Suggestion: In-game Guides

[Archaell]

I believe it would be for the best if we could write in-game guides for dungeons/trials etc. that would pop up whenever you enter DF queue for something.

The feature should look like mini forum for each instance, with reasonable character limit and possibility to thumb up the best guides.

In my opinion this would significantly decrease failed runs due to lack of knowledge.

These guides could be server based and to motivate players to write them writers could be rewarded a title "The Guide" for enough thumb ups.

[MilesSaintboroguh]

Why do we need to water the game down even further with this? I get people don't like parties that always wipe, but a guide can only do so much; you have to apply yourself and learn how to do things yourself whether or not you have a guide. It's easy to say "do this here and do that later," but you'd be surprised at how much people still fail even when they are told exactly what to do.


At this point, we might as well have the developers just hold our hands and play the game for us if people really think that everything in the game needs a guide for them. Guides should be a last resort for mainstream trials and dungeons because they're not made to be as complex and brutal as a raid. You say that guids with enough votes would be a good motivator to write one, but I say this to you; why would I bother writing a guide when there's 2 or 3 other people who will get the upvotes anyway and all say the same exact thing? Why write a guide knowing that 5 other people are just going the say the same thing I say because any other strategy won't be used by the players?

[Dotsusama]

You know where players have access to an in-game guide telling you almost exactly how you need to deal with the mechanics in a given situation?

Guildhests.

You know where players mostly do not read the in-game guide given to them?

Guildhests.

If it doesn't work there, it won't work anywhere.

[Archaell]

You wouldn't be surprised how many times I ask if everyone knows the fight just to wipe due to nobody doing the mechanics. Every little thing that decreases number of disbanded runs is a good thing and it would be also easier for console users who can't as easily alt-tab to read up strategies.

Of course you don't have to write guides when there are already dozens, but there is always the possibility to write a guide for new content, or write guide for specific role.

[Phireblast]

You know where players have access to an in-game guide telling you almost exactly how you need to deal with the mechanics in a given situation?

Guildhests.

You know where players mostly do not read the in-game guide given to them?

Guildhests.

If it doesn't work there, it won't work anywhere.

It doesn't though. I knew someone who kept failing the 3.1 story instance because he didn't read the NPC text.

Then there's pre nerf steps of faith...

[Dotsusama]

It doesn't though. I knew someone who kept failing the 3.1 story instance because he didn't read the NPC text.

Then there's pre nerf steps of faith...

You're talking about trials, not guildhests. Guildhests are meant as sort of a "training ground" for players to experience the basics of party play. It's not the same as single-player duties or trials. Yes, the NPCs do offer directions in those, but like you said, players that don't read or cannot parse the text will not succeed. But you're suggesting they'll stop and read a lengthy guide that isn't even official, before engaging the content? A waste of development time and money. There are already plenty of resources for that.

[Phireblast]

You're talking about trials, not guildhests. Guildhests are meant as sort of a "training ground" for players to experience the basics of party play. It's not the same as single-player duties or trials. Yes, the NPCs do offer directions in those, but like you said, players that don't read or cannot parse the text will not succeed. But you're suggesting they'll stop and read a lengthy guide that isn't even official, before engaging the content? A waste of development time and money. There are already plenty of resources for that.

No, i'm not suggesting anything. All I was (trying) to say is the guildhest system doesn't work as well as advertised. Not really trying to tell people to "RTFM".

[Dotsusama]

No, i'm not suggesting anything. All I was (trying) to say is the guildhest system doesn't work as well as advertised. Not really trying to tell people to "RTFM".

And I'm not saying people should or should not read guides. All I'm saying is that I don't want the devs to spend time on bringing that kind of information to the players in-game when there are so many other things they could be doing with their time.

On the topic of console players, given how it's extremely likely said player has at least a smart phone, or a tablet, or... heck you can even browse the web on a Kindle these days, there are many ways for even them to read up on guides or watch videos if they really want to do so. I don't need the equivalent to the Steam Community for guides in the game itself.

[WellFooled]

Every little thing that decreases number of disbanded runs is a good thing

The goal in game design is not to make things smooth or easy, but to make it engaging. If the developers design their game around your quoted philosophy here, the game would no longer be engaging. There needs to be the chance of failure and part of that includes withholding information from players. Imagine a horror game that told you ahead of time "There will be a monster that jumps out on your right just up ahead" or a puzzle game that tells you the answer to the puzzle as you're trying to solve it. The player needs to have the chance to be scared, surprised, the chance to think on their own, or the game won't hold their interest. The same is true of FFXIV.

[Archaell]

...

I can understand that in a single player game, maybe even in the static environment, but in MMO and on top of that in duty finder... I am not sure that entering for example story Alexander with words "Guys, I have no idea what to do, but I want to figure it myself, so don't tell me" is going to end well in most cases.