Please, let us cast glamor plate anywhere.....!!!

[Callinon]

I've heard this argument alot, and as a coder in a current project, I can honestly say this is entirely bogus. Here's why:

Every item has an itemID that references it in a database. There's a database on your computer as well as one on the server the itemID references the item in question in those databases. The server only saves the itemID on its side in reference to your character equipment, its location on the character, its location in the inventory, retainers, and chocobo, as well as in the glamour chest and armoire if applicable. Any information on the item referring to the graphic is NOT done on the server.

What happens there is if you have an item equipped, or applied as a glamour. It references the item locally by itemID and displays the graphic from your local database. When showing the graphics on other characters the server shows which itemIDs to show and again it references your local database to show which graphic to show.

This process takes literally single kilobytes of data transfer if even that.

Replacing the glamor inventory and plates with a simple drag and drop like someone suggested would take LESS resources than the current system. In fact the whole process would be LESS server strain than a typical free company spiel in a recruiting message. That's right, those people spouting FC invites and recruiting messages are likely straining the server 10-20x more than a more intuitive glamour system would.

So the suggestions would help server strain, make QoL changes for us players, and be a better experience over all. But we have to get that coder to relinquish the little control they have. It literally is an ego thing. Not a coding thing.

You're forgetting one critical thing: this glamour system never went through any kind of intelligent design process. So while everything you're saying is true and is something I've been trying to explain for years now, it hinges on the system design not being a flaming ball of snakes.

[Krotoan]

I've heard this argument alot, and as a coder in a current project, I can honestly say this is entirely bogus. Here's why:

Every item has an itemID that references it in a database. There's a database on your computer as well as one on the server the itemID references the item in question in those databases. The server only saves the itemID on its side in reference to your character equipment, its location on the character, its location in the inventory, retainers, and chocobo, as well as in the glamour chest and armoire if applicable. Any information on the item referring to the graphic is NOT done on the server.

What happens there is if you have an item equipped, or applied as a glamour. It references the item locally by itemID and displays the graphic from your local database. When showing the graphics on other characters the server shows which itemIDs to show and again it references your local database to show which graphic to show.

This process takes literally single kilobytes of data transfer if even that.

Replacing the glamor inventory and plates with a simple drag and drop like someone suggested would take LESS resources than the current system. In fact the whole process would be LESS server strain than a typical free company spiel in a recruiting message. That's right, those people spouting FC invites and recruiting messages are likely straining the server 10-20x more than a more intuitive glamour system would.

So the suggestions would help server strain, make QoL changes for us players, and be a better experience over all. But we have to get that coder to relinquish the little control they have. It literally is an ego thing. Not a coding thing.

Unless you're actually working on FFXIV I'm dubious as to whether it would be this simple or easy. The people who upgrade and maintain these systems aren't unintelligent, why wouldn't they pick something that was easy? Why would they quote server strain when the thousands upon thousands of people who do this kind of work could easily call them out on it? Just cause they don't want to do the work? Because they WANT to frustrate people?

[Callinon]

Unless you're actually working on FFXIV I'm dubious as to whether it would be this simple or easy. The people who upgrade and maintain these systems aren't unintelligent, why wouldn't they pick something that was easy? Why would they quote server strain when the thousands upon thousands of people who do this kind of work could easily call them out on it? Just cause they don't want to do the work? Because they WANT to frustrate people?

I don't know. Why did SE cry PS2 Limitations for 10 years of FFXI development? Or repeatedly claim something couldn't be done due to insurmountable technical limitations and then do those things a couple years later?

There is an excellent chance that we're not being told the real reasons why a thing is a thing. The issue is that the lie they're telling is so easy to poke holes in, it's kind of embarrassing. The truth is that these problems are all solvable with enough effort put in to solving them the right way.

Remember when preventing you from sending mail to your own characters on the same server was an anti-RMT measure? And then they sold you extra retainers for an increased subscription fee? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

[Krotoan]

I don't know. Why did SE cry PS2 Limitations for 10 years of FFXI development? Or repeatedly claim something couldn't be done due to insurmountable technical limitations and then do those things a couple years later?

2 years in the tech world is quite a large time for a solution to be invented/created.

Remember when preventing you from sending mail to your own characters on the same server was an anti-RMT measure? And then they sold you extra retainers for an increased subscription fee? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

This is a pretty big jump though. At cursory glance you could say "Oh well they're just doing it to limit our inventory space so we have to buy retainers"... but.. it CAN still be for limiting RMT. It's not mutually exclusive.

The truth is that these problems are all solvable with enough effort put in to solving them the right way.

