Feeling Underwhelmed with 3.4

[KeiranOlive]

There are a couple of points we need to remember about brand new content as opposed to regular predictable content. New ideas take longer to make and require more resources and balancing. They are also much riskier, as they have not yet been proven successful. They are usually worth it, but the developers cannot reinvent the game with every patch.

One of the reasons we get patches so regularly is because the developers have a template to start from. It makes this game a reliable source of entertainment because I always know I'm going to get more of the content that I enjoy. With that said though, I also like when they try new things, as they have been with LoV, the Diadem, Aquapolis, and PotD. Some of them are successful and some are not, but that's the risk you take with new ideas. Personally, I think we get a good balance.

As for the complaint that there is not enough content to last for 3 months, content will always be consumed faster than it can be made. This is true for most entertainment, whether it be books, movies, video games, etc. In 3.4 we are getting main story quests, 2 dungeons, Alex the Creator, an ex primal, housing, Hildibrand, the scholasticate, dueling, Squadrons, PotD (in 3.45), new crafting recipies, as well as QoL changes. I think that is a lot, personally. Iirc, Yoshi P has said that he is happy with the content he has created so far, but he wants to put out even more. I believe the developers are doing as much as they can atm. Hopefully they can find more people to add to their team soon.

[MomomiMomi]

As for the complaint that there is not enough content to last for 3 months, content will always be consumed faster than it can be made. This is true for most entertainment, whether it be books, movies, video games, etc. In 3.4 we are getting main story quests, 2 dungeons, Alex the Creator, an ex primal, housing, Hildibrand, the scholasticate, dueling, Squadrons, PotD (in 3.45), new crafting recipies, as well as QoL changes. I think that is a lot, personally. Iirc, Yoshi P has said that he is happy with the content he has created so far, but he wants to put out even more. I believe the developers are doing as much as they can atm. Hopefully they can find more people to add to their team soon.

I think the biggest problem is not the amount of content that they give us, but the type of content. They give us a ton of one-and-done content. It's a lot of content that simply doesn't last. They even put weekly restrictions onto it to make things worse, so we do something once in a week and that's it, we're done. See you next week!

It's just worse that a lot of it is the same content we got 1-2 patches ago, just with a fresh coat of paint.

The amount of content is fine. It's the type of content that's really the problem.

[Balipu]

I think the biggest problem is not the amount of content that they give us, but the type of content. They give us a ton of one-and-done content. It's a lot of content that simply doesn't last. They even put weekly restrictions onto it to make things worse, so we do something once in a week and that's it, we're done. See you next week!

It's just worse that a lot of it is the same content we got 1-2 patches ago, just with a fresh coat of paint.

The amount of content is fine. It's the type of content that's really the problem.

Well this time we are getting squadrons that are tied to the challenge log and wondrous tails that will make older stuff relevant again. So the stuff we do every week will increase.
If you do a mini cactpot and all the roulette's every day, that's still a decent ammount. For me anyway.

[KeiranOlive]

I think the biggest problem is not the amount of content that they give us, but the type of content. They give us a ton of one-and-done content. It's a lot of content that simply doesn't last. They even put weekly restrictions onto it to make things worse, so we do something once in a week and that's it, we're done. See you next week!

Could you give some examples of content that would last longer? The weekly lockout is kind of a necessary evil to retain subs (and our sanity). Otherwise everyone would grind the content in the first two weeks, get everything they want, burn out and then never touch it again. I would think the content would be dead after that. With that said though, I would be open to hearing alternatives that might be better. Maybe having a weekly lockout per job, so we can gear multiple jobs every week.

[MomomiMomi]

Could you give some examples of content that would last longer? The weekly lockout is kind of a necessary evil to retain subs (and our sanity). Otherwise everyone would grind the content in the first two weeks, get everything they want, burn out and then never touch it again. I would think the content would be dead after that. With that said though, I would be open to hearing alternatives that might be better. Maybe having a weekly lockout per job, so we can gear multiple jobs every week.

See: FFXI. It was full of content that lasted for extremely long periods of time. It also had daily limits which is part of what helped extend the content. It wasn't just one repeated dungeon over and over again, though. It was one day you could do one dungeon, then the next day, if you completed that first dungeon, you could do the next one.

Daily limitations are much better than weekly limitations. You were also able to stock up multiple days, so you didn't have to log in every day if you didn't want to.

One such example from XI is Assault. It was 50 different missions. This lasted at least 50 days if you did every single mission once and won every time. Granted, they didn't release it all at once, but they did release it fairly quickly.

I'd take that over running the same two dungeons every day for 3 months any day.

[KeiranOlive]

See: FFXI. It was full of content that lasted for extremely long periods of time. It also had daily limits which is part of what helped extend the content. It wasn't just one repeated dungeon over and over again, though. It was one day you could do one dungeon, then the next day, if you completed that first dungeon, you could do the next one.

Daily limitations are much better than weekly limitations. You were also able to stock up multiple days, so you didn't have to log in every day if you didn't want to.

One such example from XI is Assault. It was 50 different missions. This lasted at least 50 days if you did every single mission once and won every time. Granted, they didn't release it all at once, but they did release it fairly quickly.

I'd take that over running the same two dungeons every day for 3 months any day.

Daily limitations certainly sound interesting. I haven't played XI, so I can't say whether I would like it's systems better or not, but I would be fine with the devs trying it.

I guess one thing that seems to bother others, but not me, is the complaint about too much repetition. Just from what I've read on this forum, I get the feeling that I must be a little odd. I enjoy running the same dungeons/trials/raids repeatedly because I like to practice my jobs and the fights until I feel I've mastered them. I actually looked forward to running Bismark EX and Ravana EX 99 times in a row. Repetition is not a negative thing to me since I go into every fight (even in the easiest content like dungeons) aiming to do better than the time before. Maybe I forgot to used sacred soil on the last run, or I didn't use my fairy's abilities as effectively as I could have. Stuff like that. Doing content that I know well helps me pay attention to the little things. But that's just me. I can understand why others don't feel the same way.

[Andevom]

Daily limitations certainly sound interesting. I haven't played XI, so I can't say whether I would like it's systems better or not, but I would be fine with the devs trying it.

XI went a bit overboard with limitations, coupled with the fact that even getting a party together to do these things sometimes took hours. I don't know if something like that would work in XIV, because people would just complain they have no reason to play until things reset, which is already a case with the few limitations that are in place.

I don't know if it's because people are less patient, or it's because we were younger and XI just had a more magic pull on us in the early 2000s, but a lot of what worked back then really wouldn't work well today. I will always treasure XI as one of my favorite gaming experiences, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish some of the conveniences we have in XIV existed back then.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

I think the biggest problem is not the amount of content that they give us, but the type of content. They give us a ton of one-and-done content. It's a lot of content that simply doesn't last. They even put weekly restrictions onto it to make things worse, so we do something once in a week and that's it, we're done. See you next week!

It's just worse that a lot of it is the same content we got 1-2 patches ago, just with a fresh coat of paint.

The amount of content is fine. It's the type of content that's really the problem.

They have no. People consume content nowadays at a rate far exceeding what can reasonably be developed. Even Legion will likely begin to lose its luster within a month or so, and WoW doesn't exactly have a good history outside expansions. Restrictions exist because people would inevitably grind out everything in a couple days through binge play. Very few games can provide a constant flow of content.

You also have to consider what you may consider dull or uninteresting, others are excited for. Wondrous Tails comes to mind. Despite it essentially having us go back to old content, a lot are looking forward to it. The fact Alexander looks to be tuned more towards midcore level raiding, this may open the door for people to finally explore the endgame.