In need of alternative endgame content

[Jandor]

Frontlines?

[Hiruke]

Frontlines?

I don't think you know what "endgame content" is.

[Hiruke]

The issue is the way XIV is designed. Other games have lockouts but they handled them much much better.

I agree 100%.

It's really annoying to get together a static of people who are:

1) near perfect in their game play
2) are able to play at the same times as you
3) don't get sick of the game and quit

If there was no lockout, you could at least mix up your 8 man group. Go with some people one day, and another set of people another day. Instead you're forced into either PFing it and hoping, or making a static. If you make a static, better hope everyone is super pro, and no one quits! Otherwise, you're now forced at least partially into the PF situation, or you just stop doing Coil altogether.

It's kind of silly that the whole excuse for this severe lockout is that "people will go through content too quickly". Who cares if people burn through content too quickly? The reality is that the top tier of players ALREADY BURN THROUGH CONTENT TOO QUICKLY. They'll either continue to do it after it becomes old hat, as they already do now, or they won't. Lessening restrictions will have zero impact on this. For some reason Yoshida cares about this extremely minute minority SO MUCH that they are making Brutal Coil specifically for them. Isn't that enough? Challenge in spades.

Besides which, this game lets you play any different job you want. Already beat all the content? Well, you can start going through it as a different job and/or getting gear for a different job. Or, you know, ALL THE JOBS. It would help if there was other fun stuff to do, even if wasn't endgame, but there's not even that. Everything in the entire game is just super tedious. Spiritbonding is tedious, getting marks/xp in PvP is tedious, getting animus is tedious. Nothing is hard, it's just designed to take the maximum amount of time for the minimum amount of fun/reward.

1% drop rates, extreme lockouts... SE seems determined to remove the idea of "achievable goals" from anyone but the most hardcore of the hardcore, and even they have to get burned out on all the tedium eventually. I hope they decide to take another look at how they design the game before that "over 2mil subs" drops back down to well under 1mil when everyone realizes there isn't actually anything going on in this game.

[Merryl]

What we want is something besides ct that rewards 100+ tomes

[Jandor]

I don't think you know what "endgame content" is.

No, I don't think you know what "endgame content" is.

[Icepick823]

I don't think you know what "endgame content" is.

Consider you need to be 50 to do Frontlines, and it will give tomestone rewards, I'll say that you don't know what endgame is. Hint: it isn't just the highest level raid.

[Gormogon]

It's a shame that Golden Saucer was delayed.
Hopefully Frontlines can fill the void.

[ChiefCurrahee]

I will use the big 2 other mmo that people in this game came from:

XI had lockouts - they involved between 6-50ppl could take any amount of people and there was numerous activities to do at once. (Equally valid content with and without lockouts)
WoW had Lockouts - you could take your entire/most your guild without leaving people out. Yes WoW had lack of content when you go to the end, but it was focused on the entire group.

That is the problem with XIV... there is 1 piece of endgame content and it has extremely restrictive lockouts. They need to either add more content that is valid or remove the lockouts... If people burn through it too fast the devs need to either A) design content faster or B) add different forms of content for endgame... not just 1 set of instanced boss fight (it is not even a raid technically).

This is what I wanted to say, but didn't want to make the comparison in the OP because people wouldn't get past the vs. XI / WoW thing.

Another problem is how the iLvL on gear is going up and up, when does it stop? what's the point? Bigger numbers? Trivializing all previous content? if they just stopped at iLvL 60 and just made everything else a side grade or available for vanity we would have a much more balanced and WAAAAAAY more challenging content.

Keep coil the way it is, it's a hard type boss rush.

Add raid dungeons for 8 players with challenging trash mobs, gimmicks and multiple mini-boss fights leading to a mega boss. Gate the progression with Loot lock instead of content lock.

Add Tiered Levequests (think 1.0 faction leves) which would be gated by the number of Faction allowances day/week, each set of leves completed leads to more difficult challenges.

Make all these options on par with coil for gear progression.


The point is weekly lock outs is terrible and is making a stagnant endgame.

[Suellen]

snip

I mostly agree with this post. I'd like to add I think another problem is that the alternate form of endgame besides coil is way to reliant on tome grinding. I never played a game where they release party size dungeons that everyone does once and forgets about it because the drops are never relevant to anyone.

Even new players to the game that I've met will hit CT up once they hit 50 and then join in on the epic myth tome grind until your eyes bleed. I'll be honestly shocked if there is any incentive to play the dungeon released in 2.3 aside from curing boredom. (As I'd guess CT and Bray will still be the best options for tome grinding)

I imagine for casual players it will just be more CT+Brayflox for Myth/sol grinding plus the sands/oil thing down the line. All other content, no matter how flashy and exciting they'll try to make it feel, will get mostly ignored except when forced to endure it through a duty roulette.

[Kuwagami]

Crafting isn't end game, or a means of progression compared with coil.

Considering how EVERY top-end progression group goes in crafted HQ penta melded gear in each new extension of the Coil, I think you're greatly underestimating crafting.

Though it's only a matter of days before it becomes obsolete after each patch if you are dedicated enough. but crafted i90 pentamelded > everything i90-i100 you can get within 2 weeks. It <ill be the same at 2.4 with i110 crafted vs previous i110 gear