Why does SE want Relics to be boring?

[Kazzoey]

I've had this opinion for a long time now, but after hearing about Eureka I wanted to hold onto it due to it supposedly "Reworking" the relic system. After playing around with it, it's safe to say that the Relics are still being implemented against the flow of FFXIV's design.

I think the concept of the relic weapons is great and that they are achievement gear that you spend a lot of time building. The problem is that the building process is, and has always been, stale.
Why couldn't they make the Relic "building" process more entertaining aside from "Run x Dungeon 200 times" or "Kill 300 of this monster"? Why did their creativity in revitalizing older content and systems stop at the basic premise of Kill x Monsters and Beat x Dungeons?

Perhaps they could've given relics different goals during the building process to take pressure and focus off of the menial setting/task. Instead of running x Dungeon 100 times, why not have challenges in place for Relic grinders that make the content more interesting? Like having random challenges in these dungeons such as removing the Tank's defensive stance for the whole dungeon, or healing spells are at 5-10x MP cost? Or possibly let the party roll for multiple of those challenges for a much higher payoff? Try making the quality per dungeon or whatever go up instead of having them run it so many times in a row. Same goes for FATE "atma" grinds. Why not have special skills/challenges/gimmicks in place to alleviate the pressure of raw FATE grind and increase the quality of the user's play time instead of wasting it?

As for Eureka, why is the element system so bland? It's like they once again just stopped at a basic premise and didn't go beyond to keep things new and interesting.

Some ideas:
-Make half the fight built around mastering the elements, rather than passive boring stat buffs.
-More intricate monsters and bosses that REQUIRE proper in-combat element management to create a whole new layer of depth and a fresh new playstyle to keep players interested.
-Give the players a few different Eureka-Only skills that expend their elemental resource points and passive ways to recharge it. Skills like 30 second weapon element imbue for passive damage, a 30 second armor element imbue for passive mitigation, a oGCD elemental attack (Burst window exploit tool), a oGCD heal that heals/damages based on a player's current weapon/armor imbue, and so on.
-Letting the storms and weather effect how your elements react with the monsters and environment to create a more sandbox-like effect. (eg. Lighting oGCD attack turns into AoE during rain storm, or Ice oGCD attack perma-binds all monsters standing in water, etc)


It's not some end-all-be-all, just some ideas thrown out there for ways to make relic grinds more entertaining and new. I'm not against long content, but why do Relic grinds always got to be so BORING? I play games to have fun in the small pockets of time I have, not throw it away. Relics are everything this game seems to stand against.

[Sunako]

Savage and ultimate is for challage. Relic is for grinding. Have always been that way.

[NovaLevossida]

Beating Titan Hard at 2.0 launch was deemed too hard and too much by the playerbase (you'll recall the same playerbase did the same thing with Steps of Faith). They've made it a braindead grind ever since because "midcore" difficulty content was too much for most of the playerbase. I just value my time too much to do mindless relics / Eureka going forward.

[loreleidiangelo]

Beating Titan Hard at 2.0 launch was deemed too hard and too much by the playerbase (you'll recall the same playerbase did the same thing with Steps of Faith). They've made it a braindead grind ever since because "midcore" difficulty content was too much for most of the playerbase. I just value my time too much to do mindless relics / Eureka going forward.

This frustrates me incredibly because the original relic questline IMO was one of the more interesting pieces of content in this game. Relics in turn had so much potential to be the sort of gear we were looking forward to, with things like additional properties or added effects, but the constant fear of backlash from the "have-nots" has basically led to a dearth of any sort of meaningful rewards in this game.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

This frustrates me incredibly because the original relic questline IMO was one of the more interesting pieces of content in this game. Relics in turn had so much potential to be the sort of gear we were looking forward to, with things like additional properties or added effects, but the constant fear of backlash from the "have-nots" has basically led to a dearth of any sort of meaningful rewards in this game.

Unfortunately, Stormblood as a whole can be summarized as "afraid of backlash." With the exception of Ultimate, every single thing they've done has been incredibly safe. Just to list a few examples...

- Tomestone grind remains unchanged for the third iteration
- Jobs universally simplified
- Battle "overhaul" amounted to near pointless gauges
- Difficulty of all content (Ultimate notwithstanding) reduced in varying degrees
- Prioritization on niche activities like Perform and Replay
- Dungeons remained unchanged outside aesthetic

They seem utterly terrified to do anything different. Not to sound overly dramatic, but if this trend continues I fear just how long the game will manage. I fully anticipate Eureka losing a good amount of subs—hopefully enough to wake them up. I don't know whether the dev team has lost their creativity or SE is simply strangling them with a small budget but something needs be done, and soon.

[Rofel]

Unfortunately, Stormblood as a whole can be summarized as "afraid of backlash." With the exception of Ultimate, every single thing they've done has been incredibly safe. Just to list a few examples...

(...)

They seem utterly terrified to do anything different. Not to sound overly dramatic, but if this trend continues I fear just how long the game will manage. I fully anticipate Eureka losing a good amount of subs—hopefully enough to wake them up. I don't know whether the dev team has lost their creativity or SE is simply strangling them with a small budget but something needs be done, and soon.

Nailed it. It is as it is because it's been the time sink model they had so far. It's the same with almost every aspect in the game.

[Anarnee]

I guess at least with light farming you could decided what you wanted to run. For this... ug.

[Masekase_Hurricane]

I think they are out of ideas and really lack any creativity lately. Nothing new, nothing inspiring. Expansions are supposed to bring exciting new stuff yet we have the same old rubbish if not worse.

[ToriiMiyuki]

I think they are out of ideas and really lack any creativity lately. Nothing new, nothing inspiring. Expansions are supposed to bring exciting new stuff yet we have the same old rubbish if not worse.

While I understand the sentiment here and have even thought it myself at one point. After creating some actual indie games myself I feel that there is no way that Square has run out of ideas. They simply refuse to exert the effort to create anything of value. It seems like they simply don't care anymore.

[ManuelBravo]

While I understand the sentiment here and have even thought it myself at one point. After creating some actual indie games myself I feel that there is no way that Square has run out of ideas. They simply refuse to exert the effort to create anything of value. It seems like they simply don't care anymore.

It's not the fact t hat they don't care, just like with any other game developer they have priorities. They can't make the game just about relics that away, I would love it if they did place more priority, however they do have many things to worry about. I loved the fact that they made it into a living weapon, perhaps more interaction with it might spice it up a bit and give it properties such as light and darkness based on your choices. Kind of how they did it in FFXI where you had multiple paths.

Personally I don't find them boring, gives me things top do while I do something else. Problem is people seem to misunderstand RELICS are not meant to be completed fast, and of course they may seem boring. The story lines have varied and have to admit tehy have gotten a bit better. I loved anima, gender selection, just wish their would be more interaction.