DT WoL Updates: Players want the diversity of features we once had

[Zadood]

Clearly talking about the general forum reading population, not about any DEVs.

The DEVs are JAPANESE. They will not waste their time frequenting random complaint threads in a forum that is catered to a foreign language.

IF (and I stress the IF here) we are lucky, there are community representatives that give them the occasional summary about how EN players feel. Ultra minor stuff like "I dislike my new lip shape" from a handful of dissatisfied individuals won't even make a blip on their radar, I'm afraid.

If there were a massive outcry, including among JP players, we might have a chance to change the DEV's minds (that would/has have happened during the Benchmark state though).

Not trying to shut anyone down but people need to be realistic in terms of what they can achieve with venting their frustrations on a forum.

Here's the thing though, there are numerous source has supported the claim that "JP forum users complaining about CS3/Dev ignored JP players and are active listening to NON-JP players."

Which is safe to assume that there are FFXIV changes that is disliked by JP players but well-liked by Non-JP players.

From what I observe, it seems that having numerous androgynous hair and gear design MIGHT has somewhat upsetted the JP players, while it's was somewhat well received in Non-JP players.

It seems to me that Pictomancer Job gear gender disparity is more like CS3 attempt to appease the JP players base, as there is no JP player complained about Pictomancer Job gear gender disparityat all.

[Granyala]

Which is safe to assume that there are FFXIV changes that is disliked by JP players but well-liked by Non-JP players.

Oh absolutely.
It is a balancing act when you design one game for a global community.

I just don't think that the DEVs read random complaint threads in the "general English" section.
If you want to reach them... honestly, outside of the dedicated feedback forum, I have no idea how to ensure that they see anything from a normal player.

JP or otherwise, although I could imagine that it is more likely that some of them follow the JP forum, since it is their native language.

[Rekh]

Oh absolutely.
It is a balancing act when you design one game for a global community.

I just don't think that the DEVs read random complaint threads in the "general English" section.
If you want to reach them... honestly, outside of the dedicated feedback forum, I have no idea how to ensure that they see anything from a normal player.

JP or otherwise, although I could imagine that it is more likely that some of them follow the JP forum, since it is their native language.

That's the problem right there; I highly doubt they have enough "western" staff to go through feedback and much less translators to translate them into japanese at a fast pace. Multi million/billion companies like to not hire and then wonder why revenue was down 10%-20% year over year.

[Caesius]

Oh absolutely.
If you want to reach them... honestly, outside of the dedicated feedback forum, I have no idea how to ensure that they see anything from a normal player.

There is no dedicated feedback forum for game features.

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/forums/663-Feedback

You can't post in the top level of the forum, and the three subforums are obviously unrelated to the game. There is a forum for posting bug reports, but since "my WoL looks different" is within the bounds of what they said would happen with this update, it would not be a bug. We could try our luck posting reports pointing out everything that changed but that would just get them moved to "Not a bug report." I've seen people suggest running complaints through Google Translate and posting them to the JP bugs section and it honestly reads like satire.

Speaking of, I've heard it both ways whether or not the devs consider feedback from non-JP sources. But I don't speak Japanese and I'm not going to run everything I say through a translator knowing full well it'll come out unintelligible.

Also, it's clear that they listen to feedback from somewhere, although frankly it's most likely just a roll of the dice that they see specific posts show up in their Twitter feeds. Like, how the hell did they catch wind that people with hole-phobia would get the heebie jeebies from the SGE icon??

Anyway, I'm under no illusions as to whether this thread will be seen by devs, which is why I'm not addressing the devs but the forums as a whole. I made this thread because it's become clear that too many people are taking the wrong approach by simply posting about how their WoL changed.

If we want our WoL's unique features back, we need to propose solutions, and the only feasible solution at this stage is to introduce more customization options.

I want to see the theme of criticism shift from "revert my WoL" to "add new customization options" because frankly the former is just not gonna happen. Criticizing the changes without offering a workable solution is as good as just whinging. So again, I don't think the devs will see this thread or even get a summary. My hope is that someone who sees it will learn from it and post something on Twitter that a dev then notices.

[Granyala]

If we want our WoL's unique features back, we need to propose solutions, and the only feasible solution at this stage is to introduce more customization options.

Would be nice but peeps have been clamoring for more customization option (especially Au Ra in terms of Horn / Face shapes) for what now? close to 10 years?

I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. DEV resources are probably bound upgrading current item stock for quite a while.

Totally agreed on the machine translated posts. Do not do this. If you've ever played a machine translated JP visual novel .... you know why. :'D

[Caesius]

Would be nice but peeps have been clamoring for more customization option (especially Au Ra in terms of Horn / Face shapes) for what now? close to 10 years?

I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. DEV resources are probably bound upgrading current item stock for quite a while.

My hope is that the graphics update was implemented in a way that will make it easier for them to add new customization options in the future. If this is the case then it's already on their plate anyway, but we need to make it clear to them that what we want are unique features that add character, especially those that were present before but now lost.

And frankly "more customization options" is now no longer a feature request but something they owe the player base given the gap between what they said and what we got. They spent like 10 minutes at Fanfest talking about how they put extreme effort into making sure exactly one pixel on Lala faces looks exactly right, then the expac drops and it's clear that many unique and defining features -- some notable, some subtle -- were wiped out, whether by necessity or carelessness.