Square Enix should really address dungeon loot drops...

[Rowde]

Most accessories back in ARR were not locked to a class. They did this later because people were using accessories that did nothing for their job simply because it would push their average ilvl up just enough to let them queue for harder content.

I'm familiar with the history, but the "fix" has made it a nightmare to collect cool looking accessories post 60. Especially this expansion, there's a lot of unique designs between tomes and raid accessories, even innocence accessories. There isn't enough free space to validate keeping 5 versions of each accessory to have access to one look across all jobs.

[ForteNightshade]

It's not a problem, i want something i do stuff that leads me to get it i wont complain for it to not being fair or anything.
Talking about rng and fairness in the same sentence is just wrong random isn't fair and will never be.

It absolutely is a problem. I ran Hero's Gauntlet a gazillion times too for that same gear and it was driving me insane how long it took to get the tank coat. "rng is rng" doesn't make it a good system. There is literally zero benefit to the awful loot system of dungeons. They aren't in danger of dying out because of roulettes. It's just a needless grind. I'd rather spend the time saved doing actual fun content like the Ultimate fight I want the gear for. It isn't "laziness" to not want to run the same dungeon 100+ times.

Another factor to consider the more people run something, the less tolerate they are. I obviously ran on tank. Lemme tell you, there was zero compromise after a certain run threshold. I pulled everything, stood in crap with CDs and sometimes pulled during cut scenes. I hated every second of that dungeon for a while. Naturally, I tried not to let my personal annoyance boil over because it isn't anyone else's fault but sometimes, I wasn't in the best of moods. As Liam put it, does this make FFXIV fun? It certainly wasn't fun for me.

[StriderShinryu]

It would be nice if there were some system of being able to get a specific piece if you really want it. My thought would just be to add the drops to a vendor for purchase with Poetics. Require that you've actually completed the dungeon itself and maybe lock the vendor out until after that current patch (so 5.1's dungeon gear wouldn't be purchaseable until patch 5.2 goes live for example). Also maybe even make the Poetic cost fairly high relative to buying actual upgrade gear at the time, like 1000 Poetics for a chest piece when you can buy an actual gear upgrade for 800 or whatever it is.

I'm assuming part of their design intention is to keep more people running a variety of dungeons such as to fill out DF groups so they would likely want some level of friction that would make "just running the dungeon" the more appealing route. This would help for those occasions where you just want one specific piece and/or are just having terrible drop luck.

[Lunalepsy]

This is a bit of a rant, and I apologize for it in advance.

FFXIV has one of the best MMO experiences I've had in recent memory, but the way loot drops are handled in dungeons (at least throughout ARR - StB) are beyond abysmal and are probably one of the worst examples I've ever seen in a videogame like this.

There was an armor set from Sohr Khai called Berserker that I really wanted for my Paladin, and I figured it would only take me a few runs to get it. That was my intention about a month ago. I've ran this dungeon over 93 times since then. Each run takes roughly five to eight minutes to complete (depends if there's an unsynced party)... which means I've spent almost 7 hours trying to get a basic dungeon set. And yet I'm still missing the boots and legs.

A friend of mine has been playing for longer than I have and he has run Kugane Castle nearly 300 times in the past four months and is still missing a pair of gloves...

This is simply... insane. Other MMOs have been known to handle this kind of thing a whole lot better:

• they adjust loot quantities so there's enough drops to go around or make it so it's tied to players rather than being shared by the whole party (ex: The Elder Scrolls Online);
• they adjust drops to the classes present in the dungeon, meaning that the gear that will be dropped can only be used by the characters that are present in that instance (ex: TERA Online);
• provide a certain amount of "tokens" per run that can be later used to purchase gear from said dungeon (ex: Guild Wars 2);
• make the loot tradeable so that players can hand it to others or sell it within the game's "marketboard" system (ex: Star Wars: The Old Republic);

The fact that FFXIV only provides one piece per treasure chest means it can take thousands of tries until someone gets the equipment they want/need, and I don't understand why Square Enix hasn't done anything about this? I can only imagine how terrible this must be at endgame, and that thought alone is enough to put me off from even wanting to.

