Thoughts on the Yoshi P AMA?

[GoatOfWar]

That's a whole lot of nothing i guess. No gameplay is mentioned at all.

[Iscah]

That's a whole lot of nothing i guess. No gameplay is mentioned at all.

As I said to Sebazy – does the average player care enough about the details of gameplay to make that the one burning question they will ask about? I suspect it is not. Certainly it would be low down the list of things I would think of to ask.

[Sebazy]

As I said to Sebazy – does the average player care enough about the details of gameplay to make that the one burning question they will ask about? I suspect it is not. Certainly it would be low down the list of things I would think of to ask.

That would depend if you consider an experienced, competent healer main that understands the game's systems to a decent level an 'average player'. Sadly the role is so shallow at this point that I suspect the 'average player' doesn't go down the rabbit hole far enough to realise just how bad a state it's in right now.

And yes, I imagine it's low down on your list because you've not gotten to the point of realising it's an issue yet (Even though you have experienced it).

[Iscah]

That would depend if you consider an experienced, competent healer main that understands the game's systems to a decent level an 'average player'. Sadly the role is so shallow at this point that I suspect the 'average player' doesn't go down the rabbit hole far enough to realise just how bad a state it's in right now.

And yes, I imagine it's low down on your list because you've not gotten to the point of realising it's an issue yet (Even though you have experienced it).

That's my point. The number of people who care is a minority, and therefore the chances of one being present (and choosing to ask the question) is low.

People simply do not collectively care about it as much as you think they should.

And no, I have not "not gotten to the point of realising it's an issue". It is simply not an issue for me, and may or may not ever become one. It is only an issue to people who take issue with it.

[Sebazy]

People simply do not collectively care about it as much as you think they should.

And no, I have not "not gotten to the point of realising it's an issue". It is simply not an issue for me, and may or may not ever become one. It is only an issue to people who take issue with it.

My suspicion is that when they get to the point where they realise that the role is a burning dumpster and simply walk or switch role. Those that stick around and persevere are a pretty wild minority at this point IMO, I'm not going to deny that.

IMO it's a question that's progressively going to get more and more important as the steady influx of new players starts to dry up. Seemingly that's not an issue just yet, but that point comes for every MMO eventually and as it stands I don't think Yoshida will have an answer.

[Caro178]

My suspicion is that when they get to the point where they realise that the role is a burning dumpster and simply walk or switch role. Those that stick around and persevere are a pretty wild minority at this point IMO, I'm not going to deny that.

IMO it's a question that's progressively going to get more and more important as the steady influx of new players starts to dry up. Seemingly that's not an issue just yet, but that point comes for every MMO eventually and as it stands I don't think Yoshida will have an answer.

Your average person who rolled dps or tank as their first job tends to be more of the persuasion that healers are intimidating due to potential wipe causing factors and increased visibility of mistakes. I've had that exact conversation with sprouts and even players at endgame who refuse to touch healers because they believe due to either word of mouth or past experiences that it's an intimidating role where your mistakes can lead to your party failing to clear a boss and having to restart which to them is a mortifying possibility. Statistically healer has also been the least played role at endgame from the beginning before and after the supposed guttings. That has never not been the case so your theory that people quit healer due to simplification doesn't hold much weight. The role is no less popular now than it was in the past - the stats are about the same as ever.

TLDR it's true that your average player doesn't care as much as you might think because they believe healer jobs are intimidating anyway. Overall it does not surprise me to see this entirely ignored when they could ask about Viera/Hrothgar headgear or glamour plates.

[Iscah]

TLDR it's true that your average player doesn't care as much as you might think because they believe healer jobs are intimidating anyway.

I think that's quite possible, although another factor that might lead to low healer numbers is the tendency for "adventurer in need" icons to display tank most frequently (even when actually queuing might reveal a queue for tanks and an instant pop for healers) leading to the general mindset that tank is the job that will get you into duties faster. And of course DPS is both naturally popular and comes in more flavours.

If anything, the simplification of healers is probably the devs trying to balance out these factors and get more people playing the role.

[GoatOfWar]

As I said to Sebazy – does the average player care enough about the details of gameplay to make that the one burning question they will ask about? I suspect it is not. Certainly it would be low down the list of things I would think of to ask.

Gameplay ranks low in a videogame? That's enough FF forums for today.

[MisterNublet]

Gameplay ranks low in a videogame? That's enough FF forums for today.

Any other game the community would light a fire under the dev's arses for such abysmal and boring gameplay.

[Saraide]

Gameplay ranks low in a videogame? That's enough FF forums for today.

MMO fans are far more concerned with rewards and treadmills than they are with gameplay. That's why the genre is bad.