Naoki Yoshida's Comment in Regard to Jump Potions/Boost Potions

[Austherus]

As I said - his friend DOES NOT WANT TO PLAY THE GAME. Jumping past content won't change that. There is still a bit of content that he and his friend can do together without a content skipping service. FATEs for one, he can help his friend run dungeons and the story mode primals for another. But no, his friend does not want to do that ... which means he won't be happy running the dungeons or raids or doing the story content for whatever expansion he jumps to.

All in all, saying "there's too much content" is a laughable reason when there are people who have gone through it and complain there's not enough content at endgame!

You are contradicting yourself here: When people complain that "there's not enough content at endgame", they are not talking about story content, but about endgame. I don't see why it is relevant anyway. Most people here would agree that there was way too much filler content on ARR, and luckily for us, Heavensward improved on that.

His friend does want to play the game, but not alone, for months. It's not black and white. Like I said before, it's a business-killing way of thinking.


I enjoyed our conversation, Seig345, but SE tells me I have reached my daily post limit, so I'll reply here before leaving the forums for today:

If this is the case, then the potions only add an option; as you said, a bandaid to an issue. As it stands we have people deciding to not play at all, or to slog it out through the long haul to catch up. I'd say that "alone" part is arguable seeing as friends can tag along for the open world segments of quests, fates, dungeons, etc. When the player is caught up, the only parts they'll be playing with their friends at end game is... open world segments of quests, fates, dungeons, etc. With the potions, we still have people deciding to not play at all or to slog it out, but the potions add an option that will inevitably move some people from the "not play at all" camp over into a subscribing player.

As for it being a bandaid over the issue, then I think you're getting into the argument of where they should be spending their development time. Somehow I don't think we'd see as much new content in expansions and content patches if they also had to spend dev-hours on revamping every piece of older content every time a new piece of content is released. How ever much or little content you think we currently get with content patches, we'd be getting even less if each release meant spending time adjusting everything that came before it as well. Different people naturally play the same MMO for different reasons, but SE's focus for Final Fantasy XIV has been its story, for better or worse.

I agree with your instance on the potion, I just think there's no reason to have to pay for it. That is very apparent when you think about the development time necessary to create FFXIV and the development time necessary to create a single potion with a special function, and them compare their prices.

You are assuming the fix would cost SE a big amount of development time, but that is not true. Handing a free potion to new players (and maybe their alts) would be one way of fixing it. Instead, SE went the bandage way, by restricting access to the potion behind a payment wall. Think about it this way: "A new player buys a flawed game, them buys a fix to the flawed game" (how handy, isn't it?) versus "A new player buys a flawed game that comes with a fix".

[Seig345]

Nothing applies to the player base as a whole, the player base is made of different individuals with different needs and views. [...]

If this is the case, then the potions only add an option; as you said, a bandaid to an issue. As it stands we have people deciding to not play at all, or to slog it out through the long haul to catch up. I'd say that "alone" part is arguable seeing as friends can tag along for the open world segments of quests, fates, dungeons, etc. When the player is caught up, the only parts they'll be playing with their friends at end game is... open world segments of quests, fates, dungeons, etc. With the potions, we still have people deciding to not play at all or to slog it out, but the potions add an option that will inevitably move some people from the "not play at all" camp over into a subscribing player.

As for it being a bandaid over the issue, then I think you're getting into the argument of where they should be spending their development time. Somehow I don't think we'd see as much new content in expansions and content patches if they also had to spend dev-hours on revamping every piece of older content every time a new piece of content is released. How ever much or little content you think we currently get with content patches, we'd be getting even less if each release meant spending time adjusting everything that came before it as well. Different people naturally play the same MMO for different reasons, but SE's focus for Final Fantasy XIV has been its story, for better or worse.

Edit:

[...] You are assuming the fix would cost SE a big amount of development time, but that is not true. Handing a free potion to new players (and maybe their alts) would be one way of fixing it. Instead, SE went the bandage way, by restricting access to the potion behind a payment wall. Think about it this way: "A new player buys a flawed game, them buys a fix to the flawed game" (how handy, isn't it?) versus "A new player buys a flawed game that comes with a fix".

Ahhh okay, I thought you meant the potions themselves were the bandage, not the fact that they had a price tag on them. So yes, the dev time thing I brought up is irrelevant in that case. But I think that brings us back to weighing the potential issues that are mitigated by not having the potions be distributed too easily. The price tag is a one time fee; get it over with at the start and you're good to go for months of enjoyment. But if it's free, that's all well and good, but then you'll start seeing RMT /say spam in far more areas. I'm not sure I see it as a flawed game, and while that is certainly only my opinion, for every player that sees it as a flawed game there's at least one other that believes the opposite. How many is in which camp is something that would be difficult to argue.

Also, I enjoyed the convo too! That post limit can be pesky! X)

[WaffleFaerie]

Haven't finished reading the thread yet, so I'm almost certainly repeating someone, but...the way I understand "5. All dungeons implemented up to Patch 2.55 will be set as cleared," it means the rest of us won't get bonus tomes or Second Chance points from running old content with jumpers? I guess that's my only legitimate gripe with it, and if there's been a post before mine refuting this, my bad, it's just a LOT to slog through.

As to the potions in general? I....guess I could live with it? :\ The main problems I would have with it are really problems I have with myself, being a bit of a "school of hard knocks" snob, even when it works against me. Like, I'm legacy, but I didn't do hardly anything in 1.0 because I couldn't customize the camera and movement controls to my liking, so all I really have to prove I was there is a tattoo, a couple of mounts, and a handful of dated weathered gear. I don't place myself on the same level as people with oodles of 1.0 titles because I know I'm not. I missed the boat on those titles, I can't go back and get them now, my fault. Fair's fair.

