DPS Queue Times

[Tridus]

I think the variety of dps jobs contributes significantly to the disparity in support v. dps roles, not sure if you're implying otherwise but if so I'd have to call that out. If not ignore this

It doesn't. Not really. We've seen that in multiple games, and here when HW came out. Once the initial shiny new period wears off, people go back to their preferred roles. Adding new tank/healer jobs appeals a lot to people who already play tanks/healers. It does little to nothing to entice people who don't want to do those roles. YoshiP talked about that before, where the overwhelming majority of DRK players were playing tanks before that, and the overwhelming majority of AST players were playing healers before that.

We've seen the same thing in reverse in Stormblood. Outside of the initial new and shiny period, queue times have largely gone back to where they were before SAM & RDM were introduced, and the old order has reasserted itself. Once queue times hit a certain length and the initial shiny period wears off, people largely migrate back to their preferred roles, with the tank & healer players encouraged to do so by not having to wait forever to do anything.

Doing something drastic like increasing group size to 5 would help because you'd get 50% more DPS through the queue for every tank and healer, but that is a HUGE undertaking, to put it kindly. That's the kind of thing you have to decide pretty early on in development and it becomes a nightmare to change it later.

(It's a good thing I like healing and don't hate tanking, because with the play time I have, I'd probably quit if I had to sit in the DPS queue constantly as spending half my time waiting just isn't very fun.)

[MoroMurasaki]

It doesn't. Not really. We've seen that in multiple games, and here when HW came out. Once the initial shiny new period wears off, people go back to their preferred roles. Adding new tank/healer jobs appeals a lot to people who already play tanks/healers. It does little to nothing to entice people who don't want to do those roles. YoshiP talked about that before, where the overwhelming majority of DRK players were playing tanks before that, and the overwhelming majority of AST players were playing healers before that.


We've seen the same thing in reverse in Stormblood. Outside of the initial new and shiny period, queue times have largely gone back to where they were before SAM & RDM were introduced, and the old order has reasserted itself. Once queue times hit a certain length and the initial shiny period wears off, people largely migrate back to their preferred roles, with the tank & healer players encouraged to do so by not having to wait forever to do anything.

Doing something drastic like increasing group size to 5 would help because you'd get 50% more DPS through the queue for every tank and healer, but that is a HUGE undertaking, to put it kindly. That's the kind of thing you have to decide pretty early on in development and it becomes a nightmare to change it later.

(It's a good thing I like healing and don't hate tanking, because with the play time I have, I'd probably quit if I had to sit in the DPS queue constantly as spending half my time waiting just isn't very fun.)

You know if you ever wanna go DPS main I will keep you healer-queued up so you aren't waiting :P

That aside... no? I'll elaborate. I don't think I spent enough time on my prior post. When I say 'variety' it isn't just that there are more dps but rather the actual variety offered by dps gameplay.

The variety of dps roles isn't just that there are nine of them instead of 3 tanks and 3 healers it's that they all offer different gameplay. They've got definition to them that you just don't find with tanks and healers. All tanks have a threat combo, an AoE enmity generator on GCD, a ST ranged enmity generator, an immunity, tank stance, dps stance... there is serious homoginization here. All healers have a basic ST heal, stronger ST heal, basic AoE heal, stronger AoE heal, Raise not to mention almost always taking the same role actions with little exception. Let's not look too hard at AST/WHM in particular because we all know what a cookie cutter that is.

I understand why these similaraties in support roles exist but it doesn't change the fact that it contributes to them feeling very similar overall and especially when compared to their DPS brethren who rarely share anything apart from role actions and for melee the presence of combos (except MNK).

In my opinion (as someome who still consideres themselves a healer main) DPS roles in general were designed with distinct identities in mind and then had potency tweaks to bring their dps more or less in line with each other where as tanks and especially healers were designed around their utilities and core skillset and then separated at some points by little more than aesthetics.

