Patch notes - do we really need to know everything?

[Slyvannas]

surprises are always nice

[Bowen]

Please, don't make them revert to their old ways. I like the way they communicate with us. That's why I am still here.

[Raldo]

They should keep the technical side of the patch as detailed as possible, but yeah, in case of additional content they could reveal less, that would make it more interesting.

I agree with this, but I wanted to provide some examples.

For instance, the GC rank ups. They could have told us that there were 3 new ranks, and even what they were called, but they didn't really need to tell us what needed to be done in order to rank up.

New quests? Ok. List them if you want, but I don't need to know which NPC grants the quest.

[Nakiamiie]

Just curious, would the gobbue have been more exciting if you had known nothing about it and suddenly saw someone on one? Rather than everyone rushing out to the location in the patch notes and "check done, content over" maybe they can have a few more stealth updates. One part of me loves the patch notes but the other part wishes there was a just little more discovery.

We already have that kind of stuff happening, such as the Lamb of Dalamud fanatics (the purple aetherite in town). The problem with non-announced temporary stuff is they are temporary, thus one can easily miss it altogether and feel frustrated after.
I would much prefer if they announced even more stuff, not less. Why? Because if you don't want to know, don't read the patch notes. Simple, while the other way around is much more complicated.

[Fiosha_Maureiba]

I would be ecstatic if they were practicing this philosophy right now.

May those who do not use New Posts never find my evil.

[Radiator]

We already have that kind of stuff happening, such as the Lamb of Dalamud fanatics (the purple aetherite in town). The problem with non-announced temporary stuff is they are temporary, thus one can easily miss it altogether and feel frustrated after.
I would much prefer if they announced even more stuff, not less. Why? Because if you don't want to know, don't read the patch notes. Simple, while the other way around is much more complicated.

I enjoy reading the patch notes, I just dont think they should tell me the exact coordinates is all :P

[GreyJorildyn]

Patch notes cannot be likened to strategy guides anymore than mmos should be likened to console games.

Mysteries are part of the livlihood of console games, while transparency is the guiding light in the mmo genre. SE needs to be upfront about what they're presenting as, as mentioned before, it informs the current playerbase and acts as a bit of advertising as well. Besides all that, SE still isn't nearly as transparent as other games in their update notes, but it's my opinion that they are forthcoming enough to still leave thay exploration bit.

On phone now so not gonna go find actual example but it's clear to see the difference when patch notes in other games sounds like this:

The recast time for the ability "Pwnz0r" has been reduced from 30s to 20s.
Abilities with an aura have had their radius increase from 10' to 12'.
Mage spells increase in powers by tiers. For each 10 INT, 100 damage is added.

Or how FFXIV patch notes are:
TP consumption for weapon skills used in combos is reduced.
The area of effect for Conjurer spells has been increased.
<Insert cryptic auto-attack table in last patch notes>

Yeah, there's a difference .

[Duuude007]

Imperial assault and chocobo perfect runs are good examples of stealth content/achievements. I just wish there was more of it, lol.


Edit: with the exception that the majority of unannounced stuff isn't necessarily temporary. I agree that missing out on the content can be very annoying.

[tymora]

The recast time for the ability "Pwnz0r" has been reduced from 30s to 20s.
Abilities with an aura have had their radius increase from 10' to 12'.
Mage spells increase in powers by tiers. For each 10 INT, 100 damage is added.

Technical changes doesn't bother me.
Things like saying "NPC A has been added to the game. He is located at X,Y. Talk to him once to get mount." however does. Why bother to put the NPC far away when you are going to tell me where to find him?

[GreyJorildyn]

Why NOT tell you where to find it? They do want you to go and get your new shiny. Something you have to understand about the average mmo player(/human) is that they are dumb. If it's not spelled out for them, it's "too hard". That's the world we live in sadly.

Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FpigqfcvlM and you'll see. It's been part of the decline of gaming for a very long time that things are too forthcoming, and now we're kinda stuck with that trend and it's become the rule rather than the exception It is almost insulting to the intelligent people who play games these days.

edit: a similarly related example right here in our own game...

Gee, I never would have figured that one out. Not in a million years.
(maybe you should tell me how to make linen deerstalkers of piety first).