Thoughts on what the game needs to do

[RiyahArp]

It didn't generate any long term hype. It didn't attract or create any form of e-sports tournament that wasn't already there; people reacted to it just the same as virtually every other world first race we had in FFXIV's recent history. It just returned to the same amount of time it took people to world-first Gordias, except this time, no one bothered to try it except the world firsters, and people instead just said "oh, it's only for the 0.001%."

No one came here in any real numbers to raid in this game because of it, no one is really recruiting for it (i see barely 2-3 pfs even mentioning it per day per data center) and all the world firsters either went back into hibernation, or are scum who are trying to sell the runs using means that violate tos (unless you think people can seven man that content as opposed to log in as a players account, and are not doing it for real life cash) so yeah, protest all you like, i say its a failure and it is.

[Paladinleeds]

No one came here in any real numbers to raid in this game because of it, no one is really recruiting for it (i see barely 2-3 pfs even mentioning it per day per data center) and all the world firsters either went back into hibernation, or are scum who are trying to sell the runs using means that violate tos (unless you think people can seven man that content as opposed to log in as a players account, and are not doing it for real life cash) so yeah, protest all you like, i say its a failure and it is.

Like Bourne said, you don't understand Twitch. Even that fleet of hype is going to have a positive effect on the game. It's like any other tournament. The world firsters have finished the tournament now, so it dies down until the next one. But the next one will most likely pull the same if not more. Not everything needs to be for the casuals. Gordias failed because it was too hardcore for the midcore leaving them with almost nothing. Now the midcore have the Savage. And, you say only the 0.001%... NEST, a very much casual static are attempting it. They're going at it (looking forward to seeing that video btw). But if you refuse to serve the hardcore, they will leave. And with them the eSports that carries these games. Square Enix do right to cater some stuff for them. Even if they're recycled assets.

[HyoMinPark]

so yeah, protest all you like, i say its a failure and it is.

It’s your opinion that it’s a failure. Your opinion does not constitute as a fact. Maybe people are so disinclined to agree with you/protest because you are trying to pass off your opinions as facts, when they are not. People are inclined to agree with your opinions, and maybe share them, but that doesn’t change that they’re still just opinions. They aren’t facts.



I will agree that the Duty Recorder feature is a failure because there are already things that do it better with none of the restrictions that the Duty Recorder has (e.g., Twitch, OBS, PlayStation’s streaming service, etc.). Perform, while a waste of resources in my opinion, I wouldn’t consider a failure because it at least appeals to a niche audience. Same thing with Ultimate—it was created for the purpose of appealing to that 1% of hardcore players, and it succeeded in that. Same thing with Fashion Report—which people I know use to their advantage to turn profit on the Market Board on their server.

FFXIV is a theme park MMO; it has many different things that appeal to many different types of players—the very definition of “theme park”.

[Ghishlain]

No one came here in any real numbers to raid in this game because of it, no one is really recruiting for it (i see barely 2-3 pfs even mentioning it per day per data center) and all the world firsters either went back into hibernation, or are scum who are trying to sell the runs using means that violate tos (unless you think people can seven man that content as opposed to log in as a players account, and are not doing it for real life cash) so yeah, protest all you like, i say its a failure and it is.

I agree on some of your points, and disagree on others - but I find your argument that Ultimate was a failure is heavily mired in a biased vitriol based on the bolded comment above and undermines your position immensely. You sound like one of those bitter people who either don't have the skill or time to get into raiding and then blaming the raiders for just existing because of either your inability to perform or inability to participate.

For the record - I didn't find Ultimate to be a failure. It was designed for a very niche subset of raiders when raiders are already a smaller subset of the player base as a whole. Just because the content isn't being run 24/7 doesn't mean it's a failure. It was aimed at it's intended audience and it hit the intended audience with a bullseye. I'm not even a hardcore top 1% raider but I certainly enjoyed watching the massive amount of precision, skill, and raw endurance necessary to execute the content perfectly. If I enjoyed it by watching it from the outside, then there are others like me who enjoyed it too. We might be a small subset but we do exist and the content makes us happy to watch.

And I guess just to quote you.

"Protest all you like, I say its a success and it is."

[RiyahArp]

based on the bolded comment

People who sell runs for ultimate are scum, for two reasons.

1. They are probably selling it for real world money. There isn't anything worthwhile for gil in this game beyond a certain point. Even if they wanted it, given that they are all advertising cross server makes it impossible, since converting that quantity of gil would take more items than AHs have for sale or people have inventory for and require the player to transfer his main over if just to do the trade.
2. They are probably logging in to the players account to do it, unless somehow people can reliably run ultimate with a 7 man and one on the floor.

Both are things RMT do, and I refuse to walk that back.

As for world firsters raid logging, that's what they do. That is not controversial in the slightest.

Sigh, as for failure it is, because ultimate is not going to save this game. Ultimate in the next patch does nothing if Eureka is the same old "90% of people stay afk in the fate train" stuff we got in this patch. It wont fix how half the roulettes are now pointless because eureka is more efficient to cap tomes and it took away motivation to get poetics and creation for capped players like past relics did.

It doesn't solve the fact we have nothing new to do in the open world that we didn't have at HW early patches. People liking to watch it is not going to keep them subbed, because you can just go to twitch and watch it while never opening the game. It gives a very small percentage of the playerbase something to do, and while thats ok for them, SE cannot base the future stream of content on this.

