The Great FFXIV Exodus of 2024

[JimCasey_RF6]

I like this game better with less players because then there's more room for me.

[Hycinthus]

Just returned after 4+ months break, to try and finish DT MSQ. (I took a break shortly after DT released because I was really not feeling it and could just not slog through it).

Fell asleep twice during MSQ with controller in hand. I'm still in Tuliyollal.

My goal this weekend is to make it out of Tuliyollal at least and arrive at Urqopacha. But at this rate, if I couldn't, I may just take another break. It doesn't help the city is a ghost town now.

[miraidensetsu]

I don't know if it's my server (Behemoth on Primal), but it feels kinda empty.

Datacenter visit can be the reason, but seeing Limsa without any bard playing song, anyone chatting and no one even moving to/from aetherite, while you clearly can see the floor pattern and I have no framerate drop due to the number of characters is kinda sad.

[Kohashi]

End game this time around was the worst it has been possibly ever. This is the easiest savage has ever been but it also has been the worst in terms of progression for the less dedicated. The same thing kind of comes across with the latest EX trial with the meteor drops and the ice bridges. From what I have been able to figure out, people have been jumping into groups that are farther than their established prog points since they either can't find enough people to prog at the point they are at or don't know what prog point they are at. That issue of finding people at the right prog point cut both ways which doesn't help things.

Additionally, we lost the ability to gather on Aether from other world servers, which has changed the culture of the servers again. Primal is a dumpster fire for PF progging now...

I think people jumping into groups without being consistent on previous mechanics or only seeing that mechanic from the floor, is something I have always encountered, ever since I started raiding.

I also feel that the "elevator" in the new EX is so damn buggy sometimes and also the fight overall has a really awkward pace sometimes.

I am not sure I 100% agree that this is the easiest tier yet. Is it really easier than Asphodelos? It doesn't really feel that way.
M1s is slightly harder than P1s,
M2s is also a bit harder than P2s.
P3s (I haven't progged it cause I valued my eyes more),
then P4s is easier than M4s for the first phase and then maybe P4s in the second phase is slightly more difficult, tho' I have to say those cannons are annoying as hell. But then again, it's just how I felt and how fast I could understand and learn the mechanics.

[Hyperia]

End game this time around was the worst it has been possibly ever. This is the easiest savage has ever been but it also has been the worst in terms of progression for the less dedicated. The same thing kind of comes across with the latest EX trial with the meteor drops and the ice bridges. From what I have been able to figure out, people have been jumping into groups that are farther than their established prog points since they either can't find enough people to prog at the point they are at or don't know what prog point they are at. That issue of finding people at the right prog point cut both ways which doesn't help things.

Additionally, we lost the ability to gather on Aether from other world servers, which has changed the culture of the servers again. Primal is a dumpster fire for PF progging now...

Endgame being so easy is because they screwed up with picto and it was massively OP. Per SE standard procedure, they try not to nerf a job but elevate others to the same level. Thus, all off the timing and balancing did the raids got totally destroyed.

[Colt47]

I think people jumping into groups without being consistent on previous mechanics or only seeing that mechanic from the floor, is something I have always encountered, ever since I started raiding.

I also feel that the "elevator" in the new EX is so damn buggy sometimes and also the fight overall has a really awkward pace sometimes.

I am not sure I 100% agree that this is the easiest tier yet. Is it really easier than Asphodelos? It doesn't really feel that way.
M1s is slightly harder than P1s,
M2s is also a bit harder than P2s.
P3s (I haven't progged it cause I valued my eyes more),
then P4s is easier than M4s for the first phase and then maybe P4s in the second phase is slightly more difficult, tho' I have to say those cannons are annoying as hell. But then again, it's just how I felt and how fast I could understand and learn the mechanics.

It's easier than it has been in the past few years and probably around the difficulty of p1s-p4s. However, the issue is NOT the difficulty of the content, the problem is the cultural issues involving the content that become a lot more readily apparent in these easier tiers. Savage isn't really a place where personal experience and knowledge win: It is a place where the groups overall knowledge and cohesion are what win. Fights take longer to clear then they should because of an overall strong sense of individualism in a scenario where teamwork is what wins or loses.

[TheDustyOne]

Endgame being so easy is because they screwed up with picto and it was massively OP. Per SE standard procedure, they try not to nerf a job but elevate others to the same level. Thus, all off the timing and balancing did the raids got totally destroyed.

