Players and the game design's mindset has become increasingly individualistic

[Mr_Gyactus]

Edit: And you know what? Seeing the BLM rip aggro and get shredded by the boss was hilarious and I'll die on that hill.

And this sums up the WoT, sadism.

[Aidorouge]

For every person that had this experience in XI, there is one who had an experience like mine, where people didn't want to help you level past the introductory areas, you get stuck in a loop of trying to form parties in the Dunes, being unable to level due to them not lasting long, and then repeat.

That was my experience, yes, made even worse because I was a Mithra and because stats were "so important" back then, I *had* to play Thief and nothing else ever. Suffice to say I didn't last long with FF11 after release, and ultimately moved to WoW because it was the "casual" MMO even back then compared to the likes of everything else that was out.

Now I don't even play WoW and haven't for years, partially because Blizzard is an absolute YIKES of a company, but also because so much of that game was spent having "roll regret" because they were always doing things to classes causing most of them to end up in the dumpster until the next expansion because they just couldn't stop themselves from trying to re-invent the wheel all of the time.

[LaylaTsarra]

I see this is the week of "back in my day...<insert_how_things_were_better>" posts

Hey it'll only get a lot better when Dawntrail hits! Just wait! This is the warm up.

[Rekh]

Trust system all the way to level cap was a mistake. I should've been ONLY for all expansions except the new one.

island sanctuary is another mistake. We need more player interaction, not less.

ffxvi is for those who don't want to see other people in their game.

Hey it'll only get a lot better when Dawntrail hits! Just wait! This is the warm up.

Don't worry, after msq and/or sidequests are done most people will bounce to other games.

[Valence]

What a miserable post lol. Member tank stance dance? Member kaiten? Member pulling aggro? I looked at the job actions back then and it was a simple game in comparison input-wise. It's like the illusion of difficulty. "But you had to pay attention to when you could actually do your rotation!" "But you had to switch off tank stance!"

Maybe you should look harder. Or... I don't know, maybe you should have actually played with it before looking like a fool there.

Co-dependent game design isn't really good in my opinion. People should be able to just focus on their own execution. I shouldn't have to micromanage someone else's performance to see what I am allowed to do.

I do have one genuine question then: why do you play online with random players?

In a game with a low bar for success and a high skill ceiling, it is what you make it. You choose the experience you complain about. The problem with modern gamers is they're often just doing something else and brainlessly getting by in the game they're playing. Whether it is watching netflix and botting out in game or watching a streamer while doing the same. You want an engaging experience? Play the game and try your best.

What happens when trying our best in content like Bozja and whatnot barely occupies half of our capabilities and turns into a mindless grind? Yeah, you grow bored and tend to do other things on the side, even if it harms the first activity in the process..

[HikariKurosawa]

Maybe you should look harder. Or... I don't know, maybe you should have actually played with it before looking like a fool there.

Explain what made job design harder back then if you can. From what I have seen and what I am reading in these posts, it was annoying busywork rather than deep mechanics.

I do have one genuine question then: why do you play online with random players?

Because it's more enjoyable than playing with bots? What even is this argument? I am only allowed to enjoy playing with others if my success in game is dependent on them knowing contrived game systems that don't come naturally? What a weird take. Try running a savage in party finder with a group that doesn't know what they're doing and see what happens. We're co-dependent enough as is. You can't just do your own job right and win. Do you even play this game?

What happens when trying our best in content like Bozja and whatnot barely occupies half of our capabilities and turns into a mindless grind? Yeah, you grow bored and tend to do other things on the side, even if it harms the first activity in the process..

Why are you doing so much bozja to begin with? Do it when it is fun, avoid it when it is a grind. There are so many activities in this game there is never an excuse for running content that makes you want to watch netflix on the side. If you complain about that, that's your own self-inflicted problem and not one with the game. It's not a reasonable complaint.

On top of that, there is more to engagement than just pressing buttons optimally. It's an mmoRPG. Have you tried immersing yourself in the fantasy of it? That's kinda the point after all and will never happen if you are doing something else on the side. I think tons of mmoRPG players are not actually into the whole fantasy aspect of roleplaying games. They play "roles" and don't care about the imagination, only the gameplay. Who could care about that demographic to begin with? You might as well be playing counter-strike.

[Kozh]

Good post OP.
With the introduction of Trust system and simplification of combat/gameplay, seems like the devs want to slowly convert this into a semi single-player MMORPG. Unless you go to EX and Savage Trials, we might as well play with bots now.

Also same, used to like tanking very much before ShB because of those enmity control, now the role is so braindead I might fall asleep mid fight. Not to mention the issue with self-sustain healing too *cough*WAR*cough*.

[Zadood]

I won't say the class design became more individualistic,
If anything,
The class design became less and less individualistic, which is evident by the awfully low amount of player skill expression. As player who main Class X will PROBABLY perform the same as another player who play the same class.

Player's role responsibility however,
their role didn't really become more nor less individualistic, just became different.

From "Do your best within what your own role can do to carry your team to victory"
to
"Do your best to follow step the of the best player of your role and victory will come to you naturally"

[xivYuiM]

All we have gained is a mediocre single player expirience.
The MMO part of this game is dead. The players are only in their ERP head space, there is no flavour or texture. You just go in a dungeon with 3 or more other players who are so robotic, they may as well be bots. The expirience is so much on rails that you start falling asleep not even half way through the first boss.
I used to like doing the daily roulettes and talking with other players. Now I can't even do more than 3 at a time cause I start falling asleep, and even then I need some sort of distraction like a YT video or music to even get through. No role is engaging enough after the 3rd run, no job is interesting after a few days of playing.
Everything is just boring. The most fun I had in game recently was when the tank got disconnected and the rest of us didn't notice, we got to the last boss by the time the tank returned. And it is sad.

100% spot on. I cannot emphasize how much I hate what dungeons have become since SB. Recently I decided to do level 90 roulette as paladin with my entire monitor covered in sheets of paper besides the minimap so I could vaguely navigate. I couldn't see my MP, HP, hotbars, cooldowns, character, enemies, anything. Not only did nobody die ever but my party members didn't even notice anything was wrong (or at least they didn't say anything about it). It was all "Hi" or "howdy" and "ggs" "tyfp" by the end.

[Mikey_R]

I won't say the class design became more individualistic,
If anything,
The class design became less and less individualistic, which is evident by the awfully low amount of player skill expression. As player who main Class X will PROBABLY perform the same as another player who play the same class.

Player's role responsibility however,
their role didn't really become more nor less individualistic, just became different.

From "Do your best within what your own role can do to carry your team to victory"
to
"Do your best to follow step the of the best player of your role and victory will come to you naturally"

I really don't see what you are trying to convey here. Jobs have always had an optimal rotation, so nothing has changed in that regard.