Workshops - getting 4 people in there to progress a tier is getting tedious

[NotOliverB]

Both options being unreasonable and proof this system has problems.

How are those unreasonable if you don't have enough social skills to have a couple friends?

[Vidu]

How are those unreasonable if you don't have enough social skills to have a couple friends?

Friends might not always be online or have the time to stand around for 2-30+ minutes (depending on the projects), doing nothing else.

There is no reason to have 4 people in that workshop whatsover. 3 of them are basically only an abritary requirement that adds nothing to the enjoyment of the game for anyone.
Lets hear one good reason for 4 people to be there!
"Its possible" isnt a good reason, because while yes, it is possible, its also annoying and not nessecary.

[NotOliverB]

Friends might not always be online or have the time to stand around for 2-30+ minutes (depending on the projects), doing nothing else.

There is no reason to have 4 people in that workshop whatsover. 3 of them are basically only an abritary requirement that adds nothing to the enjoyment of the game for anyone.
Lets hear one good reason for 4 people to be there!
"Its possible" isnt a good reason, because while yes, it is possible, its also annoying and not nessecary.

Why do you need 4 people to purchase an FC house?

[StouterTaru]

Why do you need 4 people to purchase an FC house?

You don't need 4 people that aren't necessarily in the FC standing at the placard to buy a FC house.

[Vidu]

Why do you need 4 people to purchase an FC house?

Hey, I just had an amazing idea!
How about we turn stuff like sending out submarines and airships into content where 75% of the people involved arent doing anything and are just standing around?

You know very well why they out the rule that an FC needs to have 4 members to purchase a house was put in place: To prevent people from owning more than one personal house, in the form of a second one as solo-FC. Yes, I know, one can circumvent that and that you've been bragging about violating the spirit of that rule for quite a while, so dont pretend you dont know why they make you jump through hoops...

Needing 4 people to purchase a house or found an FC is still not a good reason to need 4 people in the workshop, when 3 of those 4 members are only there to afk and not play the game during the time the project gets finished.

[Solarra]

I doubt this is going to be changed. To me, it feels like FC Crafting has either been forgotten or written off as a mistake.
There doesn't seem to have been any effort put in to make the workshop engaging or fun content for a party, and that's the problem.
However, since this thread was made, we've had one official response promising to look into the requirement for 4 people to advance or finish items and nothing since. It seems the devs have opted for the easier solution of simply making most workshop products available elsewhere or irrelevant.

- Older house-skins are now on the retainer loot-table (so why bother making a skin at huge expense when it will be dirt-cheap on the MB in a couple of months?).
- Submarines are bringing back mostly ARR and HW materials, low-level materia and only a few new items. Compare that to HW where airships brought back current crafting materials, rare items and unlocked the Diadem for the FC. They were much more relevant and a better investment.
- There is no exploration content like the Diadem for SB.
- Squadron Buffs overwrite FC buffs and allow individuals much more flexibility than FC buffs.

It would be nice to see FCs given a little more love. There aren't many advantages of being in an active FC and that's a pity. The social aspect of the game should be considered more. When the game is drip-feeding content like it is right now, having fun side stuff to do with friends keeps a lot of people subbed.

That said, this particular rule is doing nothing useful. The content is what it is. The design means a single player can do everything more efficiently than having the group participate. Insisting 3 other people have to be in the workshop at the same time even though there is nothing for them to do is pointless.

[Ryaz]

It can definitely be a pain.

What I find more tedious is the rng on top of rng on top of rng. You have a chance of no quality upgrade even with HQ mats, then if you do get an upgrade it's a random amount and then it's another rng chance for better progress. Literally had NQ turn ins give higher percent chance than all HQ.

It's like SE hates the players.

[MicahZerrshia]

It's like SE hates the players.

Are you kidding? It's one of the few things they do that is loving and kind lol.

This allows us to just quick craft everything and when you need hundreds or thousands of items it can shave hours off the process. Honestly quality upgrades don't matter really because if you have to hq 90 items vs quick synthing them, vs the time saved you are much better off just turning in nq anyway. If it made any difference in the end parts, sure, but it doesn't. And since non of the items you need are difficult to get, even saving 1/3 of the turn ins is no big deal.

Progress upgrades are basically just one of those systems that makes noise and flashes to make you feel like you were rewarded when really you weren't. A system highly utilized, esp in games to create some excitement in an otherwise unrewarding and monotonous system.

[Chiami]

Giving this another bump, because really, the light party requirement just punishes smaller FCs, and is probably one of the main reasons why this feature is so utterly underused (as was said by devs themselves). Giving us submarines won't make it get used more, removing the light party requirement will.

I am currently poking my (not small) friends list to find 4 people who a) are currently subbed and b) have the TIME to stand for a while in my workshop doing 100% nothing instead of enjoying their valuable gaming time (they pay for with their subs), and it is a painful exercise for everyone involved.

By now we have gone to the point where people stay logged in when they go to sleep and afk all night in my workshop while I churn out wheels for everyone in preparation for 5.0. Is that what was meant with "cooperation"? I don't think so, but it's the reality on how this feature ends up being...

So please, remove the requirement. Still allow all FC members to contribute mats, but progressing a project is not tied to a party being present. This would be such a booster to the FC workshop and its usage.

I think a good idea presented by someone else in the past could also be considered: You can progress alone, but if there is a party present the chance to require less mats for the next step is reduced. Bonus for people who work together, but not making the workshop an exercise of afking.

Pretty Pleaaaaaase (with cherry on top)

[TitaniaZero]

Another year and another, please give up the light party thing! My poor FC has only me every other month! How am I supposed upgrade these things! (Wonder if I should hope that Shadowbringers breaks the Light Party limit.)