Polls for future game changes

[Aurida]

The problem with Runescape's ingame polls is that 95% of the time, the playerbase always voted "yes" just off of that, without going to the forums and reading the threads discussing the implications of X.

The problem with OSRS where it's not directly applicable to FF14 is that OSRS is a game primarily based around preserving the classic experience of the game, so they're pretty abstemious about new additions in the form of content and new items and skill training methods anyway.

It's not even a perfect system because of the amount of player politics that surrounds it- OSRS player base routinely votes against pvp content based on the pure merit of that it's content for people that enjoy pvp, and I don't see it going any differently here, except replace 'pvp content' with the large, loud majority of people that don't want anything added unless it appeals to them. There's already an obscene amount of apologists on the forums yelling about things like male viera, or the implementation of things like Bozja, the Diadem, or ocean fishing, saying that the extra dev work that went into them is why we don't have two dungeons per patch any more- whether or not that's correct is irrelevant, but I'd just as soon not give people any power over the game development by telling them what they can and can't deny the dev team the ability to create with a vote.

Last thing we need is a 6.3 Ultimate failing the poll because it's not something geared toward casual players, or a new limited job not ever seeing release because it's not a full, unrestricted job that people can grind in dungeons to 90 then forget about, or any proposed change to any class never, ever passing because of, say, active unrestrained vitriol and disdain toward SCH players.

Out of all the games in development right now, this one's direction should *especially* never be left up to the great community.

[Fabbro]

I mean.... I have my gripes with the game I feel its a bit too easy sometimes and I'd like the a graphics update that would also fix all the technical limitations with the glams and other bits but they are reworking PVP because they know people don't like it, they apologized for 1.0, They do job adjustments and reworks based on complaints, like the SMN changes that are coming. They are upgrading the servers, working on a stat squish because the game is at its limits, developing the expansion with the largest MSQ yet, they're holding a weapon design contest which allows you to tell them what weapons you want to see in game... they have brought some collaborations back because players wanted them (although imo they shoulda made new ones so we get new content and sell past ones in the mog station), They are adding Male viera and Fem Hroth based on complaints.

They're not sitting idle. And this community has a huge divide between casuals and more hard core folk so the "community" is not exactly in unison about most things. So if there were votes in fact, you'd see this game getting even less complicated and more simplified rather than difficult, because the truth is the casuals outnumber the hardcore. A lot of people want to see ultimates gone in favor of using those resources for casual content more people would enjoy but I think they know they need hard challenges for fans of raiding, it also brings a lot of views on streams and its free advertising for the game.

It's a hard balance to keep...

I agree with most of what you said. However, it's 30~40% more dedicated hardcore players that actually keep the game alive, just look at FFXI for example (still alive thanks to the loyal fans). While casuals play the game for one or two months, maybe six months to a year tops (very rarely more time than that), the hardcore crowd play the game for 2~4+ years and stays loyal to game.

[Fabbro]

The problem with OSRS where it's not directly applicable to FF14 is that OSRS is a game primarily based around preserving the classic experience of the game, so they're pretty abstemious about new additions in the form of content and new items and skill training methods anyway.

It's not even a perfect system because of the amount of player politics that surrounds it- OSRS player base routinely votes against pvp content based on the pure merit of that it's content for people that enjoy pvp, and I don't see it going any differently here, except replace 'pvp content' with the large, loud majority of people that don't want anything added unless it appeals to them. There's already an obscene amount of apologists on the forums yelling about things like male viera, or the implementation of things like Bozja, the Diadem, or ocean fishing, saying that the extra dev work that went into them is why we don't have two dungeons per patch any more- whether or not that's correct is irrelevant, but I'd just as soon not give people any power over the game development by telling them what they can and can't deny the dev team the ability to create with a vote.

Last thing we need is a 6.3 Ultimate failing the poll because it's not something geared toward casual players, or a new limited job not ever seeing release because it's not a full, unrestricted job that people can grind in dungeons to 90 then forget about, or any proposed change to any class never, ever passing because of, say, active unrestrained vitriol and disdain toward SCH players.

Out of all the games in development right now, this one's direction should *especially* never be left up to the great community.

That's why older player's votes would have much more weight.

We seem to like the same things in terms of content. I wish the game was harder overall and that we had a more dynamic and dangerous open world, full of content, and areas such as Eureka and Bozja were more organically integrated into the open world, etc..

I love when they add challenging content.

[CaptainLagbeard]

That's why older player's votes would have much more weight.

