Yoshi-P on Character Growth

[Awful]

They honestly need to stop playing it safe once I heard 4.0 will be the same I just was...well disappointed I was hoping for something fresh and new but 3.0 is just 2.0 with the same formula and as a long time player i'm just tired of it. I'm tired of the same circular EX and farming for it for my off classes and maybe my main class if the stats are "okay" wooo, Savage will be easier people will clear it faster then they cleared Gordias which barely 5% of the playerbase got to finish and I have to ask why did they make Creator so much easier? Shouldn't it have been the other way around? Gordias being easiest > Midas > Creator? SE screwed the pooch and made raiding in Alexander terrible in the first place as most players didn't find it as accessible whereas Creator will be accessible and easier so I just don't get it.

As for character growth why should I even bother upgrading my ilvl? There'll be a catch up patch and I can gear my character again I wish we could have some other way to gear ourselves under savage like 5 ilvls lower through Savage Dungeons or something but having to farm tomes over and over and over has worn on me and I haven't capped in 3 weeks. I haven't felt like my character has grown the only way I felt that was through the tank changes which affected every tank not myself so that's a bust, i'm tired of trying to fill people for a static usually have 6 FC members and 2 PUGs now it's more of 3 FC members 5 PUGs and the PUGs maybe stay for 2-3 weeks so I gave up trying to clear A8S. If it's the same formula I won't bother trying to start another static up i'm done I did this for Gordias and Midas and it's brought only headaches for myself and my friends most of them are playing Legion now as myself and I find the character growth there is substantial compared to FF XIV but now i'm getting off topic.

I am taking a break till 3.4 but only myself will know if i'll really enjoy 3.4 and to be truly honest with you i'm just meh with everything nothing excites me anymore, raiding is eh in here as raiders aren't rewarded and are neglected, no midcore options, dungeons are forgotten within the same day, trials are good until you farm them for the 203203293 time, getting the birds then you'll never have to go back. I don't enjoy Lord of Vermillion, I don't enjoy Manderville Golden Saucer, Triple Triad, that content is forgettable for me, I do the relic only because I started it a long time ago and might as well finish it, I know i'm harping on this game but as a paying customer for my own enjoyment with others I want them to take risks. I truly love this game but the development team just keeps making awkward decisions that as a consumer can't agree with and am just confused as to why they make these decisions.

I'm with Spookyghost and support his/her ideas as I share the same views about the game but had to ramble on a bit about content and what not but I need to let it out and talk about it I don't want this game to die at all but I want them to at least take risks and mold and give us quality, lasting, content.

Also I'm extremely annoyed with his perception that once you reach ilvl cap you should level another job or play another game - but not because of the reason most people are. My entire issue with this is that getting to max ilvl basically means doing one thing that is readily accessible once you beat normal mode (a task that a monkey with a typewriter can do). After you beat Savage... frankly, you don't even need to farm it. Why? Because, first of all, ilvl resets on the next even number patch - including weapon, apparently, so there is literally no reason to get all that gear. And why is there no reason to get all that gear? Because there's nothing to do after you beat Savage. And they're making Savage clearable in 2 months by midcore groups! That's fine, don't get me wrong, I am all for them lowering the difficulty if we're only given the 2 difficulties (though I'd prefer them just doing Normal + Hard = even patch, Savage = odd patch) - my problem lies in the fact that after 2 months... everyone that raids is done raiding. There's nothing left. It's over. We have no more new content to do for 4 months.

I really hope they rethink their perspective on how they should handle end game in 4.0. It's entirely backwards atm.

[Thunda_Cat_SMASH]

One of the common threads of dissent on the forums seems to be the gear system, and I understand wanting options, or having BiS gear to be spread across content. But do you really want a game were BiS itself is based on the fight, and you need to have 2 or 3 meaningfully different "BiS" options to work with? That seems exhausting!

It really is. Having to keep up with seven or eight gear sets per character is not only boring, but requires a massive amount of grind for what amounts to .5% efficiency gain. There's really nothing fun or enjoyable about it.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

It really is. Having to keep up with seven or eight gear sets per character is not only boring, but requires a massive amount of grind for what amounts to .5% efficiency gain. There's really nothing fun or enjoyable about it.

This is how I feel. It would annoy me to constantly have to open my character menu or have a bunch of gear sets for one class set on my hotbar. There isn't anything interesting about it. You just swap gear for one fight, then swap back.

No they just attack anyone that has interesting and unique ideas because it doesn't fit how they play. Just saying.

Or maybe, just maybe, they like the current system and disagree with your "interesting" ideas. Nonetheless, forum representation of any game is a decidedly minority. And even then, different forums have different stances. For instance, the FFXIV reddit community is far less negative than this board. Your opinions are just that: opinions. Don't presume they are unique just because you fancy them. I, for one, found Black Desert boring. You said in another thread you liked it. To me, BDO is a boring grindfest to you it may be something else. That's okay. We just have different interests.

[Kaurie]

Not sure why people would have multiple gear sets with the addition of horizontal progression. Is this an FFXI thing?

[MomomiMomi]

Not sure why people would have multiple gear sets with the addition of horizontal progression. Is this an FFXI thing?