Their stated goal was to reduce content slightly to increase experimental content, but the way they are doing it is by releasing niche things that fail to really keep people into the game. That's how all the content I listed fails. PPl are focusing on ultimate, but all content is like this that they have released.

[AxlStream]

People who sell runs for ultimate are scum, for two reasons.

1. They are probably selling it for real world money. There isn't anything worthwhile for gil in this game beyond a certain point. Even if they wanted it, given that they are all advertising cross server makes it impossible, since converting that quantity of gil would take more items than AHs have for sale or people have inventory for.
2. They are probably logging in to the players account to do it, unless somehow people can reliably run ultimate with a 7 man and one on the floor.

Let's go with an easy 2 words. Prove it.

Without undeniable proof, you're just spouting nonsense to SE. Also, what does it matter if they sell content for gil or dollars? You're just upset people can actually get paid clearing stuff while you struggle with easier encounters I feel.

[RiyahArp]

Let's go with an easy 2 words. Prove it.

Why would anyone sell the hardest fight in this game for a resource anyone can get more than enough of absurdly easily? Gil gates nothing in this game. The FCs that do this kind of stuff probably already have crafting wings that supply raid food and potions, if gil matters just being able to four star armor in this game means you can easily earn all you need. Gil is worthless in this game beyond the 20 mil you need for a mansion, because everything that matters or has status is gated behind playing. Nothing gil can buy you will ever give the status of having what that ultimate weapon means.

And you still have the issue of doing the hardest content in this game with seven people if you do it legit an the run seller is with you. Not savage, where it's possible; i didn't say ppl who sell those do so. Ultimate. Content that took the best guilds in this game 3 weeks compared to normal savage of one day to clear. So count me suspicious as hell.

[Makeda]

3. You cannot design solely for the JP playerbase or expect all players to act the same way.

Things like Raid replay fail because they don't add functionality to western players experiences, even if they fill the niche for JP audiences who don't have as robust third party support.

You also have to realize westerners act differently. We have different problems and may need different measures taken. And we are the majority of this game's market; you would lose 2/3rds or so of revenue if we didn't exist.

Farming raids for months on end after they come out is basically the formula of almost every Western MMO on the market. So I'm not sure at all why you think this is a Japanese thing that western players would not like.

That said... I find the insinuation here one that smacks of 'privilege' - to assume that a Japanese company has to design for Americans instead of Japanese players is just... odd.

[MsQi]

Bard perform is a failure.

I don't see how this is a failure. The sounds are not great but it does what it was meant to do: add depth to the world.

The core pve content of this game is fairly linear storyline. Though very good so far, it doesn't alone justify having an MMO. Side content is what makes an mmo an mmo. There needs to be stuff going on in the world besides the battle with the current "big bad", that involves multiple players. PvP can help this, but I haven't really seen what this has to offer. The premise of PvP in this (from what I can tell) is that it is esentually training exercise. There are no factions at each other's throats so it seems to have little to do with the world. I sat in a queue for several hours one day and never got in.

I would recommend developing seasonal events better. They should involve more of the culture and traditions of the people and seem to actually affect the people and the world, not just decorations and a quick quest. Some things should stay the same from year to year, and some things should change.

More side storylines like Hildebrand, but some more serious.

[Makeda]

2. Side content is not enough to keep the playerbase happy.

Bard perform is a failure. Squadrons are a failure. Fashion Report is a failure.

They are failures because they are not strong enough to keep many players into the game. They interest a fairly small niche if even that. This sort of ties into my next point.

3. You cannot design solely for the JP playerbase or expect all players to act the same way.

Those are my thoughts.

Also on Bard Perform and Fashion contests:

- These both have their origins in City of Heroes. A western MMO. They were regular aspects of community events there that were mainstays of what kept that game going for years as it's devs discounted it. The very last day that game was online, as people were waiting for the company to shut off the servers, they were holding fashion contests in Atlas City across all the servers and taking screenshots of soon to be gone characters...

Fashion contest now exists as a somewhat popular regular event in World of Warcraft.

Bard Performances was something highly demanded here from the moment of launch, as well as in Guild Wars 2. GW2 started adding musical instruments to the cash shop a few years ago, and players would gather them up and hang out in venues and perform concerts together. It's not a huge thing, but it is a thing - and GW2 makes profit selling those instruments.

- So that's 3 different western MMOs acting as inspiration for these features... My earlier post's comments aside about 'privilege' in assuming they have to cater to westerners over their fellow Japanese... it would appear from these 3 MMOs that they are actually doing... exactly that.

Squadrons and Retainer missions... I have avoided... precisely because it sounds too much like the feature in World of Warcraft I like the LEAST... the mission boards... But that again means it's a western MMO feature in a game you're accusing of not catering to westerners...

And then we could talk about Player Housing's Apartments - which are basically smaller scale versions of the housing system in Everquest 2 and Wildstar... So they're AGAIN catering to us in the west there...

So now I'm up to 5 Western MMOs that are inspiring these 'side features' in a game you accuse of not catering to westerners...

Hmmm....

I cannot think of anything they could possibly do to cater to westerners MORE than they already have... They're doing it so much, I kinda feel sorry for the Japanese playerbase...