We seem to like the same things in terms of content. I wish the game was harder overall and that we had a more dynamic and dangerous open world, full of content, and areas such as Eureka and Bozja were more organically integrated into the open world, etc..

I love when they add challenging content.

Eureka is a pretty bad example of "challenging content" as most of it's "challenge" comes purely from the fact that the mobs outlevel you too hard, even when fully leveled the last quest in the zone throws mobs above the max level that can two shot you because it's "challenging".
The mobs having bigger numbers than the players doesn't really translate into challenge.

[Aurida]

That's why older player's votes would have much more weight.

Okay but when the Legacy goblins ask for dev time to go into re-creating 1.x as an experience instead of adding Beastmaster or whatever the trendy thing is to ask for nowadays...

With the level of diverse content that gets added to the game and people that play it for myriad reasons and want different things out of the gameplay there's no reconciling that with a democracy, especially given that the majority of the player base does not actually play the game at a level of competence that would lead them to make informed decisions about the changes that should be made to it.

[Kolsykol]

I have no idea how you could even do this reliably, big streamers alone could sway things unfairly.

The issue too is that you get a lot of clueless people who don't even play what they're complaining about and have an extremely limited understanding ( or none at all ) of it.
MNK discussions is a good example of this... It's so clear that a very large group of people who talk about MNK both here and on the subreddit don't play it and they'll often even admit to it or that they've just tested it a bit.
And yet they have VERY deeply rooted opinions and ideas about how it '' should '' play that go completely against what active MNK mains want.

This is just one example, but this applies to pretty much everything else too.

[Aron73]

This is a great idea, and I saw it implemented in EVE-Online to some extent, but locking it to players with less time than you to play is wrong in my book. So instead, I propose that it should be open to everyone.

[Lihtleita]

i dont trust most of the playerbase to know what fun is

[Kes13a]

I think something like this would be a huge mistake if they actually implemented it, and would result in the westernification of the game and it would end up being another WoW experience

it is, at its base, a JRPG, and that comes with its own direction and design philosophy. if they add in some kind of voting system, it would likely be aimed at primarily Japanese players of the game and the direction its heading in because thats the culture they are more familiar with.

in the end, I doubt we would ever see the implementation of this kind of idea. If you dont like a movie franchise or its direction, dont go see the next movie, its that simple. If you dont like a game direction, unsub or stop playing. there is no difference. there is no player voting, and especially not one based on length of sub. this has got to be one of the dumbest ideas. I mean in whatever country you live in, would you want ONLY the old to vote, or maybe have 2 votes? I mean by your logic they have lived in the country longer so should have a better idea of whats best for the country right?

[Kolsykol]

I think something like this would be a huge mistake if they actually implemented it, and would result in the westernification of the game and it would end up being another WoW experience

it is, at its base, a JRPG, and that comes with its own direction and design philosophy. if they add in some kind of voting system, it would likely be aimed at primarily Japanese players of the game and the direction its heading in because thats the culture they are more familiar with.

in the end, I doubt we would ever see the implementation of this kind of idea. If you dont like a movie franchise or its direction, dont go see the next movie, its that simple. If you dont like a game direction, unsub or stop playing. there is no difference. there is no player voting, and especially not one based on length of sub. this has got to be one of the dumbest ideas. I mean in whatever country you live in, would you want ONLY the old to vote, or maybe have 2 votes? I mean by your logic they have lived in the country longer so should have a better idea of whats best for the country right?

Pretty much this a billion times.
It's something that bothers me a lot about some games from the East that gets brought over, either by the devs themselves because they want to '' appeal to Westerners '' or by an overly-zealous localization team.
We already have Western games for that... Most of us who are fans of these games want to play them *because* they're Eastern it's a significant part of the appeal of the games.

Japanese games in particular have been on a big increase in popularity, in fact not only games but other media too like Anime and Manga.
So maybe the Japanese and other creators from the East are filling a void we have in the West and people like it because it's different.

Not saying that there's literally no room for it, the whole depiction of underage characters in sexual ways is really contentious.
But I think that there is a huge difference between sexualizing an adult and a minor and in some cases it's even a legal issue.
I think it just enters different territories where I have more of an understanding if they censor it.
Another good example is microtransactions, I think it's a lot more understandable to change the business model in the West for a Korean game for example.

But I think there is a problem when the content gets '' Westernized '' in ways that aren't a matter of legality for example or things that don't affect the content but is on the business side like microtransactions.