Communication from SqEx needs to change

[Altina_Orion]

It has everything to do with communication, or you would not have this trainwreck of a DT expansion and the content in it, only favoring the top 1% Elite.

Your "Top 1% shtick" is annoying and incorrect. It's estimated that 10%-25% of players engage with raiding in some form, so just because you are in the bottom 1% doesn't mean you have to project your skill on to everyone.

[Jeeqbit]

Your "Top 1% shtick" is annoying and incorrect. It's estimated that 10%-25% of players engage with raiding in some form, so just because you are in the bottom 1% doesn't mean you have to project your skill on to everyone.

I did some careful maths a while ago that showed it was over 30% outside Japan and over 50% in Japan. This remained similar whether as a percentage of people that cleared normal raids, or as a percentage of people who simply reached level 100, and were active. It was even similar trying to do it via collect websites - you just have to get the raw number of players with savage rewards (or achievements) and get that as a percentage of the raw numbers with normal rewards (or achievements). And that's just who cleared the entire tier sometime within the ~8 months of the tier, not who engaged with it and cleared just M1S or M5S or just Extremes, which is likely even higher. The lowest clear rate I saw in the last tier was 11% on Kraken.

If we're objective, it's not for 1% of players. But that doesn't mean the non-raid content shouldn't be good, both for players that don't want to be doing raids that involve too much coordination or static building, and for between raiding where you might want to relax and do things like CEs in OC that don't require that degree of coordination.

[Altina_Orion]

I did some careful maths a while ago that showed it was over 30% outside Japan and over 50% in Japan. This remained similar whether as a percentage of people that cleared normal raids, or as a percentage of people who simply reached level 100, and were active. It was even similar trying to do it via collect websites - you just have to get the raw number of players with savage rewards (or achievements) and get that as a percentage of the raw numbers with normal rewards (or achievements). And that's just who cleared the entire tier sometime within the ~8 months of the tier, not who engaged with it and cleared just M1S or M5S or just Extremes, which is likely even higher. The lowest clear rate I saw in the last tier was 11% on Kraken.

If we're objective, it's not for 1% of players. But that doesn't mean the non-raid content shouldn't be good, both for players that don't want to be doing raids that involve too much coordination or static building, and for between raiding where you might want to relax and do things like CEs in OC that don't require that degree of coordination.

Oh I agree, I just hate the disingenuous "top 1%" bs that ultra-casuals throw out there to try and make it out like the people who raid in this game are insignificant.

[Themarvin]

Your "Top 1% shtick" is annoying and incorrect. It's estimated that 10%-25% of players engage with raiding in some form, so just because you are in the bottom 1% doesn't mean you have to project your skill on to everyone.

My point is still valid, the 10-25% comes when people are above the required minumum required iLevel, and it is still very much on point that anything exciting and able to get good stuff from, definitely is not based on the general population at all, I am not really sure on what you are trying to stick up or to defend.

SE has been put a stick into the wheel for decent progression in South Horn for upgrading armor for an instance, and there already is posts and threads about, not just on this forum, but in the rest out the community not based on SE's FFXIV forums about that casuals should just gtfo and more when speaking of eg. Forked Tower, that should had been like the content people could just get engaged in and more to it, though maybe the tougher situation or longer, if not getting it all done by the book as it is.

Bozja and Zadnor left room for that, where the better players in the start and at anytime could take charge and those lesser fortunate could ride it off while still doing and difference and learning from it as well to pick up roles and to take on actions in future runs of Castrum and Dalriada and likewise Delubrum Reginae, you can always add a savage mode to it later or requireing quite a bit more of action, as long as you DO NOT hinder progress for either pool of players.

[Altina_Orion]

My point is still valid, the 10-25% comes when people are above the required minumum required iLevel, and it is still very much on point that anything exciting and able to get good stuff from, definitely is not based on the general population at all, I am not really sure on what you are trying to stick up or to defend.

SE has been put a stick into the wheel for decent progression in South Horn for upgrading armor for an instance, and there already is posts and threads about, not just on this forum, but in the rest out the community not based on SE's FFXIV forums about that casuals should just gtfo and more when speaking of eg. Forked Tower, that should had been like the content people could just get engaged in and more to it, though maybe the tougher situation or longer, if not getting it all done by the book as it is.

Bozja and Zadnor left room for that, where the better players in the start and at anytime could take charge and those lesser fortunate could ride it off while still doing and difference and learning from it as well to pick up roles and to take on actions in future runs of Castrum and Dalriada and likewise Delubrum Reginae, you can always add a savage mode to it later or requireing quite a bit more of action, as long as you DO NOT hinder progress for either pool of players.

Listen, i agree with all of your points here, i really do. I just don't think the "us vs them" attitude as if raiders all evil wallstrest elites is the wrong idea. Even lots of raiders want more casual content and want better casual content, so they aren't you enemy.

[Mawlzy]

Listen, i agree with all of your points here, i really do. I just don't think the "us vs them" attitude as if raiders all evil wallstrest elites is the wrong idea. Even lots of raiders want more casual content and want better casual content, so they aren't you enemy.

I'd suggest some have made enemies of us by words and deeds.

Equally, that can be a two-way street. And such things are much less likely to happen in a healthy game.

[Altina_Orion]

I'd suggest some have made enemies of us by words and deeds.

