Raid locks gone in 3.0? Possible negative consequences to statics...

[Olympus]

Additionally, unlike the Coil of Bahamut, players will be able to re-enter a floor in Alexander even if you have cleared it (similar to the Crystal Tower). You will be able to challenge it as many times as you wish until you obtain the item that you want. Also, even if you Need on an item, you will still be able to help others with the progression of Alexander.

Is SE eliminating the point of having a static? Statics couldn't be bothered spamming CT until every member gets loot...it'll be every member for themselves. Or...if your static survives, how can you justify not spamming the same turn 8+ times until everyone gets their piece of weekly loot?

I seriously hope this is only for Alexander Normal Mode, i.e. casuals. If this applies to Alexander Hard Mode, it will be a disaster for the raiding community, shifting focus from weekly clears of content to weekly loot for individuals...in other words, from a team-oriented goal to an individual-oriented goal.

[Bombast]

This is a boon to LSs/FCs with social members who play MMOs as social games, and a catastrophe for statics who want to log in once a week, bang away at end game content, and go do something else.

As someone in the former, I'm stoked.

[Kuwagami]

I think it's only a problem for run sellers. But that's none of my business

[KazumaFaemura]

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I'd like to know, how it would be a disaster to the raiding community? I thought the point of a static group was progression and not loot. For a group of friends or FC members to make progress through a side story to see what happens while getting loot. Because if the point of a static is to just go in once a week for loot then this game's raiding community is already screwed.

[Cynfael]

How is this supposed to be a "catastrophe"?

[Olympus]

The reason I play FFXIV is that my last MMO eliminated locks from top tier content and that became the final expansion for the raiding community before it died.

The act of removing locks in Final Coil, as SE recently did in a patch, ADDED something to do in game, after content had been available for months. It meant that people can run 10-13 with other people, for a change of pace and as much as they like--gearing alts, learning different statics' strats, etc. It's the logical follow up to having locked content since last October, after 5 months of working as a team to beat content.

Why SE would want to start handing loot out like candy on Halloween to raid teams is a poor decision for creating lasting content. Hardcore statics will get everyone on their team 1 piece per week, gearing out much more quickly than before, and causing those players to lose interest in the game even more quickly.

Example: At the beginning of Final Coil, in T10, a team would get 2 pieces of loot per week. Even ignoring the possibility of an "undesirable" drop, that's like 0.25 pieces of loot per person.

With this new idea, SE is saying that they're going to multiply the rate at which raiders get loot by 4 (from 0.25 to 1 piece of loot per person per week). So main jobs will get geared 4 times as quickly, causing the content to run out of life 4 times as fast. Not only that, SE loses the step of eventually removing locks, which breathes new life into the content. This is a poor business decision, unless SE plans to start releasing content 4 times as fast, also. And this is a poor decision for the raiding community who will get bored that much more quickly.

[ShaneDawn]

I don't really see that much of a problem. Tbh it was pretty depressing logging in once a week and see those same Healing and Caster gear drop every week. Even with the lockouts gone, the loot is not a given; after something around 60 T10 farm runs, I still have yet to see a single Bard Sash due to RNG. And that's just for me, in a static there's a total of 8 people.

It's been pointed out before though; instead of lockouts, maybe SE should just release more raid content? A few turns every 6 months us hardly enough to satisfy the best raiders.

[VargasVermillion]

I don't really see that much of a problem. Tbh it was pretty depressing logging in once a week and see those same Healing and Caster gear drop every week. Even with the lockouts gone, the loot is not a given; after something around 60 T10 farm runs, I still have yet to see a single Bard Sash due to RNG. And that's just for me, in a static there's a total of 8 people.

It's been pointed out before though; instead of lockouts, maybe SE should just release more raid content? A few turns every 6 months us hardly enough to satisfy the best raiders.

Just for a point of reference how many raids do other mmos release on average per 6 months or so, say WoW for example?

[Kuwagami]

Just for a point of reference how many raids do other mmos release on average per 6 months or so, say WoW for example?

iirc (never played myself) wow releases about the same amount of raiding content as FFxiv, but all at once or so, and before an expansion there is a 1 year or so gap with absolutely nothing significant added

[seekified]

I don't see a problem with this as long as they maintain a content pacing to go with it. I'll likely use my static to progress through the fights and once I know them, farm the hell out of them with PF parties. This is essentially what's been done up to this point, only it'll be much, much faster from now on.

Like I say, if new content is released often enough to keep people busy it won't be a problem. If not, it might mean that people saturate their farming needs very quickly and go do something else. Personally I don't mind much - while it is nice to have a static with skilled, nice players it also means that I have three nights a week where I have to say no to IRL stuff. Wouldn't mind not being in that situation to be fair.