Can we talk about timed nodes?

[Vitallian]

First i'd like to thank you for the responses.

The concept of "making things more scare" is a farce and you know it's a farce. As for going around and doing other nodes, yeah that might work if I knew when and where they spawned...which I don't. Regardless of the positioning or concept of how you want to look at this, it is nothing more than a time sink...one of the second worse implemented ones I have seen Arch Age being the worst. It's also not just about going and popping from node to node and grabbing stuff for an additional class, as you're still going to be waiting that exact.same.amount.of.time every time. it's not a sort of way to do this and the fact that people have let this go on for so long baffles me.

You have to look at something and what it's worth, if the amount of time taken to get something does is not less than or equal to the effort needed to get it, it's basically wasteful. In other words, if someone has to go and watch something, and gets little to nothing for it then they probably will not keep doing it. Supply and Demand is a great concept..when it works, except going to a node and maybe getting like...a handful of things (prior to what 60?) does not equate to making more or the ability to make something useful especially where a "timeframe" is considered.

I'm not sure why this idea was implemented in the most minute concept. I also understand that a lot of the people in the community ESPECIALLY here on the forums get assmad over the slightest suggestion of changing anything, even if it is for the better. Removing timed nodes would be for the better, and it would also STABILIZE the markets since more people have access to those materials.

[Kirika-]

*snip*
that might work if I knew when and where they spawned...which I don't. *snip*

Garland Bell
www.garlandtools.org/bell

Your welcome.

[Vitallian]

Garland Bell
www.garlandtools.org/bell

Your welcome.

Not going to lie, i'll end up forgetting about this in the next 10 minutes. The rest of my points still stand regardless of this.

[Elamys]

Not going to lie, i'll end up forgetting about this in the next 10 minutes. The rest of my points still stand regardless of this.

The fact that you'll forget that website exists (there's another one, http://www.ffxivclock.com/ which I prefer over garland tools as I think it's easier) or when certain things spawn doesn't mean the system in itself is broken. You can even set alarms in game now. Outside of 4 items of questionable significance from ARR timed nodes, everything is there at the same time, in the same slot, in the same place. Even when I was brand new to gathering it didn't take long to figure out that Gold Ore was always going to be up at 9AM Eorzean in that tunnel in Thanalan in slot 6.

If SE changed timed nodes to be present all the time, then recipes would simply be changed to require more of that material. Yes, it's a time gate. We all know that. All MMOs are stuffed full of time gates. And yet the timed node has never felt punishing to me. Only the most active of crafters and those with the most ambitious projects will ever feel themselves excessively gated by it. I feel that for a crafting session the average amount of times I have to visit a node is two times. That's about one hour of time for HW and SB. For ARR nodes which still only spawn once an hour, the amount I can get from a single pop is so high at max level that I only need to go once and will probably still have extras. In the meantime I was gathering everything else I needed for that project, or producing the lower level materials. And since I gather those materials also in my down time so that I'm prepared in advance I don't always need to wait for the nodes. This preparation will pay off a lot if you intend to be serious about crafting and gathering, and it doesn't just apply to timed nodes. If I'm waiting in queue one of the best things I can do for myself is to gather materials from nodes and mobs to use later.

My defending the timed nodes isn't a knee jerk reaction of "don't change anything about my precious game." FFXIV has one of the most complex and layered crafting and gathering systems in MMOs today and it's paid off. Yes, the nodes in and of themselves don't add much game play wise, but it's another part of a bigger whole which requires you to think and plan more than just whacking trees mindlessly for ten minutes like almost every other item you need to gather in the game. It sounds like you had a bad experience with this in Archeage and that's why you're sour about it here, but FFXIV is a different game.

[Jojoya]

snip

It's not a farce. It's an important facet of MMOs, creating player interdependence and decision making opportunities.

Do I need more of this item? Do I farm it myself over several days or buy part of what I need from other players? Do I forego even getting that item and settle for getting something of lesser quality/value instead?

At least with the timed node system, you know you'll be able to get predictable quantities at known intervals. Would you prefer WoW's system where nodes are competitive and the high end materials are from nodes that are very rare spawns so not only are the chances of coming across a node very small but another player beating you to it means you lose out?

It would not stabilize the markets in any form nor does it give more players access. Everyone has access right now by simply picking up the required job and leveling/gearing it to what's needed to collect that material. It would instead crash markets as the material became so easy to obtain that there is no point in buying from other players.

As for watching and waiting for a node to spawn, the timers are out there if you don't want to set your in game alarm. No need to sit around waiting on it to spawn. It's not uncommon for someone to say "need to grab a timed node, brb" in the middle of a hunt train and they're back with the train without missing out on more than one or two kills because they were making use of those timers to go when the node spawns instead of waiting around.