Playerbase Mood

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

1. Where do you come from to XIV? Play WoW, FFXI, GuildWars, ESO? I've played WoW, FFXI, GW 1 and 2, SWG, Lineage 2, Tera, FFXIV 1.0, AION

2. Do you like how the game currently progresses? I like the content cycle. 6 months is a good time for gear to be relevant. Any longer, and then it feels like progression just stalls. I didn't like the way FFXI did things, mostly because I was unable to progress at all. WoW got boring fairly early, I played GW for years, same with Lineage 2. GW2 was great up until 80, then no progression what so ever. No endgame.


3. Do you want it to stay that way? If no, what changes would you make? I enjoy the game as it is and hope it continues as such. If they keep adding bits of new stuff to go with the usual updates, I am fine with that.

[Mhaeric]

1. Where do you come from to XIV? Play WoW, FFXI, GuildWars, ESO?
2. Do you like how the game currently progresses?
3. Do you want it to stay that way? If no, what changes would you make?

1. I originally came from MUDs, and played one for almost 20 years . During that time, my first graphical mmo was EQOA at launch for about year and a half, followed by FFXI for a couple years. I've played GW and GW2 for around a year each. I've played ESO and SW:TOR a bit, but never really got deep into them although I still boot them up every once in a while and play them as single player games since they're free. I've only played the WoW trial capped at level 20 iirc, and barely dabbled in Wildstar. Didn't much like either of them.
2. Yes.
3. Yes, more please.

[Kaethra]

1. Where do you come from to XIV? Play WoW, FFXI, GuildWars, ESO?

The whole gamut. Started in EQ back in 2001, then WoW in 2004, then after that I played EQ and WoW again a few times, then in no particular order: EQ2, SWTOR, Age of Conan, Star Trek Online, Wildstar, Rift, Planetside 2, Archeage, Black Desert, DC Universe Online, ESO, Defiance, Firefall, Guildwars 2, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Neverwinter, Warframe, and a smattering of Aion and Lineage 2 for like a day or two during their Steam release.

For FFXIV I played from 2.0 to 2.1, then played a little bit in 2.4. Then came back two months ago for 3.5.

2. Do you like how the game currently progresses?

For what there is, I do. The progression system is pretty open. You're not forced to do one way or the highway after a certain point and that leaves you options. I like that. I like being able to do 4 man stuff, 8 man stuff, and 24 man stuff to achieve my goals. And I can do all three or stick to one that I like.

3. Do you want it to stay that way? If no, what changes would you make?

It might be due to the fact that I started in 3.5 but it feels like there's not enough progression. I mean I can do all stages of Alexander, and I can do all three 24 mans to earn gear. But it feels.. shallow still. There's just not enough content once you're done with the MSQs. And I know the problem. I've played ALOT of MMORPGs and all of the MMOFPSs. Out of all of them only TWO have tackled the issue.

Everquest and Everquest 2.

Those games do NOT raise the level cap in each expansion. And when they do, they do it in 2, 3, or 5 level increments. Its how EQ has 24 expansions with a 110 level cap. If they did 5 levels each time, they'd be up to 170 by now.

The benefit of NOT raising the level cap is you do not need to focus on the overland leveling. You can even get away with making the overland stuff smaller. Taking much less time to complete and design. That leaves more design time for progression style content. Their expansion cycle kinda goes like this:

1. Level Expansion, Raise level by 5.
2. Content Expansion, increase endgame content
3. Content Expansion, increase endgame content
4. Level Expansion Raise level by 5.
repeat

When I say endgame, its not just for raids, but group content as well (solo content doesn't technically exist in EQ, but I assume it could apply there too).

But to put it shortly. I think SE should reconsider in future expansions the idea of raising the level cap past Stormblood. Allow 70 to be max level for an expansion or two. This allows them to stop the bloating of abilities. And allows for new players to easily catch up to the rest of the population. And even when they do raise the level. Maybe only do it by 5 levels at a time.