Probably because a lot of people see ideas such as that and think that there's only one way for it to be implemented.

[HungryHippo]

No, they don't but it's an MMO. People need to learn to be a little more patient. It's a marathon not a sprint. You can't complain about every queue that doesn't pop, get 3-7 other friends to play if you need to be able to do things all the time every time on your schedule.

Patient is 1 thing, getting no where even when you are patient is another. I have friends, however, sometimes we aren't on same time and sometimes we are. Some have helped me already which is great, but don't get me wrong. 99% people who preach this game and say one of it's highlight in this game is to catch up easy.
How is catching up easy when you struggle?

I'm not saying you are wrong, but is it really healthy for new players to feel excactly what I feel now? Of course not, you even said it's not. However, it feels like it's acceptable just because people aren't involved in it, as in in my situation. When they aren't it's not their concern at all. This is a MMO, where you are supose to play with a lot of other people, yes friends do come and go, and yes they do help. However, when you barely see anything going on, you know something is wrong. I played other recent MMO's and they just feel way more alive, how is that a thing? I'm not going to compare which one is best or not, I'm saying because it's how it feels like. When I enter a online game that's supose to be full of people but when it's not, what am I supose to feel then?


Example and this is more on topic: Progression/growth on character. If some one is already full ilvl on this game, it's either: Get another class to max iLvl or simply play another game. You see this? If there is no progression or growth after you beat let's say hardest raid in game, what's the point staying? People unsub leave the game for a while then come back for next patch, which is completely understandable, however the new people that SO many speak about, that is good and healthy for the game, what about them? You gonna let them sit back and just be ''patient''?

You do know a lot of people don't have time to sit on the game for 10 hours a day right? Myself work a lot but I do have days where I could play all day, like today I had off, but did I get anywhere closed where I wanted to be? Not really, far from it. Then I get told that I need to wait for patch then it's okay to start again? Do square enix need to have a patch info before the sell the game so they know they wont come back to a place nobody cares anymore until patch is on? I know this sound dramatic but this is the current and the most respons I've gotten so far.

Many seem to forget that Square enix is holding a business here, their job is to keep their customer not chase them away for something else. I'm aware people do come back for next patch etc, however, the more they do this the more they will lose. It's like what someone already mentioned, some people don't even look in here and they are happy, but what about the people who are silent? They leave without a word. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? From a business man perspective you will always wonder how you could keep those customers full time rather than lose them to someone else, or why did it happen after all? Something we can adjust and fix?

Me? I have no idea how this game can improve, but for starters, make the old players more interested to stay and this way new players or even the ones who come back like myself, well get guided and also get the stuff we want to do.

Tl:dr; Give remaining players/old players something to work on and progress and also give them a better character growth, which allows new people to see there is actually people around and doesn't need to be concerned about waiting for a new patch. I also know this is off topic but Ilvl feels just like a bloat atm, it's just an illusion if you are good or not. Many people take this ilvl system a bit too granted.

Sorry for long post.

[Morningstar1337]

Not sure why people would have multiple gear sets with the addition of horizontal progression. Is this an FFXI thing?

Yes, from what I gathered, XI allowed you to change your gear during combat. The result being that players would make multiple gearsets for spefici purposes and then swap them in the middle of a fight. Say there was a Boss which phases based on the elemental wheel. You'd start with Fire-aspected gear for the Ice phase, then when he switches to say...Lightning, you'd whip out your earth aspected gear and fight him there.

And XI has plenty of gear that affects certain skills, in another example lets say there 3 Gearsets with these as set bonuses: once that increases enmity for Fast Blade, One that increases enmity from Savage Blade and one that increases enmity from rage of Halone. If this kind of gear swapping was permitted in XIV then the PLD would be able to change gear almost every GCD

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Not sure why people would have multiple gear sets with the addition of horizontal progression. Is this an FFXI thing?

Aurora summed it up nicely. If different gear influences boss mechanics, you'll have to change it based on the fight. But say they just put special effects on gear. What generally happens is players figure out which is most useful, then recommend only that piece. Say one piece of armour had a chance to make Blood for Blood cast with no cooldown (like how Healers get a free Cure proc) while another piece offered a straight 10% STR buff. The latter piece is likely to win out as the default because it's consistent. I guess you could add it, since it won't hurt. I just don't, personally, see the point.

[Jynx]

Yes, from what I gathered, XI allowed you to change your gear during combat.

The main use of gear swaps were for your big attacks (Weapon skills) Tanking (Def or Evasion sets) or Elemental resistances for spells (Blackmages would carry around a large pile of staves for each element to reduce resistances and capitalize on critical hits.

So let's say I was playing Thief (Burst damage based) I had my haste and accuracy gear as my "TP" (Resource you gained to use big weaponskill attacks) So I would attack fast and accuratly, when I used my buffs and weaponskill I would switch over to my weaponskill set to maximize damage.

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Theoretically it was pretty cumbersome but it gave you a large variety of gear to work towards and always new things to try and obtain. It was rarely dull looking for gear unlike another MMO we all know.

[MomomiMomi]

My SCH carried 58/60 pieces of gear at all times. Come at me.