Band-Aid fix on hunts didn't work

[Dyvid]

Please read, where the hell in my reply said MANDATORY LOL. I said "you better call for help" which is what the LIVE letter said, and below the translated Q&A.

Producer already said A and S ranks are tough cookies that you better call for help and join a party in the live letter before 2.3.

Letter from the producer: Which reminds me, I know a lot of players have been concerned this will be like back in the day, where one player or party would claim an enemy, and lock everyone else out from getting a reward. You'll be happy to know that the Hunt was not designed with any such claiming system in mind. In fact, some of the elite marks are so powerful, it would be in your best interest to shout for help before trying to lay a hand on them. I've also heard the more elusive elite marks drop rare items as well. These rare items are distributed on a player-by-player basis, so don't hesitate to reach for a helping hand.

This is what I want. As for what kind of player I am? Read my first. As of today I don't do hunts. The only thing I do is what I always do when I see a player struggle with a monster be it Hunt, FATE, or other; drop some cure on them and take the adds. I'll leave hunts and the drama that comes with it to you dedicated hunters.

P.S. I wouldn't throw words like self entitled around then follow it up with a statement like this.

If you are doing Hunts as sidegrades then I don't think you can complain about sidegrade returns. You can never earn marks like the dedicated hunters do if you don't do it dedicated. It is not possible to not put in the same effort but expecting the same rewards, period.

[skaterger]

snip

I don't think it's an issue though. Players not in a full party are only able to kill B rank hunts and even then it's likely some asshat of the horde will come over and deliberately reset the mob. Solo players will never be able to get full credits from A and S rank mobs due to lack of spawn locations and just not being able to generate enough enmity.
Organised groups and linkshells are mainly after A and S rank spawns and I find it pretty funny when hundreds of players show up at B rank hunts and get butthurt when a small group of players pulled before they arrive, all over 5 paltry seals. I mean looking from their point of view, they will never be able to get full credit if they waited, even if they were the ones who found it.

[Havenchild]

First off OP, if your doing hunts on SMN, and things are dying less then like 20 seconds, you should switch off SMN and go to your BLM, (if your going out of party).
On average BLMs, and BRDs for DPS, have the highest potential to get the highest gains on all ranks that last less then 20 seconds. On BLM on B and A ranks, both dying roughly in the same time on my server, I can still get full credit out of a party assuming I'm there when its first pulled. Raging Strikes+ Fires and Double Flare rotation pretty much solidifies you on contribution for both.

[Alkimi]

First off OP, if your doing hunts on SMN, and things are dying less then like 20 seconds, you should switch off SMN and go to your BLM, (if your going out of party).
On average BLMs, and BRDs for DPS, have the highest potential to get the highest gains on all ranks that last less then 20 seconds. On BLM on B and A ranks, both dying roughly in the same time on my server, I can still get full credit out of a party assuming I'm there when its first pulled. Raging Strikes+ Fires and Double Flare rotation pretty much solidifies you on contribution for both.

Or just go WHM, tag the mob with Aero or something, then Divine Seal/Presence of Mind and spam Cure II on yourself until the mob is dead. You'll probably end up tanking it and will get a decent amount if not full credit solo. Plus it helps the mob live longer in a small way.

[Azurymber]

Hunts die too fast:
30 seconds and it's over for an A rank.
For an S rank, 1-2minutes and it's over

No credit for people popping S Ranks:
You can spend 2 hours trying to pop an S rank, and end up with less marks than people who randomly showed up after you did all the legwork

Hunts disappear:
At least on Balmung, nearly everybody still has to deal with the infamous "invisible NM"
Multiple times during almost any A or S rank fight the Mob disappears. Even when people tone down the settings, they still disappear

No full credit even if there entire time:
with so many people killing the hunt mobs, even if a full party spams entire fight and does max dmg they can, they often get less than the max reward

Fate-Tied Hunts:
Too many trolls. Ppl joke about how they are ruining the fates for people. And then say "if you don't like it don't hunt"

Too many trolls in general:
people shouting fake hunt positions
people pulling right away (even if you found the mob and were waiting for others)
people resetting and pk'ing people

Tons of cheating:
Because "radar isn't any different from looking around" (even though it obviously is) and SE hasn't said anything, nearly everyone is using radar to find mobs.

