FFXIV is super interesting BUT then why?

[Reinhardt_Azureheim]

Let's see...

FFXIV is so incredibly popular that the company had to stop selling the game, DURING THE HOLIDAYS, because their servers were overloaded.

Seems to me like the whole idea of "improving PvP would be good to bring in more players" is completely unnecessary, considering they can barely handle the players they have that are focused on PvE.

Improving PvP isn't purely to "bring in more players", it's also to please the players who are already there and wish for a better PvP experience.

Plus, I'm personally grateful that this game isn't trying to cater more to PvP. In my experience, PvP usually results in the following:

"I like <game developer> not catering to <content I don't do>, therefore I am happy and I hope it stays this way" is a real nice way to say that you don't like other players to get something they like that you don't. If someone said that in respect to content you like, you'd be at least minorly vexed if not outright flipping tables over a statement as egoistic as this. But I digress.

- Creates more unneeded animosity between players
- Causes a ton more balancing issues between classes/jobs
- Requires a fair amount of time/energy/resources (that I would prefer going into making other improvements to the game)

1.) There wouldn't be "more unneeded animosity" than there already is, it is just that in PvP people tend to let their frustration speak loudly a lot of times - the issue is the player penting up anger in life in general or having a terrible attitude only really showing its' colours when confronted with competition or challenge.

2.) Literally how? It has it's own balancing system separate from PVE ever since patch 4.0 to make balancing jobs easier. Past balance iterations have not been as great, but the balancing issues currently present aren't nearly as glaring as they used to be, most if not all jobs are viable, it is just that currently the jobs are balanced around 4v4 FEAST, which likely will change with 6.1's 5v5 Crystal Conflict.

3.) If you truly think this, then you probably don't know how the FFXIV team works internally. They have separate branches for different content. The housing team for instance isn't handling what the raiding design team is doing, job balance and content creation is also most likely separating PVE and PVP. You aren't trading one piece of content for another here, you can have both. Yes it requires effort and resources, but it is content like any other and should receive support.

Naoki Yoshida even directly stated that they don't like players dragging PvP around like "why do you support this, this is bad", in his words it was roughly: "It is content just like raiding, dungeons and other things and thus it deserves to be supported and be played".

[Illmaeran]

Improving PvP isn't purely to "bring in more players", it's also to please the players who are already there and wish for a better PvP experience.


"I like <game developer> not catering to <content I don't do>, therefore I am happy and I hope it stays this way" is a real nice way to say that you don't like other players to get something they like that you don't. If someone said that in respect to content you like, you'd be at least minorly vexed if not outright flipping tables over a statement as egoistic as this.

1. It's not wrong for a game developer to work on improving the experience of the general player base. In this specific case, it means improving PvP design to make it more engaging for the people currently participating in it. I tried Frontlines in the past, enjoyed them for a little while, then got sick of them. Now I only go back for the occasional roulette to get XP. If they improve the experience to the point where I enjoy it again, of course I'll participate, but if they don't, I won't. There are plenty of other things in the game I enjoy and keep me playing.


2. I disagree. I like that SE has not catered to PvP content, am happy with this, and hope it stays that way. By saying this I am expressing that I'm glad SE have focused on producing content I prefer to PvP and hope they continue putting the majority of their effort into that content. I'm not saying I'm glad I'm getting what I want to the exclusion of others and actively expressing pleasure that they're not getting what they want. I'm merely expressing my satisfaction with how the game's been developed up to now and my desire for that to continue.

I've really enjoyed PvP in all the other MMOs I've played and enjoyed early PvP here too. However, my tastes in content have changed and I'm playing this game specifically because I want a game that focuses on PvE content. I would prefer that SE continue putting the majority of their effort into developing PvE content as that's what they're strongest at and is the reason the majority of players enjoy the game. Let's be completely honest here; other games have MUCH better PvP design even if the rest of the game isn't particularly great. If I really wanted to PvP, honestly, I'd boot up a different game and kill people to my heart's content.

[Kitahrox]

For example, The Mercenary Buff gives you 2 things; 1) boost 50% of your stats. 2) Give +50% experience to your group. Unusable in raid, pvp instance or during the PvPvE event. Only on non-pvp maps, the pvp map or dungeon.