Playing an expansion as current content has been a lacklustre MMO experience

[DPZ2]

Been asking for this since ARR. It'd be so easy to add, but it just keeps not happening. Why?? Our slight but noticeable power creep has only made it more relevant/worthwhile over time. T.T

So easy because you've performed the program development for this in a different game and know the amount of effort involved? Or so easy because you don't have the slightest idea about what it would actually take?

Frankly, the way to assert minimum iLevel in an instance is to "pretend" you are wearing appropriately leveled gear and your stats are reduced to the typical player at that level. That, in itself, would be a nightmare to code given the current Battle Engine.

[Rolder50]

So easy because you've performed the program development for this in a different game and know the amount of effort involved? Or so easy because you don't have the slightest idea about what it would actually take?

Frankly, the way to assert minimum iLevel in an instance is to "pretend" you are wearing appropriately leveled gear and your stats are reduced to the typical player at that level. That, in itself, would be a nightmare to code given the current Battle Engine.

... But they already have min ilevel as an option? So it's clearly possible? Because they are already doing it?

Not to mention the multitude of dungeons with forced item level sync if your item level is over a limit.

[Deveryn]

... But they already have min ilevel as an option? So it's clearly possible? Because they are already doing it?

Who could you ever convince to do a dungeon at min ilvl? So many want to do those faster than humanly possible. That's why it's only a PF option.

[Rolder50]

Who could you ever convince to do a dungeon at min ilvl? So many want to do those faster than humanly possible. That's why it's only a PF option.

Not the point I was trying to make. The poster I was replying to was acting like it would be some new feature they would have to code when it's not.

[Shurrikhan]

So easy because you've performed the program development for this in a different game and know the amount of effort involved? Or so easy because you don't have the slightest idea about what it would actually take?

It's already in the game.

??????????

[Shurrikhan]

Who could you ever convince to do a dungeon at min ilvl? So many want to do those faster than humanly possible. That's why it's only a PF option.

It's pretty often done for friends running content for the first time, usually because "fast as humanly possible" maximum item levels blaze things so quickly as to end up a disjointed mess of an experience. The combination of gradual, if slight, powercreep and high ilvl maximums (especially at or near former level caps) really does a number on the game's older experiences.

As for how to get people to do an optional challenge... How do you currently get people to do any other optional challenge?

Alternatively, consider parity, by which to remove anything but player preference from the equation. Make it typically competitive for its rewards per minute relative to doing it without minimum ilvl.

[Payadopa]

Who could you ever convince to do a dungeon at min ilvl? So many want to do those faster than humanly possible. That's why it's only a PF option.

Because people are different. And it's fun for me. The only reason why people want it over with as fast as possible -is- because it's so unengaging, if you ask me. If I were engaged I wouldn't be counting the seconds till it's over.

[Jojoya]

Then you were probably "playing the piano" poorly or were playing with a largely target-capped-AoE spec when the tank was mass-pulling. Or simply your tank was a Protection Warrior, whose damage is notoriously bursty / overpowered at present.

I'm starting to feel like you've never actually played WoW since they started power syncing mobs to player level if you believe that.

There's a reason why the boosting services use XP locked characters equipped with BiS gear at the minimum level for a dungeon to run those paying for the boosts, and not max level characters in current Mythic gear. It's because their adjusted DPS is substantially better due to how power scaling works.

It truly is hot garbage as the other poster stated. If all someone wants to do is run the power synced dungeons all the time and has no interest in doing max level raiding, there's zero incentive to level up because you end up weaker in those dungeons, not stronger. You'll only be stronger in content that doesn't use power syncing.

Also, explaining why you can't do something because of story, is the most un-fun reason anyone can come up with. You think the writers came up with Echo first, THEN the dungeons? No, Echo is a byproduct of it all. You think they wrote in the amount of dungeons and bosses for each expansion, THEN made them? Again no. Fun should always come first, adventure is priority, story secondary.

We're also forgetting that WoW has all forms of scaling, where XIV lacks the amount of options that WoW provides. You still have the opportunity to go 1-shot blast stuff, use limited kits, use full kits in lower level areas, party/dungeon/zone sync for best exp. It's just providing more and wider options. You know. Fun.

