[Stormblood Budget] Where all the money's gone ?

[Vidu]

I'm actually excited for Stormblood. I'm not hyped because hype just sets you up for disappointment. Yes, it might be a lot of the same and it seems that's not ok with many of you, but im fine with it. Honestly, I'm surprised that many of you in this thread even still play the game with the amount of negativity youre giving to an expansion that isn't even out yet.

Thank you! This, so much this!
Thats actually an impression I'm getting more and more from the forums and it makes me wonder why those people are sticking with a game that they seem to dislike so much - but if you ask, it makes you seem as if you're just defending any actual bad choice, which isnt always the case.
Why do people need a new model for their character to enjoy the content of this game? Why is not getting a new race such a huge point? Is everyone so unhappy with the choices we're having?
Why does the expansion need to redfine the game?
I for one play this game because I like this game - that also means that I'm perfectly fine with the game staying the way it is in general. Could it be improved? Sure, everything can be improved (except puppies). But if you want something completly new and different and mindblowing a better option for that might actually be to play another game... Not saying "If you dont like it, just go away!" - I mean it more like... pizza is great, you might even have a favorite type and sometimes adding one new topping can be intresting. But you've picked that pizza because you like it - there might come a day when you find yourself sitting infront of your pizza and being all "meh", because you've overeaten on it. Or because you didnt like it that much in the first place. Now, do you ask the pizza to completly change for you - or do you pick another food, that you might like better?

While I can see room for improvments, I'm also enjoying this game because of the way it is, aswell as for the story. If Stormblood is more of the same pizza, but with some new herbs and toppings - thats great for me and all I'd ever ask of an expansion. I pretty much prefer "more of the same (but maybe in better quality)" over something totally mindblowing new. Because if I want that, I can play another game, while still preserving FFXIV as the game I play when I want that specific experience. If I want something sweet, I dont spinkle sugar on my pizza - I go and get a cake.

(...which is probably what I should do - to much food-talk, shouldnt be posting or thinking when hungry...)

[Shougun]

Puzzles are fun the first time. After that, it's just repeating what you've already discovered.

As an example:

How many times do you check the Warden Stone at the beginning of the Temple of Qarn, just in case they changed the two symbols used to open the door at the end? Most groups now just beeline for the stairs and don't go anywhere near the Warden Stone.

I think adding puzzles, and other variations, as a variation would be neat. Like you enter the dungeon and there is a puzzle now, or a new mini boss, a room opens up that isn't normally open, an area you normally go down is collapsed and you have to head down a new path - things that change just to add fresh variation, and specifically for puzzles they should be rewarding if they exist.

Also perhaps you may add puzzle dungeon ish content to special solo/group content outside of the norm, like a weekly puzzle leve quest or something.

I agree that just forcing a complicated puzzle every single run would probably lead to heavy annoyance, but I would like to see more mechanics and ideas tried in dungeons and particularly things that shake up stuff sometimes. So maybe normally these special ancient devices on the walls are broken but one time you enter and they are functioning, and with a little teamwork you get a treasure room that basically gives you a second chest at the end of the dungeon, 50% exp bonus, and 50% more tome stones (so any sane person would figure it out and do it, every time they see it.. but its not always there).

Some of that may fit nicely into new deep dungeon rooms. Which they discussed varying objectives too. I would add on normal dungeons I would like to see a bonus for completing side objectives / exploring, if they could perhaps examine these things in terms of return and new players as well (like in that Satasha area people skip all the time could be an extra mini boss that drops a neat glamour item/bonus exp, and maybe a little something for current players to encourage them to check it out just incase it's open).

I liked many room/path dungeons in WoW and they quickly died in FFXIV due to design/community, if they could develop systems to encourage it again that'd be nice. (Whether it's through return side volunteer content, alternating paths/unique spawns, or just encouraged rooms.. I'd like it).

Another thing may be to dissuade the speed run mentality is that you actually get more for finishing the whole dungeon than finishing it at the bare minimum, like every side objective and monster completed would be more time effective than ignoring everything to the last boss (more reward, higher return on your time to do it fully). So speed runs now become "speed 100% clear, every nook and cranny" runs (I'm not suggesting to kill player's effectiveness, but to make more time in the dungeon worth more helping new players, SE design multiple paths and options, and old). Would have to examine some other systems too, like light farming - get more light for higher complete % or something (again not to ruin player's effectiveness, but to change it from focusing on doing the bare minimum as fast as possible to doing all the contents as fast as possible and of course the contents shift sometimes each run).

[Zeyphr_Darkshadow]

Where's all the money gone? They do have all those free PS4 upgrades to give out. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Malzian]

that a cute typo :3

LoL... Was on my iPad... Silly Autocorrect....

[Bourne_Endeavor]

snip

Some complaints I feel stem from long term players looking for a bit more variety. I can appreciate concerns with Stormblood repeating the tomestone grind and gear remaining entirely unchanged. After four years, repetition is bound to set in. They don't want to abandon the game because they still fancy it, but they also want more from it. You then have to consider the devs' reluctance to add features other MMOs implemented years ago. Glamour logs, better customization, significantly larger voice acted scenes (this apparently will happen) and even the dreaded parse. No matter your feelings on any of that stuff, it's still things we aren't getting for Stormblood, which, in turn, makes people wonder how Stormblood will defer from Heavenwards. I, personally, don't necessary care for wholesale changes, but if it's just Heavenward 2.0... I can't say I won't feel a bit underwhelmed. On the other hand, people expecting this massive change... are being silly. The won't deviate from its core concept nor would I want it to. I like FFXIV for what it is. Have to admit, my hype is more towards Red Mage and Samurai than the new zones. Red Mage is my baby and I need it.

