We Really Need To Talk About The State And Path Of FFXIV

[Vaer]

And yet my armor rating remains the same while my gil piles ever higher. I think I have a right to complain that the way I play the game is not being rewarded properly since I'm not progressing in anyway. (I don't necessarily want raid level gear, but it would be nice if all that gil I earned could keep my progression going. As it is, I'm peaked with my Amenos gear, and gil can't improve that at the moment.)

So your saying that Raiders would stop raiding if they could get raid gear from the Marketboard? Are you sure those raiders are having fun?

You can use gil and uncapped tomes to get high quality 360 crafted gear though? It's not raid level, but some of it is better than Anemos.

Something like this:
https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes...m/f34424c4973/

Click the HQ icon to see HQ stats. Normal quality crafted gear is bad.

[Lorgana]

And yet my armor rating remains the same while my gil piles ever higher. I think I have a right to complain that the way I play the game is not being rewarded properly since I'm not progressing in anyway. (I don't necessarily want raid level gear, but it would be nice if all that gil I earned could keep my progression going. As it is, I'm peaked with my Amenos gear, and gil can't improve that at the moment.)

So your saying that Raiders would stop raiding if they could get raid gear from the Marketboard? Are you sure those raiders are having fun?

Your gil can keep your progression going, pay the raiders to take you through the content if you really want the gear but honestly you don't deserve to have it imo.

As for stopping raiding, it probably wouldn't stop everyone but it would de-incentivise people to take part in the content for two reasons 1) if they could get the gear just by buying it 2) the gear is part epeen, it's a physical representative of saying " I cleared this". Make it market tradable then you dilute the point in having it.

Honestly this all just sounds like people who are either too lazy or bad at the game complaining that they can't be given the same stuff as people who put in effort to clear the content.

[HyoMinPark]

And yet my armor rating remains the same while my gil piles ever higher. I think I have a right to complain that the way I play the game is not being rewarded properly since I'm not progressing in anyway.

Except non-raiders do get gear progression. It's just at a slower pace than raiders, but it ends up the same before the next tier drops, save for your weapon being five item levels lower.

Here's the gear progression from Sigmascape:
Patch 4.2 -
-Crafted i350 and Sigmascape Normal Mode (i350) [baseline; upgrade from previous tier's i340 cap]
-Byakko Ex weapons (i355) [5 ilvls above crafted]
-Unaugmented Mendacity gear (i360) [baseline]
-Augmented Mendacity gear (i370) [upgrades locked to Savage]
-Diamond Gear (i370) [Savage]
-Diamond weapons (i375) [Savage]

In Patch 4.26, Anemos gear was released, though it was still relatively weak compared to the options already available. (i350 gear and i355 weapons)

So nonraiders could progress from i340 to i360. Maybe even a little higher if they wanted to attempt Phantom Train for i370 accessories.

Patch 4.3:
-Augmented crafted gear (i360) [upgrade from i350]
-Ridorana gear (i360)
-Tsukuyomi Ex weapons (i365)
-Augmented Mendacity Gear (i370) [upgrade from i360 via 24-mans' tokens]

Nonraiders could now upgrade Mendacity gear from i360 to i370 save for their weapons. But they had the option of getting a weapon from Tsukuyomi Ex.

Patch 4.35 saw another i365 weapon (Heaven on High).
Patch 4.36 saw i370 Pagos weapons AND the weapon upgrade token for Mendacity weapons (i360 > i370) was available for purchase with the tokens from 24-mans.

So now, non-raiders can progress from their i360 to i370, and be at the same item level as Savage raiders.

When 4.4 drops, you'll be able to go from i370 to i380 with crafted gear and Alphascape normal mode drops. And the new tomestone gear will be i390. It will be slower compared to raiders, but by the end of 4.5, both groups will have the potential to be at the item level cap (i400). The only difference is the weapon and the stats on the gear. Which, if you don't care about optimization, the substats won't matter to you anyways.


Non-raiders have gear progression; it's just at a slower pace compared to raiders because raiders are doing harder content. In the end, however, everyone has the ability to end up at current level cap for a tier cycle with or without raiding. If you aren't upgrading/progressing your gear, that's on you.

[Edax]

Your gil can keep your progression going, pay the raiders to take you through the content if you really want the gear but honestly you don't deserve to have it imo.

As for stopping raiding, it probably wouldn't stop everyone but it would de-incentivise people to take part in the content for two reasons 1) if they could get the gear just by buying it 2) the gear is part epeen, it's a physical representative of saying " I cleared this". Make it market tradable then you dilute the point in having it.

Honestly this all just sounds like people who are either too lazy or bad at the game complaining that they can't be given the same stuff as people who put in effort to clear the content.

I loath raiding and I don't find duties fun either. It's not because I'm lazy or bad at it. I feel far more satisfaction crafting housing items that people will put in their homes then fighting a boss that amounts to little more than a platforming mini-game. I don't know why there has to be such bile towards plays that do not enjoy content that you yourself do. Some players just can't stand the fact that chaining will not be the only viable way to progress in Pagos now, and it's just stunning to read to straw-man insults, as if everyone who rode the Amenos train did it to get afk rewards...

As to excuses as to why I'd want better gear even though I don't like duties? It makes the process faster so I can get back to doing the things I love sooner.

[HyoMinPark]

I loath raiding and I don't find duties fun either. It's not because I'm lazy or bad at it. I feel far more satisfaction crafting housing items that people will put in their homes then fighting a boss that amounts to little more than a platforming mini-game.

