Time to move on since Square Enix does not listen to its Constituents

[Mcshiggs]

Obviously, their idea of "good gameplay" is making everything diceroll-based. I guess people who like actually having some remote semblance of control over their own playing are just not the target audience for this game.

Have you ever realized how when you swing your weapon, or cast a spell, sometimes you crit sometimes you don't?
How about when you open a treasure chest, sometimes there is crafting materials, sometimes gear, hell sometimes even potions. Just about everything in this game, and pretty much any MMO for that matter, is using computer programs that simulate dice rolls in the background, will you dodge, will you parry, etc... I'm not sure if you thought there was a magic hamster wizard inside your PC that was causing all of this to happen based off his translations of the writings of Nostradamus, but it's all dice rolls.

[ApolloGenX]

Just curious... do the people making claims about farming easy content being a "challenge" consider Farmville hardcore or challenging? There are lots of social app games that use this mechanic... It's not the kind of "challenge" I would expect from a first class subscription based MMORPG.

Or is this really some kind of "wax on" "wax off" lesson they are teaching players that will prime them to learn the ultimate and super impressive methods of gaming? Maybe they are making us carry buckets of water now... but will eventually show us the five point palm exploding heart technique~!

Or not. But it would be cool if they did.

[CYoung187]

They aren't going to do anything about RNG. They keep adding more RNG into the game in every single aspect. Obviously, their idea of "good gameplay" is making everything diceroll-based. I guess people who like actually having some remote semblance of control over their own playing are just not the target audience for this game.

Every. RPG. Ever.

Is this your first?

[ApolloGenX]

Have you ever realized how when you swing your weapon, or cast a spell, sometimes you crit sometimes you don't?
How about when you open a treasure chest, sometimes there is crafting materials, sometimes gear, hell sometimes even potions. Just about everything in this game, and pretty much any MMO for that matter, is using computer programs that simulate dice rolls in the background, will you dodge, will you parry, etc... I'm not sure if you thought there was a magic hamster wizard inside your PC that was causing all of this to happen based off his translations of the writings of Nostradamus, but it's all dice rolls.

I was under the impression that this stuff generally improved with gear- reducing the variance and making progression meaningful by giving more control, predictability, and power to player actions.

That would be different from an extreme RNG system that was win/lose based.

Older games did have the critical fail mechanic, though... which could be rather entertaining....dropping your weapon... falling down... /giggle... but players generally don't seem to go for those kinds of things anymore. I don't even think you can fizzle spells anymore...I do remember how a well timed fizzle could have me out of my chair rolling around laughing in EQ...

[Mcshiggs]

I was under the impression that this stuff generally improved with gear- reducing the variance and making progression meaningful by giving more control, predictability, and power to player actions.

That would be different from an extreme RNG system that was win/lose based.

You can increase things like crit chance and what not with gear, but the outcome can still only be one of two things, either you crit or you don't, even if you have a 98% hit chance you can still miss, it is still dice rolls. With atma you either get it or you don't, still only two outcomes, still based on a dice roll, the only difference is you can't adjust it with gear.

[Airget]

they must collect feedback and brainstorm on what to do.
it does take time...

Exactly, it's not as easy as saying "well we'll make the drop rate 25% now and see where that goes" They can't just make an abrupt change and not see the aftereffects of it

When it comes to levi, that change was easy, they realized it was a bit absent-minded to have pld/whm obtain two mirrors when their objective was for them to get both pieces with one mirror. So they made the easy balance of just having their shield versions drop as completed pieces.

When you look at animus however, they had planned to release Novus, but they held back because they have to balance it as a whole. They can't release Novus because it most likely follows the same laws as Animus and they can't just change animus without first changing it as a whole.

Odds are with the balancing taking place they may open up different venues other than FATE to obtain the atma.

Some examples of what they could do:

-250 Mytho Item which helps in creating an atma through completing specific objectives (12=3,000 mytho tomes to get atma this way)
-give leves a 15% chance to drop atma in said region from any leve mob in said leve of that region
-every 5 FATE completed have a fragmented atma drop which can be turned in to create an atma of your choice (5-10 fragments per atma)

In the end it comes down to brainstorming, they have to look at what's on the table, how they can alter it and then execute it only after they test out the balance of what they have in mind.

[ApolloGenX]

You can increase things like crit chance and what not with gear, but the outcome can still only be one of two things, either you crit or you don't, even if you have a 98% hit chance you can still miss, it is still dice rolls. With atma you either get it or you don't, still only two outcomes, still based on a dice roll, the only difference is you can't adjust it with gear.

You can crit, you can hit non-crit, you can miss. Difference being that missing doesn't mean you fail and die. Plus, in a group, you might miss but other hit- everyone wins.

I don't think that people expect NO RNG in the game... just not extreme RNG and a high number of occurrences (especially in sequence) with the result determining complete success or failure.

I mean - how would it have been if you had a chance to block in the opening sequence..(that Ascian shadow attack thing). and if you failed, character died and you had to reroll? That's nothing but an annoyance. RNG has appropriate and inappropriate placement.

Heck even in old games where your stats were rolled when you leveled, there were perm stat pots to offset the rng factor.

[Mcshiggs]

You can crit, you can hit non-crit, you can miss. Difference being that missing doesn't mean you fail and die. Plus, in a group, you might miss but other hit- everyone wins.

I don't think that people expect NO RNG in the game... just not extreme RNG and a high number of occurrences (especially in sequence) with the result determining complete success or failure.

First off I have never died when I didn't get an atma drop, instead I got gil and GC seals. Also how can you not expect low drop rates on a quest that Yoshi said would have low drop rates, did you not believe him? Your extreme RNG may sound cooler, but it's still just low drop rates, just like we were told. Do you call up your local weatherman when your golf game gets cancelled because of rain, and the weatherwaitress said there were high chances of rain, but you didn't expect the EXTREME RNG rain.

[Shai]

I don't have the brain cells to expend to read every post in this thread thus far,
but I feel the bigger picture here is that you're crying and quitting over content designed for casuals.
(Incoming s---storm from casuals who don't have Atma yet!)

Seriously, the fact that it does not require anything but time is a clue that it's not designed for hard core players. Certain players with hardcore mentalities will of course go out of their way to uber grind in order to attain Animus, but as it's already been pointed out - the real "hardcore" players are throwing themselves at Turn 9 for 16 hours a day. Not sitting in level 5 camps hoping to get a weapon that is on par with the 2nd best weapon available (Tidal Wave). If you consider yourself hardcore, Animus should be your back burner pet project. It does not require skill. It does not require anything but time and commitment.

Just because it may take a casual a long time to acquire 12 Atma doesn't mean it isn't designed for them. They may only have an hour to log on per day. They can do roughly 4-5 FATEs and maybe get an Atma. Can they clear 2nd Coil in that time. Not likely. Instead of crying about content that truly isn't even intended to captivate your alleged play style, just grind content that DOES require skill, effort and a time commitment. You can come crying to us when the Turn 9 RNG doesn't spit out the weapon you want right away.

[Velthice]

.

I want to start off by saying I agree with everything you're saying. I just want to point out that tidal wave and animus weapons are actually 3rd best weapon available behind the unweathered versions of the weapons you can obtain from Rowena. So really you don't even have to throw yourself at turn 9, just turn 7 for a weapon that is equivalent to animus and turn 8 for an item that will make that weapon BETTER than animus.