They could cater to a large number of the playerbase this way as well. They could devote their time and effort to having a Coil-type raid available right off the bat. In fact they could have TWO of them available on expansion launch day. Maybe make the first one accessible to the general population, and the second one much harder to sate the hardcore raiding population. Then when the new raid comes out in a content patch, they reduce the difficulty and apply it to the new one. Rinse and repeat as needed (this would apply to Alliance 24 mans and 4 mans as well, to keep the choices of 4, 8, and 24 available as they are now).

So on 5.0 there would be two raids. And by patch 5.5 there would be seven. And the seventh one for example would be used to get geared for patch 6.0's (the content expansion that comes after) hard raid. Then 7.0 would raise the level cap and allow everyone who's working through 5.0-6.5 to catch up.

That's how I would change the progression system.

The only Con to this is some players may not be able to do all the content available. This isn't because of difficulty, but because there'd be so much to do. So not really a con as the game would stay fresh for the average player for a while. While the more harder players will not see the game go stale as quickly.

[azura84]

The whole gamut. Started in EQ back in 2001, then WoW in 2004, then after that I played EQ and WoW again a few times, then in no particular order: EQ2, SWTOR, Age of Conan, Star Trek Online, Wildstar, Rift, Planetside 2, Archeage, Black Desert, DC Universe Online, ESO, Defiance, Firefall, Guildwars 2, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Neverwinter, Warframe, and a smattering of Aion and Lineage 2 for like a day or two during their Steam release.

You didn't happen to mention FFXI in there, did you play it?

I ask because I didn't really have much interest in MMO's until FFXI came out and being a big FF buff I couldn't resist, after that my mind was changed about paying subscriptions to good developers. In FFXI they too had a rather horizontal leveling system that was based around the progression of gear, they released the game with a level cap of 50 and then raised it to 75 with the first expansion, leaving it at 75 for 8 years and producing new content and expansions based around the progression of some gear and the ability to modify that gear to suit your needs. From what I can tell I fit in the rather niche group of people who found this rewarding, it gave my equipment lasting usefulness and made the effort feel rewarding.

Some would say that the levels and gear levels are just numbers and that they dont really matter how much they scale differently from game to game so long as the equipment is utilized resourcfully and that's where i find XIV lacking. They have all these stats and they dont use any of them, they may as well just put 1 number on each piece of gear, the ilvl, and ship it out because nobody needs or cares what the other numbers say anymore. I wish they would use them.

The problem with Diadem and Palace of the Dead is that they are designed under this vertical leveling system where gear progresses through levels and ilvls faster than it's usefulness, they need to slow down the progression and work on utilizing the equipment more so that their content becomes relivent rather than making whole zones, dungeons, raids and quests useless. Deep Dungeon is essentially a watered down version of Nyzul from XI and it's pretty much made it so leveling in normal dungeons after 30 pointless. Diadem is a replica of what Dynamis was in XI but open to everyone and with shitty gear models and gear ilvl that can be obtained easier from elsewhere, completely pointless day 1 of it's creation. You would think they were high when they created it or something.

The relic quest is a remnant of all final fantasy games in that there has always been an ultimate weapon for your characters to build or grind for, and this one does that but the weapon has no purpose and everyone simply gets it because it's pretty and to have ready for the next patch.

Even Savage content feels hallow because the gear serves no purpose. Give us piercing, blunt and slashing relevance, elemental resistances and damages, create a proc system (that's MMO 101), let us do damage to parts of enemies that break off and increase drop rates. I dont really care if it all stays in instance because that is ultimately more fair but come on, do SOMETHING different with mechanics.

[Xlantaa]

1. I played some MMO before: World of Warcraft, Aion, Last Chaos, Final Fantasy XI, Phantasy Star Online 2, Lineage II, Rising Force Online, Guild Wars 1, and Star Wars The Old Republic. Star Wars and FFXI are the only I've played for long. Other has been drop very soon.

2. I like how things works on FFXIV. If was me, the game would not change the base formula never.

3. I want stay as is it for majority base. I just add small changes or add more stuff, but without remove the base system we have now. My sense of grow and progression comes form the constant update of gear item level every 6-7 months. I would not sit with a gear for years. I want constant upgrade and grow.

If Stormblood it is the same as A Realm Reborn and Heavensward, I will e happy. I won't like a change at all.