Honestly, I suspect Diadem and Zurvan contributed heavily to the negativity. Neither were exactly stellar and sparked noticeably friction amongst the community. With the former being our last content update, well, it's fresh in people's mind.

[Maero]

Money adds up quickly with the amount of worked involved.
Dualshockers had a good article and the way they added it seems like there is more then what or how SE has presented it, lol
http://www.dualshockers.com/2017/04/...n-screenshots/

[Ririta]

Where's all the money gone? They do have all those free PS4 upgrades to give out. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Speaking of that, is it possible to register a PS3 version without having a console?

[Alleo]

So people who are kinda disappointed (and yes I am part of that) but still like aspects of the game should either not complain or just not play the game anymore? If someone truly hates a game I am quite sure that the person wont put in anymore money and just drop it.

The forum should be a place to talk about the positive and negative aspects of the game since these posts might help the devs to make the game better. They will not improve or even know why people stop playing if people dont post. If someone feels like the forum is overrun with too much negative posts than maybe this could be a hint that there are some parts of the game that needs improvement..

And at least right now there isnt much to be hyped about SB. At least we already know that we will get less in some parts (jobs, races) and that there are no major changes on the way. I will still buy it since I still like it enough to play it but that wont stop me from complaining that some parts are not that nice (sticking with the old housing system for example).

[Bourne_Endeavor]

I agree with OP, but we are forgetting something, we just know about QUANTITY of content, but we know nothing about QUALITY of content.

With Heavensward we got:
--New Zones
--3 new jobs
--Flying
--1 new race
--1 new 8-man raid
--8 new dungeons
--New skills/mechanics for old 10 jobs
--New MSQ
--New Beast Tribe Quests
--New Side Quest
--etc...

Its more than Stormblood amount of content, for sure, but we dont know how good or bad will be this content until release.

Heavensward quality was not the best imo, i mean.
--3 new jobs, but AST and MCH had a lot of desing issues at the release.
--New job mechanics just for 4 old jobs (Enochian, Dreadwyrm Trance, Blood of the Dragon and Wanderer Minuet. (changes from desing side, its not about gameplay side).
--Alexander first raid, Goardian, was not really good but A3S (The Arm of the Father, the best Alexander encounter imo)
--8 dungeons, just dungeons with nothing new.

Stormblood can easily be better than Heavensward if they're working "Quality Over Quantity" mindset.

if they're working "Quality Over Quantity" mindset, they have a lot of window to improve and Stormblood could be better than Heavensward:

--They have 13 old jobs, if they adjust every mechanic on every jobs its a lot of work, i mean: Aetherflow, Dreadwyrm Trance, Enochian, Blood of the Dragon,Wanderer Minuet, Ammunition/Wildfire, Mudras/Huton, Deliverance/Defiance, Grit/MP, Cards, etc...)
--They have 13 old jobs and they have to add new skills from 60 to 70.
--They can improve MSQ.
--They can improve Side Quest and Best Trives Quests,
--They can release a really good 8-man and 24-man raids.
--They can give us better dungeons.
--etc...

BUT, we know nothing atm about quality, we have just a few screenshots and it's not enough to determinate what level of quality we will see.

If they got a lot of money for develop Stormblood, they can make Stormblood better than Heavensward with less amount of content, for sure, but who knows.

I'll copy this entirely because it emphasizes a good point: quality. A lot of changes did occur in Heavenwards yet it's questionable how many were well received. Be it Machinist and Astro struggling for arguably a year just to have relevancy, the abrupt shift in gameplay Bard, Dragoon and Black Mage underwent or anything in between. If Stormblood's approach is more fine tuning everything from the onset, this does allow more creative freedom down the road. I didn't touch upon this in my previous post, but I feel another huge factor to the growing concerns, especially on the forums is how silent the devs been on any meaningful content updates. They're holding back job improvement until May, didn't say anything about the new dungeons until Mr Happy's interview, won't comment on stat adjustments or removal and etc. Frankly speaking, they aren't building any kind of hype and seem entirely reliant on the new jobs and swimming to hold people's interest. Bit debatable whether it's working.

We'll have a better idea of things once May rolls around even if I dislike this whole "Please look forward to it" approach.

[Airget]

In terms of budget, until we see the actual results you can't assume if the money has been used well or not. One thing to keep in mind are assets do take a lot to create so think of it like this.

In HW we have 3 town zones and 6 large zones, if we want to condense the scale of the world. Now, with SB, we're going to another continent and they've already mentioned how grand that could turn out to be, we may actually get a whole continent worth of new locations and with that A LOT of assets need to go into bringing life to each area and make it unique from one another.

Then you have Diving. Might seem simple but it's far from it, now you have to develop assets for the underwater and make them engaging to look at and explore, so it's very possible that a lot of the money might be going into making the world look beautiful at least for the 4.0 release but past that we may see more content introduced. That's my take on it though, if they plan to make SB the entire second continent it's a lot of 3d models and locations to make which take a lot of manpower and resources to produce.