But when I run into people who skipped levels and/or the story, it's my problem whether I instinctively feel like looking down my nose at them, just as I would expect true legacy players to look down their nose at me if I went around bragging about being in 1.0 when I really only barely logged in to chop bits off trees. That would be my problem that I would have to deal with myself, and not the fault of the game or the jumped players.

[Roth_Trailfinder]

His friend does want to play the game, but not alone, for months. It's not black and white. Like I said before, it's a business-killing way of thinking.

It does not take months to reach the first guildhest or the first dungeon. And it takes even less time for one to reach their first FATE. Hell, it does not take months to reach the Thordan fight at the end of 3.0! If it takes one months, then they are playing the game once a month - and is that really playing it at all, or just dabbling in it?

Months of solo content won't be a valid argument for a few expansions. Not unless they go back to 100 (or more) MSQ in all of the content patches for an expansion, the way they had 100 MSQ after Praetorium in the base game ARR.

[Belhi]

It does not take months to reach the first guildhest or the first dungeon. And it takes even less time for one to reach their first FATE. Hell, it does not take months to reach the Thordan fight at the end of 3.0! If it takes one months, then they are playing the game once a month - and is that really playing it at all, or just dabbling in it?

Months of solo content won't be a valid argument for a few expansions. Not unless they go back to 100 (or more) MSQ in all of the content patches for an expansion, the way they had 100 MSQ after Praetorium in the base game ARR.

There is a lot of potential group content to do at low levels and sometimes it can even be quite rewarding for Max level characters. However the MSQ can't be done in a group. You have scores of hours of gameplay you have to do solo. Every patch, every expansion, that gets longer. I deal with quite a few sprouts. Most of the time they are discouraged from group content if it isn't directly progressing the MSQ because even if they hit lvl 60 they still need to grind their way through hours of solo content to unlock the bulk of the group activities and the stuff most endgame players find most rewarding. New players don't want to feel like their a burden to their friends experience.

For players who don't care about the story the MSQ is a complete waste of time for them. In most cases they just want to get to end game to start doing the more challenging group content, working at goals and collecting Glamours. Leveling is a very unrewarding experience for them and it's more a chore to grind through to get to what they really want to do.

For players who do enjoy the story its still far too much to comfortably take in one go. They burn out. Your talking about an experience that was designed to be experience over an extended period of time with breaks between chapters. Done in one sitting is often enough to make most people just get sick of it. The most common response I get first from fresh sprouts hitting the end of 3.0 right now isn't 'THAT WAS EPIC' but 'Thank god I am finally done'.

And it takes people months. I know this because I have watched multiple people do it in my FC. There are various reasons for it but it is extremely rare for a fresh sprout to hit HW endgame within the space of a month. That is now, before Stormblood is added.

[Zojha]

If it takes one months, then they are playing the game once a month - and is that really playing it at all, or just dabbling in it?

What kind of math is that based on? >_>

If you play an hour a day and do your leveling roulette every day as DPS, you look at around 10-20 minutes of queue, 20 minutes of dungeon and 20 minutes of free time. At such a rate, MSQ WILL take months, because the 2.1-2.55 slog ALONE is roughly 10 hours of play time, IF you skip everything.

I'd also personally not want to push my friends into content they don't want to do just for my sake, because if they're only coming for my sake, I'm better off hanging out with them in some other game and do something we BOTH enjoy and all have a better time >_>

[Derio]

What does that mean for leveling roulette? When someone skips does it grant them the achievements of exploring all the dungeons and ARR areas?

[bass9020]

What does that mean for leveling roulette? When someone skips does it grant them the achievements of exploring all the dungeons and ARR areas?

Thats what I asked earlier in the thread. Im sure with the coding and how SE is with things the person will get all titles and achievements, which sucks pretty bad.

[Pintsized]

Thats what I asked earlier in the thread. Im sure with the coding and how SE is with things the person will get all titles and achievements, which sucks pretty bad.

Given you can clear dungeons without getting the achievement .. for example, Copperbell and Brayflox .. I see no reason to expect any 'magic' flagging of a dungeon clear per se would also mean the Exploration achievement would get completed.

[Hoobala_Boobala]

Not read the 75 pages before this, but guessing its filled with many tears and salt over this. Just posting in case there is a chance they're thinking of changing whether or not to implement this feature into the game based on the feedback from this thread. IMHO jump potions are the best way to get new and returning blood into the game with the expansion. Even if there was no story gating between 2.x 3.x and 4.x, the new content will be aimed at level 60+. Imagine you're a new person looking to join in with the fun/excitement of a new expansion that you get when it first comes out, if you have to either grind to level 60 or grind the MSQ first you're going to miss out on that rush. The people who buy these potions are going to be the same people who want to take part in the rush on new content (but maybe haven't played before or stopped playing in 2.x/3.x) or have friends already playing the game who want to join the rush.

Lastly, I don't believe that grinding through the 2.x and 3.x storylines and manually levelling to 60 makes you a good player (I'll cite the multiple bad players I've met in EX roulette here). This game is not inherently difficult, the combat system is being changed for 4.x and being simplified further. I'd be surprised if any player who has played previous MMORPGs (or frankly gamed at all) can't, after 1-2hrs of playing at lvl 60, be at least reasonably competent at their job/class.

TLDR; Current player of FFXIV and I'm for jump potions for jobs and storyline. {thumbsup}