On a scale of 1 - 10, how disappointed are you so far with Stormblood news?

[Voltyblast]

I would genuinely like to know what people who bring that up as major complaint would consider a major change in these things.

Glad you asked, because there are many things that could be changed, like Tomestone Grind.

The game emphasizes a lot on the multi-class aspect of the character yet you're allowed to gear up only one with the current tomestone because of the tight weekly cap, without mentioning that one week is not even enough to get a single piece of armor (not accessories). A good way to fix this is, for one thing, to raise the cap at least (maybe 650, so you can get 2 accessories at once or 1 piece of armor) AND to make each class have their tomestone cap: this would ensure you're making progress on your current job and it's a good way to force people into trying new jobs (and being rewarded in the process). I mean, the game allows you to do all classes in one character, but it's so limited that I might as well have 2 characters instead: at least I can ACTUALLY maximize the gear of two classes at once. Just like every other mmorpg in existence.

Also there's a serious lack of longterm rewards from basically anything: a few months later the gear becomes obsolete, no exception, unlike others games where as long as the stats are good and the effects are useful, they tend to stay a while longer in your inventory. This could be easily solved by actually making dungeons and raids more rewarded and there are SO many ways: Tier sets, special effects, unique gear in raid (make it 275 for example), unique versions, customizable stats, additional upgrade to raid gear (remember SCOB savage? it wasn't worth it because it rewarded nothing but titles, but what if they gave 120 loot?) and so on. The possibilities are endless in here but they obviously won't change because...........I dunno, lazyness?

Another issue is to actually stop forcing everyone to redo old content for the sake of doing old content, without mentioning that they should "fix" the DF: Expert roulette is a chore and not fun since that you're forced to redo the same 2 dungeons over and over again and "normal" roulette will always make you run the most "picked" dungeon anyway, so I'd say remove expert and include the new dungeons into "normal" and just make it 60 dungeon roulette (just like 50 dungeon roulette) and make the new dungeons have a higher chance to pop: that way every dungeon might be picked. On top fo that, make a way that you won't go back into the same dungeon twice: you have NO idea how many times I went into Sohm Al HM and forgot about Baelsar's wall even existing.
Also, "fix" main scenario roulette by ACTUALLY adding main scenario related parts (like the prison part, or the instanced fights) so that you won't do the same exact 2 dungeons of the last 4 years.
Improve Mentor roulette as well by making the non-mentors give a score to the mentor and REWARD HIM/HER according to how many grades received. Again, endless possibilities, but none taken or even thought on.
And on top of that, remove the two tomestomes and just put one...or what, are we going to have 10 tomestomes to keep track off in 10 years?

Also make the world actually worth exploring: what's the point of having huge and large areas if they're dead on arrival? Except for the torrents for flying, I absolutely have no reason to go around in, say, Sea of Clouds and explore the area, since that there's just no need and nothing worthwhile. They're huge yes but dead and basically barren and that's bad considering that even ARR had more people running around in the later areas. Meanwhile, how many people actually explore and search around in Azys Ila?
Hunts? Please no, they died and should stay dead: hunts should just become instanced fights for 8 people to fight: in other word they should be World Bosses, especially when nobody cares to wait for everyone. This IS an mmorpg afterall.
FATEs are also objectively worse than dungeons now so nobody even do them because of the large exp gap (3m exp split between 40k fates it's...a lot of fates, almost triple than ARR)...so either remove them or just buff them. A lot.
Oh and Leves...a pain to deal with and not worth the time cause of the low exp rewards and being able to take 2-3 at once. It's either all or nothing...and if nothing, then might as well pop my queue and run a dungeon.
Oh and sure, there's the sightseeing log....did anyone actually remember that existing? I actually forgot that long ago when it was launched! And it gives basically nothing worthwhile except a silly pet. This is easy to fix anyway...uhm, just uhm...put stuff in them? Y'know, repeatable quests (more than 3 per day please), random events/fates (More than one please) that actually give nice but simple rewards (costumes, money, mgp, anything), and just...you know, a good reason to revisit the area? I mean look no further than Gw2: the game rewards the player for exploring the map in depth and it's actually fun. Need I say more?

