I have a few issues with the end game.

[Hitome]

While I agree with your post regarding the mechanics of dynamis (bad idea on currency, great idea having every mob have a chance to drop trash/great dungeon mechanic design with time extension), I just have to look at this:

The simple fact that everything you killed had a chance of dropping loot, and you had to hunt for time extensions AND THERE WERE NO STUPID WEEKLY CAPS made it fun.

Wah? I'm pretty sure dynamis locked you out every week. Yes, you could obtain multiple pieces of loot in dynamis in some unlikely events, but you can do that in coil right now as well.

[NefGP]

No, Dynamis only had a 72 hour lockout. The only weekly "lock out" in FFXI was 3 kings in Zilart, where Nidhogg might spawn instead of Fafnir etc. etc.

Otherwise you were pretty much free to do any content you like provided you had the requirements met - Assault Tags recharged every 24 hours, but you could also trick the game by accepting one but not doing a mission, giving you 4 tags total. Salvage, Limbus and einherjar all had their own lockouts as well but it was never more than 3 real time days. I don't remember what the lockout on Abyssea was if you time out or left with less than 5 minutes of traverser status, but I wanna say it was only an hour or something like that?

I don't know how Delve or Skirmish work, as I quit shortly after Voidwatch was implemented @ the cap was raised to 95 (I wasn't about to farm 1000 plates for my 95 Empyrean, and I'd finished pretty much all the story content in the game and most of my friends had left as well so little reason to stay after 9 long years.)

I was just looking at the video for the latest update and it looks pretty cool, but idk if I could go back to playing XI. I had my fill of it, my friends have pretty much all quit and for all the things I dislike about ARR, I really don't feel like readjusting to XI's UI, trying to get 99 and capping all my skills again. Maybe when Seekers of Adoulin's story is complete and the collection goes up on sale for cheap I might sub just for a month to play through it but otherwise I hung up XI on a relatively happy note, and I'd rather not mess with that memory - even if they did finally add my favorite job to the game (mystic knight, or Rune Fencer as it's called in XI)


EDIT: Man, the battle themes are fantastic though. I think Soken's done a wonderful job of ARR's music, but why do we only really have 1 repetitive battle theme that just plays over and over? Coil's is just another remix of Answer (though it's good) and the primals each have their own, but otherwise it's the same tired song over and over and over. Where as Mizuta's outdone himself again with Steel Sings, Blades Dance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yvMBCoBgac


and Breaking Ground (my favorite of the two)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex-0os9ciRA

^ freaking EPIC battle music!

[Hitome]

The problem was, dynamis did incur a lockout (not an entire week) and also had quite a pricey tag attached to it initially.

Also, what you described is instances where content was developed over several years. When we get to that point in 14, all these "OMG this game has no content" issues will disappear. Around the time of ToAU, we finally had enough endgame content to keep even the most hardcore shells in game the entire week.

It just will take time to get to that stage again. 11 never felt boring because you could always be doing something. However, that 'something' was often very time consuming. You could argue about this contributing to 'content' I suppose. I don't think you would find many people who would enjoy the old HNM system. Finally, dynamis was added around the December of the year of NA PC release IIRC? Then we had something other to do than camp the kings and level other jobs. Leveling also took much more time which created this artificial feeling of having content to do. It wasn't really content....just a huge time sink.

I've always been interested in exploring the concept of time management in MMOs. To me, I think I like having to spend a lot of time to get things done even if I know it's just giving me false senses. Leveling was done in such a way that it allowed us to explore the world they had designed and it was a pretty elaborate one at that.

I think what many of us have issues with is the fact that we are rushed to endgame and then given nothing to do. We think: either make the journey to 50 a little longer but enjoyable or increase the amount of content at endgame. Give me something with an abysmal drop rate that I can farm over and over again with a willing group. It's why I love farming Ultima and the extremes so much. The chance of loot is rare, the risk is great, and the odds of winning are against me. But when I do win and when that loot does drop (58 runs for Ultima's choker of striking), it feels amazing.

[Gandora]

I was saying in another post, I don't remember which tho, lockout would be find if they added a system alike Neo Nyzul when it come to things such as Neo Nyzul, You clear T1? you receive a K.I that allow you to pick one drop listed in the said tier if you did not lot already. That way you get what you want 100% of the time if what you are looking for isn't droping for months. I remember Nyzul offered many kind of K.I (Key items) which needed to be collected in order to receive a drop, like 4 K.I Silver = one drop or something. It would guarantee anyone to get what they are after and it would keep the game longevity.

[Shaone]

I'm still on my free trial with 6 items from a full 90 myth set with Relic +1.

Read this. Checked character.

http://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodest...acter/6384352/

Based on that, you don't have the gear you claim to have, just a couple of CT bits and one piece of myth, so there are several things you could be doing that aren't restricted in the number of times you can do them, between waiting for resets, suggested order:

Ultima accessory
Garuda accessory
Titan accessory
Hellish Claws

And of course, once you have the ilvl, there is the biggie to start training for, turn 5. I've made it to twisters many times, but unfortunately I have kids and kung fu training so only have 2-3 free nights a week for training turn 5 and so have stepped down from my static, as my lack of time is holding them back.

So really, if you are running out of things to do on your Monk, then look harder, and also get your cross class abilities sorted (mercy stroke, fracture in particular). Once you get turn 5 ready, you have plenty to do learning that fight. And once you have turn 5 on farm, but get turn 5 on farm and then worry about it, because more than likely by the time you get there, there will be a ton of 2.2 stuff to be working through, on top of filling the gaps in 2.0/2.1 content which you will still be catching up on.

[Versiroth]

Wow, a MMO forum that likes whining and complaining about end game content. How original.

[NefGP]

snip

500k wasn't that much gil between 64 people. Furthermore, they did eventually make it so you can just buy a permanent key item for regular & CoP dynamis each. And it doesn't matter how much stuff YP adds, if it keeps following the current trend nothing will change; it's just an endless ladder from 1 set of content to the next, to be cast aside when you're done with it rather than having a wide selection of things to do.

[Zezlar]

snip

Can you suggest some stuff for me to do?

[Tiggy]

I played FFXI, granted I quit long before this game came out. In any case, everything I ever did in that game was either 1. Leveling up, 2. Obtaining gear, 3. Obtaining gil so I can purchase more gear. Again, I think I quit after the expansion that came after Rise of the Zilart came out, so I don't have much experience past that point. I didn't really view fishing or camping monsters (for gear) as content though, which were popular passtimes back when I played.

Regardless of whether you consider content or not doesn't change the fact that it was indeed something you could spend time doing in order to obtain gear. By most definitions it is content. Also, everywhere but Japan released with Rise of the Zilart packaged in. You must mean Chains of Promathia.

[Zarzak]

This is no different than any MMO. Even the old ones (EQ/XI) raid content has lockouts your limited to the content you can do per week. The fact that you feel raid quality gear should be thrown at groupers even more freely amazes me. Raid gear should be reserved for raiding alone yet they allow you to collect myth from grouping that puts you in gear on par with raiders.

Your last point I agree with though. Raid gear having no materia slots makes no sense as you don't really start collecting materia until your at the point you start wearing gear that can't use it.