Now that the game is dying can we just have bots for all content?

[Jeeqbit]

Players needing to align schedules being the hardest part is nothing new. Been the case since the game started.

[TheMightyMollusk]

Who's to say they haven't been?

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[Gokki]

While i agree with the spirit, at what point do you just have FFXIV as a single player game?

Now, is that a bad thing? Debatable. Perhaps Duty Support for older content? Not sure the devs will want to spend effort on this with outdated tools.

Current content though? I don't think it's a good idea because that will just make the problem worse - "everyone" will just migrate to bots because intrinsic & competitive raiders are few and far between. It'll kill the raiding community.

What are the solutions to the issues though?

• Socially, players can decide to use Duty Finder instead of Party Finder, this will ease the effort by a huge margin but it requires for everyone to socially transition to using it, similar to how Hunt Trains transitioned from spamming shout to use PF for group-ups.
• From SE's side, Duty Finder could enable cross-datacenter connection, even if it takes a few more seconds to load.
• Loot lockouts also need a major revamp to enable people to gain rewards at their own pace and not lose progress weekly while preventing split runs. I have a solution and could make an entire post about this if anyone's curious.

[VeyaAkemi]

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Uh... uh... uhhhhhhhhh...

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[Amarande]

Players needing to align schedules being the hardest part is nothing new. Been the case since the game started.

The big difference is I remember PF used to be a heck of a lot more chill.

Stormblood? Watch the MTQ or Happy vid. Toss up a PF. Join a PF if you could. Didn't get much more annoying than a wall of Duty Complete Farm if you didn't manage to set aside time to clear in what, in retrospect, was an eyeblink even then but still.

Nowadays?

Just watch the video? The Hector video doesn't bring people together (despite Hector being at least as good at explaining things as MTQ, and miles better than Happy), it ends up being regarded as divisive, because half the time the strat is some kind of Discord community thing with a meme injoke name that often doesn't even intimate at the ideas behind it (which gives off a heavy vibe of "this is designed to gatekeep by forcing you to be in good standing in the right Discord circles to use PF").

Assuming you grok the strat, welp, now if you want to get anywhere with PF you are virtually forced to interact with TOS-infringing third party tools or with players that do, because if you aren't logged guess what buddy? As far as your raiding progression is concerned IT NEVER HAPPENED. PF players' inability to trust is off the charts to virtual "not okay. seriously, you're not okay" degrees and somehow this is fine (yes prog liars ya ya ... if you show this level of inability to trust people IRL your friends are gonna get concerned and tell you to go get help, and that's even if you got lied to a lot with actual IRL consequences, not merely "I couldn't progress in an MMORPG because somebody claimed they were better than they were").

And people that raise any kind of a ruckus about this, or even just aren't quick enough studies are given a very palpable aura of "we're going to put you on a dodge list" with the distinct impression that your days of using PF in the future usefully might be over as well.

The vibe is so bad that one wonders how anyone even enjoys using PF at all. No wonder it is no longer considered a valid option and we are back to "welp, if you're employed and it's not a 9-5, forget about ... really, most of the content SE offers you this xpac, actually."

Loot lockouts also need a major revamp to enable people to gain rewards at their own pace and not lose progress weekly while preventing split runs. I have a solution and could make an entire post about this if anyone's curious.

Omg so much this as well. Right now you can't even dodge PF with your friends most of the time because if they raid, they probably static, which means now you have to arrange a time to meet up with them that's after all of their static sessions for the week (and if they have a Monday raid night, not at all). Even the most friendly static can't afford to give up a loot chest so its members can see other friends on the side (probably especially these statics, because they actually need the gear with DPS checks these days; it's the hyper hardcore ones that can make sacrifices).

But heaven forfend we do away with the 2-1-0 chest system because oh noes split raids. Have to hold back those super hardcore week oners even if the majority of players suffer for it ...

I'm interested in knowing what your idea was, at least.

[StonedUnc]

yeah I think this is bait

[Sorainthy]

I am a bit buffled.
At which time were dungeons and or raids not always like "learn the pattern and once you have chill"?

Which group of 24 people - maybe even 8 - does not require the people to already KNOW the encounter even while just reading a guide and hence know what to watch out for?

From where are those guides? Who wrote them? Those are the ones discovering the new content first and hence make it already - thanks internet - available for you to succeed.

If you would play FF14 (or any other game) as intended by Devs would you not look up ANYTHING online. Not BiS Gear, not how to obtain Relics, not how to unlock x,y,z and for sure no "Guide for Dungeon/Raid xyz".
I suggest getting your hand on those true first tries if you like to have a challenge (PTR).

[Qyoon]

This is an mmo, so i guess i prefer playing with... players.
But a training mod with bots for ex / savage without reward would be cool.
Something we could do instead of waisting time waiting because we had to change DC just to raid...
Actually being able to play the game would be great.

[Saraide]

If stuff like the stormblood dungeons are too complicated for SE to create trusts for and had to be dumbed down prior to that then how would they be able to handle savage mechanics.

[PercibelTheren]

The big difference is I remember PF used to be a heck of a lot more chill.

Stormblood? Watch the MTQ or Happy vid. Toss up a PF. Join a PF if you could. Didn't get much more annoying than a wall of Duty Complete Farm if you didn't manage to set aside time to clear in what, in retrospect, was an eyeblink even then but still.

Nowadays?

Assuming you grok the strat, welp, now if you want to get anywhere with PF you are virtually forced to interact with TOS-infringing third party tools or with players that do, because if you aren't logged guess what buddy? As far as your raiding progression is concerned IT NEVER HAPPENED. PF players' inability to trust is off the charts to virtual "not okay. seriously, you're not okay" degrees and somehow this is fine (yes prog liars ya ya ... if you show this level of inability to trust people IRL your friends are gonna get concerned and tell you to go get help, and that's even if you got lied to a lot with actual IRL consequences, not merely "I couldn't progress in an MMORPG because somebody claimed they were better than they were").

And people that raise any kind of a ruckus about this, or even just aren't quick enough studies are given a very palpable aura of "we're going to put you on a dodge list" with the distinct impression that your days of using PF in the future usefully might be over as well.

The vibe is so bad that one wonders how anyone even enjoys using PF at all. No wonder it is no longer considered a valid option and we are back to "welp, if you're employed and it's not a 9-5, forget about ... really, most of the content SE offers you this xpac, actually."

I agree that PF has gotten incredibly hostile and gatekeepey in Dawntrail. I don't know what it was like before Endwalker but it's been so bad lately that I straight up won't even try Chaotic, even though I'd really like the gear. There are a lot of PFs are locked behind people checking your logs and requiring X amount of clears. Everyone cites "prog lying" because apparently, you can't have an off night and screw up a mechanic you are usually able to do? That and there's some disagreement on whether it's "I can do this mechanic reliably" or "I have seen this mechanic." Leaves/kicks/disbands after 1 or 2 bad pulls have become extremely common, even in learning parties. As a very mediocre player, the only way I get to do Extreme/Savage is with my FC or static these days. It's sad. In Endwalker, I used to hop into PF to help prog high end fights. Now it's no longer fun or rewarding to do so.