PvP: Detailed Feedback for 8.1

[Atreus]

The community has a deep appreciation for the continued support of the PvP scene. Crystalline Conflict has received a lot of attention over the years since its inception in Endwalker. Through its dedicated battle system, wide array of maps, and official community events, we’ve been able to demonstrate how fun, engaging, and competitive PvP in FFXIV can be. With the right support, it can be even better and potentially reach a wider audience.

Detailed here is a retrospective look at Dawntrail’s PvP and the game’s design philosophy as a whole. This is a compilation of feedback collected by a group of active players in the PvP community. These contributors are listed below and consist of Crystalline Conflict Regional Championship contenders and Crystal+ ranked players.

We came together to share our candid feedback on the state of PvP as it pertains to design philosophy and Crystalline Conflict. Everything below was collected with the hope of influencing 8.1’s PvP change for the betterment of as many players as possible. Please feel free to respond to any particular category that speaks to you. Though the post is long, we did our best to make it as organized and digestible as possible.

Although this comes heavily with Crystalline Conflict in mind, all feedback is focused on playability and is designed to support a better experience across all modes.


Because of the character limit of the official forums, I've decided to link the reddit post to the main body of the feedback, hopefully this is acceptable.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxivdiscus...edback_for_81/

[Hazelx3]

I agree with the PCT, this class feels very broken, in low rank and high rank PvP. Altough most people are not playing in high ranks, or are casually stuck in bronze. High Rank PvP has not much people, atleast for EU thats the case. GnB is broken in low ranks unlike high ranks (altough he still gets attacked in Plat-Dia matches)

It would also be cool if the shield that lasts for 4 seconds would absorb any attack and it would be safe, also removing debuffs or just making healing faster or better, because often you can not heal fast enough until the server reacts to your input. It happend to me very often that I could not heal in time, because the server did not respond fast enough. I am on the EU server, my ping is fine, but I still lag in CC.

Also giving SCH something that could make that class useful in low ranks. I think, if they would balance it for high rank, it could change the low rank PvP as well, because people play very different there.
A tutorial for new players, because right now there is nothing for them. They just queue unranked and get destroyed by experienced people who are either smurfs or just stuck in low rank, because of bad RNG. A lot of people do not even play PvP and this might discourage them further.

There needs to be something, that will make more people to play PvP, especially new players who start the game. When I first started the PvP I got destroyed, because I had no clue how everything works and after a few hours and days I adapted to it and made my way out from Bronze to Diamond altough it was a frustrating time for me, sometimes its win - lose - win - lose etc. and you need to have luck to have a lucky streak for a rank up.

And yes, people die too fast in CC matches, and the healing is too slow + one debuff and one person can die instantly from it. Especially when the server does not respond fast enough. I do not know if it would help if everyone had double HP or more defense, or anything like that.

[Valence]

It's close to no notes from me.

Still I'd like to add something to complement the pacing and guard crack issue: unlike in EW, bursts in DT pvp keep going and going for ages because DT added a lot of new nukes to the burst sequences that prolong them beyond the initial alpha strike. This in my opinion isn't necessarily a bad thing when it comes to having some sustain based gameplay where players aren't just left spamming their base combo over and over waiting for the next burst, but in conjunction with guard cracks, it further compounds the issue because big damage moves keep on going after the crack, which tends to quickly melt and finish the target. If bursts were like they used to be in EW, we'd have a lot less damage getting through cracked guards already.

Still though, I'd rather keep current bursts and get rid of cracks entirely. I understand they were brought in the game to bring up tools to deal with PLD and stalling, but currently they've been doing a lot more harm than good, and giving the tools to deal with PLD to PLD (and SCH) is frankly equal to saying "if you have problem with a problematic job like PLD just bring one yourself!".

[ThaCa]

That's great initiative!

I kinda hope come 8.0 they would also put more resources into GM work to ensure PvP stays clean.

[SpritePR]

That's great initiative!

I kinda hope come 8.0 they would also put more resources into GM work to ensure PvP stays clean.

Agreed. Wayyyyy too many throwers/griefers in matches that just ruin the experience for everyone else. I do end up reporting the worst offenders as possible but there needs to be consequences for these players if they keep hampering it for others. I haven't run into cheaters yet (that i've noticed anyway) but I know those are out there too.

[ThreeBeastSmile]

I have thoughts, but I cba to discuss them here at length. I'm wondering where these meetings take place so that I can have a more direct crack at it and increase the pool of feedback, the specific place. Ta.~

If I could read/type natively JP I'd just do so over there, their format seems more amendable for someone outside of the closed loop to rattle down some things. JP gets enough activity though. Guess it's a start if there's regular western feedback flowing in that isn't kneejerk complaints revolving around "this sucks! I want reward faster and never have to do this **** again!"

Agreed. Wayyyyy too many throwers/griefers in matches that just ruin the experience for everyone else. I do end up reporting the worst offenders as possible but there needs to be consequences for these players if they keep hampering it for others. I haven't run into cheaters yet (that i've noticed anyway) but I know those are out there too.

Do they take into account the nuances of throwing though? I mean a PLD never covering on your side is one of the obvious ones. Also DRGs that don't use LBs when allied (or with obscene selective sloppiness), seen that. It's still however difficult to prove. Once I'd seen how easily completely unknown alts of mine could slip up ranks doing the exact same things (as in unaltered jobs/playstyle) vs. my main or more established alts, and too many times, I'd seen and had enough though. Doubt that changes.

[Prophecy]

Honestly, this was one of the most well thought-out PvP feedback posts I’ve read for Final Fantasy XIV in a long time. A lot of the concerns around pacing, responsiveness, animation lock, ping dependency, ranked integrity, and overloaded kits are spot on. The current burst meta can feel way too “delete first, think later,” especially for melee players trying to actually engage instead of getting vaporized from downtown by ranged pressure.

I especially agree with the need for better official responsiveness improvements instead of players feeling pushed toward outside tools just to make the game feel playable at higher levels. The request for more custom match options, tutorials, and more frequent PvP adjustments throughout expansions also makes complete sense if SE wants PvP to continue growing.

That said, I’m actually one of the players who will enjoy the newer evolved action-combo style systems. As a controller player, the newer PvE Action Change direction will genuinely make the game more fun and accessible for me and a lot of other folks I know. I already use macro/button-stack setups heavily, and I’d love to see SE continue evolving that system further into PvP instead of pulling away from it entirely.

Rather than separating everything back out, I think the future could be smarter customizable action modes:

Expanded combo-button systems
Optional advanced/manual modes for hardcore players
More controller-friendly layouts
Faster action combat flow overall

Honestly, I’d even love to eventually see PvP and PvE move closer together again over time so jobs feel unified instead of feeling like you’re playing two completely different games depending on mode. A more action-oriented “one combat identity” approach could make the whole world feel more alive and cohesive full-time.

A few personal takes too:

WAR definitely could use some DPS love alongside its sustain issues.
SAM could really use an evade-style movement/counter tool again like the older Feast-era days. A lot of jobs now have slippery escape or reposition options, and SAM can sometimes feel too committed once it goes in.

Overall though, major respect to everyone who contributed to this. Even when I don’t agree with every solution, the goal of making PvP more responsive, readable, skillful, and FUN is something I think most of the community can get behind.

[Mercury_Grey]

Honestly making BLM LB take longer or even locking it out of LB gain during its lb could make the job be more "shoudl i pop LB now to use it faster or save it for a right moment"