[Kaethra]

You didn't happen to mention FFXI in there, did you play it?

One of the few that I didn't try.

Some would say that the levels and gear levels are just numbers and that they dont really matter how much they scale differently from game to game so long as the equipment is utilized resourcfully and that's where i find XIV lacking. They have all these stats and they dont use any of them, they may as well just put 1 number on each piece of gear, the ilvl, and ship it out because nobody needs or cares what the other numbers say anymore. I wish they would use them.

Your're right about this. STR, VIT, DEX, INT, MND, PIE are all in the game, and you only use the one that your class has. The only MMO that used all their stats for most classes was EQ (and only up to its 4th expansion, after that it was too easy to max everything out), and DDO due to its strict adherence to the d20 system. I'd like to see this either fixed, or condensed.

The problem with Diadem and Palace of the Dead is that they are designed under this vertical leveling system where gear progresses through levels and ilvls faster than it's usefulness, they need to slow down the progression and work on utilizing the equipment more so that their content becomes relivent rather than making whole zones, dungeons, raids and quests useless.

I don't see leveling as a part of progression. The idea that we 'level fast' isn't a bad thing IMO. Because lets be honest, leveling is effectively a long tutorial. The REAL game starts at max level for the majority of us. The only exception to this was Planetside 2. As soon as you were done with creating your character. You were thrust into the middle of endgame. Literally.. they selected the largest fight on your server and drop-podded you into the middle of it. In PS2 a level 1 is just as powerful (for the most part in stats) as a level 120. That game utilizes a horzontal progression where new weapons and gear aren't better, jut give more options.

We're not seeing that happen here. Its just interesting to think about. But they should slow down the gear progression. Maybe not increase the stats from content patch to content patch. Increase by 1-5 item levels instead of 10 or more.

The relic quest is a remnant of all final fantasy games in that there has always been an ultimate weapon for your characters to build or grind for, and this one does that but the weapon has no purpose and everyone simply gets it because it's pretty and to have ready for the next patch.

I dunno if its a bad thing. Its a powerful weapon that allows non-raiders something to progress over time with. My complaint is the grindy nature of it. Needs more epicness to the obtaining of materials and the like, and less doing the same thing over and over.

[Dualgunner]

1. Where do you come from to XIV? Play WoW, FFXI, GuildWars, ESO?

Actually, AdventureQuest Worlds. In that list, ESO is the only one I've played but I never got far into it.

2. Do you like how the game currently progresses?

It's exhausting and annoying sometimes, but I can't think of a particularly better progression system so I have no qualms about it.

3. Do you want it to stay that way? If no, what changes would you make?

Only thing I could really think of changing is maybe adding it so when you cap on Scripts, you get bonus Lore, just to help alt classes a bit.

[ErikMynhier]

This sounds fun...


1. Where do you come from to XIV? Play WoW, FFXI, GuildWars, ESO?

I played 1.0 for a few months but had to quit for life stuff, but came back with a new account and character based on my FFXI character in the beta for ARR. I came before that from all the mmos, though not so much WoW. Been playing mmos since NWN and EQ way back there. My last big ones were RO and FFXI, with a special mention of Age of Camelot.


2. Do you like how the game currently progresses?

If you asked me this 10 years ago I think my answer would have been the same as a lot of the forum posts you read. Dumbed down mechanics, reaching out to the lowest common denominator, blah blah blah, as I was what you would have called hardcore back then. That said as a casual player with real life responsibilities the pacing is good for me.


3. Do you want it to stay that way? If no, what changes would you make?

Well I think a few more levels of difficulty would be nice. I know they just said that wasn't happening and gave their (the DEV's) reasons but I disagree. Even though I don't have the time for Savage content or harder, back in the day I loved insane difficulty and have good memories of breaking through those challenges. The world is different and time is valuable but if someone has the time and wants the challenge, SE should give it to them. Not like it would take a lot of development resources to add a new mechanic to the last boss and up the attack and defense of the enemies in the raid.

