark]

The number of people actively raiding would grow if the content allowed for some leniency in execution (read: varied difficulty modes) and cost of entry was not that high.

Think of it like playing something on easy mode then working your way up in difficulty. Playing a game on normal and then trying hard is not really massive since you've already cleared the game and have an idea of how the mechanics work.And believe it or not, lenient mechanics at the entry/post-entry level do act as an encouragement to bring new people or non-raiding regulars because you don't run the risk of a wipe if someone messes up.

True except some people have a skill ceiling. No matter how much they practice, they will never reach the ceiling. Be it cerebral limitations or reflex limitations.

[vp_cmc]

Atm I am pondering if it is really worth it to do this.

Alt is useful when you've cleared it this week on your main, and somebody ask you to help them with savage. If you use alt (sufficiently geared), you can help them without affecting their loot.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

My philosophy applies to every single thing in the game.

When I spend 40 million gil on the full Thavnarian set I don't do it because I want to feel special and more privileged than other players or feel like I have something that other people will never get. I do it because it is pretty and I want it right now. I don't feel bad that others players get to buy it two or three months later for 40k or less. I didn't even feel bad when other players got to buy it one whole week later for less than half that price.

There is nothing wrong with every single thing in this game becoming more accessible as time passes.

I have never understood people's obsession with needing others endue the same challenges or whatever they did in order for it to feel special. Individual accomplishments are what you make of them. I was absolutely thrilled when I finally crafted my first piece of Ironworks. It wouldn't bother me in the least if they suddenly nerfed it because my personal efforts paid off. When I look at say, raiding. I'm not thinking "oh, this will be so much easier if I wait a year," I'm thinking, "I want to get in and see how many times this fight kicks my butt until I kick it back!"

To each their own and all, but I just don't see what the big deal with things becoming more accessible down the road.

Alt is useful when you've cleared it this week on your main, and somebody ask you to help them with savage. If you use alt (sufficiently geared), you can help them without affecting their loot.

This is a system I wish they would abandon. It's wholly pointless considering alts are an easy enough workaround, and actively prevents people from subbing into other statics if needed.

[Remus]

snip.

I think it's mainly because people don't want it to be accessible easily so early when it releases.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

I think it's mainly because people don't want it to be accessible easily so early when it releases.

Aye. However the person quoted wanting certain bits of content to never become more accessible, which often results in the opposite effect: i.e., people don't bother at all. The 210 Anima step is a perfect example of content that split the community wholly due to the immense amount of grinding. Making say, Primal Ponies and Pigeons easier to get several months to a year later isn't diminishing the reward itself. None of those are skill based. A sprout could step into Ravana EX and roll lucky on a pigeon after their first attempt.

[zosia]

My philosophy applies to every single thing in the game.When I spend 40 million gil on the full Thavnarian set I don't do it because I want to feel special and more privileged than other players or feel like I have something that other people will never get. I do it because it is pretty and I want it right now. I don't feel bad that others players get to buy it two or three months later for 40k or less. I didn't even feel bad when other players got to buy it one whole week later for less than half that price.

There is nothing wrong with every single thing in this game becoming more accessible as time passes.

yes there is and it reflects in the sub numbers.

Yoshi P, has tried it your way and it's causing this game to crash and burn. No one wants to maintain a long term sub when you can sub for a few key months and have everything else a long term subbed player has.

Just because you are abnormal and don't care about rarity does not mean other players don't. It practically drives most human motivations, to stand out that is. You can pretend to be high minded, but there are points in your life where you made choices to stand out and be a special little snow flake just like people want now in this game.

I got my degree in physics because I knew it would make me stand out from most other college graduates. I bought a nice car, because I know it will make me stand out. I dress nicely as often as I can, because I know it will make me stand out. If I sink 10 hrs a week into my hobby, I want to be able to stand out. This is human nature, this is what motivates us in many ways as humans. I choose to embrace human nature, you can do as you wish.

I have never understood people's obsession with needing others endue the same challenges or whatever they did in order for it to feel special. Individual accomplishments are what you make of them. I was absolutely thrilled when I finally crafted my first piece of Ironworks. It wouldn't bother me in the least if they suddenly nerfed it because my personal efforts paid off. When I look at say, raiding. I'm not thinking "oh, this will be so much easier if I wait a year," I'm thinking, "I want to get in and see how many times this fight kicks my butt until I kick it back!"

