Discussing your 'unpopular' opinions

[DreadRabbit]

Snip

So curious...you don't like special benefits to only certain people, right? So how do you feel about tanks getting mounts? Or the CNJ getting the unicorn? Or raiders getting access to raid gear/minions everyone else won't?

Honest question, not sarcasm. You seem to have a specific axe to grind when it comes to PvP.

[Dualblade]

I mean yeah its a thread for unpopular opinions but even these seem really going for the PvP juggular. And thats from someone who is doesn't care much for any PvP in MMOs.

As for another of my own, while I do agree making cutscenes always mandatory for Castrum and Prae is a band-aid at best, I hate hate HATE that it seems most vets going in there will complain about it the whole damn way. If you hate it that much DON'T GO IN, thats the best way to make SE change their mind.

[Itswhateverthough]

You misunderstand the meaning of exclusive. Anyone CAN get those items any time. If you don't choose to, that's just on you. The chance doesn't ever go away though.

I hate the PvP community and its content design. I don't think it belongs in this game. That much is true, but it's only partly related.

Ranked Feast is the only game mode to have items that can't be obtained once the season is over, and it's limited supply at that. Other exclusives do exist such as pre-order bonuses, item codes, Legacy rewards, etc. Holidays used to, but that was taken away. Free company only housing used to exist, also taken away. Same with region locked items often introduced due to some areas not having full access to the game due to politics. Guess what? You already know.

My stance on exclusivity is don't pander and diversify exclusive items to broader audiences, meaning other areas of the game. Don't play favorites. Go all in, or don't have any at all.

Also, many PvPers feel hated in this community. Sometime things happen for a reason.

[Shurrikhan]

Perhaps I can answer both of you with my next unpopular opinion so you can understand my psychology a little better, because you're coming from a very different angle to me ...


I went through a small period of running Titan Ex DF repeatedly.

...Titan Ex at that time was a difficult fight for newbies to get right. Because it was DF, you got a bunch of total, unpredictable randomers. People frequently messed up. People fell off, were blown up by boulders, or otherwise completely messed up, and I love that. I can't even tell you how much I adoreit when it goes wrong.

And here's why I'm telling you a healer has a true abundance of pure spontaneity not available to other roles:

Someone failed a mechanic and died!
Should I raise them now? No, but wait, Swiftcast is down.
Is the other healer casting? No. Maybe their swift isn't up!?
Any other raisers in the PT? No.
Shall I hard cast? No, wait, big AoE incoming I've gotta heal through ...
RIGHT, done. Can I raise yet? Five seconds on swift, tick-tock, tick-tock ...
Is there an incoming mechanic? No ... <snip>

When people mess up, I love it to death (with the exception of clear parties of course, because the success of a clear is satisfaction enough). If Rabanastre isn't on the verge of at least one wipe I'm bored to tears. If saltmeisters all got their way and we were all perfect, this game would be as dull as hell for me and I'd quite happily quit.

In such situations, I'd agree completely. But consider: by the time you have a fight chaotic enough that carrying it can be fun due to all the added decisions others have left at your feet, chances are the rest aren't having fun unless they're just in it for shits and giggles. It depends on poor play, and while players who would contribute to that are no small population, you'd necessarily be niching "spontaneous" play to groups of relatively poor players -- or really just the few less poor players within the group. That's not something that can last long. It's not something with a solid goal. It naturally grows out of itself like an old skin rather than growing into a more desirable maturity. Its excitement can only lessen with improvement.

And even then, those won't feel like separate events for many a good healer, especially if they're used to dealing with pugs. Like someone scanning their mirrors frequently when driving, the "decision" is but a glimpse before the act itself; the rest was already mathed out based on the trends in play.

Compare that to perfecting a fight for damage. It has a clear goal. It requires increasingly fine knowledge and coordination. It necessitates greater interaction with the fight. Its excitement generally heightens as you improve.

