Feedback: The Recent Removal of Exclusive PVP Rewards

[FreeKingStefan]

Hello,

For those of you that do not know, we received word today (in the form of a JP developer blog post) that the minion rewards for The Feast Season 3 top 10 are soon to become un-exclusive. The minion will be handed out to the top 10 of each data center first, but soon after made available to “anyone” willing to aim for it. Please read this excerpt of the blog post for the full context:

“Hello.
Thank you for all the feed back for the Feast season 3 ranking rewards.
We apologize for making players worry about the minions we added as the reward for the 3rd season of the feast. Especially those players trying to collect all minions in the game.
Starting with the JP community, we received similar opinions from around the world so the development team had discussions on the rewards. As a result, we decided to change and expand the way you can obtain the minions from the 3rd season of the feast as follows. (The info shown on the lodestone will change later)
Additions to other acquiring conditions for the minions from the ranking rewards
The minion rewards for solo and party rankings (1st place to 10th place) will be obtainable through pvp achievements that we are planning to add for patch 3.5 or later.
Additions to solo and party rewards for Season 3 (rank 1st to 10th)
The minions that are currently set as the season 3 ranking rewards for 1st to 10th place will still be obtainable as planned and to add to that, we will be adding new "original earrings" as a reward for those ranked players.
We are aware that there are players who are striving hard to play the feast for the already announced rewards, so we made sure those players will be the first to have the opportunity to gain the season 3 rewards. So the achievements for the minions are planned to be added after season3 of the feast is over.
This way, the minions will not be limitted to the top rankers and every player will be able to gain them through that route (achievements).
With that being said, the minions won't be exclusive to the top rankers anymore, so we decided to add new earrings for them instead.
We are really sorry for underestimating and misreading the passsion from those minion collectors out there. Again, we sincerly apologize for making players worry about this matter.
From here on, the dev team will make sure we are careful and discuss thoroughly when it comes to setting rewards that are limitted or difficult to obtain/reobtain. If there is something you notice, please send us your feed back.
Please continue to enjoy the feast and final fantasy xiv!”




We have an issue with this, a big one. By “we”, I mean the greater portion of the dedicated PvP community, particularly those currently competing for the top spots on their respective data centers. I am posting this on the behalf of us all. But before I get into it, let me preface my complaint by saying this:


I agree with the decision that the minion is to be made available to anyone willing to go for it.


I, nor any of the other potential top 10 PVPers (that I have spoken to), care about minions. Most were actually disappointed after the original announcement, but we are even more so now. Our issue is with the “compensation” rewards for the top 10...Earrings.


Earrings are not ample reward for placing in the top 10 of your data center, ESPECIALLY when the reward for top 100 is a mount! In addition, the tier rewards for season 2 were also earrings. Why give us more earrings? I do not understand why such a lackluster reward is even being considered. I will not take up too many more words berating the decision maker here, as I’d rather take the time to offer better alternatives that more justly reward the top 10. To start, please remove the minion reward from the top 10 entirely, and simply add it into the game as you planned to do later.


Idea 1) Bring back the crowns. Jewelry is a pretty poor glamour piece in this game. Earrings especially clip through most hair and helms. Crowns, however, are widely used by all that earn them, and are a proud status symbol of the top 10 from previous seasons. Since the animal theme this season seems to be “hounds”, a “Lone Hound” crown and a “Pack Hound” crown would be a very good substitute for the previous minion reward.


Idea 2) A custom emote. Most (or all) PVP’ers have let their good sportsmanship slide at one moment or another, popping a heavens cracker over a fallen enemy or striking a pose as the opposing team fails to take you down. An emote to display your victory over the competition would be a suitable reward for the elite top 10 of each data center, and is a great way to show off (which if we are being honest, is all what these exclusive rewards are about).


Idea 3) Weapon Glamours. I am stripping this idea straight from Overwatch, but I think another great idea would be rewarding the top 10 players with a token, which can be exchanged for a weapon glamour for the job of their choice (Think diamond weapons, or Gold weapons, etc.) They could even reuse the designs of old weapons, and just add a new coloration and epic glow effect. Because again, this is about showing off to your friends and enemies alike. (( Side note: I think this would also be a great seasonal reward for tiers: Bronze -> Diamond weapons can be bought depending on where you land in that season, and you receive 1 token per season. This provides a large amount of rewards spread out across a long period of time as people aim to collect them for each job. It would also be much more sought after than the current lackluster jewelry tier rewards.))


Idea 4) Unique Player Icons. We have the Mentor crown, we have the RP symbol, but what if the top PVPers had a way to distinguish themselves from the rest? An exclusive icon could be rewarded to the top 10 players of each DC which could be displayed next to their name. A simple reward, yet a status symbol all the same.


Idea 5) Unique Adrenaline Effects. Perhaps even more hopeful than the request for a new emote, I think having different colored Adrenaline’s would be an insane reward that just about any PVP’er would fight their heart out to obtain. What if your buster sword was blue instead of orange? What if your Empyrean rain was gold instead of green? I do not propose that the top 10 be rewarded with new animations, no, just slight color variations of the current animations.


To Conclude: Please consider a different reward for The Feast Season 3 top 10. By taking away the exclusivity of the present reward and offering a piece of jewelry as compensation, you are belittling the passion and hard work us hardcore PVPers. Please stick with your decision to make the minion available to everyone, but please also consider offering us due compensation. I do not believe this is too much to ask. We are not entitled, we are not asking you to hand us something which we have not earned. We are asking for a trophy worth competing for.


TL;DR: The collectors can have their minion, but please give us elite PvPer’s something more satisfying than an earring. We want to feel good about our accomplishment, not cheated.

[dragonseth07]

I like how there wasn't nearly that large of an uproar about exclusive stuff until, heaven forbid, it was a minion.

[MiraKershaw]

Can't wait to get my Faust minion and a12 mount from just doing expert roulettes oh wait only works one way I guess

[Praesul]

Emotes or weapons would be the most suitable rewards in my opinion.

Make it a persistent emote too, so we can be dweebs and afk in idleshire with it.

[MiraKershaw]

If they change the mount or previous rewards to be obtainable later, legit will never feast again what would be the point if I can lazy do it later

[Rabeat]

In my honest opinion, Idea 3 and 5 are the most suitable for top 10, but the idea 3 is the one that will be most likely took cause of the feedback that those randoms <bronce wolf> will give((that they manage to get somehow)) and I don't know aside 200(and I think that's a lot) persons that aim for the top 100 in Aether and 30ish(?) that are capable to achive top 10, will support both of them.

[Khubla_Kha]

I like how there wasn't nearly that large of an uproar about exclusive stuff until, heaven forbid, it was a minion.

That's filthy casuals for you.

[FreeKingStefan]

In regards to a replacement prize for the earrings... Personally, I think it should 100% be the minion still. To the people complaining about how this minion is an insult to minion collectors... What abot retired minions? Yokai minions, for example, that are now unavailable... Why not complain about them? Why not complain about the as8 faust minion? Not everything in this game is meant to be so easily available.

Out of all the listed possibilities, I think this is the least likely. If Square Enix is known for anything in FFXIV, it is that they do not go back on their decisions.

[Titor]

I am a really devoted PvP player and have been pvping on this game since wolves den/fold came out. I have placed in top 100 twice now, and plan on continuing to do so. However if the rewards are just 'earrings' or other small, nearly unseen thing, and everything cool is handed out like candy to even non top-100 I will probably move on to a different place to pvp.

[Genaxx]

Huh, I was going to take part in the next feast since the rewards were starting to get interesting.

Wont bother now that it's just a pair of earrings.