Endgame Content, Competitive Atmosphere

[TheRac25]

lets not do bvb content again (bot vs bot)

[Madruk]

I'd much rather see tiered instance content with longer lockouts so we can actually get items vs. 10 stacks of dark matter. I played the camping overworld raid bosses for years as a top guild and while it's great for the top 1-2 guilds on the server, it sucks for everyone else. Trigger mobs are just a band-aid and if you're going to do that, why not just have it instanced in the first place. The only argument I can see for it is because it limits how many people you can take. The days of zerging bosses down are long gone.

[Mireille]

if you read my edit you might understand better. to top it off the majority has spoken in threads months before this one. its not desired by a lot, only a few. regarding the slow timers.

edit: just want to add, long spawn timers was done away with in xi. as i said before they can be trigger popped.

I knew a lot of people in XI who didn't have any intention of ever trying for relic weapons. The fact that relic weapons existed as content didn't make them up and quit the game. They just did other things they wanted to do instead. I knew plenty of people who managed to get by without a Ridill, Red Pants, or Koenig and it didn't stop them from playing. The way your wording comes across it sounds like you think if they added long spawn timers for some NMs everyone would quit, and I don't think that's true. I wouldn't argue that all NMs should be long spawn timers, but the NMs that are long spawn should drop some very rare very good items.

FF XI is also probably approaching the end of its service life. The fact they are opening the game up and letting more casual players to obtain the harder to get items is a reflection of that, and not a repudiation of long timers as an element of content.

Some people do, dont speak for them. actually dont speak for anyone but yourself. thanks

You want a theme park of content for xiv 2.0. Theme parks have all different rides (coasters, water slides, pirate ships, etc.) to draw in as many different types of people they can to make money. XIV needs as many different, fun, entertaining, and lasting content to do the same. Long spawn HNM, instances, primal battles, etc. are all to draw in as many different people as possible and make the game entertaining to the masses.

With endgame content even though people like different things a player will help with an event they don't like knowing that others will help them with the events they do want to do. Its important to appeal to a broad range of players and attract a large group of people for us to group with and make the events we want to do possible. I agree with the theme park analogy, but I think the park should be somewhat balanced according to the player population. That means if 30% want short easy content, and 30% want long hard content and the rest want something in between then that's your design breakdown.

I wouldn't expect SE to develop content for only one person if that's how many people wanted it.

As much as I loved it as an event I think XI went overboard with dynamis, and future events like limbus and salvage reflected that in their design. Its important not to go too far in the other direction and take the game out of the game though.

[Andrien]

I knew a lot of people in XI who didn't have any intention of ever trying for relic weapons. The fact that relic weapons existed as content didn't make them up and quit the game. They just did other things they wanted to do instead. I knew plenty of people who managed to get by without a Ridill, Red Pants, or Koenig and it didn't stop them from playing. The way your wording comes across it sounds like you think if they added long spawn timers for some NMs everyone would quit, and I don't think that's true. I wouldn't argue that all NMs should be long spawn timers, but the NMs that are long spawn should drop some very rare very good items.

First of all I didn't say it'll make them quit. I'm saying its not fair to alienate that type of content. If somebody would like a chance at a king behemoth they should by all means get a shot at it. I explained my ideas in earlier post.

FF XI is also probably approaching the end of its service life. The fact they are opening the game up and letting more casual players to obtain the harder to get items is a reflection of that, and not a repudiation of long timers as an element of content.

Wont take this part seriously because its not based on facts. I will say the reason was because those items turned obsolete. If it was true then every mmo would have followed the same root. You have to admit its a good change.

whatever happens, happens. I'll still play regardless.

[XStruckX]

Can someone give me the cliff notes on what the OP posted? All I read was the first and last word of the post.

[SnickleWhiskers]

I'd much rather see tiered instance content with longer lockouts.

I've played WoW it feels alot better watching yourself progress compared to saying "hey moogle died? ME NO NOT GET WEHPAWN!? MO NOT GUT WEFHSHPWN 90 MOAR DEFS!?(90 frickin kills and still nothing?)"

[Mireille]

Wont take this part seriously because its not based on facts. I will say the reason was because those items turned obsolete. If it was true then every mmo would have followed the same root. You have to admit its a good change.

whatever happens, happens. I'll still play regardless.

Not really quite sure how your statement here is any less an opinion than mine. In fact I would say that my feeling that XI is entering its final years of service is supported by the dwindling player population, and the hard cap represented by the PS2 hard drive limitation. At some point in the not too distant future development will cease, although they may do mergers and leave the servers up with no support for years to come. I expect we will see a third SE MMO launched prior to XI ending its development.

