Only 2/5 Endgame content currently viable, why?

[Teuciont]

At the moment, there's 5(from what I can see) high level activities in game. Only 2 of these 5 are actually worth doing. Why?

HNMs
Faction NMs
Darkhold
Ifrit
Strongholds

5 endgame venues possible, but only 2 are viable? Gear from HNM/Faction NMs and Darkhold for the most part is completely trash compared to Ifrit weapons, Strongholds and crafted gear. Is it really that hard to change the stats on gear from the other 3? This would give much more to do for those who have hit the level cap, especially those, like myself, who have just recently hit 50.

So please SE, though it might be too late for 1.20, can you make it happen for 1.21? Until 2.0, you need as much content as you can, phasing content out when there's not enough to phase it out with isn't going to keep people entertained. I've never gotten to fight HNMs or Faction NMs due to the fact that it's a waste of effort. And DD isn't worth the effort and the difficulty a new LS would face.

[TheVedis]

welcome to MMOs

take certain other ones with 20+ endgame dungeons

and still only 1 is viable for the best gear at any given time really...because thats just how it is

they will always release something with better gear making old gear obsolete just to entice people to want to do the new content that much more

[Claire_Pendragon]

welcome to MMOs

take certain other ones with 20+ endgame dungeons

and still only 1 is viable for the best gear at any given time really...because thats just how it is

they will always release something with better gear making old gear obsolete just to entice people to want to do the new content that much more

Saying "Deal with it" doesn't help fix anything.
people continue to think there is only one way to have things done for MMOs.
There are alternatives, and ways to fix a LARGE number of problems that are in every MMO.

The only REAL reason an MMO doesn't take the steps, is from the lack of resources into doing it.
aka, whats the easy way out, rather than fix things from the ground up.

FFXIV is sorta doing this, but only going so far.

What was suggested is a decent alternative, considering when the Lv is raised, all of this content will be out dated.
And so it wont matter what is "Leveling dungeon" gear or not.

[Ronik]

welcome to MMOs

take certain other ones with 20+ endgame dungeons

and still only 1 is viable for the best gear at any given time really...because thats just how it is

they will always release something with better gear making old gear obsolete just to entice people to want to do the new content that much more

There are a lot of flaws with the logic here.

There is literally no reason for the strongholds and darkhold to be awarding such terrible loot at the moment. Ifrit/stronghold/darkhold are all more or less equivalent in difficulty, and given that Ifrit drops only weapons, stronghold/darkhold seems obviously intended to fill out the rest of our gear slots. Endgame content should not be obsolete the moment it's produced (stronghold) and it definitely should not be an utter waste of time (darkhold).

In other mmo's, there is incentive to get the "dated" or "obsolete" old gear from old dungeons because it is required/extremely helpful to gear up in order to improve your performance in the harder content (which, in turn, improves your chances of success). This is called linear gear progression, and it's good because it gives players goals to aim for and keeps content relevant for much longer. Imagine if darkhold/stronghold gear were significantly better and ifrit were a more difficult gear check - the end result would be that new players would hit 50, craft a set of entry-level gear to do darkhold/stronghold until they upgraded to rarer dropped equipment, and then after being battle-testing in raids, could take on Ifrit and earn their BiS weapons.

Would this kind of progression not be better for the game as a whole?

[Belial]

There are a lot of flaws with the logic here.

There is literally no reason for the strongholds and darkhold to be awarding such terrible loot at the moment. Ifrit/stronghold/darkhold are all more or less equivalent in difficulty, and given that Ifrit drops only weapons, stronghold/darkhold seems obviously intended to fill out the rest of our gear slots. Endgame content should not be obsolete the moment it's produced (stronghold) and it definitely should not be an utter waste of time (darkhold).

In other mmo's, there is incentive to get the "dated" or "obsolete" old gear from old dungeons because it is required/extremely helpful to gear up in order to improve your performance in the harder content (which, in turn, improves your chances of success). This is called linear gear progression, and it's good because it gives players goals to aim for and keeps content relevant for much longer. Imagine if darkhold/stronghold gear were significantly better and ifrit were a more difficult gear check - the end result would be that new players would hit 50, craft a set of entry-level gear to do darkhold/stronghold until they upgraded to rarer dropped equipment, and then after being battle-testing in raids, could take on Ifrit and earn their BiS weapons.

Would this kind of progression not be better for the game as a whole?

If you think all Stronghold item drops are useless, you're doing wrong.

[Ronik]

If you think all Stronghold item drops are useless, you're doing wrong.

It's not entirely useless, but it's 90% useless and the 10% that isn't useless is sidegrades/extremely minor upgrades from crafted sets.

Since stronghold gear is objectively rarer and harder to acquired than crafted gear, it should be proportionally better. Honestly, at the very least, every piece of stronghold gear should be materia meldable like sentinel. In my opinion, the gear should be strictly superior to crafted gear in most cases (the only crafted gear which should beat it should be stuff crafted from HNM drops or rare NM drops).

[Teuciont]

I would like to "enjoy" the content, but I would like there to be a purpose behind it. I would like a goal to shoot for, something to say "Hey, I did this really tough content." I.. I don't know how I'm supposed to put it? It's the point of a MMO. I can't put it into words, but why would I want to do content that gives me nothing in return for the difficulty?

[Isaveron]

I would like to "enjoy" the content, but I would like there to be a purpose behind it.

Yes, it's called FUN, which is suppose to be the purpose of video games in the first place.

I find the hypocrisy of the "DURR, STOP TURNING THIS INTO A WESTERN MMO" crowd delicious. Not only do they not know XI was influenced by western games, but they're falling into the same trap of loot obsessing they criticize western WoW players for.

[yukikaze_yanagi]

also, this isn't endgame but content 50. Sure, it sound the same thing, but it isn't. Even dzemael is never been "endgame", but "leveling dungeon"

[Hanemakikaze]

Same reason in every mmo, content progresses as does gear. Certain areas become pointless or less needed while newer content more active because of the progressing gear.