What would be ideal Patch Cycle? (Long forum post)

[Ath192]

I enjoy combat in this game and exploration. I can't list all the forms of content like extremes and etc that are always there, those should stay, but the main dish of each patch should be:

7.0
Expansion
Savage
New PVP season

7.1
Alliance Raid
Exploratory Zone 1
Chaotic 1
Relic Stage 1 - slow grind - Surpasses 7.0 Savage in BIS
Ultimate

7.2
Savage
Criterion 1
Deep dungeon
Relic Stage 2 - slow grind - equal to Savage 7.2 BIS
crafting/Delivery
New PVP season Pass

7.3
Alliance Raid 2
Exploratory Zone 2
Chaotic 2
Relic Stage 3 - slow grind - Surpasses Savage in BIS
Ultimate 2

7.4
Savage
Criterion 2
Deep dungeon 2
Relic Stage 4 - slow grind - equal to Savage 7.4 BIS
crafting/Delivery
New PVP season Pass

7.5
Alliance Raid 3
Exploratory Zone 3
Chaotic 3
Relic Stage 5 - slow grind - Surpasses Savage in BIS
Instead of Ultimate - expand the exploratory Zone 3 to its final conclusion and add an extra raid to it Keep to allow people to play casually and soak in news of new expansion


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I am pretty sure this would keep most people busy and from complaining.
You'll notice each patch has something for high end raiders and something for casuals, as while raiders work on Savage they can do Deep dungeons and crafting/delivery AND variant editions of criterion and while raiders work on ultimates they can enjoy exploratory zones and alliance raids.
On top of that, each patch has a time sink in the form of the relic as well.

Theres no point in crippling the relic either, it just makes it irrelevant. No high end raider will complain of a grindy form to get a BIS weapon outside of Savage.

It REALLY is that easy to keep people from being unhappy.

[Akamadoshi]

Everything

You are Godssent... T_T Thank you. As foreigner it took me 3 hours to write, you summed it perfectly AND added 2 deep dungeons.

[MrMordio]

Relic Stage 1 - slow grind - Surpasses 7.0 Savage in BIS
Ultimate

I agree that we should be able to start building our relics alongside savage raid gear, but I don't agree that it'd be a good idea to make a relic that exceeds on-patch savage raid gear at the same time as an ultimate fight. I think doing this would put an unhealthy level of stress on hardcore players who'd seek to complete the ultimate in a timely manner; they may feel required to complete the relic grind before trying the ultimate raid. I think they should be comparable in strength to raid gear. Other than that, I think it's a good write-up!

[sindriiisgaming]

snip

while these ideas are nice, slow grinds arent going to fix the content being LQ and ppl will STILL burn out
so here is my advise to xiv based on the years ive played and what patches were my fav
Everything here doesnt need to be released ON the patch, on the day the patch goes live.. however any harder or longer term content MUST be released at the start, to ensure proper time for feedback can be given

7.0
serval massive system overhauls including new housing revamps, gender unlocks on gear, dye improvements, graphics TLC and a visible sign of power growth
Expansion MSQ (needs to be as long as have as much Voice acting as endwalker) (needs to have serval times more instanced dutys)
Normal and Savage raid
alliance raid part 1 (unlock the gear already.. if your really meant to gear up alt jobs then why CANT WE)
New PVP series rewards
Unreal 1
The New housing rewards
Hildibrand 1
Role quests
Chaotic 1

7.1
MSQ + 1 dungeon AND one trial
Exploratory Zone part 1 with castrum style mini raid
Relic Stage 1 Equal to 7.0 Savage in BIS
Ultimate 1
criterion dungeon 1
Trial series part 1
Blue mage addition
a new unreal
Hildibrand 2
Final role quest after clearing all 5
Hall of the novice update
Job balancing
Beast tribe 1
7.1 is the most important first patch. it determines if leveling up was worth it, so this patch needs to keep people hooked

7.2
MSQ 2 + 1 dungeon and +2 instanced duty
Savage part 2
Deep dungeon
Relic Stage 2 equal to Savage 7.2 BIS
new crafting/Delivery
New PVP season Pass
Lifestyle content
Trail mini series part 2
Chaotic 2 (if its meant to be for casual gearing then it should sit beside savage)
a new unreal
hildibrand 3
Job balancing

7.3
MSQ 1 dungeon and 1 trial (final expansion MSQ before 7.4 moves into the new expansion)
Alliance Raid 2 (everything unlocked)
Exploratory Zone phase 2 with dalriada style mini raid
Relic Stage 3 - EQUAL to Savage in BIS
Ultimate 2
Trail series part 3
a new unreal
lifestyle content stage 2
beastmaster (look this patch is gone be a slow 1, and BST being years away is ridiculous.. get it in now)
criterion 2 (take away these cheesy weapons and give us some really good rewards, we don't need more power, we need glams, hairstyles, emotes and furnishings)
Housing TLC (if new wards are needed add them, otherwise add more interior skins
Job Balancing
Beasties 2

7.4
MSQ with a dungeon and a new zone (bit like zero's abode)
Savage stage 3
Chaotic 3
Relic Stage 4 - - Equal to Savage 7.4 BIS
crafting/Delivery expanded
New PVP season Pass
New beastmaster challenges
hildibrand 4
new unreal
Trail series part 4
Job Balancing

7.5
Intense hype train MSQ with a trial and dungeon.
Alliance Raid 3 (unlocked)
Exploratory Zone 3 + 60 man raid
Criterion 3
Relic Stage 5 Surpasses Savage in BIS
New Bst content
a new unreal
Trail series conclusion (mostly just quests with an instanced duty)
Post savage raid quest (give us the orchestrion and a little closure)
Housing update 2
Lifestyle final update (this content better have a story on it)
Final hildibrand and a trail (it better be with greg!)
Role quests extra questline (like shadow walk with me)
Job balancing
beasties 3 (including extra quests)
Gold saucer update
Collaboration quest


additional notes. trial mounts unlocked from vendor immediately.
Hildibrand is voiced
Trial mini series is voiced
Savage gear unlocked immediately. lets be real... people already use alts or lootmaster to get around this out dated system.. who is it for...
all alliance raid loot unlocked (the orchestrion is a great way to keep people doing it)


these are just my ideas based on what players want. in this setup, you dont need to increase patch time. but the workload gets heavier. however this way you will simply never run out of things to do

But sugar, we here at se cant afford to fund this much content? what do we do?

Increase the sub by 5USD, 3GBP and 4EUR. i can easily afford it and if it means they can hire more staff then i don't care

[Kaurhz]

Omitted for brevity

This is probably the best list that one could come up with. It satisfies the bigger player-bases and gives them something to do. This also gives plenty of content that the gap between 7.5 and 8.1 would still give people plenty to do, regardless of how active they might be. Which is what made HW/SB/ShB good.. It gave bleed-over content into next expansion.

I can see people being concerned with burnout in relation to the relic release, but I think the best way to address this is to do ongoing updates and rebalancing around what is required, so that there is still that catch-up mechanic for the relic of the previous patch.