Current State of End-Game Contents - A Blog Post from A Japanese Player

[OSUBuckeye4]

Not sure you've been reading....we're not talking "cutting edge"...we're talking the "game" ...MANY, yup many people are still stuck at T5...there's not a lot of farming going on in the GENERAL populace. But there's one helluva lot of headbanging going on in an effort to find even 8 vaguely competent people.

Personally, I loved this game, but even with my infinite patience, 100s of wipes (literally) on Titan EX and T5, my patience wears thin and I'm looking at two new amazing games coming out in the not too far distance.

You see...what we're left with at the moment is running the same dungeons over and over for absolutely nothing except myth. Fates...oh please not fates, they were totally ruined by the forced Atma fiasco, and...crafting (if you're into that).We can't "farm" for High Allagan gear, we can't farm for Levi weapons, (we can't even see the freaking content beyond Titan) we can't do the weekly Rowena token runs, so us "non-exceptional" people, you know, we who pay the majority of subs and therefore keep this game healthy....have absolutely nothing "fun", or productive to do UNLESS WE JOIN A STATIC.

I've made a static this week, it's going to be a long haul as most of the people can only make twice a week and the majority of them are brand new to T5, which means I've put myself back to the beginning, just to be able to progress beyond the dreadknights, because there's no other way of doing it. Which leads back to the OP...there shouldn't be this reliance on getting a "static", we should be able to do stuff that is a challenge, enjoyable and fun with our guildies as in ALL OTHER MMOS so far.

^^this


I'll add this....

Look, there is a place for ultra-hard content in MMORPG's that requires statics and hours upon hours of failing to complete. That content should be stand-alone (or "brick wall") in nature though.

The upcoming "brutal" mode stuff is the route that SE should be taking with this type of content. Put it out there and offer non-game breaking rewards (like a coin that you can exchange for titles or mounts or fancy minions or housing decorations) for completing it.

Don't put a bunch of storyline and lore behind that fight, because 95+% of your playerbase will never see it, and a sizeable portion of them will get frustrated and end up leaving.

There are few things that upset people more than knowing that there is something behind that locked door they are trying to open.

That's the real problem with a lot of this content.

When you beat Twintania, there is storyline and progession that leads to more storyline behind it. When you beat Titan EX, there is progression to additional content that has been released that offers additional rewards for completion.

THAT is what drives people insane. All this stuff exists that they are not able to gain access too and experience.


And if you're doing to take that route, don't make the battles so scripted. There is nothing more boring than following a script to beat a fight. It's not a real test of skill, it's just memorization.

It's like running a firearms course where you know exactly where the targets are going to pop up. Sure, you need to know how to point, aim, shoot and reload your weapon... but, you're not really getting a test of your practical skill with the firearm if you know exactly where the next target is going to pop up EVERY time. After the 99th run where you hit every target and your partner screws up on the 3rd target, you will just say, "eff this, I'm out" and hand over your badge.



There should absoultely be a "normal" or "easy" mode for Coil and the EX primals. Nerf the rewards, but allow people who can't find statics to at least progress onto the other new content that was released.



TLDR version...

SE has two ways to go about things:

1) Make end-game content stand-alone and not in any way related to lore or progression (like they are going to do with the Brutal modes)

2) Offer a storyline or easy mode to get through existing end-game content that is acting as a gate to other content, but nerf the rewards and achievements if people choose to use it. I guess SE tried this with the echo buff, but that is worthless on fights like Titan EX that have insta-kill mechanics.


Don't put up brick walls and have all of your additional content hide behind those walls. That causes people to leave. Like I said earlier, nothing upsets someone more than knowing that there is something they want behind a locked door that they can't open.

No one is going to legitimately complain about not getting a title or a vanity housing item... people are going to legitimately complain about not being able to acess a bunch of additional fights and storyline that reveal lore.

[Anyssa]

You see..what we're left with at the moment is running the same dungeons over and over for absolutely nothing except myth. Fates..oh please not fates, they were totally ruined by the forced Atma fiasco, and..crafting. We can't farm for High Allagan gear, we can't farm for Levi weapons, (we can't even see the freaking content beyond Titan) we can't do the weekly Rowena token runs, so...we who pay the majority of subs...have absolutely nothing "fun", or productive to do UNLESS WE JOIN A STATIC.

Well said! Due to not being able to get past titan ex, I've been locked out of all this content. As a result it's built up frustration, anger, and lastly lost love for the game. The disappointing part in all this is that SE could solve it all if they simply eased up on some of the team rope jumping. Even easing up on the plumes would satisfy me. Those damn plumes and the insane latency issues that constantly kill people is a real issue that SE won't even recognize.

[Iriadysa]

We can't "farm" for High Allagan gear, we can't farm for Levi weapons, (we can't even see the freaking content beyond Titan) we can't do the weekly Rowena token runs, so us "non-exceptional" people, you know, we who pay the majority of subs and therefore keep this game healthy....have absolutely nothing "fun", or productive to do UNLESS WE JOIN A STATIC.

I have done all Ex primals multiple times (more than you have attempted them, I bet) and all of Coil 1 including T5 without a static. Even if I'm super human and have cat-like reflexes, I still had to find other people to PUG with to beat this content multiple times, so I see no reason why you or anyone else can't do it.

The only thing that you will need a static for is Coil 2 (T6+), and the reason is not difficulty. The reason is the lock out system.