[Syll]

In FFXI they too had a rather horizontal leveling system that was based around the progression of gear, they released the game with a level cap of 50 and then raised it to 75 with the first expansion, leaving it at 75 for 8 years and producing new content and expansions based around the progression of some gear and the ability to modify that gear to suit your needs. From what I can tell I fit in the rather niche group of people who found this rewarding, it gave my equipment lasting usefulness and made the effort feel rewarding.

Some would say that the levels and gear levels are just numbers and that they dont really matter how much they scale differently from game to game so long as the equipment is utilized resourcfully and that's where i find XIV lacking. They have all these stats and they dont use any of them, they may as well just put 1 number on each piece of gear, the ilvl, and ship it out because nobody needs or cares what the other numbers say anymore. I wish they would use them.

The problem with Diadem and Palace of the Dead is that they are designed under this vertical leveling system where gear progresses through levels and ilvls faster than it's usefulness, they need to slow down the progression and work on utilizing the equipment more so that their content becomes relivent rather than making whole zones, dungeons, raids and quests useless. Deep Dungeon is essentially a watered down version of Nyzul from XI and it's pretty much made it so leveling in normal dungeons after 30 pointless. Diadem is a replica of what Dynamis was in XI but open to everyone and with shitty gear models and gear ilvl that can be obtained easier from elsewhere, completely pointless day 1 of it's creation. You would think they were high when they created it or something.

The relic quest is a remnant of all final fantasy games in that there has always been an ultimate weapon for your characters to build or grind for, and this one does that but the weapon has no purpose and everyone simply gets it because it's pretty and to have ready for the next patch.

Even Savage content feels hallow because the gear serves no purpose. Give us piercing, blunt and slashing relevance, elemental resistances and damages, create a proc system (that's MMO 101), let us do damage to parts of enemies that break off and increase drop rates. I dont really care if it all stays in instance because that is ultimately more fair but come on, do SOMETHING different with mechanics.

I agree with all of this (and I really wish they had just stolen Nyzul isle mechanics wholesale instead of watering it down, I loved that event),
and to expand on what you mentioned about elemental resistances and damage types, what I think XIV lacks most is the world just doesn't feel -alive-. When I wax nostalgic about FFXI, it's the depth to the world that I always come to first. Elemental days of the week, moon phases, elemental and physical modifiers and resistances. Weather cycles (and the effects it had on the elemental wheel) Day and Night cycles (and the terror of having to make it past certain choke points before Undead spawned at night) Monster Predation charts. The knowledge that somewhere in the world there would always be a rabbit who could kill you.

[Ama_Hamada]

1. Where do you come from to XIV? Play WoW, FFXI, GuildWars, ESO?
FFXI/WoW/ FFXIV 1.0

2. Do you like how the game currently progresses?
No, I do not. Every patch is just a repeat of higher gear level. It feels like I am playingthis never ending train of get new gear and I can't just settle on some set to explore different and new aspects of the game. Think how FFXI kept being interesting all the years it was 75.

3. Do you want it to stay that way? If no, what changes would you make?
First I would give a parallel type of thing for MSQ, this means not locking you out of SB for not completing HW, again going back to how FFXI did things. FFXIV's MSQ locks too much. If you want to be a crafter and gather main for example, you are required to keep up in battle, and some people do not like this.

Level 50 MSQ quests need less bloat, just seems like a lot of them is just a run here, run there time sink. Felt torture having do it all at once when leveling my alt.

For gear I would change a few things:
If I buy a gear say Augmented Shire Philosopher's Coat, I should be able to have an exact clone of it so my (well if i had blm on this account) BLM and SMN could have different looks. That or simply give jobs their own set, since different jobs use different secondaries anyway.

So basically more gear options, remove Perry and accuracy, or fully customization secondaries like the relic weapons. I do not care what changes, but if I was put in charge and told the programmers to change this? I would say pick one of these options and do it. You may pick the easier one ofc, but one of these better get done.

Find ways around "play the game for 2 weeks then unsub till the next patch"

Sometimes I feel we're in a paradox (We as in my friends and I at least). I think the games ok but isn't great. I only really play it because my friends do..
Yet many of those friends also say the games ok isn't that great but they only really play it cos we do..

same here