Observations from a New Player

[QiLymePye]

And Secret, I didn't say I didn't like it. Actaully, I said I'm a fanboy. I'm sure i said that. I said I'm worried about this game. I'm very critical of this game, But i never said i didn't like it. I even recently encouraged a friend of mine to go out and buy it. Im saying there are things that I don't like about it. And just because i dislike some things about it doesn't mean I should just go someplace else. If everyone took that to heart, no one would be staying in one place long. And I respect you disagreeing. I like debates, its just that people don't know how to anymore. Its "If you don't like it, leave" or "stop playing". I hate that. Lots of changes were made in this game because of feedback of things players liked and disliked.

[SecretCrowds]

I do not assume that my opinions are the majority. You might notice that in the OP I said that these were my thoughts and observations. Also, I understand that finding balance is difficult, which is why I believe it is important for people to state their ideas and opinions.
I do not assume that certain things are unnecessary. Based on my experience in the game, I have found certain things to be unnecessary. I have learned from this post that other people find some of these things extremely necessary.
For Example, I have done Guildhests as 6 different jobs. Based on my experience, I do not see a point to them. Perhaps I am doing something wrong, or, perhaps, there is a better way to teach players how to work in a group and utilize their skills. If everyone blindly assumes that everything is fine because it was fine two years ago when the game came out, then there can be no improvement. MMO's have the exciting ability to change and adapt to the needs of the players. When I state my thoughts, it is merely an attempt to learn from others and possibly contribute to the community.
For Example, I was not aware how vital food and potions are to end game raiding. Now I know. And if I ever get to the point where I am doing end game raiding, I will now know that I need to bring food and potions. I have learned something, and that is the point of these forums, is it not?

If you had phrased your OP this way, instead of saying that they should be removed, a lot of the arguments here wouldn't have happened.

Asking for things to be deleted is definitely asking for strong reactions.

Guildhests were indeed useful when the game was new. When everyone was new. However, it's impact is limited now, due to them being steamrolled by experienced players. A new player joining them might miss out their point in the first place. In fact, the same can be said for any other old content, including the ones you mentioned in the OP.

This game is definitely far from perfect. Everyone disagreeing with your OP or QiLymPye will not say the game is perfect. It's how you phrase it. When you make a suggestion, if your suggestion impacts how others play the game, you will get strong reactions, there is no way about that. Instead of asking things to be removed, you could have asked how they could be improved. I myself have suggestions about how the things you wanted removed in the OP can be improved.

And yes, the first part of your OP is indeed good.

I appreciate and respect that you changed the tone from your OP. I will definitely do the same in my replies to you now.

[QiLymePye]

You sound extremely defensive/butthurt after many people prove that potions/food are useful for end game. Probably should stop digging that hole.

Dude...what are you talking about. Read everything before that. And that part you quoted was in reference to the phoenix down which im sure many people have wondered about, nothing negative. Damn dude. I conceded in that post in which you quoted only the last line about something that the person whom posted before you got what I was saying.

[Chihaya]

I only quoted that small segment as your butthurt stretched across many posts and I didn't want to copy and paste all that.
And even conceding, you still mocked the use of potion with the x-potion reference and then naming an useless raise item.
That's hella defensive

[Lewtskie]

...

During DPS check phases and I'm playing a full Foe Requiem, I like to pop a pot to give those extra couple seconds; means all the difference if our BLM has that window for another boosted spell or two. And food is that same way. Every singe point in a stat helps everything. Do you just not bother ever upgrading tome gear? Do you think it's pointless because it's just 4-5 couple more points in those stats? All those small increments add up, and that includes what you gain over food. Higher quality food especially is like wearing another accessory for 30 min that they provide enough stats.

[Avyiur]

In regards to stat increments, the newer players also need to understand that stats in this game have a very low number compared to other games that might have stats well into the thousands. So take a number like 300 Parry and you get another 30 Parry from food, right there that's a 10% increase of any given stat. As the game gets higher stats, culinarians can still make food that gives roughly the same amount of +% bonus stat with the HQ foods. This also applies to things like VIT/DEX/STR etc potions.

[QiLymePye]

During DPS check phases and I'm playing a full Foe Requiem, I like to pop a pot to give those extra couple seconds; means all the difference if our BLM has that window for another boosted spell or two. And food is that same way. Every singe point in a stat helps everything. Do you just not bother ever upgrading tome gear? Do you think it's pointless because it's just 4-5 couple more points in those stats? All those small increments add up, and that includes what you gain over food. Higher quality food especially is like wearing another accessory for 30 min that they provide enough stats.

See I am coming to an understanding because when I first used food, it was early in the game and not really high quality. I also didn't really notice the difference, so I just used them for exp. But now that I'm hearing its better for endgame, im gonna give it a try. So my character eating food better be equivalent to Goku taking off his weighted GI. Lol, no but it would be funny. "Oh, think you can handle me Garuda, I wasn't playing on a full stomach. Cheeseburger time! Bam!!! DPS over 5,000!!"

Side note....SE....can we...please....get scouters?

