Atmas.

[HorseBoots]

snip.

I think most raiders would have had to accept that with the ever looming inevitability that Void Ark will soon give Gobcoat out like candy, having an even easier way to get an easy 210 weapon. I can also stress that if you are not seriously raiding to begin with, than the weapon offers nothing really new for you to do other than to have a prettier stick on your back.

The relic weapon is a lose-lose scenario because for the casual audience it's suppose to appeal to it just brings back to most of them the worst grind they ever had in their entire life. But for the serious raiders it offers little in return thanks to the fact that if you were already clearing the content you already have a better toy.

At the end of the day it's just another disappointment for the post-expansion end-game. Unfortunately this stuff was already long in development before 3.0 was even released. I'm still holding out hope for 3.2, but the game is running out of chances.

[LineageRazor]

It boggles my mind that folks honestly expected the new relic grind to be any different from the old relic grind. The old relic grind served the purpose of repopulating stale content so that the folks for whom the content was fresh would have a steady supply of party members to participate with. The old relic fulfilled this purpose MARVELOUSLY. It was a glorious success. Some people complained about it. Others abstained completely. But enough did it that the dungeons stayed full, the FATEs were being run, revitalized the Materia market and so on and so forth. The process was a fantastic success, and did everything SE wanted it to. What possible incentive would they have to change it now?

Having completed the first stage now (via relic trade-in), I can verify that there is no shortage of folks lined up to dig into these new grinds. The old grind didn't stop folks from upgrading Relics, and the new grind isn't either. If that's not for you, I completely understand - but there are more than enough folks for whom it works just fine. If you don't like the grind, there's still the raiding options available, and if you don't like to raid either, it's inevitable that Eso weapons will become upgradable to non-raiders, most likely in the near future.

While it'd be great if SE were to add a unique quest to the relic upgrade process somewhere along the line (something akin to the first-stage of the old relic, with the Chimera and Hydra fights and such), it's safe to assume that SE will be using the upgrade process to keep the dungeons and FATEs filled.

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

And that is the core issue IMO. The problem is not with the rewards, the problem is that the way isn't fun. Don't kid yourself thinking you "love" doing something if you only do it for an end goal or reward.

I think you may have misinterpreted me there. And to be honest, I raid because I actually do love raiding. The rewards just give me more reason to stick with it. Even if they are ultimately eclipsed or perhaps guaranteed to be inferior once we reach the end of the road. Sometimes it's more headache than fun, but overall the challenge, or rather learning how to and ultimately overcoming the challenge is where the fun comes in. I think it's safe to say if it's not fun, people probably don't love it. We at least agree that it's not fun, and that's fine. More than anything, I'd like SE to come to understand that and perhaps revisit their approach in the future.

Time will tell.

[Gooner_iBluAirJGR]

Anyone else miss the trials and things required to get the i80/90 relic? Hydra, Amdapor Keep, Chimera, Ifrit/Garuda/Titan?

[Zojha]

I think you may have misinterpreted me there.

Quite possible. To me, it's just important to note that people not doing a piece of content is not an issue with the rewards of said content, but rather the content itself. "Fun" is an intrinsic reward after all and the need for a different reward only arises if "fun" is absent. I thus get easily triggered when people talk about rewards not being "worth it".

[Callback]

aren't MMO's supposed to at least grow and not be stuck in the past?

You're asking this of a game that uses a shitty antiquated combat system that fell out of style 15+ years ago.

[mosaicex]

Anyone else miss the trials and things required to get the i80/90 relic? Hydra, Amdapor Keep, Chimera, Ifrit/Garuda/Titan?

Those actually require players to posses modicum of skill to be able to finish. Can't have that.

[Moqi]

Those actually require players to posses modicum of skill to be able to finish. Can't have that.

They also required devs to come up with new content for the relic. Can't have that either.

[DarkB]

They also required devs to come up with new content for the relic. Can't have that either.

They could use old primals, always better than Fates. Fates are the most terrible concept ever developed by any game company since human started populating Earth. Its beyond idiocy.

[stanrir]

"Hey guys I have an Idea Remember that atma thing everyone loved so much!!!! lets reuse that for this relic!!!!"