Is anyone else bothered by the lack of incentive for mediocre players to improve?

[Gandora]

I wonder how many stop playing the game due to lack of content Vs people quitting due to attitudes from other players being so condescending

I am pretty sure more people quit because its an hassle to play this game due to the said mentality. Also, to come back on that PLD guy story, I have been on WAR for everything since release altho I have BRD at 50 since a while too, I never really bothered much with it, just for my Relic and 1 T-2 once (where for once BRD need to do something other then mindlessely pew-pewing.)

Yesterday I did T-1 on MNK and omg.. this was shamelessly easy, avoiding the vomit and the conal attacks, or to move away from a glowing platform. I did Pharos/WP/AK on it as well and it was just too relaxing.

I have not tried to do any EX primal with it but its next on my list. I am not saying that its going to be as easy as the rest, i'll see, but I am pretty sure it will be definately more easy and relaxing then to play WAR, less responsibility.

With all of that, I just wonder how non tank & non healer get the gusts to be condescending & horrible to thoses who get all the hassle. I mean, just stfu & go play another game if you don't like it here. Its just so shamelessely easy to avoid stuff and hit a target.

Some ppl on the forum say "Oh I have Healer & tank as well so I know whatever I am talking about." How many of them play an important role as a healer or tank with passion? I say that cos the barking ones are generaly the DPS.

[Katchii]

Some ppl on the forum say "Oh I have Healer & tank as well so I know whatever I am talking about." How many of them play an important role as a healer or tank with passion? I say that cos the barking ones are generaly the DPS.

Very very true. However, I've seen healers and tanks also spout off in grops too, it's just less often.

I personally like to play all three roles to understand the encounters from all perspectives (and also because it's faster to farm tomes as a healer or tank than it is as a DPS) so I know what to focus on as the other roles. It also helps when you see things going tough and you can provide some information that might make it go smoother.

[Makado]

Yes, it bothers me. I wish there were cooler unique rewards for completing certain fights and achievements. If your playing an MMO, more often then not people want their character to have some sort of personal identity. I know when I see someone with a cool piece of gear or something it motivates me to go out and get it or try my best.
Its fun to stand out, to walk through town and have someone say "Whoa where did you get that!". It doesn't mean your elitist or a mean player or anything else. Its all about sense of accomplishment. Having a win feels nice, but having something cool to show for it makes you feel even better. And obviously none of us need this "to feel better about ourselves" or whatever people were saying. Its just common sense to have cool rewards for highest levels of play.

[elreed]

Yes, it bothers me. I wish there were cooler unique rewards for completing certain fights and achievements. If your playing an MMO, more often then not people want their character to have some sort of personal identity. I know when I see someone with a cool piece of gear or something it motivates me to go out and get it or try my best.
Its fun to stand out, to walk through town and have someone say "Whoa where did you get that!". It doesn't mean your elitist or a mean player or anything else. Its all about sense of accomplishment. Having a win feels nice, but having something cool to show for it makes you feel even better. And obviously none of us need this "to feel better about ourselves" or whatever people were saying. Its just common sense to have cool rewards for highest levels of play.

This is what the op tried to say in a bad way, in other games you get this type of accomplishment, for example they are dumbing down coil so everyone can get the same item that you had to work hard to get it, the tombstone gear is almost the same as this gear if not better and you can farm this easily, if they had a noticeable difference then it could work. If they made normal modes and heroic modes for casual and hardcores with different drops in each like a lesser tier in normal modes and made the heroic modes not a must to keep the main story going then we would have a content that could last longer.

They need to slow down the vertical gear progression, let us enjoy a bit more our well earned gear...

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

It's no fix for the situation you described, Makado, but this is why I'm looking forward to the Glamours system. I would like to have, or at least be able to customize and create a look that's unique to my character alone, or at least a look I can pull off using pieces of gear that I just personally like. For example, as a tank, I used to like the look of the Foestriker Tabard, default Miqo'te skirt and white arm/leg armor. Even after I got better gear, I just simply liked wearing it. I didn't really need the wow factor of exclusive gear, just something I personally could say "this is how I like to stand out".

[Grotesque]

Not sure if Yenn is trolling or just an poor guy without self-esteem

"OMG ppl worse than me could clear content with appropriate gear" (CT loot was meant to be for Coil!) !!!11!11!!!11!!

I hope nobody from the community will be bothered to play with your "TOP-1337-r0XX0r" group ever. You're just laughable. Oh we're "top" ... in a casual MMO game. Wooooow

[Grizzlebeard]

Not sure if Yenn is trolling or just an poor guy without self-esteem

It would seem if anyone is guilty of trolling it would be you.

He made a number of well thought out and quite accurate posts. Maybe you could take a few moments to construct a rebuttal that doesn't amount to, "Hurr your jus a no-life TOP-1337-r0XX0r player!11"

[TAS]

I actually agree with the op in the sense that too much of the game's best gear is too easily obtainable. The devs already eluded to the implementation of high ilvl gear in 2.2 and I hope that later when they do implement gear like AF 2 and relic progression that you have to do little more then just stack on allagan tombs every week via overly generous dungeons.

[Yenn]

Like I suggested, I think just not offering a full higher ilevel set from tomes is an acceptable fix. Instead, only allow a few of the slots to be bought with tomes.
It will give players who just log on and run Wanderer's Palace every week enough gear to have an easier time with the highest level content, but not enough that they can just outgear it.

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

This is a bit of a win/lose, sadly. You have players who will only log on to run content that gets them what they want, then otherwise be done with the game for the day/week, thus not really ever "learning" anything other than what it takes to get tomes/loot/etc. Or perhaps before dungeons really were worth the time/effort vs. reward, the FATE grinders who hit the top quickly, but then were inexperienced with dungeons/trials/raids. These players won't necessarily try to get the better gear unless there's a "guaranteed" method, and in the end, that shrinks an already small base of skilled AND geared players.

In the end, you create the glass ceiling for players who may have the time, but not the skill, an imbalance in effort vs reward for players who lack time but may have skill, and severely diminishing returns for players with both time and skill, who lack other players on their level. I understand that under that model, people who are truly skilled can stand out and readily be recognized for their accomplishments/skills, but that in itself will not be incentive for those who simply DON'T want to try, or those who just wouldn't care anyways.

I may sound like I'm playing devil's advocate, but I'm not really. I just think that the incentive to get better won't be found with restricted gear. Players themselves have to want to be better or want to learn for the sake of being able to enjoy more what's available in game, but mileage varies from person to person.