A lot of people say that this game is known for "respecting the player's time", but this kind of thing is far from being truthful. I mean, is there anything else that I can do? Is the removal of belts going to help this at all? I'm really exhausted from running this over and over again, and it's gotten to a point where I'm in too deep to stop now. The worst is that this outfit was meant to my main Heavensward glamour and I'm almost done with Stormblood now.

P.S: Checked some other threads sharing the same feelings and this has been a major issue since 2013. How come more people don't voice their distaste for what is an obvious major flaw with the game?

Totally agree. They should definitely do something about it!

[Iscah]

Grinding out neat glamours or rare drops from dungeons is one of the few satisfactions this tier of content has to offer. ...
I'd much rather have a dungeon grind to keep me occupied than just buying it on the mogstation and being bored of it 30 minutes later because everyone else has it too.

If it "satisfies" you to finally have RNG give you what you want, great. But for me, the frustration of all the previous times outweighs the one moment of relief when it finally drops.

I'm not looking to have my time filled up by a grind. If the thing I am currently doing is assembling a glamour, then I want to be able to acquire that item in a reasonable time frame, given that it is not a matter of skill and I have successfully cleared the dungeon.

For that matter, the battles that are a matter of skill, like extreme trials and savage raids, do give you tokens.

I want to be spending my time and getting my feeling of joy in this game from looking at my character in their fancy new outfit, not from going through the same easy motions fifty times first.

[Izscha]

It all comes down to "for me" as usual, those who can stand rng which is clearly something that the devs needs to keep ppl playing, and those that want everything fast with little effort nor willpower.
FF XIV grind is a joke if you ever played any other mmo in your life but i guess a lot of ppl nowadays just want the easy road if they want something.
150 + runs of The heroes gauntlet was no fun, grind is no fun but it's part of game and i do understand why they need to do that, hence i wont complain for it or need it to change to save me, my precious little person, time.
It's dungeon anyway watch netflix/youtube on the other screen and you're still better than most ppl you'll ever find there.

[ItMe]

150 + runs of The heroes gauntlet was no fun, grind is no fun but it's part of game and i do understand why they need to do that

If something unfun is a "needed" part of the game, it needs to rethink things.
We're all playing this game to have fun.

[Izscha]

If something unfun is a "needed" part of the game, it needs to rethink things.
We're all playing this game to have fun.

If you make everything avalaible easily it literally means nothing to have those in the first place.
Being a game doesn't mean they give you everything for free even more when it's a multiplayer game.
And they're doing mmos, they need to keep ppl playing and rng will always be a great tool for that, that and player's greed to have all the shiny mounts and weapons / glamour.

[SturmChurro]

It absolutely is a problem. I ran Hero's Gauntlet a gazillion times too for that same gear and it was driving me insane how long it took to get the tank coat. "rng is rng" doesn't make it a good system. There is literally zero benefit to the awful loot system of dungeons. They aren't in danger of dying out because of roulettes. It's just a needless grind. I'd rather spend the time saved doing actual fun content like the Ultimate fight I want the gear for. It isn't "laziness" to not want to run the same dungeon 100+ times.

Another factor to consider the more people run something, the less tolerate they are. I obviously ran on tank. Lemme tell you, there was zero compromise after a certain run threshold. I pulled everything, stood in crap with CDs and sometimes pulled during didn't cut scenes. I hated every second of that dungeon for a while. Naturally, I tried not to let my personal annoyance boil over because it isn't anyone else's fault but sometimes, I wasn't in the best of moods. As Liam put it, does this make FFXIV fun? It certainly wasn't fun for me.

It's actually the reason I have a few outfit ideas on the backburner, because I'm not ready to put in the grind for it yet, may never be.

[ItMe]

If you make everything avalaible easily it literally means nothing to have those in the first place.
Being a game doesn't mean they give you everything for free even more when it's a multiplayer game.
And they're doing mmos, they need to keep ppl playing and rng will always be a great tool for that, that and player's greed to have all the shiny mounts and weapons / glamour.

I never said it needs to be easily available.
But as is... it is literally possible to run a level cap duty for a specific piece infinite times and never ever see it.
That's no good.

It's just a big waste of time.
The gear is arguably ALREADY easily available. The dungeons don't challenge you. They're just a time sink that doesn't have to be one.

You don't need to give it "for free."
I just ask you at least have a totem system the way you do with EX mounts and Savage gear.