Did TRUST info in Live Letter 68 seal the fate for SQUADRONS?

[LeonKeyh]

I'm ecstatic for finally being able to avoid being tied down by other people and their bullcrap. I hope roulettes can be done with trust too, but i doubt it, which makes me sad.

Anyway, too bad squadron might not serve a purpose anymore, but it's more than worth the sacrifice.

That would completely disregard the point of the roulettes. The goal of the roulettes is to fill in groups for people who are attempting to run certain dungeons. It's so when I queue up for Cutter's Cry, I don't need to wait for 3 other people who also want to run Cutter's Cry. I wouldn't count on roulettes being completed with Trusts. It's more likely that they'll add the ability to run trusts with multiple people (i.e. you and your friend with 2 trust members) which would be a good addition.

[ReynTime]

When the Trust system updates are completed he plans to retire the Squadron system. Since people have got attached to their squadron members, there may be some form of compensation.


https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...tm_name=iossmf

It really tells about the direction they want the game to go into, when they assume it's more important to live the fantasy of being in dungeons with your MSQ pixel waifu/husbando for 30+ minutes than 15 with an AI team you have any level of customization with.

[Iscah]

When the Trust system updates are completed he plans to retire the Squadron system. Since people have got attached to their squadron members, there may be some form of compensation.


https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...tm_name=iossmf

That is surprising. It seems like normally they just leave those sort of abandoned systems in place and let people do them if they want. I wonder if they're just testing the waters to see the reaction? Or maybe they don't like the idea of people building it up to level 60 and discovering it's a dead end. It does make more sense in the grand scheme of the game to have one consistent system of dungeon assistance NPCs.

I wonder what the stats are on how many people actually engage with their squadrons? I know the people who like them seem to really like them, but I've never really bothered with it myself. I got them up enough to get my GC promotion and that's it.

[aveyond-dreams]

Squadrons have always felt like a niche system locked behind an absurdly steep grind-there's no way I would ever be willing to sink any time into them or prioritize them instead of Trust updates.

[Zsolen]

If Squadron members were implemented into a trust system, would it require 12 'playstyles?'

I got that from 3 roles (Tank, Healer, DPS) multiplied by the 4 tactics types (Offensive, Defensive, Balanced, and Independent). They could always ditch the tactics and make them generic as possible.

[Momo_Kozuki]

When the Trust system updates are completed he plans to retire the Squadron system. Since people have got attached to their squadron members, there may be some form of compensation.

I read it, and no, the translation feels ambiguous. Some claims Yoshi-P will retire the squadron altogether. Some other claims that he will merge Trust AI and Squadron AI (which is horrible), so that both will have a unified set of better AI. Some other other claims that he will replace the Squadron's leveling aspect with Trust and still keeps Squadron around. In any case, until what he plans come out, there will be no update for Squadron.

[Tlamila]

I read it, and no, the translation feels ambiguous. Some claims Yoshi-P will retire the squadron altogether. Some other claims that he will merge Trust AI and Squadron AI (which is horrible), so that both will have a unified set of better AI. Some other other claims that he will replace the Squadron's leveling aspect with Trust and still keeps Squadron around. In any case, until what he plans come out, there will be no update for Squadron.

I so hope it's the last option, the first two sound like a nightmare.

[Shougun]

Said it before but I believe Squadrons could have good life in new content. Have them relate to actual Grand Company concepts- for example you can run dungeons with them but they're dungeons you cleared out in MSQ. The enemy layout can vary because of this, the purpose for going into them is to unlock resources for your GC. Other things like defending hamlets (hamlet defense system which can be used for other content as well), protecting caravans, establishing trade routes and alliances between your GC and tribes / cities, building up outposts / defending them (can have minor visual impacts to the game). Now you've a warmap and you get to take more logical military activities, please avoid too much of what WoW did in Garrisons though where you just kind of sit at the table to send them out on missions all the time (baby sit the table, I'd rather you get to physically partake or if it's a squadron mission it's like a whole day thing).

In some way making GC a type of very fancy beast tribe content (lots of rewards, lots of diverse quests and growths across a large amount of space). Like when you go into say the mountain with lava you might help build a forge that gives your GC access to enhanced upgrades for your members and new gear and crafting items for you yourself to buy- but also you could 'visit' the newly built outpost in that dungeon and it would have those buildings there. Revisiting might be important as you expand or defend the location, but also might be because if you're there your smiting related jobs have a food buff- and later perhaps an achievement from enhancing that space allows you to build it in your GC room (adding upgrades to the GC space).

Besides more obvious content opportunities of above another way that might make it stand out a little is if you gave it some Shadow of War / Middle Earth nemesis system (for unique boss fights moments that vary themselves), and also maybe Dynasty Warrior like scale.. because it's solo so you could have like 20 monsters at once lol. Attack a stronghold with 40 monsters attacking your team, break into the main area for a boss like experience.

[Erendis]

I'd rather have smart trusts than brainless muscle...

[Pixiehawk]

I have not read to the end of the thread. But, I thought Yoshi said that if the Scions were somewhere else and couldn't join you story wise you might get random NPC - including Squadron members as part of your trust. I could have misheard, and maybe he just meant like Serpents/Flame/Maelstrom members but I could have sworn he implied Squadron members in some cases.