Frankly there are many ways to change the current game elements for the best, so many that I would actually need to type them down on a note but I don't care enough: I'm not paid for doing this. Still I'm a customer so I'm allowed to complain and if they decide to go their way and keep the same stuff the same once again... well more power to them: afterall HW brought a lot of new players than ARR and we're having so many players right now! Right?

...R-r-right?

[Lambdafish]

Salty? Quite the opposite, this thread is, as I said, entertaining. What you said falls into hypocrisy as well, I'm allowed to share my opinions as you are. Get over it.

Except you aren't voicing your opinion, you are framing it as fact. The sheer fact that you have framed the entire thread negatively is forcing everyone to comply with negativity being the norm. You didn't say "what does everyone think of Stormblood news? I thought it was disappointing" you framed it as "how disappointing is the stormblood news?" There is no hypocracy in Belhi's statement, you are fully entitled to be disappointed, but you are treating that as fact, when A) you don't even have all the news yet, and B) your opinion being the popular one is highly debatable.

Yes, you are salty, you wouldn't be calling this thread "entertaining" if you weren't, you would be calling it "interesting" or "insightful"

[Shurrikhan]

In regards to this discussion on tomes and linear progress in general, the key issue is the carrot on the stick. In most MMOs you grind gear to challenge harder contents, to get gear to challenge harder content...

In FFXIV there really isn't a set pattern to gear leveling so player lose motivation. Normally the pattern is dungeons to gear up for raids, but here raids drop lower gear than what you earn from dungeon grinding. Weekly caps aren't really the problem but a lack of forward progress. RPGs are all about leveling up so end game shouldn't be different. Crafted gear also has a place in this by drop material in that specific ilvl content to make that specific ilvl item. This way players can sell material for gear and shorten the grind.

Tomes are really the easiest items to get in the game yet have higher ilvls than 8-man raids and equal 24-man raids. Ideally the path should be tomes > 8-man raid/trial > 24-man raid > Savage Raid/extreme trial, risk vs reward. This is my opinion anyway.

I get that, I really do, I just do honestly believe that there are some QoL benefits to gated gearing, in that we are not therefore forced into the quickest ways to gear, given that we'll hit cap anyways such that our gearing can be secondary for those with enough time and enjoyment itself the primary function, you increase the relevant (appropriately geared) playerbase size, which in turn makes it easier to form groups and progress, and we aren't forced to gear an entire patch or tier's worth before being allowed entry into progression. That's it.

For me, XIV gearing is this sort of wonky system where you're on an incredibly slow moving escalator (though, one that doesn't allow you to further advance at your own rate), but can really jump pretty damn high—varying a bit, person to person—say, onto a nearby ledge, from which you can actually run uphill a bit before jumping back onto the escalator, having actually advanced. Nonetheless though, it's still an escalator life.

Now, I don't think that's a good feeling, overall, and it could certainly use improvements, but what I want to see more of are those things that seem inherently enjoyable, or a greater breadth of content that allow for seemingly good use of our time. The last thing I want is for the highly limited (by weekly caps and/or RNG in Savage) commodity of BiS or latest-tier gear to suddenly become unlimited while still being seen at that pedestal-ed value. In some ways, therefore, I prefer the idea of horizontal progression, but again, only as a branch of the idea that we should be able to play for fun, and that more should be seen as worthwhile than merely what is stat-progressive.

[Automedius]

Except you aren't voicing your opinion, you are framing it as fact. The sheer fact that you have framed the entire thread negatively is forcing everyone to comply with negativity being the norm. You didn't say "what does everyone think of Stormblood news? I thought it was disappointing" you framed it as "how disappointing is the stormblood news?" There is no hypocracy in Belhi's statement, you are fully entitled to be disappointed, but you are treating that as fact, when A) you don't even have all the news yet, and B) your opinion being the popular one is highly debatable.

