How could we increase the attractiveness/interest of/in PvP?

[MixZ]

I think with the upcoming changes we should see an increase to the pvp community with the button bloat fixed during the matches. Was watching a podcast and I agree that a lot of the popular pvp games people play have very limited actions to press as the focus is more on what is going on during the position to work with your team and not having to worry about your skill rotation of 30+ buttons like you would in a controlled fight like most content in PvE.

I stopped playing PvP in this game as part of that reason but also the community despite it being small was toxic and seemed like they wanted it to stay small to be the big fish in the little pond. That is partly why I think chat was removed as the majority of the time (basing opinion on my experience) was not helpful for the team and was mostly bashing each other. It is hard for people today to admit that when the team loses they lose as well and can't take the fact that they are part of the problem of the team not winning.

[MixZ]

To answer the question of how can "we" increase the attractiveness/interest of/in PvP I started streaming in the morning on Twitch but will also be doing PvP segments once Stormblood comes out and doing sportscasting of the sort. Still practicing my play by play as it was stupid fun for me on my first attempt when I was doing a Sophia Ex farm run but at least help get the word out on PvP and show good sportsmanship. We all can talk shit to each other as that is part of the fun but once the match ends it is a gg all around.

[Spiroglyph]

For me PvP has always been background fun (VERY background, as in I only ever engage in it if asked by friends/FC mates), mostly because all in all it feels sort of dettached from the game as a whole. :/

Mostly everything you do endgame wise has some sort of story/lore connection - this doesn't really happen with pvp, imho... you sorta just land there and unlock some modes and then forget about it until they decide to add in some pretty glamours, which is what happened with the GARO event...

With final fantasy (the series, not 14 specifically) being games heavily focused on story, I don't feel like pvp is really "a part" of it... it's sorta just there, somehow?

Even gold saucer feels more connected to the environment of the game than any pvp mode :/ Then there's the other factors I bet other people have already mentioned:
-Entirely different set of skills for pvp usage only
-Frontlines being a huge mess with too many people with different objectives clashing
-Feast not being very focused on outside of seasons, during which access by newer players is somewhat retricted both by rankings and player attitude
etc

[duvvvv]

interesting thread...from someone who came into this game to avoid PvP in other MMOs, I agree with a lot of points presented.
I didn't touch PvP until the Garo event either, but I like how FFXIV doesn't force you to PvP.
I believe there's no point in PvP if a player doesn't care about the culture--rankings, exclusive rewards, all the ego-stroking business. exact reason why I quit other games because I don't want to deal with that.
FFXIV was marketed as a PvE-centric MMORPG. if PvP needs a boost, I agree that it has to be integrated into the MSQ, technically forcing the player base to participate. but people don't like being forced into doing things. if the PvP community here is significantly smaller than the rest of the populace, it's not surprising if SE will not invest into improving it or marketing it, until say, another sponsorship like the Garo one. a survey, as previously suggested will be a good start.

[KiraCifer]

one thing would be like the items like minions/mounts given to ppl that weren't the top 100/10 of their data center since kind of unfair when in one that got some of the highest pop realms and their normally the ones filling the top spots

[BloodRubyXII]

one thing would be like the items like minions/mounts given to ppl that weren't the top 100/10 of their data center since kind of unfair when in one that got some of the highest pop realms and their normally the ones filling the top spots

The server you are on has nothing to do with your ability to reach top 10/100. Inability to queue during the hours of active feast and generally being less active ingame than the best players is. If you don't queue more than half the week or hammer 2200+ safe really early on with Chaos or Aether at least, you are not getting the rewards lol. How can you complete if you have like 3-4 hours a day to queue and at least one of those will be spent in the queue if not more.

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

Mostly everything you do endgame wise has some sort of story/lore connection - this doesn't really happen with pvp, imho... you sorta just land there and unlock some modes and then forget about it until they decide to add in some pretty glamours, which is what happened with the GARO event...

With final fantasy (the series, not 14 specifically) being games heavily focused on story, I don't feel like pvp is really "a part" of it... it's sorta just there, somehow?

Frontlines serves the double purpose of joint military training and "civilized" competition between the grand companies over the unearthed Allagan resources found in Cartenau Flats (Secure, Slaughter), Seal Rock (Seize), and more recently in the Fields of Glory in the Coerthas Eastern Highlands (Shatter).
The Feast is to Limsa Lominsa what the gladiator arena is to Ul'dah, and again, military training.

The lore is there, it's unfortunately all in the instance descriptions few people read.

Also, PvP skills aren't all that numerous, and many are very situational. The big thing is jobs are played differently in PvP than PvE and it's very burst-centric. Not to mention there are many PvE skills that just aren't used/useful in PvP - which can be replaced by some of those PvP skills if you wish to make a dedicated PvP hotbar like many of the avid PvPers do.

[Awful]

The biggest change this xpac for me and my FC was there was only 3-5 people who wanted to PvP back when it was GC allegiance only, now I have 10+ people who wanna PvP at all times which is great. I even started a LS on my server for Levi and I have over 30 people who are in it when we get on que together whoever is available, honestly the Garo event did bring PvP to its full potential.

That's not to say it didn't bring it's negatives as there's a lot, my biggest complaint is that it's increased the attractiveness for bots and win traders to abuse the system with SE not really taking any accountability on their part which for me is a huge disappointment. I'm thankful for my friends playing as without them i wouldn't nearly be having as much fun as I am since the Freelancer option was available in conjunction with the Garo Event, I just hope SE cracks down on the bots and cheaters within the game itself to incentivize the rewards.

[Koltik]

The biggest change this xpac for me and my FC was there was only 3-5 people who wanted to PvP back when it was GC allegiance only, now I have 10+ people who wanna PvP at all times which is great. I even started a LS on my server for Levi and I have over 30 people who are in it when we get on que together whoever is available, honestly the Garo event did bring PvP to its full potential.

That's not to say it didn't bring it's negatives as there's a lot, my biggest complaint is that it's increased the attractiveness for bots and win traders to abuse the system with SE not really taking any accountability on their part which for me is a huge disappointment. I'm thankful for my friends playing as without them i wouldn't nearly be having as much fun as I am since the Freelancer option was available in conjunction with the Garo Event, I just hope SE cracks down on the bots and cheaters within the game itself to incentivize the rewards.

There's actually a really big PvP LS on Levi. Send me a tell next time you're on and we can get you guys in it. Always looking for more active pvpers!