[GuiltyBoomerang]

@OP - Let's go through your suggestions and I'll let you know my opinion about them:

Things I think would make FFXIV more fun:
- The ability to re-queue with random players - I wouldn't mind this either, but SE would probably have to revamp the way the instance servers work to do so. You can, with some organisation, look up other people on the Lodestone and ask them to queue during your time using just one language (or even find out that they are on the same server as you!)
- Mobs that drop loot - Not sure which mobs you're killing, but pretty much all mobs drop loot, be it just plain old gil, crafting mats, or the like. At higher levels, you're looking at seals to upgrade your gear. Certain bosses and dungeons will also drop cards for Triple Triad from FFVIII.
- More challenging mobs - I'd say that you have been mainly killing all the mobs in the original iteration of 2.0. Seeing as you are L52 and are probably in Ishgard, mobs are challenging there because their HP is increased. If you mean challenging in different attacks and tactics, then I point you to boss fights.
- Boss fights that require tactics (not memorization) - What kind of tactics are we talking about here? I consider (as a healer primarily) tactics to be explaining how the fight will pan out (if things are to be discussed.) Of course, if you mean memorization in how to counter enemy attacks, then that is inevitable...unless you fight some of the bosses with an element of RNG in their attacks (there are some out there.)
- More variety between jobs - Each job has their own system and role, but one nice thing is that it's not absolutely necessary to have a perfect party to engage in content. A Bard might not out-damage a Dragoon, but MP Regen? TP (Action Points) Regen? I'd gladly have a Bard in the party. A Warrior does more DPS than a Paladin as a tank, but a Paladin has more defensive cooldowns so can absorb more damage overall. A Scholar might not outheal a White Mage, but can pick between a super-healing fairy or a support-fairy to buff the party. And with the new classes...who doesn't like having a ranged DPS in Machinist who can also deploy Bioshock-like flying turrets?

Now onto things you would like removed, and to why they can stay:

If improvements can't be made to things because of over taxing the servers, I think FFXIV should trim some of the fat from the game.
Things I think FFXIV can get rid of:
- Guildhests - As some people have pointed out, these are probably slightly meaningless now since you can just get by them without much in the way of actually following the script. They do teach you a lesson though, and one particular Guildhest (Buso) can be a fun little roulette of running away from every mob in the room (because you didn't follow instructions.) And when you start to really squeeze and maximise your EXP, the Guildhest Roulette gives a nice bonus. There's also a bonus on completing them for the very first time on EVERY job.
- Potions It has been explained to me that potions and food are necessary in end game raiding. They give nice buffs to maximise your output. It's no fun to run out of MP as a caster, or your HP when you're tethering on the edge of life or death. Chucking Potent Poisoning Pots on the boss in Turn 5 was almost a given, as well as in Turn 8 of the Binding Coil of Bahamut (The End-Game Raid of 2.0.)
- FoodIt has been explained to me that potions and food are necessary in end game raiding. Ditto with above, more HP, higher Crit Rates, etc. If you become a Culinarian, you're almost guaranteed a reliable source of income since people will buy food from the Market Board.
- Chocobo fighting Chocobos are useful and will help you kill mobs if you're soloing. It's also a nice way to have a companion who you can dress up, and choose how to fight. A Summoner with their tank pet and Chocobo out can pretty much solo most mobs (At 55, I can kill mobs that are level 59.) For people coming from FFXI, raising a Chocobo was something they always wanted in the base game. You can also race them later on (another feature from FFXI.)
- Hunting/Sightseeing logs EXP bonuses when you do them, and they reward you with a title upon completing the book as well as a nice item. Sightseeing is also a way to truly enjoy the graphics of the game.
- City to City Airships - Required for the story...if you were in 1.0, god forbid, there were no airships for a while, and teleports were limited. There were also NO mounts for a while. Just be glad you can fly as a way to get between places.
- Treasure Chests - You don't want loot? Really? You can vendor it you know...
- Linkshells - Almost required for Hunts in end-game, and a nice place to chat.
- Irrelevant quest lines (Ultima's Bane, Relic Weapon, etc) - Back when 2.0 was released, the maximum ilvl was 90, but you could only get 1-2 pieces of i90 gear a week, with supplementation through i70 gear that you could get unlimited amounts of (and still looks quite good to this day.) Ultima was a tough fight back then, but rewarded i80 accessories to ease the pain of BCoB and get people's ilvls decent. It was also quite fun. Might have to run it again to get a necklace to glamour...As for the Relic Weapon, it was, after all the upgrades, the best weapon before Heavensward. People still do it for achievements and to make their i190 weapons look like it, since they enjoy the aesthetic. It might not be relevant to you, but I guarantee that there are probably more side quests you will enjoy (check out Hildibrand, the Moogle Postmaster, 'The Greatest Story Never Told' as examples.) [ACTUALLY, YOU MUST DO HILDIBRAND.]

[odie]

I like how QiLymePye thinks that if SE doesn't change things they won't last long, yet plays ESO which has been doing poorly enough to drop the subscription model.

To those that think potions are useless....i thought that too a while back....then I looked at the stats on them. I realize that the duration and cooldowns seems worthless....but believe me if we could use them for longer durations and with less cooldown time, SE would have to retune the fights to account for this and you'd be complaining about how impossible the dps checks are or that the tank is getting hit too hard in such high level gear. Potions are incredibly valuable. Use them.

[RukiaFae]

I do wish the timers on the potions were a little different and then maybe people would use them more.