You're assuming that what you find fun is what everyone else finds fun.

It simply is not true. Different players find different things fun. That's why there are a variety of games in existence. If everyone found the same things fun, there would only be a single game to play that would satisfy everyone.

As others have said, if you are not finding this game to be fun then why are you here? Many of us find this game fun. That's why we're here. Changing the game to please you takes the game away form those of us who enjoy what it is. And that's how games fail - thinking they must change just to lose all the players who had been enjoying the game without bringing in new players to replace them.

Look at what happened to Star Wars: Galaxies if you want a good lesson in why game developers do not want to radically change their game's design.

Because people are different. And it's fun for me. The only reason why people want it over with as fast as possible -is- because it's so unengaging, if you ask me. If I were engaged I wouldn't be counting the seconds till it's over.

And so you're given PF as a way to form minimum ilvl groups.

I'd disagree that people only want it over with as fast as possible because the content isn't engaging. If they were after engaging content, they go other routes to get it.

What they're really after is the reward. If you get the same reward whether it takes 10 minutes or 30 minutes, they're going to want to get it in 10 minutes so they can move onto the next piece of content with another reward as fast as possible.

[flowerfairy]

-It's still not just a matter of potency. Tanks get extra defensive abilities. Healers get extra types of heal spells. You can't "potency-adjust" that Tank A has a 10% damage reduction, a 20% damage reduction, and an invulnerability while Tank B only has the 10% damage reduction (or that Tank A has a self-heal ability while Tank B does not). You can't "potency-adjust" that Healer A has an AoE heal and Benediction (full HP restore) while Healer B only has single-target heals and no Benediction.

This is an interesting thread to lurk but I think this point has been getting dodged a lot. How exactly would it work for healers and tanks? A tank wouldn't even be needed in lower dungeons (or a healer wouldn't even be needed if we're talking about WAR) and trials would be doing zero damage, like they do any kind of damage already. Recitation is strong, Bene is strong, % mits are strong, healer lvl 86 ST buffs are strong. Unless the potency of all my heals get squashed to equal a synced WHM's Cure (which would be annoying to accustom to every time I queue) or if enemies do more damage (which would be annoying in situations where the only sprout is the tank) I wonder how would it balance...

Then shift skills around on jobs that suffer at low levels, there is no reason they shouldn't of done this already

I'm a bigger fan of this, more jobs getting their core kits earlier in the leveling process. For example, endgame WHM is super dependent on lilies and the entire thing that makes them work (Misery) doesn't come in until ShB.

[R041]

You're assuming that what you find fun is what everyone else finds fun.

It simply is not true. Different players find different things fun. That's why there are a variety of games in existence. If everyone found the same things fun, there would only be a single game to play that would satisfy everyone.

Look at what happened to Star Wars: Galaxies if you want a good lesson in why game developers do not want to radically change their game's design.

That's why I said more variety and opportunity = more fun. It was literally in the response you replied to. How could you not get that?

And SWG didn't fail because it changed. It failed because the changes they made in CU and NGE became too restricted to linear formula, it actually did what XIV is doing now. They tried to narrow everything down and choke how players played the base game by forcing playstyles and rewards when it was originally supposed to be a Sandbox game. It's funny you bring that specific incident up forgetting XIV had more sandbox base gameplay than today. lol

I left SWG because my BH 'spec' turned into a linear class and they continued to just remove core systems. They did an ARR, but reduced everything to the most common denominator. It turned into basically what XIV is now. History lesson maybe? https://youtu.be/N33z6Wjicyk

WoW has been working on expanding opportunity with different forms of sync and skill trees, while XIV has been restricting them over time.

People tell us to find a different game, but don't bother to understand that we played XIV because it wasn't restricted and was relatively open ended to begin with. It wasn't until the past couple of expacs that we've been getting choked down further into pre-determined formula - When all we want is more opportunities that aren't just minigames.

Telling us to play BLU is a good example of this, it's a fun and expansive class, but it's a walled garden, just like all of the other systems we've been getting. Meanwhile the core gameplay is getting choked down further.