XIV's loot system is so alt-unfriendly it's absurd.

[ZiraZ]

I think tomestones being bottlenecked is fine, they should just unlock savage a lot sooner, like by month 1 of release savage, that way people that raid can get 660 quick on all their alts even if it has nonoptimal stats.
Allow a determined player to get full raid 660 in a single of raiding day after savage unlocks, that way you create more role options for PF instead of locking people into 1 role for months.
The last boss should also drop something extra to help gearing, right now there is really no reason to even run P12S other than the mount, maybe after the savage unlocks P12S drops a one-time-only box that gives you a FULL raid set to the job that opens it?
Why not? They give out welfare relics that only require roulettes, so give raiders easy gear too.

[CelestiCer]

I love how when the discussion is about making something easier or more realistic to grind out if someone wants to, the response is "but then people will leave because they'll get all their stuff and stop playing!" And somehow, at the same time, when the conversation is about returning a longer grind for something like the relic weapon, then the response suddenly changes to "but then no one will do it because no one wants to grind it!"

Make it make sense, people.

Almost as if both the Players and Square could care a little less if the game wasn't boring due to relying so heavily on content and content alone... As if there was something Gameplay-wise that could be done to give it more of a replay value then the braindead experience it currently gives... *hint hint-wink wink*

In all seriousness, I'm not a fan of time-gated features like Beast Tribes daily and Loot boxes while simultaneously not really caring enough as it doesn't affect me enough. When players want to grind / farm something? let them to their hearts content. It's just that it's usually made excessively boring... If they made Loot from Savage just be unlocked sooner? I don't think anyone would mind it or have the amount of loot dropped be more then it is now to reduce the time it takes for people to get BiS for whatever reason they believe they need or want BiS. Chest piece is already moved from 12S to 11S and no one objects.

The Loot lockout? almost feels purposefully designed for players to create alts and encourage players who want to Raid more beyond 1 lockout of 1 character to buy Boosts/MSQ Skips to keep Raiding for x reasons like (Re)progging, providing mercenary work for gil, helping friends/FC/static's outside their own group etc... Then again Square is obviously not out for money if we look at the Square Shop's overpriced statues and figurines, so maybe I am reaching... who knows.

[kayll]

The entirety of raid lock outs and tome lockouts are pointless when you realize gear in this game is the most pointless of any MMO.

Fights are clearable with crafted gear,and crafted gear is better than the previous raid tier gear.
Better you just realize this and stop caring about gear all together than try to get them to change from the norm because they are stubborn about making changes, and why would they if they can keep you hooked for more sub time by doing weekly lockouts.

[Striker44]

I love how when the discussion is about making something easier or more realistic to grind out if someone wants to, the response is "but then people will leave because they'll get all their stuff and stop playing!" And somehow, at the same time, when the conversation is about returning a longer grind for something like the relic weapon, then the response suddenly changes to "but then no one will do it because no one wants to grind it!"

Make it make sense, people.

It makes perfect sense. The key is that your two examples are dealing with two completely different groups of people. The people in the first instance (getting BiS on a slew of different jobs) are primarily your "hardcore" gamers who are interested in only one very specific sliver of the content in FFXIV. They'll get their gear, complete the only thing they want to do, and then leave.

The people in the second instance (getting the relic weapons) are a much broader audience composed primarily of more casual gamers with a combination of less time and more varied interests. Make a specific part of that content feel unrewarding because of how absurdly long the grind is, and they'll spend their time doing the slew of other content instead where they feel they're making progress and accomplishing things.

Yeah, that shows the games core is the problem and not the alt unfriendlyness lol. XIV at it's core is just not maintained well.

No, it just shows that one very specific group of people with very limited interests would create an issue. FFXIV at it's core has a ton of content that a wide variety of players are doing and which is maintained quite fine.

[LilimoLimomo]

Personally, I don't have a problem with the rate of acquiring gear for different jobs; I actually think it's fun to decide which jobs I'm going to prioritize every patch, based on a combination of what I'm enjoying playing and the aesthetics of the new gear.

The only thing I'd like to see changed is something that makes it easier to have different glams that share the same gear, because there aren't enough glamour plates for every job. I'd even be happy earning the same caster gear multiple times so each job could have their own distinct duplicate gear and thus their own glam; CBU3 just needs to remove the Unique label from high-end gear.

