Alfgar's Event and Imperial Assault - Why did you make them "random" events?

[Yelta_Sumasu]

Oh no, there was other things I could have done. At least one of my LS was doing Moogle fights and I'm sure I could have rotated in. Others were in spirit bind parties and farming mats and doing GC quests. It was more an experiment than anything. But feel free to interpret my actions in whatever way suits you :P

[Babydoll]

Actually its equally fair to everyone. Its as far as possible, as statistically, everyone has an equal chance to randomly participate.

OMG I bought a lottery ticket and didn't win, clearly it is unfair and riged.

While it may be "equal" to everyone in that sense..it is not practical to folks who have "lives" so to speak. Not everyone has the opportunity to camp at their PC unfortunatley for 24 hours+

If they still wanted it to be random maybe they could at least set a time frame or something say like..npc can spawn from 12PM - 4PM or something..I dunno, just an idea.

[Kraggy]

I did see a few people fishing while I was in there.... so what's the point though? The cultists popped and they... continued fishing.

How do you expect fish bots to take part in an event?

[Alhanelem]

While it may be "equal" to everyone in that sense..it is not practical to folks who have "lives" so to speak. Not everyone has the opportunity to camp at their PC unfortunatley for 24 hours+

If they still wanted it to be random maybe they could at least set a time frame or something say like..npc can spawn from 12PM - 4PM or something..I dunno, just an idea.

Again, this is why they will be upping the frequency of these events- the odds will be better that if you look for these events they will happen, as well as the odds greater that you just happen upon it.

[MicahZerrshia]

We have stuck by xiv through the good and the massive amount of bad. Everyone is clammering and biting at the bit for more content, esp now that we are paying (albeit minimally) for service.

So they give us more content...but they dont tell us where or when or even what it sounds like in some cases. Now I can see them wanting to give us sudden and lively events but with nothing to do anymore but sit and craft they should really throw us a bone and, like a previous poster said, give us at least a range. We camp nm, wouldnt be much different. But with nm we at least know what weather conditions, or time frames and so on to watch for.

I dont understand....and maybe a moderator can ask the devs this...why they would add more content for us but not even give a clue where we could calculate, ok we need to be here at this time, it could start right then or within the next few hrs. Kindda like nm pops in xi. You knew tod was 11pm est and it had a 6 hr break til window opened again, so after 5 and a half hrs we will go camp it again. I could pop at 5am as sceduled or at 8am.

It just boggles me why they would do something, lets face it, that stupid.

SE dev to Yoshi P: "oh the players want more content, so lets set up a series of events they can get lodestone achievements for, that are fun, and live and give them something to do other than craft or grind or kill the moogles for the 100th time, BUT lets not tell them when, where or what to expect. Lets make timing completely random with absolutely no identifiable indication its about to happen, lets give the npcs multiple pop spots like one in each nation, THEN to give it a real kick in the pants lets have our mods give them some hints that not only does this one exist but multiples. They MAAAAAAY be able to stumble across these events but its likely they wont so it will only be open to a few of the players we have left. How does that sound?"

Yoshi: "BRILLIANT"

....again makes no sense to me

[deekapowski]

I'm of two minds on this. As FFXIV has embraced the casual player as well as the hardcore, it's easy to say that these random events are good for the hardcore player with the time to either:

a. Research the random locations as they are discovered. or
b. hunt and camp at all hours until the event pops.

But for those who simply wish to play and receive this exclusive content, (Because let's face it, not everybody is supposed to get everything, that's what separates the hardcore from the rest. But to use the content as "the selling point", and not make it available for everyone is unfair. The equivalent of having an all you can eat buffet, but at the same time hiding the food.)

I would give several suggestions to remedy this situation.

1. Plot leve-quests: show how these events are changing everything. Connect it to the leve evaluation system so people are sent out to do different things at different places, but still get to see the whole story. For example, a person has been doing GC point leves. They get evaluated and they get a special grand company leve, but when they finish the leve instead of a crystal showing up they get a cutscene or an npc that directs them to a secret meeting or the cultist or what not. This is attainable by everyone without causing crowding.

2. Rift like invasions: Actually I imagine these would happen as the world gets closer to changing. Forces could attempt to assault the crystals and if they are not defended the moogles could steal them away for a short time (30mins to an hour tops, or at least until the invasion was repelled)

3. Simply putting out more content and throwing the "extra" content in, hidden in plain sight. I.E have the npc say the raid is in a certain area, but have several encounters set to trigger on the path so you could meet different people, etc.)

Just a thought.

[Kafeen]

I like the fact that they're implementing live events like this.

It makes it so that you're living in a continuous world where things are going on whether or not you're there. Quests aren't just an NPC waiting for you to come and talk to them.

Yes, it does mean that you might miss some of what's going on but then its going to reward those who play more because they're more likely to see them.

Quests occurring like this are one of the things that interested me in Guild Wars 2, I'm happy to see FFXIV is also implementing a similar system.

Its certainly a nice change from repeating the same leves over and over.

[HiirNoivl]

LOL this is what's going to happen.

A GM appears as ANNOUNCED and finds an audience of several dozen players. Let's say at least 4 parties. Immediately he is bombarded by eager players trying to get his attention. Unable to hold a conversation, the GM just starts tossing the items to everyone... before logging off. Wonderful. There's no magic of interaction, no roleplay, nothing. Just some GM passing out candy. As the event goes on, fewer players show up until no one shows up at all because everyone has the achievement.

Nice.

Maybe people should actually think about the event and why it's special, before they suggest the devs and staff remove what makes the event special in the first place.

If you want the achievement so blessedly badly, why don't you find someone with the items, ask for one, have them trade it to you and use it on yourself. Congratulations! You just Cooperated with the Mythril Eye!

[Lionheart]

Just my feedback about this matter:
It's not fair, it doesn't give all the players the same chances... you should either set a timetable or don't give any history entries at all...

While there are players that would like to participate yet have not yet been able to, that is tied to the nature of this event.

this is exactly the kind of nature I wish I'd never find in a mmo event. I'd rather camp for hours a non instanced NM against other groups... at least that's not random.

[northernsky]

I'm of two minds on this. As FFXIV has embraced the casual player as well as the hardcore, it's easy to say that these random events are good for the hardcore player with the time to either:

a. Research the random locations as they are discovered. or
b. hunt and camp at all hours until the event pops.

But for those who simply wish to play and receive this exclusive content [...]

Sounds logical, but what you listed is probably the worse way to try to participate in those events (at least, the most frustrating).

I may be the most casual player around here (played since release and highest level is 32), I still got the chance to participate in those events maybe 1 out of every 5 times times I logged in.

That's the point of randomness, it does not reward persistence, as it's not intended to, it's more like a bonus when you get the chance to enjoy it. As the worse way to make money with lottery would be to persist in buying tickets