Where's Patch 4.35

[Bourne_Endeavor]

snip

And that effect was the omission of a dungeon at best. Per Yoshida's own words from the Live Letter...

"Since there is a large assortment of content being implemented in Patch 4.3, and we believe players will be busy with things like the main scenario, we may push back the implementation of Heaven-on-High just a bit."

That doesn't give the impression they had to delay it due to Ultimate, but rather a decision they made purely on the belief there was enough content to satisfy players. Or at least keep them subscribed. Trying to fault Ultimate for this content drought is simply reaching for excuses. It had no bearing on Heaven on High being delayed.

[Kurando]

snip.

No one is saying that Ultimate alone is the sole reason for anything to be delayed, only it's a factor in the grand scheme of patch releases which to be honest cannot be shunned as if it's wrong to think like that. And just like you quoted "busy with things like the main scenario", Yoshi did not specify what other things exactly in that patch because he knows every single player will value the individual content in each update very differently. Many things have been delayed in the past and on most occasions something else was thrown in to replace it or brought forward to keep a steady flow of content, any other MMO would do the effect exact same thing.

Based on previous posts we can see who might be the ones reaching for excuses on lack of so called content.

[InkstainedGwyn]

Even if Ultimate was the reason they were delaying content (and it's not, claiming it would be out now if Ultimate hadn't been released is just an assumption so let me assume something else - they still would have wanted the same space between Ridorana and HoH and Ultimate does not fill the niche either of those does) I still don't think they should drop it because even if I'm not one of the people enjoying that content, a lot of people are. It's one of the few pieces of content I hear unabashedly appreciated. Even people who don't prog it enjoy it. And people who do prog it deserve something that they've been asking for and that they like to do.

An MMO encompasses a lot of different player types and I'd like to ask the "casuals" to start giving the "hardcores" the same courtesy we demand of them - don't keep trying to force them to change their content to suit you. I don't want a tank screaming at me, as a healer, to go faster in a casual dungeon (even if I do DPS most of the time anyway), and I think it's disingenuous for people to tell hardcore raiders to "let them have their content" but then make demands that hardcore content be nerfed or changed to suit them.

Everybody deserves something to do that they enjoy, and if I have 5 pieces of content, I'll take 4 to make sure somebody else gets their 1.

It's like that internet meme "I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people."

Would it be nice if SE had more resources to devote to this? Yep. Do they currently? Nope, so I'm not gonna demand they cull everything I don't do so I can be catered to.

[RiyahArp]

It has nothing to do with not giving content.

They are giving you it. The reason you don't have a third one is NO ONE CAN BEAT THE PREVIOUS TWO IN A TIMELY MANNER ENOUGH TO DEMAND IT. It's pointless to give three fights if only the world firsters have beaten the first two by now. If they keep doing this schedule, eventually they will reach a point where people simply don't beat them, they switch to new ones as they come out.

Maybe the streamers want to watch the world firsters do it again, but thats not something to base content on in an mmo.

[LineageRazor]

Yes, having a weekend available to play video games and complete exhaust all the new content because there simply isn't any certainly makes me a glutton.

WEEKEND??? Don't be ridiculous! The patch is released on Tuesday. By the weekend, it's all dead content!

In all seriousness, though, the dev team can only create so much content. If they dump it all at the start of the patch, many players will burn through it in a couple of weeks, and then have months with nothing to do. It's the exact same problem; the question is how do you divide up the empty space? Front load it all and then have months of nothing to do? Or release it in parcels over the span of the patch, resulting in multiple, smaller lull periods? The answer is pretty obvious; months of emptiness cause players to stop paying for the game and, even more importantly, stop thinking about the game. SE NEEDS folks to stay hyped, but can only produce so much content. By spacing it out, there's always something new on the horizon, just a few weeks away.

Yeah, this is hard on folks who like to burn through content at a breakneck pace - but I believe it would be even harder on those SAME folks if they released everything at once.

