Is Endgame Just a Cycle of "Static Killers?"

[Lone-wolfe-02]

Think i don't even know why this thread was made for... from what i can gather they're mad they can't do savage that's what this is boiling down to right? an optional content where the gear obtained from it is not even needed to do basically everything in the game, i also don't understand why you have this war against statics for you seem to think anyone who's in a static is a terrible person and should feel bad for ever wanting to get together with the same group of people a few nights a week and have some fun.

[Mysteltain]

Think i don't even know why this thread was made for... from what i can gather they're mad they can't do savage that's what this is boiling down to right? an optional content where the gear obtained from it is not even needed to do basically everything in the game, i also don't understand why you have this war against statics for you seem to think anyone who's in a static is a terrible person and should feel bad for ever wanting to get together with the same group of people a few nights a week and have some fun.

I'm glad that I'm not the only one a little confused about the point of this topic. The title implies concern that endgame was a design in futility, as the TC holds the fear that endgame is designed to be so difficult as to purposely break up the groups tackling it. Yet the actual content and posts of this thread show a lack--and frankly, refusal--of understanding what statics are and what the nature of endgame is in FFXIV as of 3.x.

[Auteur]

I'm glad that I'm not the only one a little confused about the point of this topic.

At risk of being accused of using Trump tactics, the point is that PvP needs be made viable in this game to channel the competitive angst endemic to NA players. That's a major cultural difference between JP and NA (esp USA), which makes a PvE only game like PSO2 great in JP but dead on arrival in NA: the JP player base is on average much more able to act cooperatively. "Competitive PvE" is a misnomer and it's bad that competitiveness is being solely channeled into PvE, leading to poor recommendations for the game's overall health (like bad power spiking of PvE content).

Big picture though, I contend if the "99%" comes at loggerheads with the "1%" over content or direction FF14 is going, the majority 99% should win every single time. SE has to, and it seems they know, that this game is simply not meant to be catered to the hardcore players; they are not trying to compete with the F2P grinders for this small small share of the market. Yosh-P mentioned in an interview that he recognized the "silent majority," implying that AS was developed due to the hardcore (turns out erroneous) complaints that PvE content wasn't hard enough.

I remember seeing a comment in another thread that a hardcore player acknowledged, "I realized this game was not meant for me and I was never going to be [SE's] target audience." This is correct and honestly has to stay this way to maintain a sub-based model. Attempting to appeal to the hardcore only works for F2P, as many many many game devs are finding out. Sub is all about quantity and appealing to everyone; F2P you can leverage a small group with that cash shop.

[Mysteltain]

At risk of being accused of using Trump tactics, the point is that PvP needs be made viable in this game to channel the competitive angst endemic to NA players. That's a major cultural difference between JP and NA (esp USA), which makes a PvE only game like PSO2 great in JP but dead on arrival in NA: the JP player base is on average much more able to act cooperatively. "Competitive PvE" is a misnomer and it's bad that competitiveness is being solely channeled into PvE, leading to poor recommendations for the game's overall health (like bad power spiking of PvE content).

Also, the benefit of having PvP is being able to bifurcate and channel certain toxic hardcore players (i.e. toxic to the base at large) into that arena where that mindset is to be expected and is ok.

On the one hand, it wasn't necessary to bring politics into the thread in any capacity; never ends well. On the other, I did get a good laugh. So let's call it a wash, haha!