Overall, hunts will probably go down in history as one of the worst mechanics in any MMO. Literally, they fail at nearly every point. Great concept, horrible follow-through.

already a number of people I know have left the game because they are tired of all the hunt-related drama spamming every zone.

Sadly this could be fixed easily using any of the following:
1. 7min invulnerability on hunt mobs when they pop
2. twenty times the HP
3. 100 mark cap per day
4. announcement in zone for a and b hunt mobs. worldwide announcement for s rank mobs
5. increase daily hunt to 105 per day (so 1 full upgrade per week if soloing)

[Xenor]

The system really is bad. Been looking for hunts for 3 hours tonight in multiple full parties and have 20 seals to show for it. When I turned up for the only S of the night the mob was invisible until it dropped down dead, then its corpse appeared.

[Velthice]

The open world certainly became more dangerous, now every area is slathered in vitriol.

[LeonBlade]

Too many trolls. Ppl joke about how they are ruining the fates for people. And then say "if you don't like it don't hunt"

Okay? Go complain about trolls in CT as well then, they're all over this game, nothing to do with hunts.

Overall, hunts will probably go down in history as one of the worst mechanics in any MMO. Literally, they fail at nearly every point. Great concept, horrible follow-through.

Are you joking? It really isn't as bad as you're claiming, yeah it's flawed, but it certainly isn't that bad.

already a number of people I know have left the game because they are tired of all the hunt-related drama spamming every zone.

Oh god, I can't take people bitching in shout chat! I'M LEAVING THIS GAME! Really...? Either you're lying or these people are just plain stupid, just don't look at the shout chat, plain and simple.

[Mugiawara]

i stand by the fact that i said people take hunts far more to heart than it needs to be.
if ppl are seriously leaving because of this i can't help but laugh.

i was doing botany, about 20 ppl came as ppl shouted and waited...
they started and it died in 5 seconds w/ just a few ppl...it needs a BIG hp booster

[Hyrist]

Balmung is fairly vocal in shout channel right now due to the hunts, where they weren't so much before, I'll grant that. However, Azury has a long history on these boards of very drawn out complaints that stem to be a tad more extreme than the average opinion, even for the server she plays on.

I certainly do not like the hunt system as it stands, but I have multiple reasons for that, rather than just the congestion. For me, it lacks most of the ideas that come to mind when referring to hunts in favor of the typical trappings of MMO 'open world' content, which, I have long stated on these boards, ends up being more toxic than its worth in the long haul.

All of the pratfalls we have encountered, I've cautioned against: Competition causing bad blood between players - the flooding demand for content and the innate inability for open world NM systems to accommodate it, the exploitation and outright cheating the system up to and including the use of third party tools, and the further wedge in the divide among the player-base. All of these are things I've been warning against since 1.0 days, and bemoaning since FFXI.


But there are other things that make these hunts not so engaging for me, mechanically. There's no chase, no trapping. Yes, the Hunt monsters themselves have somewhat unique fight mechanics to them (at least the S ranked ones.) However beyond the fight there are no behaviors unique to hunts other than spawn conditions and timers. I'd love to see a monster you'd have to chase to a specific spot to get to fight, or have to bait out to specific places for bonuses or to prevent specific kinds of damage. To me, part of hunting is the environment and right now there's no real environment-awareness in hunts.

However, my expectations of that changing are realistic, and I would be content with adjustments to better accommodate the congestion (such as force-poping methods).

In the end, I typically don't mind or begrudge Azury's outbursts. While I feel there needs to be better respect paid to the developers for the realities of running an MMO, especially for a Japaneese company, who's never experienced this level of success before in the field. (In contrast to Korean and North American MMOs which have had lots of experience in the field) I do feel that having outspoken opinions on such matters are a necessity for all MMOs. Though, having it all come from one voice does tend to discredit the poster over time - Boy who cried wolf and all.

And in this matter, I do agree with the base overall mood on this - Hunts still need a lot of work. I'm more than confident that SE developers are aware of this, however.