I'm not saying that chaos isn't fun there, nor that there aren't ways to generate fun from chaos that would likely last longer without standing in negatively felt contradiction with means of improvement, but generally, I do see the commonly called "obsession with rotations" (though a bit of a misnomer) as a longer lasting and better aimed overlying mode of entertainment.

My all-time favorite fights were (basically; other 2 healers were d/cing or getting themselves killed) solo-healing World of Darkness (WHM) upon release and solo-healing Titan Ex on a minimum ilvl run (SCH), but that was an incredibly transient experience in the long run compared to "try-harding" any given piece of current (i.e. Savage) or bonus content, which is why I ended up getting not just a few memorable runs (as with healing) in Savage Second Coil, but tens of them across my time playing tank or dps.

Again, I really would like to see more manipulable chaos that one can adjust to but never fully prepare for. I doubt such is easy to design, but I wholly believe it is at least possible. But it needs to last as such, not just be true of the first week, for it to amount to nearly the same entertainment in total as a fight that one can perfect. I look forward to some sort of balance between the two, but I would hate to see anything stripped away from our ability to perfect our "rotations" and such just to feed an experience that will necessarily kill itself within a short time.

I wish skill use could be less routine, more adaptive, more instinctive, but do not want to be obligated towards poor play or to carrying in order to see that effect on gameplay. It needs to a design philosophy meant for the long hall. If you have any ideas on how to make that happen, I'd love to hear them. I'm literally salivating a little over the possibilities.

[NephthysVasudan]

<snip>

My last run in rabanste? I ver-raised 2 dozen times.....roughly.

Yeeeep.....

[DreadRabbit]

You misunderstand the meaning of exclusive. Anyone CAN get those items any time. If you don't choose to, that's just on you..

I mean I get your sentiment, but the PvP gear isn't exclusive to PvP. Everyone can join PvP, and if you don't choose to, that's on you. You can wear the gear outside of PvP. I don't see how that's any different than forcing people to raid if they want a specific gear piece or minion, or forcing people to tank if they want one of the tank mounts. Replace every use of "PvP" and "PvPers" with "raiding" and "raiders" and you suddenly have every unfair accusation raiders have been getting for years.

I guess to stay on topic an add my own unpopular opinion: I don't care about butt sliders. Would I like more booty? Sure. But if I had to pick cosmetic features to work on the butt slider is the last of my priorities.

[Violyre]

So here's my unpopular opinion...

Guide videos are useless. I can't understand them. More power to the people who can, but I learn better running in blind so that I can see the effects of attacks in person and strategize from there.

[Seryne]

I hate Viera and I hope they're never added to the game. We don't really need another human + animal parts race. Hell, we don't need any new races at all.
What we need is more customization for each race if anything.

[NephthysVasudan]

So here's my unpopular opinion...

Guide videos are useless. I can't understand them. More power to the people who can, but I learn better running in blind so that I can see the effects of attacks in person and strategize from there.

To add to that...they spoil the whole idea of learning new things. I especially get very salty when someone is told to watch a video before they even start a boss fight in the first place.

I don't mind coaching a sprout text/verbally before they see a boss fight...but I'm not going to spoil the fight in terms of visual/lore/other.

"So at some point you'll get a ghost chasing you down....you can dodge it..but if you let it touch you....you'll go 1vs1 on it..just wail on it and you'l lbe fine..and you'll need to hit the aether pool to come back"
As opposed to telling them to watch the video..spoils the whole thing.

[Alleo]

I think the massive, open zones fit Heavensward areas thematically. Stuff was either a harsh, desolate wasteland, or designed with the giant dragon's accessibility in mind.

This really wasn't translated as well to SB's new maps. The layouts just don't work as well, and swimming/diving felt wasted in some zones. "Here's one quest that reminds you this lake area can be dived in, thx."

Yes you are right and I do like the Azim steppe because it makes sense here but not every single zone has to be like that. (So yes I agree with you)

Honestly I might just be disappointed since the benchmark showed such a great ruby sea with lots of animals..I kinda hoped that it would be more like that.