[InkstainedGwyn]

but I believe it would be even harder on those SAME folks if they released everything at once.

"Burning through content" isn't the issue. Having repeatable content like HoH and Pagos held to the end when, instead, we could be filling gaps with it, is the issue. There's a difference.

[Renato]

WEEKEND??? Don't be ridiculous! The patch is released on Tuesday. By the weekend, it's all dead content!

In all seriousness, though, the dev team can only create so much content. If they dump it all at the start of the patch, many players will burn through it in a couple of weeks, and then have months with nothing to do. It's the exact same problem; the question is how do you divide up the empty space? Front load it all and then have months of nothing to do? Or release it in parcels over the span of the patch, resulting in multiple, smaller lull periods? The answer is pretty obvious; months of emptiness cause players to stop paying for the game and, even more importantly, stop thinking about the game. SE NEEDS folks to stay hyped, but can only produce so much content. By spacing it out, there's always something new on the horizon, just a few weeks away.

I totally agree with this. At this point, I've gotten used to the spacing out content thing because there is still a lot for me to do in game that I haven't done yet personally. I think the issue is basically how SE is releasing the content and how well it's executed. I feel like Eureka could have been a great "filler" for a lot of people but there it needs some work. A party finder, level sync, daily quests and objectives and better gameplay execution as far as not just jumping on a FATE train would have helped it's longevity. For some people, grinding is ok but for me personally it felt like I was back in the mid-2000's playing a korean grindfest MMO.

Fun, repeatable, purposeful content is key. Which is why it seemed like PotD was so popular. People still do that because its a great way to level up and gain some decent items and weapons while doing so. I think that if a story patch and dungeons and trials followed by repeatable content was released it would help smooth over the player base a bit until the next update. I do think a 3-4 month wait is a bit long though...But I know that man-power to crank things out isn't there either...Didn't Yoshi say they were ahead of schedule though?

[Tiraelina]

"Burning through content" isn't the issue. Having repeatable content like HoH and Pagos held to the end when, instead, we could be filling gaps with it, is the issue. There's a difference.

Yeah... I've been waiting for HoH because its in a different slot than the rest of the content. Eureka severely missed the mark of being something enjoyable with a couple friends. I have minimal interest in the harder 8 player content with randoms and everyone else is stuck in their clique/static.

Biggest joke is that I started playing again because they had room for me, just to fill it in with someone they had before instead.

[Remedi]

"Burning through content" isn't the issue. Having repeatable content like HoH and Pagos held to the end when, instead, we could be filling gaps with it, is the issue. There's a difference.

True, but I think there is idd a problem of ppl presuming too much which is why some ppl have veen adamant in saying that it's a burning trough content problem. Ppl that have less playtime or simply play the game more slowly than other will have much more to do compared to other players and they are feeling a bit salty that ppl presume that even them have nothing to do.
While I agree that this game needs more repetable non time gated content, I can assure you that most ppl won't really find that interesting the 31+ floors of HoH, while Potd is considered a success It had it's fair share of criticism and honestly some even considered it a failure at the time.
In fact I disagree with the idea of the spacing out beign bad because there's nothing to do since imho that is as much as saying that one is complaining about that in june instead of july, while I agree that the spacing out is bad because I'd rather have the choice of how to spend the game

[Bourne_Endeavor]

SE NEEDS folks to stay hyped, but can only produce so much content. By spacing it out, there's always something new on the horizon, just a few weeks away.

Considering the negative feedback here, on Reddit and even mentioned on the live letter, I question how hyped people. Instead of "forgetting" about the game, they're jaded things are being purposely delayed to keep them subscribed. This looks especially bad when Yoshida prattles on about wanting players to take breaks if they feel there isn't enough to do. Will some people burn through HoH quickly? Sure. But given the longevity, PotD had, it's safe to assume it would last quite a while. Regardless, I don't think its a good practice to have content release, then have the casual playerbase be told, "wait 4-5 weeks until you have something new to do again."