[strawberrycake]

No, it just shows that one very specific group of people with very limited interests would create an issue. FFXIV at it's core has a ton of content that a wide variety of players are doing and which is maintained quite fine.

I have done Ultimates, Savage, Crafting, RP, Unreal, Ex, Island Sanctuary, Relics, Diadem 1.0 and 2.0, Housing, Gardening, All of the Gold Saucer, and I have started my own my own FC and helped manage several. Completed most of this since I started playing back in ARR btw, and this game is p lack luster as of This Expansion.

I'm here to tell you thats cap and the core of the game is failing my guy. Like I could name more but it's all so bare bones and in so much need of an update.

Edit : I can also look in several Discord servers I frequent and my own personal one and they're filled with RPers who help people clear ultimates and savage, actively participate in the housing scene, and just generally are tired of the current state of XIV. So REALLY stop the cap, and come out of your own bubble.

[CelestiCer]

No, it just shows that one very specific group of people with very limited interests would create an issue. FFXIV at it's core has a ton of content that a wide variety of players are doing and which is maintained quite fine.

Quite the crude overgeneralization...

While the specific group of players you describe do exist... once you explore Party-Finder on a quite daily basis for a very long time ( who would subjugate themselves to that amirite... ), Join multiple different groups, and Join multiple Discord-servers? You'll realize that the vast Player-Base is much more diverse often with mixed interests even when they do Raid or Not. You'd be surprised how many players just want to clear High-End/Extreme/Savage-content, farm mounts and glamours, doing it with friends and/or just for the fun of it, self-improvement or a sense of achievement to challenge themselves.

XIV at its core is the problem. Aside from the Content just by and large lacking substance with an overused formula for many features... Why is Square making XIV in such a manner that creates a desire for Alts to be created partially due to Lockout-Loot? that sounds like a Game issue. We're not even at the topic of Alt's being created to manage Solo FC's for Submarines or multiple Alts purely created to outbid plots on (about to be) newly released Housing Wards because Square doesn't limit Housing bidding done per account, mhm...

[Hanayumi]

A better thing they can do its just limit 1 character per world. Why have alts at all, the core of this game revolves around being able to everything on a single character? Sounds more it'd fix more things than harm.

[dspguy]

People want to have their cake and eat it too. Think about how raiding works in this game.

You pick when you want to raid.
No world contested spawns.
You don't lose experience.
You don't really lose gil (food stays with you, repairs are minor).
Gear drops every time, a set number.
You get tokens to pick what you want if your luck is bad.
You only need 7 other players.
You don't need to farm other enemies to "spawn" the raid boss.

As opposed to:
Raid times set by when enemies spawn.
Having to rush there along with hundreds of other players.
Losing experience when you die.
Sometimes raid mobs don't drop the "full drop" just maybe 1 piece.
No tokens for "participating"
Needing a dozen or more players
Spending days/weeks farming lesser bosses to spawn the "raid boss."
Dying to the raid boss just to wind up not getting any drops at all since you only get one shot.

The list goes on and on. The point is, while the raid content may be different, the environment is designed for casuals. Given that, just do it weekly like nearly every other bit of content in this game.

If anything, if raids could be repeated weekly for unlimited drops, it would go against the precedent the game has followed for 10 years.

[Astrus]

A better thing they can do its just limit 1 character per world. Why have alts at all, the core of this game revolves around being able to everything on a single character? Sounds more it'd fix more things than harm.

We had that with the starter subscription before they changed it. You either opted for one character per server and a cheaper sub or paid premium for more character slots on the same server (unless it's one of the perpetually locked servers where you can't create more characters even if you already have one there...) then they changed it for reasons I'm not sure about.
Anyways, while most people can do completely fine with a single character and the game's alt-unfriendliness is kind of pushing people with only a passing interest in alts in that direction there's reasons to have more than one character per server like

• dedicated RP alts (different personas or NPCs)
• clearing more than one lockout per week (and)
• gearing multiple roles simultaneously
• just having something different to look at every now and then without investing heavily into Fantasias
• simply having a character to do something "off the grid" for those with larger followings