As far as it being a good change that is a question of opinion. I liked camping the Kings the old way, and unlike a lot of people I didn't see bots around every corner. I'm sure some shells did bot, but they didn't always get the claim either. There was one shell on our server that was notorious for bot claims, and they even did it in abyssea on NMs that spawned every few minutes so short timers didn't exactly solve the problem.

[Albela_Killingifritcom]

oh please. i dont see why peopel are making such a big fuss ovr long respawn timers and bots. if you dont like long respawn timers you dont need to camp, and if you hate bots Squeenix could just create a larger spawning area in the zone or make the boss spawn randomly in the whole world making it impossible to camp it.

[MeowyWowie]

Lol, I love the replies for non-cheatable games. OK, you got me I think the message is still there though. Making an anti-bot video game either leads to what we had at FFXIV's launch, or makes for an extremely boring game, or both. Anyways, I'm not going to argue about botting anymore, and I'm sorry for derailing your thread a bit, Tachi.

On topic: This is what I would like to see with the launch of FFXIV 2.0. Anything less and I believe they will botch their last chance to save this game. It's a long read but it reflects the scale of content required to revive this game. TL;DR is at the bottom, though I do hope you read it all.

[SIZE="5"]OPEN WORLD[/SIZE]

NOTORIOUS MONSTERS

Instant Spawn NMs
Identical to what we have now. These NMs would basically always be up and have small spawn areas. Respawn times could vary between 1-10 minutes. These may drop entry level gear (possibly meldable), NM triggers, and/or materials.

Trigger Spawn NMs
These NMs would require you to obtain an item (trigger) to spawn them. The triggers may be farmed from normal mobs around the area, dropped off instant-spawn NMs, obtained from leves, or something of that nature. Just like instant-spawn NMs, these will provide content without having to wait for it to become available, just go out and start farming triggers. Drops from these would be equal to or slightly better than the drops from instant spawned NMs, depending on the difficulty of the NM in question and the difficulty required in obtaining the trigger to spawn it.

Lottery Spawn NMs
These would not always be up in the open world. In order to spawn these, a player must defeat similar mobs around the spawn area. Eventually, when defeating an enemy, it will reraise itself as the NM, still claimed by the player that caused it to spawn. It is very important that these NMs have the chance of spawning from ANY of the mobs in the area (same family, of course), there would not be one specific place holder. Spawn times would vary, but to keep them casual-friendly, would never exceed 1-2 hours. Drops from these would be equal to or greater than those from trigger spawn NMs, depending on the difficulty of the NM, placeholders and the maximum spawn time set for it.

Long Spawn NMs
These NMs would be rare spawns. Their respawn times would vary from 8 hours up to 72 hours. However, there would be no repeating mini windows whatsoever. There may be a small 5 minute window in which the NM will spawn, but it will never require players to sit there for hours on end waiting for it. Some of these NMs may be accompanied by visual cues in the vicinity of the spawn area, such as weather changes or having all of the non-aggressive mobs flee the area shortly before the NM spawns. Others would just spawn without warning. All of these would have very large spawn areas, something along the lines of Great Buffalo or perhaps even larger. These would be the most difficult of all open world NMs, likely consisting of iconic Final Fantasy monsters like Wyrms, Tonberry King, Behemoth, etc. Drops from these NMs would be the best available from all open world roaming NMs, however, some drops would be available from other forms of content for those that are unable to partake in this content regularly.

Some of these should reward only the players who successfully claimed the NM, while others should require a massive number of players to defeat giving all participants a chance at rewards. Some may be straight up item drops, while others may reward players with points, tokens, etc.

Since this is a casual game, I would also request another feature for these long spawn NMs. By completing special quests available for each of these NMs, players would be able to view the respawn timers in the menu, just like we have now for all end game events. These quests would be unique for each NM. They would contain the lore behind the NMs, and likely include an instanced fight against the NM of the same difficulty (baring item drops of course).

STRONGHOLDS

Basically the same thing we have now, except larger and more detailed. Puzzles, riddles, secret passages, secret NMs, treasure chests, environmental traps and the like would be scattered throughout the area. Progression would require more than just killing some guards to open a gate. Bosses would require you to meet certain conditions before spawning them. Drops from Strongholds would vary greatly, from entry level to best in slot for a few pieces.

