So how is everyone feeling about Occult Crescent now that it’s been a few days?

[yesnt]

Tanks just end up as kings

Wouldn't call someone who can not do mechanics a king, rather playing the game on "very easy mode". This is the job you pick when you don't actually want to play the game. The real magick happens when tanks manage to die regardless, that's pretty funny.

[Tersi82]

I don’t hate it like I did eureka I just don’t enjoy it like I didn’t enjoy bozja

[ForteNightshade]

As much as I like customization, I unfortunately can see why it never lasts for long in MMOs because people can and will optimize the hell out of such systems and only insist on using the meta choices. It only gets worse if you're expected to use BiS for any group content and to take anything else is to be accused of griefing and getting kicked.

The way MMOs and multiplayer games on the whole get around this is by introducing content where established metas are less relevant. Which is supposed to be among XIV's selling points. Nobody really cares about metas beyond Savage and Ultimate. Occult Crescent is the perfect types of content to just let plays go nuts. Instead, XIV had to keep things incredibly safe because they're seemingly terrified of doing anything outside the box.

[mewlynx]

Occult Crescent is very pretty but it wears itself out way too fast. The core gameplay loop is way too fast paced and homogeneous. You do boss FATEs that die in 10 seconds and then go fight a boss in a CE every 10 or so minutes, repeat. The only real downtime is when you are sitting doing nothing in the CE circle. Also they played it way too safe with the CEs, so none of them stand out. None of them have stacks, flares, or towers, or any commonplace mechanics to shake up the gameplay. Southern Front CEs weren't revolutionary either but they at least got creative with how telegraphing was presented and included niche mechanics occasionally. Southern Front also had the full variety of FATEs, multiple FATEs up at once, and CLL.

I'm not entirely sold on the phantom job system when compared to remembrances/logograms. My issue is with the phantom mastery system and how it disincentivizes you from playing the phantom job you actually want to. On paper making players experience each individual job sounds okay, but some of these phantom jobs are very boring and uninteresting, and it feels like I'm just waiting to be able to play a fun phantom job again while leveling them.

I really hope that they listen to feedback because I want this content to be good, but this really doesn't live up to Eureka or Bozja at all to me.

[Astronema]

its awful garbage. its a zone of busywork with no real fun. the phantom jobs are unbalanced crap because cannoner is op for farming. refresh your buffs every 30 minutes is all some of them is good for.

[YumieYumiki]

I went there. Did the introduction quest. You are the chosen one. Here's Gerolt with the weapon grind quests. Here's the progression stuff. Here's a quest to kill 3 mobs. It was fun right? (It wasn't) Now do it a million more times. Here's the currency. Here's the vendor.

I cant with these formulaic grind fests. I just can't do this shit.

[Ephremjlm]

The way MMOs and multiplayer games on the whole get around this is by introducing content where established metas are less relevant. Which is supposed to be among XIV's selling points. Nobody really cares about metas beyond Savage and Ultimate. Occult Crescent is the perfect types of content to just let plays go nuts. Instead, XIV had to keep things incredibly safe because they're seemingly terrified of doing anything outside the box.

This is a great point and I want to double down on it. FFXI did this. Diablo 2 did this. WOW did this. OSRS did this. SO MANY GAMES DO THIS, and it makes getting gear feel worth while when you try to prep for certain fights. It wasn't always necessary but it was a way for the devs to actively make the communities think differently about their play styles with the same class builds, or different class options. This person says they have played "So many MMO's" yet I would have to assume they must have all been in the last 5-8 years because this is just an excuses used over and over again so development teams could streamline content and lower the cost to run their projects. I mean ffs Yoshi P even admitted this when questioned about the jobs and dungeons design. He literally says that the ONLY reason we have 3 trash, 3 bosses, and a long ass hallway is because its the easiest way to streamline design while keeping the ultra casuals JUST happy enough.

I used to think the doomers back in the day were going overboard in their sentiments on where MMO game design was going but my god if they weren't spot on with how things turned out.

[Fawkes]

It's really gotten monotonous fast. There's no Pazuzu or CLL to break up the tedium. I don't even see people joke about doing forked tower anymore when the red weather happens. Nobody cares about it so it's functionally nonexistent. Just spam the same 10 fates over and over forever.

[Gurgeh]

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[Astronema]

It's really gotten monotonous fast. There's no Pazuzu or CLL to break up the tedium. I don't even see people joke about doing forked tower anymore when the red weather happens. Nobody cares about it so it's functionally nonexistent. Just spam the same 10 fates over and over forever.

F***ed tower is more proper name for it.