More Horizontal Progression please

[Tyla_Esmeraude]

I do, the criticism works both ways. Both sides of the conversation has a problem with striking out at the other. The question on having extended gameplay could be phrased a lot better.

Mind if I ask in my way instead?

I'm going to comment on this based on my personal experience. Having more options does not aleniate the player base imo. When I played FFXI, I was a midcore player. Relics and Mythics were hardcore things to get back then and I never got them. It was an option that only those with the determination could get. That never prevented me from joining HNM LSs or doing end game, at all. I got the best 3rd in the list, which was Empyrean Weapons and we cleared content perfectly. No one forced you to have the best of the best and there was always side grades you could use, instead. There were always one or two top LSs on each server who needed you to have certain pieces only for certain jobs like BRD or PLD in order to apply, but people had a choice not to apply to these super hardcore LSs in the first place. That or some LSs were nice enough to help you work towards the relic if you promised to dedicate to it.

That's what I did, I looked for LSs with same mind as me, more midcore. My fun was not diminished only because I couldn't invest that much time to get a relic. Hardcores had their fun, while midcores had theirs. And then there was the casuals, who slowly were getting into the midcore scene, who also had their own fun at their own pace. I had tons of friends from the 3 spectrums and played together.

Having options keeps the community at ease, everyone minding their own business. I think it's selfish of people not wanting to implement OPTIONS for other players with a different playstyle who want to strive for more when 1. it won't even affect them 2. it makes the game more fun to others, which means more subscription retention. People are honestly being extreme and paranoid about nothing.

People are not saying "stop making casual content, delete all the casual content in game, no more vertical progress", they are saying "we want more options for players like us" "more horizontal progression". Vertical progression is not bad, just like horizontal isn't, either. The problem with the game is that it's purely vertical progression and on top of that, in an extreme way, where working towards something means little when content gets outdated this fast. If there was a balance between the two, we'd have less players complaining, more players having fun and happy, more money for SE.

Hell, I was even in an all BST/SMN only LS for Sky, which would've been considered not optimal to the eyes of the super hardcore. But guess what, no one cared! In fact, hardcore people found it interesting that we beat content with BST and SMNs only, two jobs that were considered non-optimal for end game. It was a choice. A choice that we had and we all had fun, while hardcores had theirs.