HAMLET DEFENSE

We've been waiting for this for a while now, I'm still not sure when it's coming lol. We don't have much info on this yet, but this is what I would imagine it to be. Tied to Grand Companies or a Nation of Allegiance type of thing, we would be required to defend the Hamlets spread across Eorzea from invading monsters and military forces. NPCs would have to be protected, as well as buildings. Failure to do so would result in losing access to the NPCs (assuming they'll actually have some real use in the game) as well as the resources the buildings provide. Consecutive victories would result in decreased prices in the region or something similar.

There would be a point system and a rank system in place for this content alone. Points can be exchanged for various items ranging from gear to consumables, the value of which increases with your rank. Members of Companies or citizens of Nations, whichever is used, would also be subject to temporary buffs which would remain active for the duration of the Company's/Nation's dominance in the area. Buffs could vary from increased magic resistance, HP+, MP+, increased attack speed, etc, but would not be overpowered to the point where those without the buffs are at a severe disadvantage.

UMBRAL CRATER

This is obviously speculative, assuming that a meteor will soon hit Eorzea. Regardless, even if that doesn't happen the content could still be applicable to a variety of situations. I just chose this one as I think it would be a nice setting for the type of content.

Meteor has fallen and formed a huge crater. It brought with it strange life forms and transformed the environment in abnormal ways. Actions and Magicks do not function normally here and are prone to some adverse and unexpected side effects. For instance, casting cure on a party member, while restoring their hp, may also inflict them with poison or cause them to go temporarily blind. Players may get disoriented, causing them to miss an attack and accidentally hit a party member instead. Something along the lines of that. I think SE can get very creative here.

Overall, the content within would be something similar to Sky and Salvage from FFXI. There wouldn't be tiered bosses per se, however if you wish to succeed in killing the tougher bosses you would need to defeat the lower tier ones first to obtain special items that nullify the adverse affects inflicted upon you in the area. You would only require 1 item per party/alliance. When one person uses it, everyone receives the effect. The effect will last either for a certain amount of time or for the duration of one battle, this would vary by item. Bosses with minions would count as one battle, since they would be in their own party.

All of the mid and upper tier bosses would always be available for you to challenge at any time. They will however be nigh impossible to defeat without the required affects you receive from using these items. Some would require only one item to be used, but also be aided by using other items. Others would require multiple items for you to even have a chance at winning. The lesser NMs would obviously not require any items to be used to defeat them and could follow the instant, trigger, and lottery pop conditions I listed earlier, along with some unique conditions for this area alone.

The amount of bosses and the optimal item requirements for each could consist of the following. Keep in mind, in exchange for increased difficulty, the bosses can be defeated with less items but you would risk wasting all of the items you just used if you fail.

Mega Boss: Requires items from Boss 1, 2, 3 and heavily advised to use some items from Mini Bosses as well
Boss 1: Requires Items from Mini Boss 1, 2 and 6
Boss 2: Requires items from Mini Boss 2, 4 and 5
Boss 3:Requires items from Mini Boss 1 3 and 6
Mini Boss 1-6: Require no items

Equipment and material drops would be available from all of the NMs. Lower tiers would have lower drop rates with average pieces, while upper tier having better drop rates with better drops. Again, some of the better drops may be available through other means for those who do not have the time to invest in content like this.

[SIZE="5"]INSTANCED[/SIZE]

INSTANCED BOSS BATTLES

Similar to BC/KSNMs in FFXI and the current Primal battles we have now, these would just consist of a repeatable instanced fight. Some would be the climax of a quest, while others may be triggered by something like Beastmen's Seals. These should be plentiful and offer a large variety of weapons and armor. Difficulty should range from easy to extremely difficult and the drops should reflect this. All of these would be timed fights, but I would rather there be no limits on the minimum number party members required to enter. Time restrictions are not necessarily needed.

LINEAR INSTANCED DUNGEONS

Similar to the Dzemael Darkhold and Toto-Rak, these would be simple dungeons with 1 main boss at the end, though may also contain mini bosses. Time limits should not exceed 1 hour, some may forgo time limits all together. The dungeons themselves can use some of the elements I listed for Strongholds earlier; puzzles, secrets, environmental hazards, etc. Due to the nature of instanced content, though, the creativity used to make each dungeon unique should be a top priority. It is much easier to make unique instanced content than it is for open world. No two dungeons should ever mimic each other to the point where it's difficult to define each one as its own, unique instance. Difficulty can again range from easy to extremely difficult, and again with the drops reflecting the difficulty.