Which is fine. But again: the gear progression options are there for you. You're choosing not to participate in them, so why should gear just be handed to you? You said you enjoy crafting; well, 4.4 will give you sets of i380 gear to make. And they can hopefully later be augmented to i390 green pieces like the i350 gear was this tier. But you will still need to do enough content to get tomes for the upgrade pieces.

As to excuses as to why I'd want better gear even though I don't like duties? It makes the process faster and easier.

i360 is more than enough for doing things like dungeons and even the extreme trials. If you aren't doing Savage, you don't need gear at the cap. But I question why you would want the gear if you aren't going to really put it to use - just based off of your "I don't like duties" comment. Running content occassionaly doesn't seem like it would be even worth putting in the effort for augmented crafted gear. But that's just my opinion.

[Edax]

You have something better than progression gear; you have a headstart on making crafted gear come 4.4, which will from launch outdo everything that you can possibly get pre-4.4. You can be full i380 pentamelded the day that 4.4 drops, which is something that I, an Ultimate raider, cannot say.

I guess that's something to look forward to. But since my armor rating has not changed in months, I feel like progression could do with some work. I don't feel the need to one-up anybody, but I would like to progress constantly while doing the things I love.

[Edax]

Which is fine. But again: the gear progression options are there for you. You're choosing not to participate in them, so why should gear just be handed to you? You said you enjoy crafting; well, 4.4 will give you sets of i380 gear to make. And they can hopefully later be augmented to i390 green pieces like the i350 gear was this tier. But you will still need to do enough content to get tomes for the upgrade pieces.



i360 is more than enough for doing things like dungeons and even the extreme trials. If you aren't doing Savage, you don't need gear at the cap. But I question why you would want the gear if you aren't going to really put it to use - just based off of your "I don't like duties" comment. Running content occassionaly doesn't seem like it would be even worth putting in the effort for augmented crafted gear. But that's just my opinion.

Logically, I do not need better gear. At the same time, having the same armor rating for months has been a bit boring since I essentially have to play a long waiting game until I can progress my character again.

[HyoMinPark]

Logically, I do not need better gear. At the same time, having the same armor rating for months has been a bit boring since I essentially have to play a long waiting game.

You're wearing i350 Anemos gear. Craft yourself (or just buy from the MB) HQ i350 gear, gather up enough Creation tomes to buy the necessary amounts of Thavnairian Rain items, and upgrade them to instant i360. Already better than your Anemos gear. Run Ridorana weekly for a piece of i360 gear. Buy upgrade tokens for your i360 Mendacity gear with the tokens from Rabanastre and Ridorana. Do Heaven on High for a very easy to get i365 weapon if you don't want to invest as much time into Pagos for i370 (or save up 1,000 Mendacity for an i360 Mendacity weapon).

The options are all there for you to progress without ever touching a Savage raid or even an Ex trial. It's up to you to put in the effort for the gear. Otherwise, you don't have anyone to blame for your waiting game but yourself. No offense intended; just being truthful.

EDIT: As for tomes, you only have to do Expert Roulette 5 times a week to cap Mendacity (Roulette + the dungeon Tome amount equal 90 Mendacity). That's an hour at the very most if you account for a DPS queue on top of the dungeon duration. Not that high of a demand. Ridorana is usually 30-40 mins max in my experience; it may vary depending on your Alliance. And both give Creation if you want to go get Thavnairian Rain items.

The time investments are very small to get the necessary materials needed.

[Dualgunner]

Logically, I do not need better gear. At the same time, having the same armor rating for months has been a bit boring since I essentially have to play a long waiting game until I can progress my character again. I can improve my armor with tomes, but I can't buy tomes, and so much of my time is already spent crafting, gathering, gardening and sending retainers out.

I mean, savage raiders run into this problem too. Since month two of 4.2, I had BiS on both my main and my alt; neither of their armor ratings have moved since. Most stat change that has happened has been my VIT melds for Ulti, which is actually minor regression as far as damage potential is concerned.

You're not at the iLv limit, but you're not the only one who has give or take six months of gear being stagnant.

[Edax]

You're wearing i350 Anemos gear. Craft yourself (or just buy from the MB) HQ i350 gear, gather up enough Creation tomes to buy the necessary amounts of Thavnairian Rain items, and upgrade them to instant i360. Already better than your Anemos gear. Run Ridorana weekly for a piece of i360 gear. Buy upgrade tokens for your i360 Mendacity gear with the tokens from Rabanastre and Ridorana. Do Heaven on High for a very easy to get i365 weapon if you don't want to invest as much time into Pagos for i370 (or save up 1,000 Mendacity for an i360 Mendacity weapon).

The options are all there for you to progress without ever touching a Savage raid or even an Ex trial. It's up to you to put in the effort for the gear. Otherwise, you don't have anyone to blame for your waiting game but yourself. No offense intended; just being truthful.

So much of my time is already spent crafting, gathering, gardening and sending retainers out. You are wrong though, the game did not need to force me to find alternate means of improving my armor. The crafting system could have been just as robust during this current patch to be a match to anything you just mentioned. Creation tomes are not tied to the crafting or market system, so I shouldn't have to go out of my way to get better armor during this patch cycle if the crafting system competed. This didn't have to be so. There's no reason that crafting, tomes and raiding couldn't be on equal terms. If people won't raid because equivalent gear could be crafted, then there's something wrong with the raiding system.