Thread: The Current Status of FFXIV Patch 3.1 and How to Address it Moving Forward

Originally Posted by Velhart

You are actually missing the point. If people find this stuff fun, then good for them. It doesn't mean an ilvl210 weapon should pop into their hands for just doing that content alone.

That is your opinion, one that is not shared by the developers of this game or by some fraction of this game's population. All players want the ability to progress their character's power to new heights, and allowing the widest variety of players to do so maintains interest (and accordingly) subscription levels. Game's like WoW or FFXIV could not maintain the subscription levels that they did if only raiding players were allowed to get top level gear. Accessibility breeds interest and ultimately allows more players to enjoy the game than would otherwise.

The larger subscription levels become, the larger revenue becomes, and the more resources (theoretically, anyway) the team then has to create new content. The smaller subscription levels become, the smaller overall revenue becomes, and the less resources the team then has to create new content.

Games that do the things you're describing have historically lower subscription numbers than games that do what FFXIV does. You talk about the "proper" structure, but the only measure that we can use to decide whether the overall structure is "proper" or not is the overall appeal and success of the game in terms of revenue and subscriptions because Square Enix is ultimately a business. What you're proposing would at best most likely have a neutral effect on subscriptions in the long term, and would be seemingly more likely to result in a loss of subscriptions, since by all appearances, the portion of the playerbase that is ultimately not interested in particularly challenging content is larger than the portion that is interested in such content.

Originally Posted by Alahra

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It can not be determined by looking at charts and graphs alone. That is the problem. You can't accurately determine if what you built is successful unless you truly get down to a player level to get a good idea. SE bases their content on how many people they can cram in there without thinking much on how to make it fun. Alexander(Normal) comes out and they say its a success because everyone and their mother beat it and a lot went in there. Well of course people did, it was items needed to have a chance in getting something done in Savage. Its the same with relic. You can't determine if it is something the general base approves of, but has to anyways because its something people believe they need to get AS4 done. There is a difference between fun content and content you feel obligated to do. That is why things like charts and graphs don't work.

Do the mass majority actually like how the relic quest works? Color me surprised if people say yes. Is it a fact that a lot of people do it? Yes. People will do content that is imbalanced, poorly made, and not fun if there is still a reward at the end. I can't pull numbers out of no where, but I am more than willing to bet that the majority of players do not completely approve on how the quest works.

In your statement about WoW, most of what I said is based on their ideals on how an MMO should be built. Last I recall they do pretty well for themselves, even in their tougher times.

Originally Posted by Velhart

It can not be determined by looking at charts and graphs alone.

That's the only metric that's going to matter to Square Enix as a business, though. They do indeed look at player engagement with content and listen to player feedback in efforts to create content that will appeal to a wide variety of players (though it should be said that not all content is meant to appeal to all players), all in an effort to maintain (and presumably grow) their subscription base.

Originally Posted by Ibi

The legendary ring currently available in WoW (and the legendary cloak that was available during the last expansion) can be upgraded to have the highest item level of any item in the game, and can be completed without ever setting foot into any content more challenging than Raid Finder.

Update me, what about legendary weapons?

Originally Posted by Velhart

Update me, what about legendary weapons?

As far as I know, everyone is getting an Artifact Weapon in the newest expansion, though I'm not sure if details are available as to what the item level will be relative to other options thus far. The general structure seems to be at least superficially similar to the Zodiac/Anima weapons here—they grow with you over time and it doesn't seem like they're going to require raid content. Legendary weapons have historically been Raid-only, of course, but they've moved away from them over time, as far as I know (but I haven't played WoW in any real capacity since Cataclysm, so I only follow it through the grapevine).

Originally Posted by Alahra

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Pandaria's wonderful legendary capes required you to do raids, PvP and lastly Throne of Thunder. The capes depending on the role granted great abilities. Tanks can cheat death every two minutes. Healers had their healing copied(?). Magic DPS had their spells copied(?). DPS randomly unleashes a flurry of slashes to all those in front of them. Don't know about the ring yet. I haven't been around Warlords since its first two weeks.

Here? You never have to do raids, and the artifact weapon is simply a powerful yet special looking weapon. It's something I don't mind considering I don't have to put up with the likes of T9 and the weapons do look special . Some won't see it that way considering how it was and probably still is in WoW (among other MMOs that might have this).