New GNB sounds, why?

[Valic]

This may already have been answered somewhere, but uh.... Did they ever tell us WHY they decided to jack the sounds up in the first place? They seemed fine before.

Because a minority of people on the JP forums and a single thread here made a fuss about it. As far as I can tell anyways because really no one asked for these changes.

[Ramesses]

This is an interesting case of being extremely careful of what you wish for...

[wereotter]

Because a minority of people on the JP forums and a single thread here made a fuss about it. As far as I can tell anyways because really no one asked for these changes.

This has been proven yet again.... JP makes a fuss about something and the devs respond within two weeks.... NA makes a thread getting thousands of players supporting it and crickets.

[Valic]

This has been proven yet again.... JP makes a fuss about something and the devs respond within two weeks.... NA makes a thread getting thousands of players supporting it and crickets.

^ this also, I understand Asia has a higher base for MMO's and thus higher profit, but it does feel kinda crappy how the US gets ignored over them in the majority vote. There was a bigger fuss over there about it than over here but it ended up changing overall with support from here aiding it no doubt. In general I just want our damn sounds back to normal =.= If nothing changes tomorrow, I'm prolly going back to DRK or maybe trying WAR or something that ya know... isn't "ruined" mechanically or aesthetically... Just a job that they won't touch because its FINE as is. I'm almost afraid that even if they reverted back to the original sounds, they would make a THIRD version and try that out for another 2 weeks... I can't deal with that constantly, just gimme a safe job that's doing fine mechanically, enjoyable, and sounds/feels good(ya know, like how GNB was).

[Wistfulwaffle]

^ this also, I understand Asia has a higher base for MMO's and thus higher profit, but it does feel kinda crappy how the US gets ignored over them in the majority vote. There was a bigger fuss over there about it than over here but it ended up changing overall with support from here aiding it no doubt. In general I just want our damn sounds back to normal =.= If nothing changes tomorrow, I'm prolly going back to DRK or maybe trying WAR or something that ya know... isn't "ruined" mechanically or aesthetically... Just a job that they won't touch because its FINE as is. I'm almost afraid that even if they reverted back to the original sounds, they would make a THIRD version and try that out for another 2 weeks... I can't deal with that constantly, just gimme a safe job that's doing fine mechanically, enjoyable, and sounds/feels good(ya know, like how GNB was).

Decent amount of people had issues with the overall explosions sounding too low. While I agree that the solid barrel combo could use some tweaking, gnashing fang is a step in the right direction. Either way, does such a minor change really make you drop a class? There’s nothing mechanically wrong. Unless you’re tuning your volume all the way up and listening to every hit, sound is a nonissue in 99% of content.

[Valic]

Decent amount of people had issues with the overall explosions sounding too low. While I agree that the solid barrel combo could use some tweaking, gnashing fang is a step in the right direction. Either way, does such a minor change really make you drop a class? There’s nothing mechanically wrong. Unless you’re tuning your volume all the way up and listening to every hit, sound is a nonissue in 99% of content.

I argue this is wrong and they blade/boom 50/50... and now they're more 90% boom, 10% blade. And when I already dropped a class mechanically, its a kick in the balls to finally feel right with a job and then remove every "good feeling" I had out of it. Each gnashing fang hit had a unique sound/hit to it that was distinguishable, now I can't tell which part I'm in because everything is loud cannon fire. It makes me lose my rotation, I can't hear myself in raids, and overall its not what was shown/offered in te trailers so it is a pretty big turn off to get kicked in the nads again for a job I thought was to be my main... at this point I'd rather security over "it could be nice if".

Mechanically wrong? No its just fine, same with some other jobs too... Monk for example, prolly REALLY fun.... I don't like it aesthetically or how it sounds. Same for dancer, dancer feels very fun and looks interesting... but I don't feel like its something I could glue to as a main at any point because it lacks some oomph to it and has some odd stances. Aesthetic is half the game afterall, otherwise its just a number simulator. Sound is a big thing for me in an mmo I want to immerse into and love hearing from each and every direction, I'm not the casual that blasts music from other sources over everything in the MMO, I'm the one who takes the map, the job, everything we're given, and "feels" it all together.... To that end, I no longer "feel" anything satisfying in gunbreaker's combos anymore. All of it is blunt or explosions or blunt + explosions.... so the "oomph" is all gone since all of it is the same sounding "wump" no matter which combo... Be it our cardboard smacks of the keen edge, or the over exaggerated booms of a weapon that is now nearly 100% CANNON BOOM and no longer any blade. I liked our compounding boom, the keen edge combo ended VERY satisfyingly. I adored gnashing fang for sounding like a dance with our weapon. The cuts took place and the booms after to emphasize just how much they hit, and every step of the way flowed together nicely like, ya know.... a combo. Now it's BOOM, BOOM BOOM, BOOM. BOOM BA-BOOM. BOOM. Which one of those booms was I in again- OH RIGHT BOOM. I miss the unique slashes and momentum our blade carried, I no longer hear that anymore....

I'm very passionate about game feel and game design, so... sound is a big hit for me, like a 3rd of this game at minimum.

[Wistfulwaffle]

snip

I think this is a case of romanticizing what we don’t have anymore. By no means were the old sounds perfect. It was very soft and didn’t have the same impact as other FF games featuring a gunblade. The explosions are more in line with FF8 now, or did you have a problem with that, too? Tbh, the new Dissidia absolutely nails the gunblade sound and I hope the dev team for xiv takes some notes. Your other points seem a little melodramatic. isn’t adding to the explosion, by definition, giving it more oomph? It’s not like the animations changed. The momentum is the same. Feeling like the entire role is ruined because of minimal changes just seems a little silly.