The reason I enjoy dpsing now is that each time I do it the experience still feels fresh, probably because I've banged healer reflex memory into my skull through leveling them each to 70. There is a reason Cure/Physick/Benefic all share a button for me and for most healers. For someone who doesn't enjoy the actual healing gameplay I'd wager (much like me with tanking) the thought of leveling another job through basically the same routine seems at best daunting and at worst boring. I am quite sure this contributes in a meaningful way to the dps queue times.

Also I'm very much in favor of 5 man dungeons and I don't think it would take as much tweaking as some people think either. Obviously we would need to increase enemy HP proportionally but there are plenty of dungeons where no actual mechs would need altering.

[Lilseph]

FATEs can be solo'd, if no one is doing them in these areas, as they don't get scaled up. You also have your hunt bills, which is a nice source of experience. But when you run out of these, honestly, FATEs it pretty much your only alternative while you're waiting in DF. :/

[Renato]

FATEs can be solo'd, if no one is doing them in these areas, as they don't get scaled up. You also have your hunt bills, which is a nice source of experience. But when you run out of these, honestly, FATEs it pretty much your only alternative while you're waiting in DF. :/

I'm currently lv61 and the fates around Rhalgr's Reach can be pretty tough especially the bosses. Playing as a Tank before, I don't have much good caster gear and the tomestones needed to get the shire stuff is out of reach (because of the stupid dungeon queues.) I forgot about the hunt bills though. I'll have to look into that. :-)

[Xtrasweettea]

I'm currently lv61 and the fates around Rhalgr's Reach can be pretty tough especially the bosses. Playing as a Tank before, I don't have much good caster gear and the tomestones needed to get the shire stuff is out of reach (because of the stupid dungeon queues.) I forgot about the hunt bills though. I'll have to look into that. :-)

When I was leveling RDM, I didn't do the FATES around Rhalgr's Reach, instead I did the ones in Dravanian Hinterlands and Azys Lia until I hit 62 or 63. I took advantage of the fact I was over-geared (I used non-augmented Shire Gear) for those FATES that I could finish them very quickly. The EXP difference between Hinterlands/Lia and the zone around Reach was negligible once you take in the fact that you could finish two fates in HW zones per one in the starting SB zone.

[Chocolys]

I'm currently lv61 and the fates around Rhalgr's Reach can be pretty tough especially the bosses. Playing as a Tank before, I don't have much good caster gear and the tomestones needed to get the shire stuff is out of reach (because of the stupid dungeon queues.) I forgot about the hunt bills though. I'll have to look into that. :-)

Do you use your chocobo companion when doing the fates? It helps a lot, especially if you have a healer speced one. A chocobo certainly does not replace a healer but the few heals it gives can make the differnce between stand your ground or run for your life

[Malzian]

Netflix. You'd be surprised how many episodes of a series you can catch up on while waiting on a DPS queue... >.>

[KaivaC]

If you have RDM, then why not queue up and do some beast tribes. It'll give you something to do while waiting and gives you some okay exp.

[Mikki]

Why not take up crafting or gathering if you haven't already? The quests for them are actually really great imo and I find them relaxing and fun to do. Plus it's fun to challenge myself to make a certain amount of gil each day! Around 4.1 I was challenging myself to make at least 1 mil a day, which was a lot of fun. Also, market board pvp is intense.

You could also hang out in the golden saucer. I love to sit around there and participate in GATES. You can get exclusive emotes, mounts and gear from there. Beast tribes are also fun and you could do hunts as well.

As for queue times, there's not much for it if you don't want to queue up as a tank/healer. Best advice that is always tossed around is to get an FC and ask people to run stuff with you or to get a tank or healer friend to queue up with you for a faster pop. Sadly that's just how it is... But tbh 9 - 20 minutes isn't that bad. But must feel so after those insta-pop tank queues. You must feel like a peasant in the DPS queue line. xD

[Renato]

You must feel like a peasant in the DPS queue line. xD

Exactly, I miss the instant pops as a DRK. I just got tired of playing as a tank...plus the glam for casters is so cool. lol

I have taken up CUL and MIN both are in the high 50's. I may go back into it or maybe try another crafter. I don't go to the Gold Saucer much after grinding for the Gambler's Set. I do like Chocobo Racing though.