Community expectations

[Ryel]

On paper, yes. Problem is, the "only look for optimal" mentality is so vocal and strong that it even the producer takes it into consideration. That's the official reason for why we don't have more diverse gear and builds.

This is a complete cop-out.

MMORPGs have had to work around this problem since their inception. Are you saying that the FFXIV dev team is the only one incapable of creating stat alternatives? The only reason we dont have more diverse gear options is because they dont want to balance around them as it makes it more difficult and would take more time.

[Reynhart]

MMORPGs have had to work around this problem since their inception. Are you saying that the FFXIV dev team is the only one incapable of creating stat alternatives?

No, that's not what I'm saying. You're right, MMO had to work around that since the beginning. But, at the beginning, players asked for that so games delivered.

The thing is, the most vocal mentality (It's hard to say if it's a real majority, but that's not really how forums work) claims that the new generation of players does not want meaningful choices when building their characters. They don't want alternatives, they wan't the one path. If so, why would the dev team takes time to balance alternatives ? That's not worth it. It's also a reason why they chose to make a normal mode for raids. Most of the ressources are used to design the normal mode, that almost every player does. It's much more useful that designing a whole raid that only 10% of people will clear.

And, now that I think of it, I wonder if it's not part of the reason why we only have two expert dungeons in HW...outside of roulettes, we can assume most people will chose the fastest dungeon to farm tomestones. So why should they bother designing three dungeons if two of them will be ignored after their initial clear ? One dungeon tied to the MSQ, one other for latecomers, and here we go.

[Pintsized]

When did games stop being about just having fun...

All MMOs stop being fun at end-game when the min/max elitists start to dictate what and how you have to play to be allowed to play.

[Zojha]

All MMOs stop being fun at end-game when the min/max elitists start to dictate what and how you have to play to be allowed to play.

How do they do that if everyone just wants to have fun however?

Nobody can "dictate" what other people are to do. The most people can do is to kick people from their parties or not let them in and that goes for everyone equally - the "elitists" and the "anti-elitists". You can "dictate" black mages to become ice mages as much as other people can "dictate" black mages to use enochian and fire/ice IV, by kicking people who play that way. It's just a matter of which side is more prevalent.

[LineageRazor]

It's also a reason why they chose to make a normal mode for raids. Most of the ressources are used to design the normal mode, that almost every player does. It's much more useful that designing a whole raid that only 10% of people will clear.

Just to interject here, I don't think this is really true. Judging by what we can see of the Normal and Savage raids, it looks much more as though they built the Savage first, and then cranked back on the damage and difficulty and removed some of the worst mechanics in order to create the Normal version. The abilities used in Normal mode are almost always a subset of the abilities from Savage. Heck, Alexander 5 even has an arena that reflects this, with two spigots that are never used in normal mode but are there all the same.

I think that the last time SE built the easier mode first was in the days of Titan, Ifrit, and Garuda. All the Savage/Extreme content since, it looks much more like the normal mode is a toned-down version of the Savage/Extreme, rather than Savage/Extreme being an amped-up version of the normal.

I'm pretty sure most players who come to this game dream of one day being powerful enough to take on the toughest content. It's the same with any game you buy - you want to get the most you can out of it, experience all it has to offer. Most of them never quite reach that goal (as evidenced by the low clear rates), whether it be because they recognize that they just don't have the skill, dedication, or patience, or because they get turned off by the endgame community, or simply because they found something else in the game that they enjoy more. The raids, though, were built for raiders first, and afterwards scaled back to provide an offering for non-raiders. The normal version is there to give the folks that can't or won't raid the opportunity to feel like they've experienced the whole game.

[LalaRu]

I don’t understand why the FF14 community is so focused on performing in the most efficient manner and so heavily on ilv/BiS

Because it is the community that is roaming the forums the most. All others are playing the game and having fun.

[Remus]

I'm having fun being good at the game. If you don't find it fun then whatever.

Because it is the community that is roaming the forums the most. All others are playing the game and having fun.

Almost like I have multiple monitors. :^)

[Yonanja]

-snip-

I agree completly. Without the harder stuff to do, what's left in the game to give anyone a feeling of "there's still more to do"? It's true that maybe only 10% or even fewer of the playerbase might see and do the harder stuff, but at the same time, it's something that keeps many of them playing the game. Hoping and dreaming about being able to do it and having the rewards from those places. Without the harders stuff, what would keep players from just going "well, I've seen and done everything now, better unsub until next patch", leaving the game a graveyard after a month of every major patch.

FF have enough trouble keeping players yerning for "the next step" as it is, every other patch being more or less a complete gear-reset.

[Kallera]

Snip.

I disagree with this, there are plenty of games I happily buy and play stages and missions over and over, without really getting bored or losing sight of goals. It's only because this game is incredibly on-rails ("look at all this customization with materia! now slap on one type of materia onto your gear in the parameters we dictate with our caps or get judged by your peers." "raised all your members again with lb?, good, you're doomed anyway at the end with my 99990 move." "crafted that fancy sword, good job, you made the weakest weapon this tier. should tide a returnee over for two weeks.") that they run into this problem time and again.