Without being a part of the team, I wouldn't confidently state this. I don't know the challenges they face and cannot agree that it's as simple as "someone wants it that way, so it is". Objectively the "truth" is that we don't know exactly what the problem is. There's also the possibility that the solution is complex and expensive enough that when proposed to the higher ups gets a resounding "NO". It's most definitely solvable, but if that solution requires a rework of a core system along the lines of 1.0-2.0s level, I wouldn't ever count on seeing it.

I'm not going to say they're infallibly correct in all decisions but the argument that someone just decided it was arbitrarily going to be a poor customer experience and an entire team went along with it is a bit weak.

[Kaethra]

Unless you're actually working on FFXIV I'm dubious as to whether it would be this simple or easy. The people who upgrade and maintain these systems aren't unintelligent, why wouldn't they pick something that was easy? Why would they quote server strain when the thousands upon thousands of people who do this kind of work could easily call them out on it? Just cause they don't want to do the work? Because they WANT to frustrate people?

I did say it was an ego thing. They believe it should be controlled in some manner.

For example. When you run a dungeon that drops a key to a door. Why does it ask you if you wish to pick it up? Is there any reason to leave it on the ground? Nope (and in many dungeons it doesn't ask, but in some it does). Or to open the door/barrier in the various Garlean dungeons.. is there any reason to leave those doors closed? Well if you do you cannot continue forward. But they still ask.

At the vary least why not simply open the door without the dialogue, or better yet open when the last NPC is defeated in the room. Someone made a conscious decision to do it that way.. because 'reasons'. Same thing here. You MUST got to a glamour dresser because... just because. You can only store so many items, because.. reasons.

This is why there is so much emphasis on 'soft skills' in coding courses in colleges. These coders are socially inept in many cases where they can't adequately convey the reasoning or understand certain Quality of Life changes. Couple this with the language barrier we have and this is why we get clunky systems that don't make much sense.

[Callinon]

I did say it was an ego thing. They believe it should be controlled in some manner.

For example. When you run a dungeon that drops a key to a door. Why does it ask you if you wish to pick it up? Is there any reason to leave it on the ground? Nope (and in many dungeons it doesn't ask, but in some it does). Or to open the door/barrier in the various Garlean dungeons.. is there any reason to leave those doors closed? Well if you do you cannot continue forward. But they still ask.

At the vary least why not simply open the door without the dialogue, or better yet open when the last NPC is defeated in the room. Someone made a conscious decision to do it that way.. because 'reasons'. Same thing here. You MUST got to a glamour dresser because... just because. You can only store so many items, because.. reasons.

This is why there is so much emphasis on 'soft skills' in coding courses in colleges. These coders are socially inept in many cases where they can't adequately convey the reasoning or understand certain Quality of Life changes. Couple this with the language barrier we have and this is why we get clunky systems that don't make much sense.

I think there's one door that doesn't follow that convention. Stone Vigil? Not sure. But there's definitely exactly ONE dungeon door that doesn't ask if you really want to continue with the dungeon.

Yeah, is there a reason that dialog box exists? There's only one door (Dusk Vigil) that I can think of that has an immediate consequence connected to opening it. There's a trash pack right behind it that'll aggro whoever opens the door. So that one ok.. I guess.. but most of the time it's just "Would you prefer to stand here and waste your time, or would you like to continue with the dungeon?"

[Krotoan]

Someone made a conscious decision to do it that way.. because 'reasons'. Same thing here. You MUST got to a glamour dresser because... just because. You can only store so many items, because.. reasons.

Or you must go to a glamour dresser because it being hosted in very limited instances is a way to limit cross traffic between the character server and the item server, and you can only store so many items because any more may cause congestion. Those are possible reasons. Generally things like that aren't just "well cause you gotta".

[Kaethra]

Or you must go to a glamour dresser because it being hosted in very limited instances is a way to limit cross traffic between the character server and the item server, and you can only store so many items because any more may cause congestion. Those are possible reasons. Generally things like that aren't just "well cause you gotta".

Those few dozen bytes are gonna lag up the server. You realize the text in your response caused more strain then the suggestion right?

[Kaelah]

I'd love it even if they just allowed us to do it in any sanctuary. I like to keep my glamour up to date for cutscenes.

[Krotoan]

Those few dozen bytes are gonna lag up the server. You realize the text in your response caused more strain then the suggestion right?

That's assuming it works how you think it works. True it should just be 3 or 4 flags with appearance, color, maybe a few more for durability, soulbinding and such, But knowing this and understanding this information yet having the devs themselves stating data bandwidth being a concern, the only way your explanation works is if they are outright lying to us about everything. While that's a possibility of course as no company is beyond suspicion, WHY would they go with such an outlandish explanation then?