This patch dropped the ball hard

[Colt47]

If they want to have people grind for something to gain access to content, it should stay accessible to all people involved. End game extreme mode dungeons should not be about getting the best iLvL loot, but getting unique rewards and pushing oneself to prove ones ability in a team. By the time people reach end game everyone should be on an even playing field so they can do whatever content they see fit without being restricted by group skill just to get access to content. Right now they have it set up so that people spend way too much time in the same dungeons having to gear up and get ready for the next set of content, especially when the standard pattern is to make the older gear much easier to get anyway once the new content is live.

Glamouring is a really great idea. The development team just needs to leverage it to full potential. Also, they need to realize that if people are not running a dungeon as much anymore because they've ran it a lot, the answer isn't to try and find ways to keep people running the same static dungeon. The answer is to find activities that players can do throughout the game so they have variety and not just implement them, but reward players for doing them with the top of the line currencies.

[Riardon]

The new Esoterics are too expensive. They are job exclusive and you need 2 months and 1 week to get the armour with the helmet and the weapon. I exclude the belt and the accss from the farm. That's too long for a gear that will be outdated? in 3.1. Those who want to gear 2 jobs they will need more than 4 months. C'mon that's crazy except if this gear will for for too long via upgrades like the relic system which i doubt.

[ZemusM]

The new Esoterics are too expensive. They are job exclusive and you need 2 months and 1 week to get the armour with the helmet and the weapon. I exclude the belt and the accss from the farm. That's too long for a gear that will be outdated? in 3.1. Those who want to gear 2 jobs they will need more than 4 months. C'mon that's crazy except if this gear will for for too long via upgrades like the relic system which i doubt.

3.1 won't change ESO and Alex Savage gear as the top tier. That would be 3.2. 3.1 & 3.15 will introduce the new 24man i200 gear as another method of gearing up. XIV History would state that, unless SE has other plans, but I doubt they would change the general idea of what has made it the only successful sub MMO in the past 5 years outside of WoW

[Colt47]

3.1 won't change ESO and Alex Savage gear as the top tier. That would be 3.2. 3.1 & 3.15 will introduce the new 24man i200 gear as another method of gearing up. XIV History would state that, unless SE has other plans, but I doubt they would change the general idea of what has made it the only successful sub MMO in the past 5 years outside of WoW

It's still seems like a crime that success doesn't always equate to the most enjoyable way to spend ones time.

[ZemusM]

It's still seems like a crime that success doesn't always equate to the most enjoyable way to spend ones time.

True for some, Not true for others. but numbers speak louder than words and what SE is doing is making more and more money every quarter, You don't change the way something that makes you money on a chance that it MIGHT do better. Thats bad business. You make changes when sales start to decline and at this pace that change isn't going to happen. FFXIV brings in so much cashflow to SE it has essentially saved many projects and has kept them functioning at a profit.

[SendohJin]

- Run Alex 1,2,3,4 = Get Belt, Ring , Gloves

You would NEVER buy a LAW Belt, Ring or Gloves --- you have Alexander Drops
You might use your Laws to buy the i170 weapon and upgrade to i180 with Seals
You might buy a Law Chest and Upgrade to i180 also, since Alex Chest takes minimum 4 weeks to earn, or you could save Esoterics for the Chest.

I think it is silly that before we even CAN get a full set of Alexander, they start giving out freebie Eso loot. You cap doing nothing but 1 Dungeon per day.

you need to be i170 to do Alex Normal and you can't use 2 Alex Rings, almost everyone will buy an Alex Ring.

what gear are you wearing to run Alex Normal? how do you expect a fresh 60 to have full i160 gear anyway? i160 gear only drops from Neverreap and Fractal.

not everybody will Grind out A3 and A4 until they can get both Cranks on Week 1 or A1 only for the Chain.

people who take whatever drops will make use of Law Belts and Gloves.

[Eloah]

You'll be able to get gear comparable to raid gear later when they either add enough echo that casual players can clear the content, or when they add Esoteric gear upgrade items to hunts or the 24-man raids, just like it's always been.

You mean like 3 months after the new raid gets added that they open upgrade items through accesible content like hunts and 24 person raid? Brilliant idea! Why didn't SE think of that!

I think you guys missed the point I was trying to make while comparable gear to Alex Savage would be nice, I don't mind it being a higher ilevel. The point I was making is having the "casual" content linked to the "hardcore" content. I wouldn't care if Eso gear was 190 and upgraded to 200, as long as the upgrade mats weren't linked to a raid. And as i said in another part of my statement, there are people who want to raid, but can't for whatever reason, should they be punished? And last I checked the 24-man raid and hunts still fall under raiding to some degree.

My problem is not with the raiders it's with SE. Why should we have to wait 3 or more months to have the eso upgrade items in hunts and what not. By that time who is to say that what happened with law gear won't happen to the eso gear. Where we grinded our butts off and for what just 2 weeks latter it be replaced with eso gear. So if we have other obligations in rl. Does that mean we didn't try or didn't want to put forth the effort. You know some of us have a life outside this game. Does that mean we should be punished because rl calls and we must attend to it.

Agreed. I don't mind working for stuff but the way the system is now is a little flawed. Its not about being pro casual, or ant-hardcore/raiding, its about making it fair to both groups.

[Fendred]

True for some, Not true for others. but numbers speak louder than words and what SE is doing is making more and more money every quarter, You don't change the way something that makes you money on a chance that it MIGHT do better. Thats bad business. You make changes when sales start to decline and at this pace that change isn't going to happen. FFXIV brings in so much cashflow to SE it has essentially saved many projects and has kept them functioning at a profit.

This is laughably absurd. The gross income of the entire company doesn't mean jack when talking about the health of a specific game in their roster. FFXIV:ARR used to be advertising how it had so many active players, but after a while they stopped doing those advertisements. Why? You can guess why just from looking at any game that uses this model. Their subs performed the usual roller coaster ride. Right now they're getting some people back plus bonuses temporarily, but it will predictably nose dive again shortly after the bulk of the player base consumes the main story of Heavensward. They are literally using the same end game model that caused them to lose subs. Why pretend it will turn out different when we have years of graphical data on other games using the same category of end game?

You have to keep in mind they've released a lot of different games under the Square Enix banner that account for a lot of their profit. Deus Ex, for instance, was very successful. FFXIV:ARR was built to be predictable. They know when to expect financial slow and high times with FFXIV:ARR and that's what the company wanted, but the model doesn't build loyalty because it does something to irk everyone by trying appeal to everyone.

[Ceodore]

...to me this is a subscription breaker.

[Colt47]

True for some, Not true for others. but numbers speak louder than words and what SE is doing is making more and more money every quarter, You don't change the way something that makes you money on a chance that it MIGHT do better. Thats bad business. You make changes when sales start to decline and at this pace that change isn't going to happen. FFXIV brings in so much cashflow to SE it has essentially saved many projects and has kept them functioning at a profit.

Well, if comments in game are any sign I think people are getting very tired of the continuous crunch end game is presenting. People are still happy to play together and do the content with one another, but there is that ever creeping sense that one is doing something as a means to an end rather than for the enjoyment of doing so. You end up feeling fulfilled, but you didn't really enjoy the journey getting there. That is something Yoshi P. and Co need to address more than even the Housing and server issues. Those later two things are annoying, but livable.