[firedrake]

I think this is a case of romanticizing what we don’t have anymore. By no means were the old sounds perfect. It was very soft and didn’t have the same impact as other FF games featuring a gunblade. The explosions are more in line with FF8 now, or did you have a problem with that, too? Tbh, the new Dissidia absolutely nails the gunblade sound and I hope the dev team for xiv takes some notes. Your other points seem a little melodramatic. isn’t adding to the explosion, by definition, giving it more oomph? It’s not like the animations changed. The momentum is the same. Feeling like the entire role is ruined because of minimal changes just seems a little silly.

I can see how to some people it might seem silly to have something like sound effects influence whether or not one plays a job, but I assure you that it matters a lot to some of us. I can only speak for myself, but I have posted in most of the GNB sound effect threads and expressed my opinion that this singular change in the sound design almost completely turned me off from playing the job, which is something that I had been hyped about since the original reveal. I'm only playing it now because I find the mechanics fun, and I'm confident that they will revert the sounds. If they don't I may just drop it entirely, which is a shame because leveling the job was easily one of the things I was the most hyped to do.

I don't have much experience with FF8. It was honestly the one FF that I haven't found enjoyable enough to play through so I can't comment on the SFX from there. Dissidia I haven't really played either, but I have watched videos and played the demo. I've heard the gunblade sounds in that and they honestly are pretty good. That being said though, I disagree that the original sounds were soft and lacking impact. More specifically, I don't think that the change they implemented made the sounds harder or more impactful. Now our main combo sounds like we are hitting a cardboard box with a bat instead of slashing our mechanical sword through enemies. And they completely removed the trigger/gunshot sound as well, leaving the whole combo just a series of thuds. Our other combo turned into nothing but a series of explosions that drown out the slashing, especially in group play. What's even worse to me is that these two combos have entirely different sounds for when our sword hits something. One is a thud, the other still retains the slash. It's not even consistent between abilities which just hurts the feel of the job even more.

This is starting to sound a bit ranty so I'm going to wrap it up. Bottom line is that the feeling of a job is important and audio plays a big part of that feeling for some of us.

[Valic]

I think this is a case of romanticizing what we don’t have anymore. By no means were the old sounds perfect. It was very soft and didn’t have the same impact as other FF games featuring a gunblade. The explosions are more in line with FF8 now, or did you have a problem with that, too? Tbh, the new Dissidia absolutely nails the gunblade sound and I hope the dev team for xiv takes some notes. Your other points seem a little melodramatic. isn’t adding to the explosion, by definition, giving it more oomph? It’s not like the animations changed. The momentum is the same. Feeling like the entire role is ruined because of minimal changes just seems a little silly.

It's more like, imagine if every skill was a "Fell Cleave". Your "Fell Cleave" no longer gives you the "oomph" because every other skill in your rotation is the same feeling as is. It's apart of the portion of your job that should feel rewarding and satisfying... when you take that away, what's the point in having the aesthetic if its not going to provide the unique satisfaction the job provides? You play WAR for those fell cleaves that feel like you're shredding into something. You play BLM for those mass explosions you get after building up your mana again. You play jobs for a specific mechanic or aesthetic and they in turn provide you a certain joy for playing them. Gunbreaker.... mechanically works but aesthetically as far as sounds work, it doesn't flow like it originally did and it throws me very off. A job can be flashy as hell but this is prolly the best example I can give you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_cDT5_Vmdc

I don't have much experience with FF8. It was honestly the one FF that I haven't found enjoyable enough to play through so I can't comment on the SFX from there. Dissidia I haven't really played either, but I have watched videos and played the demo.

AMEN TO EVERY BIT OF YOUR POST. And also just to quote and answer in this... FF8 being the only FF I played prior to FF14, as well as Dissidia... I feel as though the original sounds were a better depiction than what we have now as an FF8 fan. Fan or not even, a good sound that's unique and matches the identity of the job (fast paced, fluid combos, still bursty feeling) works.... You shouldn't have to match the past 100%, and FFXIV always references its ideas to other FF's, but it never 100% outright copies every single exact detail, it adds some form of twist in one way or another. I'm sure there's smaller scale details you can say it has copied absolutely perfect, but as far as jobs go at least, there is no need to mae an exact replica of something that already exists. Or otherwise.... just play the thing it comes from. FF8's explosions are nice, but I disagree they're as loud as what we have now. How do I now? Mute a video and play our current GNB sound for one of Squall's normal attacks + the explosion. It doesn't fit.. it doesn't match, and it doesn't have to, it just has to fit the job. I didn't have a single complaint about the job being an absolute gunblade fanatic so... I guess my point here is, fan of where it references from or not, FF14 prides itself in making what it is with the universe it exists in. DRK doesn't use a spear like Cecil, RDM uses a rapier and a thingamabob, and SMN doesn't bring out gigantic summons... It's okay to reference it without it being the exact same job. Dissidia was nice but... that's DISSIDIA. So... if I wanted dissidia, I'll go play it. FF8 is nice too, not the best FF but I loved it... but if I wanted everything exact from it, I'd go play it.

frankly... I was beyond hyped every skill is named exactly as all the limit breaks from FF8 and every skill from each gunblade user. It made its identity feel unique and allow you to be the general gunblade user people have wanted. I'm also ranting at this point... So.... yeah... Sound is definitely a BIG part of a game's immersive experience, even just the experience itself.

[MetsuShoryu]

So...patch notes is up. But still no sound correction?