FFXIV needs to stop accommodating Solo Players

[TBerry]

Ooooh there are so many possibilities for that! Unfortunately, it'll never happen because the MMORPG community (as a whole, not just FF) has changed too much for us to go back. Too much focus on optimisation, high achievements, the end-game, and everything else that makes the modern MMORPG.

Star Wars Galaxies (Legends) offers a fine example of multiplayer in the crafting field. The secret is to limit the number of selling npcs and allow players to set up their own shops. From there, crafting and resource gathering become extremely rich aspects of the game, on which the whole community depends: without them, there would be no low-level equipment, no resources to build your own craft, no supplies for your house, etc. etc.

The introduction of NPC sellers is what completely destroyed the economic side of MMORPGs, which was one of the most pronounced multiplayer aspects at the very beginning of the genre.

This will lead to unneeded competition/passive aggressive PvP that leads to sabotage and toxicity. Something I wanted to get away from when I joined this game. To do my own thing and not have people breathe down my neck.

[Edit: 100th reply]

[george357]

as long as i pay my sub i will play the game i want to play yes i play group events but i also like to do solo content and not be told by some troll on how to play the game.

[strawberrycake]

I'll never understand why people are so afraid of "competition" and "toxicity" in a lot of these situations. For as much as I see people here, specifically here, go on about how much they do on their own and how much control they have, they act like the moment they step into any other aspect of the game that control stops. Like for every toxic person you may meet, you could have already kicked them and replaced them in a group you made for yourself in any form of multiplayer content.

Like I PF p regularly and I kick any over the top annoying person from my group and get a replacement within anywhere from 5-10 min. In any form of content implemented from here on out, you can make your own group and curate it to your own liking and keep the peace you already have. And while I don't think you need to get rid of solo play at all, acting like multiplayer content is filled with toxic people 24/7 is an extreme exaggeration, most of those people usually have their own discords now a days specifically playing within a group of people they feel match them. So the odds of this multiplayer in XIV specifically being overtly toxic? I'd have to say even with the occasional ignorant player, is pretty low.

[Merrigan]

This will lead to unneeded competition/passive aggressive PvP that leads to sabotage and toxicity. Something I wanted to get away from when I joined this game. To do my own thing and not have people breathe down my neck.

[Edit: 100th reply]

I'm sorry, but what? This has nothing to do with pvp.

[TBerry]

I'm sorry, but what? This has nothing to do with pvp.

Not literally PvP, more like, uh, people being little shits to each other for something that shouldn't be competitive at all.

[Merrigan]

Not literally PvP, more like, uh, people being little shits to each other for something that shouldn't be competitive at all.

I'm not sure I follow, really. There's no question of competition in the system described. It's not a competition, but a mutual aid system - you specialise in harvesting this resource, I specialise in harvesting that resource, I need you to buy it and that's that.

[Nighthawky2010]

You are so right. Even though I play roulettes, I basically play the game solo especially with the squadrons, trusts, & duty support. I can do WT solo unless i have a do a 24 man alliance or the newest 8 man raid.

[Jojoya]

I'll never understand why people are so afraid of "competition" and "toxicity" in a lot of these situations.

Games are played to have fun. Not everyone finds those things fun.

If I wanted competition and toxicity, I'd go play a PvP based game instead of a MMORPG that is mainly cooperative in nature.

[Merrigan]

Games are played to have fun. Not everyone finds those things fun.

If I wanted competition and toxicity, I'd go play a PvP based game instead of a MMORPG that is mainly cooperative in nature.

But then again, multiplayer doesn't have to be competitive. The Ishgard reconstruction project is already multiplayer. At the moment, the game is caught between two stools: it's not totally single-player, since you have to do instances, but it's not really multiplayer either, since this type of content is entirely optional. So, sure, it attracts more people, but the result is less than ideal.

[LianaThorne]

But then again, multiplayer doesn't have to be competitive. The Ishgard reconstruction project is already multiplayer. At the moment, the game is caught between two stools: it's not totally single-player, since you have to do instances, but it's not really multiplayer either, since this type of content is entirely optional. So, sure, it attracts more people, but the result is less than ideal.

Ishgard Restoration was also something that a lot of people didn't like because of what it entailed lol. It was basically just a competition for bots/early plugin users unless you dedicated extensive hours every day during the competitions to get a position (I was doing 14-16 hour days and only managed to get the final slot in the top 12 for LTW Saint without plugins). The collaborative nature of it was really only for buying and selling mats off gatherers to fuel the crafters lol. Otherwise it was just people focusing on crafting coupled with maybe a few random bards to try to provide entertainment.

I genuinely hope they never bring back Resto Rankings because it will be an entirely different story now with plugins that automatically solve crafts for you and ones that remove wait times with macros to pump them out even faster. Anyone who actually wants to try to participate as a vanilla player will literally have no chance. Those who do stand a chance will probably be getting even less sleep than last time.

The game should be competitive but absolutely not in that way with how loose they are with third-party now.