Observations from a New Player

[QiLymePye]

If we're going to make broad comments about the attitudes of this forum, all I have to say is that, within this thread, your argument can be boiled down to "Potions aren't relevant to me personally and their continued existance is evidence the game is failing and it's the death of XIV" which is one of the most forum-esque things I've ever heard

So you are gonna paraphrase my opinion, then leave out bits of important info. But I see. I have a gripe about potions in this game and you would have thought I was threatening a class action lawsuit or something...you all kill me. wait...no you can't...I have an X-Potion!!!! No really, stop trying to pick fights. it was just my opinion. I even just read that they are working on updating potion potency..so maybe that will make me happier, but damn, its a potion...Now onto something more important....whats up with not being able to use a phoenix down in battle? lol. duh duh duh

[Waffilicious]

Whats up with not being able to use a phoenix down in battle? lol. duh duh duh

Omg this x1000 this, they could easly made it usable in battle AND making them unique so you can only carry 1 with you and you could use it in case of emergencies they could even make that it takes 5secs to use it (i dunno takes 5 secs to rub it all over the player). aside from that i find no use for it, reviving a dead random? i change to healer and wait for the cast.

[Chihaya]

lol. duh duh duh

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

[Themis]

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:
- Guildheists
- Potions It has been explained to me that potions and food are necessary in end game raiding.
- FoodIt has been explained to me that potions and food are necessary in end game raiding.
- Chocobo fighting
- Hunting/Sightseeing logs
- City to City Airships
- Treasure Chests
- Linkshells
- Irrelevant quest lines (Ultima's Bane, Relic Weapon, etc)

I know you've updated Potions and Food, but here we go:


Guildhests - just think of them as another bit of content that people can do where they get a little explanation with what they are doing. It exposes them to mechanics that are seen elsewhere in the game. They're also quick and offer up a once per class exp and gil bonus - I do them just for that.

Potions - as a MCH with no native or cross class self healing, Potions are my only choice. They do need bumping in effectiveness, and we know that this will be happening from the recent Live Letter. NQs have a 120s cooldown (HQ is 108s). X-Potions are about as good as having Second Wind (same recast, too) for me. Potions that increase stats are actually very good - +105 of your main stat is a huge bonus. Or are you telling me that increasing your stats is completely unnecessary and on one would ever upgrade their gear/weapons or use damage buffs like Blood for Blood? They may have a long cooldown of 5m and only last 15s, but if used like any other cooldown (especially when used as part of a burst) they are incredibly powerful. World Firsts will make use of these at every chance.

Food - is a 30m+ buff to your stats. Accuracy food is especially very useful for times where your gearset is unable to meet the requirements (eg an upgrade would cost you accuracy but also produces better damage/survival/healing etc).

Chocobo Fighting - Very useful when solo, at least for me. Like with potions, I don't have means of healing myself so I rely on my bird to do that for me.

Hunting Log - This is a viable source of exp for those classes. Why would you remove a means of getting exp for a class you wanted to level up?

Sightseeing Logs - With HW, this is also something that gives exp. As I was flying around the map doing my sidequests, I kept an eye out for these. Being award 18k exp for simply using my eyes is great. In the ARR zones, these were added simply as something to do. Some players find figuring those things out to be fun. Why do you want to remove someone's source of fun? That's a pretty crap thing to want to do/say : "I don't find it fun so you are not allowed to either?"

City to City Airships - I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I don't think these task the servers enough to warrant even considering removal. Some people do like to use them rather than continuously spend their gil - teleports do add up in cost. Plus, I'd expect a few dedicated RPer types enjoy using these. Again, why would you request to remove someone's potential source of fun and interaction with the game?

Treasure Chests - Please keep these. My FC runs a weekly treasure hunt event and people find it very fun to do because they get to play together. We also use this as a means of fund-raising for the FC. It funded our large house, and is currently funding our airship projects. Again, just because you don't like or use it does not mean it should be removed. Only if 0 players ever touch the content, should they do that.

Linkshells - Maybe you don't need any of these, but I have 7 that I use very regularly. Not always do I want to talk about things in FC chat - and not everyone wants to read the stuff I could put in FC chat. They also let you stay in touch with players from other FCs.

Irrelevant Quest Lines - And again, just because you don't want to do it doesn't mean no one does. I do this content for the hell of it. I don't need to be rewarded with usable loot to do content.

[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

[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.

[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.

[QiLymePye]

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.

Funny, that I said I like both, and that ESO has an optional sub model, which i pay for as well. And just because a game drops sub model doesn't mean its doing terrible. As a matter of fact, most games don't have a sub model and they are doing fine. you pay a sub for access to servers but guess what....I can access ESO servers without a sub, and I get patches without a sub, wait....what am I getting moreso in FF for a sub than ESO without a sub? seriously? I even had to pay for an expansion, 39.99....so I didn't get that with my sub..

[QiLymePye]

Actually, I'm gonna elaborate more on my last post. But first, understand that this post is out of frustration with SE cause i know they can do better. So you got me thinking: What more do I get from FF than from ESO at this point? Im playing both, so just putting a stop to the idiots that will say, "then leave and don't play". I want this game to be great, so...

FF:
Must pay a sub (11.99 lowest i think?) in order to just play the game
Sub gives you access to servers
Frequent patches and updates, news, etc

ESO:
No sub(optional sub of 15.00)
access to servers with or without sub
Frequent patches, updates, news, etc. with or without Sub

Now I'm not gonna talk about gameplay and such, I play both and they are both good games. The graphics are more detailed in ESO that FF; gameplay for both is solid(except the BRD thing SE!!!!!!!). And the story is good for both, with ESO, to me, beating out SE due to voice acting. So how is not having a sub a bad thing for an mmo when they offer the same things as a "must have sub to play" game? And I ask people before they go off on my response, if they even played ESO? I play on PS4 so I don't know how PC is but ESO is like Skyrim on crack.