Thread: Questionable decisions on patch 2.35

I agree with you completely OP. I can understand why they dinged SB in dungeons, but what in the world was in hurting in the overworld? Dedicated groups at Urth's Fount did nothing but spiritbond which didn't mess with anyone else's experience. Not to mention that and the i70+ SB change to make materia even MORE expensive for new crafters and Novus hunters, smh.

It feels like SE opened the floodgates with RAF and all this new player fanfare to draw people in with a relatively easy catch up experience that would prepare them for 2.4 and 2.5, only to completely remove that and make it harder for them to catch up than it was for us originally to get where we are. I was able to get two of my friends to start playing, one of them from a certain other game where playing lifeless non-community content was the thing to do. Now I fear he may go back.

This was a very bad patch, almost bait and switch-like for new players. I hope things either revert or improve in time.

Originally Posted by Miakisaki

I agree with you completely OP. I can understand why they dinged SB in dungeons, but what in the world was in hurting in the overworld? Dedicated groups at Urth's Fount did nothing but spiritbond which didn't mess with anyone else's experience. Not to mention that and the i70+ SB change to make materia even MORE expensive for new crafters and Novus hunters, smh.

Tier IV conversion rates for i45 to i55 crafted gear havn't changed. Materia prices spiked because most players have yet to comprehend the new spiritbonding rules. Mass testing needs to be done to learn the conversion rates for i70 and i90 gear. Going by our current testing without the conversion rate change Tier IV materia prices would have crashed making Tier III materia the most expensive.

This was a very bad patch, almost bait and switch-like for new players. I hope things either revert or improve in time.

It is only day 2 of the patch so calling it a bad patch before things have settled down is presumptive.

Originally Posted by Darki

I have to disagree. SE has tied lots of things into lots of different content systems for the sake of players giving lots of different things a try. Fate are connected (to an extent) to crafting by the crafting mats bought with grand company seals. This is just one example.

How is that even restrictive ? The issue isn't that it's tied to a Content System, the issue is using a restrictive Content System on something that could have achieved a similar results on an unrestricted one.

Originally Posted by LineageRazor

I'm not sure this is true... Previously, joining a Hunt LS and hunting Marks of all levels was the only practical way to get Allied Notes in a reasonable amount of time. Now, with the boosts to Daily and Weekly Marks, a player can earn enough AN to pick up a Sands of Time every three weeks, which is pretty reasonable. Sure, you can still get Sands faster through hardcore A and S hunting, but players who wish to avoid the stress and drama now have an option available to them. I'm certain many will take that option.

This 100% about hunts. I my self hated doing hunts since ppl were rude and mean 2 id be in a full party but id still miss out on kills everyone come here fast it's up loading screen omg hurry someone pulled almost there awwwwww dead :P yea no ty doing at my own time is much more fun

Originally Posted by Ultimatecalibur

Tier IV conversion rates for i45 to i55 crafted gear havn't changed. Materia prices spiked because most players have yet to comprehend the new spiritbonding rules.

I'm not quite sure I follow. How would tier IV materia prices crash when supply is heavily reduced and demand continues to steadily rise? Further, how would tier III materia become the most expensive when supply for it would increase based on i70-90 now converting more often into it? If people aren't converting i70+ into IV regularly anymore, the supply will bottom out making IV materia that much more expensive. This will turn a "Perfect" Novus where Savage Aim/Might IVs are completed on it into something you only have if you are ridiculously rich or acquire gil through other malicious means.

As for it being only the second day, it doesn't take much to see how anti-friendly the changes are to people playing catch-up with crafting and relics.

Originally Posted by Dark-Saviour

Biggest annoyance:
Chocobo dyeing being dependent on having a FC House/Stable (and requiring gardening + 6 hour waiting periods, just because)

Likely will be available w personal housing as well; if such is the case, this being limited to FCs only is a short term issue.

Originally Posted by AxelDH

Materia:
Level 70 - 90 gear is no longer guaranteed to convert into level IV materia. There was already a shortage of level IV materia, I don't see how this is going to help anyone.

Gear of these iLevels are spiritbonding at least twice as fast and as much as four times as fast than before the patch. If i70+ gear were guaranteed IV's, then the market would be absolutely flooded with Grade IV materia. I'm sure that once the whining calms down and people actually start spiritbonding this stuff somewhat often, then it'll be found that the rate of Grade IV generation really isn't all that different than before. Remember that i45+ gear is unchanged and still gives Grade IV at the same rate as before, too.

Primal Weapons can be exchanged for GC Seals:
Now everyone will be rolling on weapons they didn't previously have any interest in, to exchange them for seals. This will effectively make it harder for people levelling desynthesis to grab the weapons they're looking for, and lessen the already small supply of Demimateria (i.e. the level 95 gear will be even more expensive to make). Wouldn't it have been better to make these fights reward you with a small amount of GC seals instead?

If you're trying to get Primal Weapons to level desynthesis, you have some serious priority issues. The only reason you should ever go for these weapons is if you have a high enough skill that the chance to desynth them is 90%+(except for Titan weapons. Those poor desynthers.) and you're specifically looking for the Demimateria of the <insert primal here>. While you're there, use the tried and true solution of "go in as a job that can Need roll on a weapon you can desynth". Besides, enough people were already rolling on everything they saw for glamour, collecting, and desynth anyway. This, again, is something that really won't change much.

Hunting:
I'm not sure if making B ranks effectively worthless (for most of the week) was the best fix. Now we have 17 fewer targets to hunt for, but just as many people looking, making the rush of people going after every A rank even worse.

What SE did with Hunts here was create a clear line of separation between the "Casual Hunter" and the "Hardcore Hunter". The Hardcore Hunter will continue mobbing all of the A and S Ranks they find, and the Hunt for them has been nerfed such that it isn't astronomically more profitable than any other content in the game. Still the most profit, just slightly less. The Casual Hunter, who was previously completely unable to do hunts of any rank due to Hardcore monopolies, can now do their Daily and Weekly Hunt Bills to get seals at a reasonable pace. This is probably one of the best things that could have possibly been done with Hunts, as it is now impossible for players to completely exclude each other from getting seals. Everyone can now do the Hunt, and that is the way it should be.

On Diabolos at least, B Ranks were already being ignored in the sense of calling them in linkshells when found. When the A Rank windows are open, they're completely ignored. Nothing has changed here, except that people seem to be more antsy about pulling A's sooner because there are no longer any B Rank rewards to possibly make up for missing an A or two.

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So, to make a long story short, the patch has been out for all of 36 hours. Stop whining about things that will take far longer than 36 hours to make their effects truly known. We're in "wait and see" mode right now, and it is no place to judge the decisions of the developers.