Yes, you are salty, you wouldn't be calling this thread "entertaining" if you weren't, you would be calling it "interesting" or "insightful"

It's "insightful", happy now? By the way, I just skimmed. Im not reading all that.

[Shurrikhan]

snip

Going to try to throw out a simplest possible suggestion, atop your:

• Make weekly caps class-specific
• Stop forcing such repetitive use of content

Simple additions:

• Each week, assign a set of weekly bonus tasks, much like WT, but a bit less specific and with more normal rewards.
• Every day, assign a set of bonus dungeons, trials, and/or raids.
• Create a new sync mode, called Expert. Expert allows for the full use of your abilities and gear, but increases tankbuster, special, raid, and auto damage, mob health, and sometimes mob effects according to tank, DPS, and healer gear. Rewards also increase proportionately.
• Expert roulette now runs any dungeon, in Expert mode.
• Roulettes no longer give any bonuses of their own, this instead being given through daily and weekly rewards; they exist only to improve queue speeds. They will favor incomplete bonus tasks.
• Selecting any "roulette" now changes your 5 instance queues into 5 veto options. Note that using these may increase queue times.

It's "insightful", happy now? By the way, I just skimmed. Im not reading all that.

...His response was barely four lines long, though...

[xbahax92]

snip

Yano, while you summed up all those ideas and feedback... It would be so nice to have content which involves players serverwide. I dont know who of you played last days of 1.X but there was this fight against infiltrating Garleans. Everybody was able to help. It did not matter if you are Disciples of War/Magic/Hand or Land. Everyone was able to support, which made it so much fun and also rewarding. In my opinion (and it might be bit to harsh), FFXIV does not provide enough content to learn and meet new friends (players). You register with the DF, you run through the dungeon for 20-25min and you see the person you played with never again. I mean, yes how should you even.. But still. You were happy to meet and find new players in FFXI or 1.0, cause you were in danger all by yourself. Monsters were so strong, you werent even able to run through some places. FFXIV lacks this. All you want to do is actually solo through an MMORPG.

[matteoxyz]

I wasn't expecting anything other than more of the same, which is usually what an xpac is. im not disappointed or super hyped. The changes to battle, class abilities and stuff like that has me a bit excited, as well as new trials and raids, which is the only part of the game I find fun.

[Dyvid]

Snip

I'm also in favor of a more horizontal progress system over the ilvl trend mill. MMO's need goals for player to work for and without it they move on. Older games had system placed at end game to further develop character like spending points to boost stats, unlock traits, and add new abilities. For us the horizon is another patch and another tomes gear grind. Basically I think the game needs better carrots at the end of the stick to keep players going.

P.S. This has to be double hard on the art department having to think up new designs every 3 months.

Snip

I'll second the need for open world content. Maybe MMORPGs are on a downward spiral, maybe instants killed the genre, maybe I'm just old and remember when MMO's where different. The genre used to be about meeting people in the world and doing things together. Now it's queue, complete, queue, complete. It's seem like the more convenient people make being social, the more anti-social we become. /steps down from soap box.

[Belhi]

Salty? Quite the opposite, this thread is, as I said, entertaining. What you said falls into hypocrisy as well, I'm allowed to share my opinions as you are. Get over it.

Your posts come across as pretty salty. It looks like your disappointed with Stormblood and annoyed that not everyone else is and so your resorting to calling them fanboys and claiming they are in denial.

People have opinions. There are plenty of reasons to be excited for Stormblood, particularly if you are a red mage or samurai fan. That is hardly claiming they can do no wrong.

Personally I haven't seen enough of the actual detail to make a real judgment at this point. Its like seeing someone at a distance through foggy glass and deciding if they are good looking or not. You can hardly make a really good judgment in that situation and a lot of it is going to come down to personal preference. Best to wait till you can spot any wrinkles.

[Automedius]

@Belhi

I don't know what you're on about when you dropped that analogy, Bel. Stormblood isn't a person in fog, it's an expansion. An expansion, where we have seen plenty of news about it by now to make verdicts. Maybe they will announce something new, maybe. Though let's not act like children waiting for the tooth fairy. The probability of that happening is....

1%.