Equally, that can be a two-way street. And such things are much less likely to happen in a healthy game.

Thats because very little content in this game has any depth at all, but pointing fingers at eachother is sending the wrong message to [both] the community [and maybe maybe the devs if they actually read feedback]. We should be discussing what we want for us, not what we want to take away from others and villainizing each other. We're not children, we're all people who want the game to be better and see its potential. We just want it to live up to its potential, no?

I hate to bring up WoW again, but something to think about:

Wow provides plenty of content for casuals and hardcore players in recent expansions. The systems also have way more depth. Content drops faster, raids have more bosses than a tier and come in four different difficulties. They have m+, crafting, gathering, world quests that are more interesting than fates, solo dungeons in the form of "delves", dungeons that have 3 different difficulties, the third of which has infinite scaling levels (m+). The story is objectively more interactive whether you think its good or not which is subjective. In a way, there are more classes/jobs because there are several different specifications which greatly augment gameplay. Seasonal events come with loads of playable content and aren't a stupid 20 minute quest for an emote or piece of glam.

Why can't SE deliver content that satisfies any of its playerbase when WoW continues to succeed at this. Is it budget like they said? If so, SE needs to provide more budget to CS3 before it's too late.

I deeply, deeply love this game. I want it to be better. I'm not as "hardcore" as people on this forum seem to think. I can't stand progging savage/ultimate for more than 2 or 3 hours at a time before I'm completely burnt out from it (though I do enjoy the experience). Casual content matters to me, but it needs to have some depth and some life to it. We also need to provide difficulty levels that challenge all players, but there should also be playable and fun for those players that can't/don't want to play at a high level.

[Mawlzy]

Thats because very little content in this game has any depth at all, but pointing fingers at eachother is sending the wrong message to [both] the community [and maybe maybe the devs if they actually read feedback]. We should be discussing what we want for us, not what we want to take away from others and villainizing each other. We're not children, we're all people who want the game to be better and see its potential. We just want it to live up to its potential, no?

I agree with the sentiment, but two steps are required to realizing this commendable goal, neither of which I see happening.

First, it requires players to acknowledge that different playstyles and commitment levels are legitimate. While there seems to be almost universal acceptance that those who enjoy high-level PvE are "good players" that are playing the game as intended, that courtesy does not appear to be extended to the rest of us, who are variously referred to as "braindead," "parasites" and worse, not to mention the resurrection of this mysterious Cure-I spamming healer in level 100 dungeons who nobody has actually ever seen.

Second -- and this may be where SE has really finished off FFXIV -- is the recent assertion in the LL that some content could not be made because of a lack of resources. It doesn't matter if that refers to money, personnel, or a director who actually has time to direct. The idea is now firmly placed in the minds of players that content is a zero-sum game, and if "they" get something, that means something has been taken away from "us." Such impressions are extremely difficult to eradicate, particularly when the evidence points to them being true.

It's this second point that I am convinced will reduce the player count below HW levels by the end of 2026.

[Altina_Orion]

I agree with the sentiment, but two steps are required to realizing this commendable goal, neither of which I see happening.

First, it requires players to acknowledge that different playstyles and commitment levels are legitimate. While there seems to be almost universal acceptance that those who enjoy high-level PvE are "good players" that are playing the game as intended, that courtesy does not appear to be extended to the rest of us, who are variously referred to as "braindead," "parasites" and worse, not to mention the resurrection of this mysterious Cure-I spamming healer in level 100 dungeons who nobody has actually ever seen.

Second -- and this may be where SE has really finished off FFXIV -- is the recent assertion in the LL that some content could not be made because of a lack of resources. It doesn't matter if that refers to money, personnel, or a director who actually has time to direct. The idea is now firmly placed in the minds of players that content is a zero-sum game, and if "they" get something, that means something has been taken away from "us." Such impressions are extremely difficult to eradicate, particularly when the evidence points to them being true.

It's this second point that I am convinced will reduce the player count below HW levels by the end of 2026.

The second point is rather concerning, but we should use it as a way to demand more from SE. We know FFXIV is their money maker. I know what they said, but just because they said it doesn't me we should roll over, show our bellies, and say "Oh, no budget? Well I guess we should be ok with SE removing content from X as long as Y gets content!"

I'm not a shareholder and I'm some C-suite executive, I don't care about their budget or resources or in-house problems. Fix your shit and feed us all.

[Themarvin]

Listen, i agree with all of your points here, i really do. I just don't think the "us vs them" attitude as if raiders all evil wallstrest elites is the wrong idea. Even lots of raiders want more casual content and want better casual content, so they aren't you enemy.

Then don't bring it up, anyone and I mean absolutely ANYONE can clear ANY content in this game, Ultimate, Savage and whatever out there, given the time is spending time on it, and that is a fact, there is no actual difficult content in this game at all, unless you are suffering from handicaps in real life.

So don't give me the 'Us vs Them' this is about SE making casual content and bar it in, in a way so only the 'elite' think they can beat it, it is a massive communication breach from SE and their QA team and further more their Beta testers, in which they probably found the streamer/content creator dorks or something to fill in with and forget to actually taking the actual players in on the bandwagon.

It has and is creating an extreme toxic community that bar themself in discord channels and the likes, which is a bad thing for the game in general.