PvP Needs An Endgame Once Again

[Rufalus]

.

Yes all good points, already a few posts tearing me down in great detail and I regret saying it. Was spitballing some ideas, didn't think the bad one would become focus point of the discussion. The weekly reward thing was my main idea but not completely on-topic so I just tacked that other thought on; it's hard to contribute something to the endgame vs leveling pvp distinction in the op without creating more problems. I don't have a magic answer to that. You can gate or segregate things if there are enough rewards to get players invested, but S-E can't produce new unique rewards fast enough to prevent some or all pvp modes dying often.

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

As an idle thought, with the overall changes to jobs and how they work in Stormblood (talking PvE-wise), perhaps a healthy mix of what's good about the 4.x PvP systems and what gave 3.x PvP depth and substance for which a community formed around would be a positive change? I'm likening this again to how BRD was so drastically changed (and hated) in 3.x, then changed again for the better in 4.0.

[RiyahArp]

Standard procedure for trinity designers is to add rewards there, which is what SE has done and the incentives are set up to create that initial rush, followed by a slow queue death. SE thus decided to just heed player feedback and shorten the seasons so you have the rush phase more often. That doesn't really solve the issue, but it's what "you guys" (don't feel addressed if you aren't) wanted, so hey!

They don't even do that well. The feast weapons are a joke in terms of incentive for anyone below gold. You're looking at 3-4 seasons of placing, for bronze and silver, and two for gold, platinum, and diamond. You could get savage weapons easier.

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

But people wanted a ticket system. Granted, they wanted to be able to buy past season rewards with it, and I'm glad SE didn't go that far, but people wanted a ticket system, and I think it's fair in its implementation. Top 10 gets enough for the weapon immediately. A Diamond would only need to reach Bronze the next season for enough. Gold would have to at least reach Gold again. For example: I finished S5 Gold, but only wanted to get the Bronze title this season, so if I really want a weapon (I don't), I'll have to participate in another season, at least to Bronze again.

[Theodric]

Allowing rewards from previous seasons to be purchased would go a long way towards encouraging more players to invest in competitive PvP. Many people I know just don't bother with it due to a combination of long queue times, blatant win trading and a lack of an incentive for their investment.

What we desperately need is fresh blood - if we don't get that then less and less people will be bothering with PvP. I'm ready to give up on it if 4.2 does not make some improvements. If the PvP community does not allow for a bone to be thrown at the 'masses' every now and then we won't see much, if any, improvement.

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

Allowing rewards from previous seasons to be purchased would go a long way towards encouraging more players to invest in competitive PvP. Many people I know just don't bother with it due to a combination of long queue times, blatant win trading and a lack of an incentive for their investment.

What we desperately need is fresh blood - if we don't get that then less and less people will be bothering with PvP. I'm ready to give up on it if 4.2 does not make some improvements. If the PvP community does not allow for a bone to be thrown at the 'masses' every now and then we won't see much, if any, improvement.

3.5 was one big bone throw to the masses. Honestly, everything except the Feast chat restriction was one giant step in the right direction. Making gear more affordable, launching an event that attracted attention to it, cross-server support, implementing both vital CC changes/standardizations and the biggest feature players asked for over 3 years all at once (Freelancer) which improved queue times drastically; 3.5 did a LOT to bridge the gaps between the PvP community and everyone else. . .

Then look at what 4.0 did: upset, alienated, and drove off long time players (taking with it knowledge and experience, and splintering the dedicated community that existed prior to), effectively reduced jobs and imbalanced them in the name of simplification or making them "more accessible", attracted exploiters, afkers, and botters for XP, and overall took one giant step backward from the good foundation laid with 3.5.

I'd like to share a comment made by another long time PvPer recently, as part of a 2017 retrospective. I think it was the most profound one out of all of ours:

My favorite part of 2017 on this game was when there was a sense of a pvp community, espicially right after patch 3.5 came out. Balmung was considered to be the main pvp server and there were several pvp-exclusive linkshells for it. [Name ommitted for privacy] and I had joined [FC name omitted] a few months prior, and it was a really fun experience in the beginning- At least until it grew too much and fell apart.

The feeling of being a part of the pvp community was a great feeling, and practicing with other people was just fun. I used to hang out in the dueling arena a lot and really improved as a player. You just don't see that anymore. I don't think I've seen a single duel on Balmung since 4.0 launched. Everybody has moved on to other servers, and you don't even see them in matches anymore. 3.x pvp was my favorite part of this game, and with the introduction of cross server PF, I was able to play with people that I haven't been able to before. It felt like the community grew since you were able to play with anybody now.

It's a bit depressing to remember all the fun times I used to have, then look at what I do now. I don't enjoy pvp anymore, or this game, for that matter. 3.5 was a game changer and it was the best experience I've had in this game.

Take note, SE. THIS is the truth of your grand "improvement" to PvP in 4.0, for many of us who were so dedicated and enjoyed it before.

[Infindox]

I just want it to be worth my time doing it. I enjoyed doing it when I started because I had rewards to go for and generally had a fun time with friends, either enjoying our victories or laughing at our dumb mistakes (3.0 PvP I had a beef with ninjas and every time I killed one I gloated lol)

But now? Queue times are awful. Friends don't want to play because of the issues with the system. Shatter has too many bots or my team simply gives up and doesn't try. Can't get into any of the other Frontlines. And Rival Wings is not worth me suffering through right now just to get a mount with the imbalances.

I just wish they'd care a bit more, because I'd love to care about it. But since SE doesn't seem to atm, then all I can do is just lament about it here.

[BloodRubyXII]

What's depressing is I've played for 4 years and didn't even know you could duel.

[Rufalus]

I have another bad idea.. not sure if I should say it lol. Well ok, make the queue force pop for all pvp modes (except ranked) in under 1 minute, like chocobo racing, and fill any gaps with npcs. So there might only be 1 other actual player on the map or none and it's not really pvp any more, but you can enter any map you want fast and play the mode even when nobody else is playing the game any more. Wouldn't be opposed to that being a checkbox DF option that also disables rewards, allows people to enter dead modes like Seize and use for learning/practice.

[BloodRubyXII]

I have another bad idea.. not sure if I should say it lol. Well ok, make the queue force pop for all pvp modes (except ranked) in under 1 minute, like chocobo racing, and fill any gaps with npcs.

PlayervsPlayer