Quote Originally Posted by Krotoan View Post
All valid concerns and useful suggestions. I've said before it's unlikely they'd put in the resources to actually rework the 2.0 MSQ dungeons but this doesn't mean I don't think they should.
As you've said it's a general consensus in the forums that SE will outright refuse to do anything extensive on old content. The reasons for this have never truly been disclosed or defined other than we know they operate on "limited resources". Now whether or not that means manpower, budget, or time nobody here knows. It could even possibly just be a cop out and they have other reasons entirely they do not wish to disclose, but I'd like to think we're not there.

Lets say this current situation is because they have limited manpower as an example though. Knowing this, and knowing that they'd have to divert some of this to rework the MSQ into a solo instance with NPC's with appropriate waypoints, tactics and prompts, would you support a delay in current content to get this done? Or are you of the mind that since they're pulling in money at all , more should be spent on expanding the resources available to the FFXIV team to make this kind of change happen? As in the sacrifice here needs to be wholly absorbed by the company.

I ask this a lot because I hear many people say "oh they just need to.. " but once you propose a cost for that to happen they immediately balk and say how it "just needs to get done and should have been done long ago. ". Personally I don't think we're "owed" anything since the game has been and continues to be worth the subscription I pay, but I suppose others do not see it that way.
I'll try to keep my response organized, but it's likely to be lengthy.

(1) I'd happily accept multiple entirely missed content cycles in order to have many of FFXIV's long-standing problems and server limitations resolved. I have two lines of reasoning for this.

The first is that I believe FFXIV isn't even close to living up to its potential. Just looking at the MSQ, we can see issues with the Main Scenario Roulette dungeons; we can see issues with the horrific 2.x quest slog; we can see issues arising from the sequential nature of the main storyline (people having to play through ARR and Heavensward before even touching new expansion content, or feeling compelled to purchase an item to fix it). That's not even touching on the catastrophe that is the Glamour system, the badly limited Housing system, the general whiffs on outside-the-box content (Diadem, Diadem 2.0, hopefully not Eureka...), the ongoing and ridiculous limitations like not being able to send /tells in dungeons, etc.

I want to see SE fix all of this.

The second reason I'd accept missed content cycles is that, really, 75% of each update cycle is a one or two new dungeons that simply change scenery for the Expert Roulette, a new Raid of some sort, some Glamours, and an iLevel increase. There isn't much actually there, generally. I mean, has anyone really felt like 4.2 added much? A few new instances, sure, but once the mechanics are mastered, doesn't it drop down to the same old grind as before, only aiming for Mendacity instead of Creation?

It's worth the sacrifice, in my mind.

(2) Having said all that, I'm also of the mind that SE should be expanding the development team, and should absorb the costs of doing so.

Let's consider: SE has put in a cash shop alongside a P2P model, so that they could milk more profit from the title. They've charged $40 for expansions instead of the more standard $30. They charge monthly fee additions for Retainers and extra characters, something no other MMO does to my knowledge. Despite all of this, they've actually cut down on the content typically offered in each patch cycle; Raids barely have trash monsters anymore, they're just a series of bosses. The Relic weapon is still not here, roughly 8 months after the release of Stormblood.

So, where is the money going, exactly? SE is opening up more revenue streams on the back of their flagship MMO than they've ever had before, while cutting back (or at best holding roughly steady) on content. Unless the development team was chronically underpaid and is now being generously compensated for their sacrifice, I fail to see much excuse for this.

I don't feel this way, incidentally, because I feel 'owed' something by SE. FFXIV is still tremendously good value for the money. However, increased revenue streams should translate to improved content. Look at Netflix as an example; they upped their rates a bit, and all of a sudden started churning out huge numbers of in-house films and TV shows, many of which are quite good. As a consumer, I see a benefit to paying more money for their service. That helps justify the fee increase to me. What I see from SE is the opposite, and giving a company more money for worse, or equivalent, content, just grates on me the wrong way.

I'm also curious if you're on the "revert the change , too much negative impact was made" side or do you think even with the negatives at least some progress was made that warrants keeping the change around? Barring people who like to argue and flap away everything said as a labeled argument fallacy I really do want to hear an opinion. You seem like you've put a lot of thought into it, what's your take?
I'm not sure, honestly. If the queue times worsen to the point where it's no longer a tenable situation, I'd rather see the change reverted than the rewards increased again. Bribing people to do brutally tedious content is likely to help queue times, but these dungeons right now generate a very real sense of annoyance at the game, and that's not a healthy feeling to be instilling in the player base.

More than anything, I think this change was, in addition to everything else, very poorly timed. We're 8 months into an expansion cycle, and therefore the influx of new players is almost certainly less than it was even six months ago. To me, this solution would have been a lot more acceptable if it was a temporary measure introduced for, say, the first two patch cycles of each expansion, maybe preceding an expansion by a month. At that point, it's unpleasant for veterans in some sense, but the queue timers are (in theory) manageable because of the large number of incoming new players.

Alright, I think that's it. I appreciate your thoughts on the matter, too!