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

[Kaethra]

we can't ask them to change what exist already, the work will be insane, however we can ask them to do this for the new content coming, it's the right time for do it, because next year we do get the expansion, it's the right time for point out stuff that needed to be changed for make the game more enjoying and thrilling than it is actually. that the whole point of this thread

If the idea is to retain new players, then they might not have a choice in the long run. All the level 1-49 and iLvl50-80 content is what new players will experience before entering into an expansion. I doubt they would do more 1-49 content in the expansion. That's a mistake developers have learned since 2006. Focus on progression content, rather than leveling. Players spend more time in progression then they do in leveling, even if you level every class.

[Exstal]

But remove the routine of the fight by randomizing the abilities of the boss and the fight becomes a new one each time you run it. Maybe set a cooldown so there's not 4x+ mountain busters for example, or maybe even let it ride and see how groups react to it.

4 mountain busters in a row is fine in hard mode since we simply over gear it. 4 mountain busters in a row in extreme Titan with no telegraph would be very...cruel.

[Pavetl]

Personaly I believe the "targeting" system is old and boring. And then you add battle-mechanics content...well, that is why I stop playing this game for 6 months. Honestly, unless you are a Final Fantasy fan, there far more entertaining MMORPGs, end for free...Action based battle systems are, in my opinion, way more fun tha this "target" system.

So long story short: action game á la TERA + FFXIV end game mechanics + flexible PT builds from 4 up to 24 members + capping number of attempts + ... oh yea! also make fights mechanics random and not scripted and I can pay 12 USD a month to play that!
But I know, that is just a dream. Target based FFXIV is here to stay, so at least I hope they can make content at least based more on timing and managing CD (player skills) instead of "play T6 until you learn it by heart and then find 7 ppl who also know it by heart and T6, the end." type of game.

Anyways, just my 2 cents. Sorry for my grammar/spelling, english is not my first language

[Kaethra]

4 mountain busters in a row is fine in hard mode since we simply over gear it. 4 mountain busters in a row in extreme Titan with no telegraph would be very...cruel.

Well you do have another tank available,

[Edli]

there far more entertaining MMORPGs, end for free...Action based battle systems are, in my opinion, way more fun tha this "target" system.

Well you have an opinion, that's great. I personally didn't get hooked on them.

[KarstenS]

What OP (and myself) want is to be able to say "I know I'm a good Paladin/Dragoon/Scholar/etc because I fulfilled my role appropriately and lended to us clearing the content in a fun manner." What currently happens is, "I watched a video and have better reaction skills. I'm must truly be skilled."

That is not correct. In the current not nerfed or echoed endcontent you must have reaction skills AND fulfill your role at the same time.

Its not fair to the game to talk about issues in content you have not played yourself.

[Dashuto]

Why are people so uptight about their teams?

Because a single person who doesn't know what to do will mean loss.

But teaching them is considered a waste of time by many, and in fact the New Player Myth reward alert is used as a method to identify and remove new players.


This is extra counter productive, as a player may have learned to the point they could clear- yet they are essentially marching into groups with a brand that says "You cannot trust me to perform".


You can make fights difficult without instant wipe mechanics, many other MMO including 14's predecessor (11) did this.

As for those using Seiryu and Byakko spawns at Kirin as an example, those arent group instant wipes even if they get lucky with their 2 hour. Thats an assassination of a handful of people from an alliance, far from a wipe.

Searing light Carbuncle on Kirins 2hr? Okay, that could be considered an instant wipe. Its unavoidable within range, but usually most of the alliance could just try to be out of range and usually the tanks and some high HP melee survived it.

FFXI had tons of challenging fights with different mechanics, and instant full group wipes were a rarity. (I'm not saying make this game FFXI)

I'll add that there is a contributing reason the devs there made this rare: because you usually had to spend pop items for the difficult battles. In 14 this isn't the case, going into challenging content costs you nothing most of the time. The devs assume you will try and try and try again, until everyone present learns or you get lucky. Except people don't always have the patience for that. In fact, usually they don't. They'd rather just remove anyone stumbling in the least and move on. Or remove people marked as new. Or demand people link items, achievements, etc etc.

The system turns players against each other and curbs the process of learning and progress. Instead of a system where a full group can make stumbles and saves we have groups where you must learn to turn a rubix cube to the specific beat of a song or have a full failure.

[GemGenie]

Totally agree....

But vertical progression and mechanic driven battle are the core design of this game...
And this system has already revealed its unfriendliness to the social aspect of mmo rpg and also completely opposite of promoting FC/LS bonding and communication.

For FF11, yes, it's easy, you bring more people in, you win. And you will win everything as long as you have people.
You started a dynamis at 9am with 12 people, some lazy guy woke up at 10am or later, they still can join in. And at the end you get your 30 ls mate come in to kill dark lord.
You have 2 main tank already, another newbie wanna learn with af1 pld armor. Fine, let him come in.

I think this will never happen in ff14.
Because the "Core design" is completely different and Yoshi-p is so proud of this design.

[Adler]

I only read OP post and nothing else. Would like to comment about "casual players are people too, remove instant death thing and let them learn their jobs and have fun" part.
The base idea is same as in real life - there are people that are fast learners and people that are slow learners. Then there are people that don't even care to learn and find it easier just to get things get done by others - by whining, leeching or simply waiting for a miracle to happen. I see casual players that play ff xiv just for couple of hours on weekends and know their jobs very well. They only ask for help when they want to do some hard content for 1st time but they also ask for advice or watch/read a guide before. These casual players get end game content done relatively fast. Then there are "the casual players" that basically spend more time in ff xiv than out of it, they usually have 1 or 2 job at level 50, have no idea how to do it proper and talk a lot about "poor mechanics", "broken game" etc.
So - some people are just doing their things quietly, levelling up jobs and learning how to use them well. They progress slower in endgame but they do progress steadily. And then there are some other people that just decide they want to beat THAT DUNGEON/TRIAL. So they spam df or pf never getting past the initial phase of that fight, blaming tanks, dps, healers, Square Enix, lag, cat, mom or whatever else. After 100 wipes they might still have not seen a guide but probably will have made dozens of complaint posts in forums already.

[Dyvid]

I love how everyone says FFXI was the best system, yet they aren't playing it....

It's not the system that turns player on one another, it's players lack of patience. FFXI CoP was a fine example of this because it had the same issue as FFXIV end game does. Outside of an LS or Static it was very tough for a player to progress due to the difficulty. Do you honestly think there was a difference from FFXI Diabolos wipe and Garuda EX wipe? It's still frustrating no matter how you wipe and you still have the blame game.

So in short every MMO has it's share of frustration in end game arena and FFXIV is no different.