A8 Farming

[CGMidlander]

Easier said than done, unfortunately. Finding seven other people to get online at the exact same time can be very tricky - especially with conflicting schedules/time zones/interests.

With that said I generally find that the Duty Finder is generally decent. Yes, I get bad groups - but the majority are generally pretty good. If you're wiping more than once, though, sometimes it's best to just leave and try again.

It doesn't have to be a static. lol
Just pick a bunch of people who are on at the time and you know aren't DF-quality bad. That's what I did for my Midas NM items this week.
I snagged some people from a hunt linkshell, a pvp guy I know, a guy from my FC, and a couple people I regularly see in Idyllshire. (This was at 12AM PST/3AM EST, so pretty late.)

[Zohar_Lahar]

I feel that limiting the shaft only to this one (and the chain only on the first section) was a poor decision.

[Zojha]

I feel that limiting the shaft only to this one (and the chain only on the first section) was a poor decision.

Every non-guaranteed drop based loot is a poor decision >_>

Every time, you have the issue of some people having to work harder than others for the same reward because of RNG. Limiting the shaft to M4 only compounds the issue, because the chance for people going in specifically for that item is high, but the principle is ultimately the same. They should scratch the current token system completely and just put in a guaranteed clear token system instead.

[LadyVal]

They should scratch the current token system completely and just put in a guaranteed clear token system instead.

I think they should do both, in that it's an RNG chance but after x amount of runs you choose a piece for free. If everything was guaranteed immediately, the issue then arises that nobody does anything more than once.

[Zojha]

If everything was guaranteed immediately, the issue then arises that nobody does anything more than once.

That's something that can be adjusted via different caps. Want people to run M4 four times per week on average? Put a 4 token cap there, 16 tokens buy an item.
All token systems do is to even out the amount of times you need to run the content among all participants and prevent you from leaving without any progression towards the goal you wanted to achieve by running the content.

IMO, gambling simply has no place in gearing, despite the tradition it has in MMOs. That's a matter best left to our resident casino, aka the gold saucer.

[Greedalox]

IMO, gambling simply has no place in gearing, despite the tradition it has in MMOs. That's a matter best left to our resident casino, aka the gold saucer.

RNG isn't in MMO's all nilly willy for no reason. RNG adds longevity, and you can see it as 2 ways- lazy designing where they should add enough content each patch that people can burn through once and still feel like they got some play time out of the patch, or just that, it's there to supplement the fact that MMO teams for the most part could never create enough content per patch to keep the online 6/7 days a week occupied.

[Brill_]

I find A7 to be more of an issue with DF groups than A8.

[Ebonwings]

Yea A7 is harder in a DF be cuss we need a tank swap ( less burden on healers) difficult if OT is jailed so MT has to use heavy cooldowns, avoiding weight of the world. These are mostly the hardest parts. The rest are just matters of dpsing the boss and adds.

[Jim_Berry]

Yea A7 is harder in a DF be cuss we need a tank swap ( less burden on healers) difficult if OT is jailed so MT has to use heavy cooldowns, avoiding weight of the world. These are mostly the hardest parts. The rest are just matters of dpsing the boss and adds.

Nah! A7 is difficult because people have a bad case of tunnel vision when the cat spawns, namely the Heart.

[raela]

I get annoyed by farming it (for alt jobs), but I can deal.

Even worse though - last week, I already had my clear, and someone from my static asked for drop help on Sunday. The party was 7/8 premade with people from his FC.. I figured great, easy clear. The 8th from DF was a healer.

It was an utter trainwreck of a run with constant deaths and failed mechanics (add exploded on the first time, then people went for adds on the second time instead of burning boss, but another add exploded. We likely would have hit enrage if we hadn't've wiped. I can't remember if we went another time, but it ended in a vote abandon (DF healer was perfect).

Premade doesn't always mean win.