CRYSTAL TOWER

So far we have no information about this other than it being a primary source of content for the more hardcore players. I would imagine it to be a tower climb with unique requirements to clear each floor, filled with bosses and treasure chests throughout. Honestly, I don't really see it being much different than Nyzul Isle, not something I would really consider hardcore but I'll just wait and see what SE comes up with this time around.

TIERED INSTANCED DUNGEONS

This is by far my most desired type of content. Although I do love open world content, I would have to say Limbus was my favorite of all in FFXI. I really wouldn't mind if they just copy pasted it in XIV to be honest, except with XIV storyline of course. For those who don't what what Limbus was, it consisted of 2 main dungeons; Apollyon and Temenos. Each main dungeon had multiple wings that needed to be completed before being able to access the final boss for that dungeon. As an example, to fight Proto-Omega (Apollyon's end boss), you would have to obtain keys from the end bosses in Apollyon North West, North East, South East, and South West. Possesion of all 4 keys would give you access to Central Apollyon, an instanced fight with Proto-Omega. After using the keys they would be discarded and you would have to re-obtain them all over again to fight Omega again.

Each wing had multiple floors with their own mini bosses or other requirements to progress to the next floor. There were also chests on each floor that either rewarded players with items used to upgrade existing armor, time extensions, or ability/hp/mp replenishment, other chests also spawned mimics. Some wings you could open all of the chests, others you had to make a choice of which you wanted to open. There were also optional wings that were most often used to farm Ancient Beastcoins, a form of currency that could be used to purchase a wide variety of items, though these were obtainable from all mobs within Limbus.

The most sought after drops were from the end bosses of the 2 dungeons, obviously, but even just farming the primary wings was a good way to beef up your character with gear enhancement items (used to make Artifact Armor +1) and Beastcoins. The rewards in Limbus were often the best in the game for a very long time and reflected your dedication to this type of content.

There were no limits to how many people could enter, and I must say some of my best times in there was me just soloing coins and AF+1 items. There were time restrictions, however. This would be one thing I would change. Instead of a 72 hour wait time for re-entry, I would prefer to see tokens that you can accumulate, perhaps 1 per day or every 2 days. While this would be considered hardcore content, I feel it's important for SE to make it as accessible to casual players as possible and this would be a good way to accomplish that without shortening the life time of the content.

[SIZE="5"]VARIOUS[/SIZE]

QUESTS

Not really end-game content per se, but there should be tons of these for all levels. Not a big quest person myself, so I'm not really going to get into it.

MISSIONS

Storyline missions, with real challenge, is something I feel FFXIV is extremely lacking. With the release of 2.0, SE has the opportunity to give us a rich story line consisting of multiple missions that test us in many ways. These should entail all forms of content; instanced fights, open world fights, quest chains, dungeons, etc. Progressing through these missions should unlock some of the content listed above as well as new areas and unique items and titles. They should get progressively harder and the rewards progressively better. Completing the whole story line should feel like a monumental achievement, not just beating a simple quest chain. Use your imagination SE!

TL;DR

Overall, the game needs multiple forms of content. I can live with small content patches during the time leading to 2.0, but once 2.0 hits I feel it is absolutely necessary for them to release a huge variety of new content all at once if there is any hope of this game succeeding. The game will have been out for 2 years by then, if there's anything less than this I don't think the re-release will be enough to get players back. Some may think it's too much to ask for, but realistically, if SE wants to have a successful re-launch they need to exceed their players' expectations. If they can pull it off I'm sure the game will do fine. If not, then I guess they're screwed.

[Andrien]

Not really quite sure how your statement here is any less an opinion than mine. In fact I would say that my feeling that XI is entering its final years of service is supported by the dwindling player population, and the hard cap represented by the PS2 hard drive limitation. At some point in the not too distant future development will cease, although they may do mergers and leave the servers up with no support for years to come. I expect we will see a third SE MMO launched prior to XI ending its development.

As far as it being a good change that is a question of opinion. I liked camping the Kings the old way, and unlike a lot of people I didn't see bots around every corner. I'm sure some shells did bot, but they didn't always get the claim either. There was one shell on our server that was notorious for bot claims, and they even did it in abyssea on NMs that spawned every few minutes so short timers didn't exactly solve the problem.

I rather not compare opinions for an old mmo adapting to new standards, although your assumptions do have weight to them. I'd say we're both correct.

I don't speak for the majority, I think most don't enjoy camping/waiting for hours for a pop, but there must be a fair compromise.