To each their own and all, but I just don't see what the big deal with things becoming more accessible down the road.



This is a system I wish they would abandon. It's wholly pointless considering alts are an easy enough workaround, and actively prevents people from subbing into other statics if needed.

Well, the dev team has been trying the 'everyone can have everything given enough time' design philosophy for three years now and how well has it worked out sub wise? Let me save you the time of pondering over it... IT'S going TERRIBLE! This game lost close to 24% of it's active endgame player base from the last unofficial census. That's like 150k subs gone in 7 months.

There has to always be long term goals with huge carrots attached or there is no reason to stay subbed year around. Your philosophy is not playing out well in this game, the subs reflect that well enough.

Aye. However the person quoted wanting certain bits of content to never become more accessible, which often results in the opposite effect: i.e., people don't bother at all. The 210 Anima step is a perfect example of content that split the community wholly due to the immense amount of grinding. Making say, Primal Ponies and Pigeons easier to get several months to a year later isn't diminishing the reward itself. None of those are skill based. A sprout could step into Ravana EX and roll lucky on a pigeon after their first attempt.

It does not diminish the reward, it just makes people less motivated to collect less rare rewards. Lets be real, people like using special mounts. There are several ways to make something special and keeping the item in question rare is among them. If everyone knows that primal birds will end up at the same rarity as the primal ponies, why even bother farming them now?

People can wait until 4.0-4.1, duo or trio these fights, and benefit from a much higher drop rate.

It takes the motivation out of doing content while it's current. That's why we can't keep people subbed to this game, there is no point in maintaining a long term sub.

[Sandpark]

yes there is and it reflects in the sub numbers.

Yoshi P, has tried it your way and it's causing this game to crash and burn. No one wants to maintain a long term sub when you can sub for a few key months and have everything else a long term subbed player has.

There are several ways to make something special and keeping the item in question rare is among them. If everyone knows that primal birds will end up at the same rarity as the primal ponies, why even bother farming them now?

People can wait until 4.0-4.1, duo or trio these fights, and benefit from a much higher drop rate.

It takes the motivation out of doing content while it's current. That's why we can't keep people subbed to this game, there is no point in maintaining a long term sub.

i don't think SE cares if you play current content for the whole month. I think they care more about if you come back over and over.

That's why they keep introducing seasonal events with no way to acquire some later. Most games now days invent systems to keep you grinding or make sure you come back.

Some games call it seasons, some call it living world, some call it smaller incremental updates every 1-3 months, some call it ilevel, some call it dailies, some call it beast tribes, etc, etc. When/if a developer cares if you stay subbed long durations they invent content with longer sustenance or what people call massive amounts of time content, weekly lockouts galore, long play sessions, horizontal progression.

[zosia]

i don't think SE cares if you play current content for the whole month. I think they care more about if you come back over and over.

Then the dev team and SE are good at making some pretty daft calls. The more months people are subbed, the more they will make. Also, I doubt hundreds of thousands of players are just waiting in the wings to rush back in an resub to this game.

I dunno, this game has so many problems and there are people here still defending the status quo. Maybe this game does deserve to go F2P and die.

Hey, I want longer sustained content as well. I came from XI 8 year vet and miss some things there.

No one really makes games like that anymore though not even SE. You would be surprised though, I bet it's more than you think. It's the era of the casual and old school dinosaurs like me have to either suck it up or quit the genre.

They don't make em like they used to. Times have changed.

At best maybe SE could slow the nerf down rather than the constant nerfs and super speed ilvl ranks.

I meant no offense. Sorry if there was any.

[Sandpark]

Then the dev team and SE are good at making some pretty daft calls. The more months people are subbed, the more they will make. Also, I doubt hundreds of thousands of players are just waiting in the wings to rush back in an resub to this game.

I dunno, this game has so many problems and there are people here still defending the status quo. Maybe this game does deserve to go F2P and die.

Hey, I want longer sustained content as well. I came from XI 8 year vet and miss some things there.

No one really makes games like that anymore though not even SE. You would be surprised though, I bet it's more than you think. It's the era of the casual and old school dinosaurs like me have to either suck it up or quit the genre.

They don't make em like they used to. Times have changed.

At best maybe SE could slow the nerf down rather than the constant nerfs and super speed ilvl ranks.