FFXIV needs to stop accommodating Solo Players

[Merrigan]

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.

Bots are yet another problem. I wasn't a fan of the ranks system either; but I did like the fact that they forced us to pool our individual efforts, and that's the direction I'd like to see them take more often. Overall, this seems to me to be a direction that satisfies both the "multiplayer at all costs" community and those who want to play a completely single-player game (a community that may, incidentally, ignore this type of event).

[Merrigan]

As I already said in a previous reply, MMO only means, that there are more people online player the game. It's not a written law, that because of that, we need to interact with those people. So your argument is invalid.

And... Meh. Well, technically, you're right. But it sounds a bit like a player who buys a c-rpg and complains about the fact that there are dice rolls. Technically, he has the right to complain; but common sense says he should have expected it, because these are games inspired by tabletop role-playing... So dice rolls are implicit.

From the moment "multiplayer" is proclaimed in the game's name, it's implicitly expected to be a game mechanic in its own right. And that there should be some form of interaction with other players.

[IDontPetLalas]

And... Meh. Well, technically, you're right. But it sounds a bit like a player who buys a c-rpg and complains about the fact that there are dice rolls. Technically, he has the right to complain; but common sense says he should have expected it, because these are games inspired by tabletop role-playing... So dice rolls are implicit.

From the moment "multiplayer" is proclaimed in the game's name, it's implicitly expected to be a game mechanic in its own right. And that there should be some form of interaction with other players.

I can understand the expectation that there is a degree of interaction. I can also understand why there is disappointment if an expansion seems to contain contains less interactive content because new solo content was introduced.

However that is very different from eliminating solo content, or insisting upon on a specific amount of interaction. That can vary between specific MMOs - that is exactly the "some form" that we're discussing, and which can be different in FFXIV in comparison to another game.

[Jojoya]

I do wish there were more incentives to communicate, interact with, and work alongside other players. That's what I enjoy most about MMOs.

The incentive would be that you want to because it's enjoyable to you.

Others may find it enjoyable to be in a game that's filled with other players giving it a living feeling that NPCs can't provide but at the same time prefer to go about doing things mostly by themselves.

Some days I want to be interacting with other players so I do that. Other days I'm not feeling up to random socialization so I stick to doing things with my friends. And then there are the days when I'm not up to socializing at all and I do what can be done solo. But I'm still going out and about into the cities and open world zones so I add to the feeling of a living world even if I'm not directly interacting.

[casi2161]

It depends on how people treat others. I have played MMO (Star Wars Galaxies and Wow being the first one) and the reason a lot of people are not interacting with people is that they are (1) Being yelled at because they are still learning (2) They are made to feel they are unwanted. Those are normally the ones I can understand why they don't want to interact and some are quiet and shy and it takes a bit for them to open up with others.

[GoldX18]

I play for the story. Once I'm done with the story, I put it down. Simple enough that taking steps to alienate that part of the playerbase will not bode well for the game. It's the ONLY reason I sub to play.

[Myrany]

I use PF never because for some reason the interface boggles me beyond belief and my one attempt to get help with a Blue mage spell years ago was an unmitigated disaster.

I do use Duty finder but sometimes I do face hours long queues (hello Dynamis) so I have been known to use Duty support if I can in that case. If I can't use Duty support then I will DC travel to get something done (3 hour wait for crystal tower...yeah I travelled)

By nature I am a solo player and love the things I can do alone the most. Doesn't mean I am adverse to doing dungeons and such with people. Just that I don't want to deal with people for everything.

[Mawlzy]

title

/10chars

Why? Many solo players love MMOs because they are socially anxious, and MMOs allow them to play a game while being part of a bustling world. Why would SE - a for-profit business - takes steps to turn away such customers?

[Supersnow845]

Why? Many solo players love MMOs because they are socially anxious, and MMOs allow them to play a game while being part of a bustling world. Why would SE - a for-profit business - takes steps to turn away such customers?

Because MMO’s are designed around cooperation, not “we all exist independently in the same world”

If you don’t want to interact with other players (spamming emotes in limsa doesn’t count) then an MMO isn’t really for you, that’s what a social sim is for

[ty_taurus]

Having an MMO feature solo-friendly content and story progression is a great thing as long as it doesn't come at the cost of multiplayer content. Because at the end of the day, the genre is literally called "Massively Multiplayer Online." Wanting an MMO to forgo multiplayer elements in favor of single player elements is literally nonsense.

Could you imagine if we applied this logic to any other genre? "Well a lot of turn-based RPG players love First Person Shooters because they like slower, strategic combat. That's why we need to stop making Call of Duty feature real-time combat, to appeal to the people who don't like First Person Shooters in our First Person Shooter."

Yeah, that would go over so well...