This is something I massively dislike with Squares attitude towards balancing; they have no idea how bad their power creep is with their insistence of buffing weaker jobs over nerfing powerful jobs. If they balanced a raid to require X amount of DPS, then that should be the baseline and powerful jobs should be nerfed to that level, while weaker jobs should be buffed to that level, rather than putting everything towards that overpowered job. There's more involved than just a required DPS of course (job utility vs selfish DPS vs raid DPS, etc.) but at least balancing towards how much a raid should require is a better standard than buffing everything towards the overtuned job.

[Rolder50]

This is something I massively dislike with Squares attitude towards balancing; they have no idea how bad their power creep is with their insistence of buffing weaker jobs over nerfing powerful jobs. If they balanced a raid to require X amount of DPS, then that should be the baseline and powerful jobs should be nerfed to that level, while weaker jobs should be buffed to that level, rather than putting everything towards that overpowered job. There's more involved than just a required DPS of course (job utility vs selfish DPS vs raid DPS, etc.) but at least balancing towards how much a raid should require is a better standard than buffing everything towards the overtuned job.

The presence of balancing issues is also hilarious when you consider how few levers there even are in the design. Rotations are rigid, gear is simple, there is zero variation between individuals with things like talents etc, and they still can't balance.

[Kohashi]

It's easier than it has been in the past few years and probably around the difficulty of p1s-p4s. However, the issue is NOT the difficulty of the content, the problem is the cultural issues involving the content that become a lot more readily apparent in these easier tiers. Savage isn't really a place where personal experience and knowledge win: It is a place where the groups overall knowledge and cohesion are what win. Fights take longer to clear then they should because of an overall strong sense of individualism in a scenario where teamwork is what wins or loses.

Wait, I don't get it, you talk about this tier being easiest, but it's also roughly the same as the starting tier of Pandemonium but also it's not about the actual difficulty? What is even the point that you are trying to make here in the first place because it gravely eludes me now.

Regarding difficulty, I think it's fine for a starting tier. The mechanics and the concept of the tier were nice, the story was great, it was fun to prog, the music was top tier, and the enrages were awesomely designed.

As for personal knowledge, I still think it counts, and an outstanding player can really carry a bad group. The bottom line and what gives you the fast clear is not teamwork or cohesion it's knowledge, precise execution, understanding of the mechanics, and consistency.

You can be in a group that is solely focused on progression over the overall teamwork sense that you are talking about. It comes down to preference and what you are seeking. I know a lot of people who would rather experience teamwork, cohesion, non-stop banter and just having a good time with some friends over the clear itself and that is absolutely fine.

[Colt47]

Wait, I don't get it, you talk about this tier being easiest, but it's also roughly the same as the starting tier of Pandemonium but also it's not about the actual difficulty? What is even the point that you are trying to make here in the first place because it gravely eludes me now.

Regarding difficulty, I think it's fine for a starting tier. The mechanics and the concept of the tier were nice, the story was great, it was fun to prog, the music was top tier, and the enrages were awesomely designed.

As for personal knowledge, I still think it counts, and an outstanding player can really carry a bad group. The bottom line and what gives you the fast clear is not teamwork or cohesion it's knowledge, precise execution, understanding of the mechanics, and consistency.

You can be in a group that is solely focused on progression over the overall teamwork sense that you are talking about. It comes down to preference and what you are seeking. I know a lot of people who would rather experience teamwork, cohesion, non-stop banter and just having a good time with some friends over the clear itself and that is absolutely fine.

I'm dancing around the point that there are fewer raiders doing savage over all for a variety of reasons and this was the case even weeks ago, which has caused a problem with forming groups in the PF. There aren't enough people to cohesively form up groups at specific later stages of the fights which ends up forcing those people to join parties that are often either further ahead or further behind, and since joining a group that is further ahead is more beneficial to their personal progress those individuals join those groups. This then causes the relatively easier introductory fights to drag on needlessly.

I remember pandemonium tier and I don't recall it being like this either before the server DC travel was a thing or after. It was sometimes present on Aether but there often were so many people to group with that someone was bound to find a group regardless of role. Basically, this turns what should be a good goal of progress into a hostile action against other players simply because there is no other way to progress without causing trouble for others.