Why is endgame loot capped?

[SillyCrow]

I don't think SE wants the situation to change short term. Because it retains subs while keeping investment at the same level. From a corporate level it makes no sense to shake things up. They'll respond if the sub counts are affected negatively, however.

[MementoKoishi]

Do people who makes these complaints only play FF14?

Unlike other games, I pay 10.99€ per month for ffxiv, and it has less replayability than other f2p games like league or pay once games like minecraft. If you believe it's acceptable for a game that requires subscription to have content that can be cleared in 1 day and raids that can be done in 1 week for hardcore statics and 4 weeks for the rest, then I think you are lying or just a fanatic who can't accept criticism. Doing all the MSQ from ARR to Endwalker is a good experience and I don't regret anything, but it could be just as easily turned into a single player Final Fantasy entry and almost nothing would change, people forget this is supposed to be a mmorpg. The only reason I haven't cancelled my sub is that I own a house and have to raid with my static every week.

[Ransu]

Unlike other games, I pay 10.99€ per month for ffxiv, and it has less replayability than other f2p games like league or pay once games like minecraft. If you believe it's acceptable for a game that requires subscription to have content that can be cleared in 1 day and raids that can be done in 1 week for hardcore statics and 4 weeks for the rest, then I think you are lying or just a fanatic who can't accept criticism. Doing all the MSQ from ARR to Endwalker is a good experience and I don't regret anything, but it could be just as easily turned into a single player Final Fantasy entry and almost nothing would change, people forget this is supposed to be a mmorpg. The only reason I haven't cancelled my sub is that I own a house and have to raid with my static every week.

Oh no, $11 a month... the horror. You have to work for 30 minutes to pay for that month of play time. THE HORROR!

[Raven2014]

The only reason I haven't cancelled my sub is that I own a house and have to raid with my static every week.

So ... you pay 10.99 Europe a month to turn a game into a job?

[MementoKoishi]

Oh no, $11 a month... the horror. You have to work for 30 minutes to pay for that month of play time. THE HORROR!

Europe doesn't have 1 single economy like the US, countries in the Balkans that have average wage around 400-600€ per month pay the same price as people in Germany and the UK with wages at 2000€+ per month. You assume everyone has 11€ to throw away each month like you.
Inb4 "gaming is a luxury you aren't entitled to it".

So ... you pay 10.99 Europe a month to turn a game into a job?

If there was a better game out there, trust me I wouldn't be here, but sadly the mmo market is filled either with korean bloatware or garbage like wow. It also happens that my friends are in the static, and we like hanging out and doing current content. I still didn't see you justify the price tag for the amount of content we get though. The story is worth the price you paid for the expansion, but the rest? Active sub to raid once in a while? Maybe you are like the guy above who just has 20 subs running at the same time and using them once in a blue moon.

[magitekLuna]

I'm a new player and I see a lot of content creators discussing the gearing system and its problems, but It only makes me question "Why is the loot capped?"

I mean, in other MMOs you just farm the encounter until you get your full set, and here it takes weeks for no reason at all. We don't have any reason to do savage content multiple times a week, for example, or to farm Alliance Raids.

I keep hearing that Criterion and Alliance should give raid equivalent gear, and that's a good solution, but no one addresses the problem of loot cap.

With that being said, I'm still a (very) new player, so I'm curious to see what you guys have to say about it, because there must be a reason for no one to say anything about the loot lock and keep searching for a myriad of different solutions.

so you will be forced to play longer. if we be real even the best raids in this game are one time done and forget thing. the loot is why you will run it more. so let force the loot to last longer.

[magitekLuna]

Gear and tomestone caps exist because without them people would run a hundred dungeons and a dozen raids in the first week and then spend the next 4-8 months complaining about how there's nothing to do.

so the fix is let people do all the can in one day and have nothing for the rest of the weak?
as there nothing to do in the locked system

[Raven2014]

I still didn't see you justify the price tag for the amount of content we get though.

I justify it by seeing I can sometime pay 50$-60$ for a new game that I played for a weekend and never come back to it. Then I looked at how much a pay a month for FF14 and see how many hours it gave me, the cost is well justified.


The funny part is, I used to think subscription MMO is not worth it as a whole. I used to be strictly a SP player and looked at MMO gerne with unmasked disdiance. To a point I would "preach" to anyone who playing MMO that they're wasting their money because after just a few months sub you can just buy a new game instead of "rehashing old content". Until one day, a classmate explained this to me (and I really went hard on him, 'cause he was super busy who don't have that much time to play to begin with):

- He compared it to a trip to the theater.
- After ticket + food + drink + parking, it's usually a $30-$40 outing.
- That's a 3-4h worth of entertainment.

So to him, paying $15 a month, and even if he only got to play a few hours over the weekend, MMO is still "cheap" and worthwhile, as long as it entertain him.