[Kiara]

You see...what we're left with at the moment is running the same dungeons over and over for absolutely nothing except myth... so us "non-exceptional" people, you know, we who pay the majority of subs and therefore keep this game healthy....have absolutely nothing "fun", or productive to do UNLESS WE JOIN A STATIC.

... there shouldn't be this reliance on getting a "static", we should be able to do stuff that is a challenge, enjoyable and fun with our guildies as in ALL OTHER MMOS so far.

Well said Rosy. Here's a conversation I had with a friend of mine (playing on another server) that's quitting, and why:

They're on a hardcore server where everyone expects you to immediately read up / watch YouTube videos for the latest patch contents to prep or you get kicked.

"I just got tired of having to 'research' every new fight before I could experience them. When you think about it, it's totally backwards: Since you essentially have to memorize each fight on Youtube before you try them, everything is spoiled. There's nothing new or different to discover. You've seen every move and attack a dozen times on video before you've even begun. My first fight with Leviathan was totally boring rather than exciting. It's all rote memorization and twitch reactions (and hoping lag doesn't kill you regardless). That's fun???"

And when you can do it flawlessly, unless you have a static, you have to find 7 other people to do the same perfect "dance" / routine with you, or else you lose, even if you didn't make any mistakes.

That's one of the biggest flaws. It's fine to have challenging content, but the way they've designed the fights to be, one newbie messing up on DiveBombs can cause Twintania to knock the Tanks and/or Healers into the Flame Walls, one-shotting them along with the newbie.

Other MMOs have fights and raids where a mistake and wiping ended up with an *understanding* attitude and sometimes some good laughs and you retry. In XIV, the way these end game fights have become it's like what the OP says: It's toxic and everyone gets mad or frustrated and quickly Vote Disbands / Rage Quits. There's no feeling of exploring the fights and being challenged by them either, after you memorize it (I've memorized all the EX Primal fights and have cleared them repeatedly). It really is just memorization, and hoping you have 7 other players that memorized the routine with you.

It should be more interesting and engaging than this for Hardcore and Mainstream, while also having more room for error / recovery for Mainstream players (so if they screw up Landslide, DiveBomb, Twister, Acid Cloud, etc., etc.) it's not instant death or an irrecoverable wipe. Some posters brought up good ideas in this thread, like perhaps Landslide will knock you "off" but you can still climb back up (however they sell that), or the rage timer is more lenient to allow mainstream players to recover from a few deaths and still eventually beat the boss if they get that far.

I sincerely hope the Dev Team considers these things going forward.

[Atreides]

What makes people think that everyone should be able to clear the whole content in order for a game to be good?
Once new raids are out they will nerf the older ones for the lesser skilled to clear, you don't need top tier raid gear if you're not interested in hard content anyway.
There was a suggestion to make a SCoB easy mode imo that would be fine if it's just for the story and doesn't really provide any gear but even then some people won't be happy because they also want to be rewarded with the best available gear with the least efford put into it.

[Yukiko]

There was a suggestion to make a SCoB easy mode imo that would be fine if it's just for the story and doesn't really provide any gear but even then some people won't be happy because they also want to be rewarded with the best available gear with the least efford put into it.

And why do you care if they get best gear?
Do you make challenging content because the challenge or because you can show something to others with the intention "I am better than you"?

I am not saying its a good idea, i just point to that arrogance!
Gear should help to progress if you are not so skilled and not used as a reward for clearing something hard to clear...

[Atreides]

And why do you care if they get best gear?
Do you make challenging content because the challenge or because you can show something to others with the intention "I am better than you"?

In no way I'm interested in bragging, it's just human nature to take the route with the least resistence.
So if the rewards would be equal, then most people even those that already have coil on farm would just take that route to be done with.
In my eyes it's bad game design to reward players with lesser skill content with the highest tier of gear, they don't need it unless they actually wanna brag with awesome gears?
The new coils will get nerfed anyway after the next tier is released. So they can clear it then, I see no reason for making it easier & rewarding when the content is actually still fresh.

[Yukiko]

it's just human nature to take the route with the least resistence

Then I am not human, nor are my friends...
You and Exstal both are a good example of what i ment with "I have something you dont have..."
Everyone is working for a goal... So yes indeed if your goal is just equip then indeed you will go the less difficuld route to gain it... so what?
Again: Why do YOU care if others do so? Is gear the only reason you play? Sad...

[Atreides]

Then I am not human, nor are my friends...
You and Exstal both are a good example of what i ment with "I have something you dont have..."
Everyone is working for a goal... So yes indeed if your goal is just equip then indeed you will go the less difficuld route to gain it... so what?
Again: Why do YOU care if others do so? Is gear the only reason you play? Sad...

I give that right back at you, you happen to be a prime example of someone that actually wants to be rewarded with the least efford but saying otherwise to make you look like a better person.
See what I did there? I just generalized you without even knowing you, thats the same you just did.
Careful with pointing your fingers at others, we just have different opinions and possibly never agree with eachother.
Gear IS a big factor to take on challenging content, yes I'm also interested in the Brutal coils even though the drops are the same but I see no reason to do that more than once.
Most people raid because it's fun but it would be pointless without the reward because everyone is looking forward for better gear after progressing so much.
Also gear is not the only reason that keeps me interested, I have a great FC and made many friends in this game I do enjoy the lesser content aswell and wouldn't want to miss any of that.

[Dashuto]

I'm at the point where I do everything in Garuda EX flawless. Both as a DPS or Tank, and I go as both. I literally cannot find 7 other people capable of doing it, not in PF or DF. I have to just keep trying until I manage to get into a team of others who can handle it.

This kind of crap is getting old.