And that's I think the point people on your side keep missing with these question, you're trying to bring up the question as if it's a black&white that can be measure with some kind of fix metric. It's entertainment, you pay for what please you. If the cost ratio is that much of a concern, does that mean all F2P games are good deal? Why is it I'm paying $15 a month to play a game while I can play some other F2P for free?

The answer is simple: this $15 a month bring me joy, the other game do not. I find the game worth paying because it's worth playing, that's all there is to it, what other justification do I even need?

- I paid 60$ for the Witcher 3 and beat it in 80h, never went back.
- I paid 60$ for TotalWar 3 Kingdom: I currently have 1000+ hours on it, and that number keeps going up.

But if you ask me do I regret buying the former? I have none, because they both pleased me in their own way.

[Ivtrix]

Savage loot should be unlocked either on ultimate release or shortly before

There is no reason why savage loot should be capped for so long

[Jojoya]

Unlike other games, I pay 10.99€ per month for ffxiv, and it has less replayability than other f2p games like league or pay once games like minecraft. If you believe it's acceptable for a game that requires subscription to have content that can be cleared in 1 day and raids that can be done in 1 week for hardcore statics and 4 weeks for the rest, then I think you are lying or just a fanatic who can't accept criticism. Doing all the MSQ from ARR to Endwalker is a good experience and I don't regret anything, but it could be just as easily turned into a single player Final Fantasy entry and almost nothing would change, people forget this is supposed to be a mmorpg. The only reason I haven't cancelled my sub is that I own a house and have to raid with my static every week.

I replay through content here frequently because I enjoy it. I don't have a problem with the subscription fee.

Trying to compare a subscription MMORPG to a F2P MOBA is pointless. They're different game types with different revenue models and different development needs. Not to mention F2P doesn't mean they're not making money. LoL made about $1.75 billion in 2020. FFXIV made about $500 million that same year.

FFXIV is a MMORPG. It is a massively multi-player online game. Players are assuming a role within the game, in this case the Warrior of Light.

Are you're trying to narrowly define what makes something a MMORPG? There's actually a broad variety of content that can be included in a MMORPG and the absence of one of those things does not keep it from being a MMORPG. A MMORPG doesn't even have to include combat content, even if that's been a staple in most of the games of the genre.

Players would absolutely notice the difference if SE converted it into a single player game because all those others they're used to seeing around would disappear.

Criticism is fine when it is based around what the game offers instead of what you think it should be offering, and when it is constructive in nature. "This game sucks!" isn't useful as criticism. "There's no content!" isn't even criticism, it's objectively false. And that's mostly what we've been getting here in the forum lately as players have the mid-expansion doldrums catch up with them. It's a normal cycle. Every MMORPG sees it happen. It doesn't always affect the same players.

As a personal guess (I definitely could be wrong), I think a lot of the current reaction is because we're coming down off the high from the culmination of Hydaelyn/Zodiark story but for the first time since ARR, the x.3 patch does not have a finale/epilogue of major importance.

3.3 - Final Steps of Faith, the finale to the Dragonsong War.

4.3 - Castrum Fluminis - an epilogue to the Far East portion of Stormblood.

5.3 - Seat of Sacrifice - the finale to the Unsundered Ascian story.

6.3 - Mount Ordeals - checkbox on the list of things to do to reach

Azdaja?

The patch doesn't seem that great because what's happening lacks the gravity of the corresponding patches in the other expansions. Quantity wise, we are getting pretty much the same amount of content but the type is differing slightly. We were warned all the way back at the Announcement Showcase to expect it. Things we would be doing would still be important but lacking the "save the world" gravity. Our characters are not needed to be the WoL at the moment. We're back to being a common, though very experienced, adventurer for a while.

Maybe that's a rough change for some to accept on an emotional level and so that's why they're feeling less than satisfied.

Only you know how you feel. Think back to 3.3, 4.3, and 5.3. How did you feel then and how does that compare to how you feel now. What has made the difference?

If you feel like it's really just the encounter quality that's off, I can understand that. For MSQ, Mount Ordeals feels like a cake walk after doing Storm's Crown. The developers are human. Sometimes they're going to miss the mark. But that also doesn't mean the game is doomed because they're going to continue to miss the mark in the future.

If there was a better game out there, trust me I wouldn't be here, but sadly the mmo market is filled either with korean bloatware or garbage like wow. It also happens that my friends are in the static, and we like hanging out and doing current content. I still didn't see you justify the price tag for the amount of content we get though. The story is worth the price you paid for the expansion, but the rest? Active sub to raid once in a while? Maybe you are like the guy above who just has 20 subs running at the same time and using them once in a blue moon.

The subscription price is for access to the game servers for as much of the month as you want (outside of maintenance downtime). It's not for the content.

If you feel like you're not getting your money's worth, then unsub until you think you will.

But what you might want to do is add up how many hours you play a month then divide your subscription cost by those hours. Then compare that to other services that you pay a monthly or hourly fee to access and the amount you use those things. Is the value really that bad in comparison?