YoshiP's thoughts on GC future and our compiled suggestions

[Nalien]

Here's my 2gil;

Add the Gambit System for Squadrons to fix their utterly worthless AI. Farming Gambits would be far more interesting than the "You finished a mission so now they get a straight up stat buff to make up for their worthless AI!" system we currently have... If nothing else, can we have some new folk in the preselected faces we can recruit? The same 60 characters since this content was released... It's about time for some new people to want to be recruited...

Rework Squadrons so the characters are truly random, not semi-random from a select list. Perhaps add random base stats on top so you can see a new recruit and go "This guy is perfect for X", rather than the current "Nope"*infinity I imagine people currently go through trying to get that one specific character they like...

Rework Squadron Missions so that there is a risk of characters falling in the line of duty. How high that risk IDK, but it would be nice to actually bother looking at new recruits again... Surely the whole idea here is that we're managing a squadron, no? I don't really feel like I'm doing that right now... They're just there and I send them out every day to do glorified Retainer Ventures... Doing the training to rework their stats was the closest we ever got to managing them but that's not even really required at all, the Lv50 missions come close but you can still just power through coinflips to get your fake grade 3 FC buff...

Add in a reworked Hamlet Defense to the game as "endgame" Grand Company content. Cut out the Crafting/Gathering aspect (although please rework that into something else) and instead put in Squadrons. A party of, lets say 4 players + a selection of their Squadrons. The goal would be to manage your Squadrons to clear side objectives while you and the other real people focus on dealing with the main stuff and backing up the Squadrons when needed. Perhaps schedule it similar to something like the Gold Saucer Glamour thing, so we have a set day when Hamlet Defense opens up, and the rest of the week to prepare/etc.

The current Squadron Missions can also be involved in this new Hamlet Defense, with players sending their squad off to scout/weaken the enemy/retrieve supplies/etc. which could have an impact on the type of battle that eventually plays out when Hamlet Defense spawns. Perhaps failure, rather than resulting in death, could result in a squadron member being captured, opening up a new mission to go save them. Maybe even make such missions instances rather than Ventures...

Slap Primals in Hamlet Defense and add the risk of your Squadron being Tempered and oh boy. Make me weep for losing my perfect Red Scrip farming boi please. Am I fixated on having my Squadron die? Maybe, but it's hard to grow attached to them if there is no risk of losing them...

Command Missions rewards need a rethink... IDK what the point in this content even is currently... Perhaps I just have terrible luck, but every time I've done it and had Chemistry effects trigger, it has been a most pathetic reward... Finishing a dungeon I can solo much faster and for more GC seals, to get 1 Red Scrip? Are you joking? I suppose Command Missions would be useful for levelling the Squad up fast, but yeah... Don't have much reason to swap them out or even change their classes, so...

[DamianFatale]

Cosmetics:

- I want to be able to change my squadrons hair, and makeup.

Gameplay:

- Job Stones. I want to be able to upgrade classes, and make my squadron into advanced jobs that came after a realm reborn.

- Adjust dungeons so that they can be done a lot easier. Doing Brayfox’s Longstop HM, and Wanderers Palace HM is impossible on Astrologian. You don’t get your aoe until after level 50, and your attacks are too slow to cast.

Features:

- The ability to take Squadron members into the open world as companions. It would allow us to solo old fates, and other content.

- The ability to name your Squadron. I’ve put a lot of love into mine, and would like to give it a name.

[Delmontyb]

I'd love to see more with the Grand Companies and thanks for linking to my thread for Conquest... I'd love that system in this game.

[Eliyon]

Would love to do old extreme/savage content with them not just dungeon running.

[Melichoir]

IMO this is how you improve the GC system:

1) Introduce a Questline/Storymode specific to the GC that is done using your Squadron. Quests are specific to the GC, and are done in fleshing out the GC Lore. These special missions will operate something like Hildebrand quests in some regards, except itll be your squad in the overworld doing it. Rewards for completing these quests will be glamours, titles, and emotes. Quest lines will expand with each rank increase.
2) Add more Command/Squadron Missions of Varying type, (like 8 man versions) to increase pool of activities.
3) Create hunt dailys/weeklies using FATES/Hunts as a baseline. For example, completing certain fates as a daily will get you seals, or fates as a weekly for special rewards/seals (like Hunt Ixion/Odin/Fox Fate once per week, or complete 4 fates in a certain region daily for GCs or other items). This will actually be a good thing in the bigger picture cause itll get people out into the world doing things again.
4) Increase the amount of Glamour/Emotes/Housing Items/etc available from GCs and make the cost high (60k Seals). People go to lengths for Glamour/Housing items. That can be used as leverage to encourage #3.
5) Improve the AI on Squadron missions. IF youre running as a DPS, and the AI is a tank, there should be no reason the AI isnt doing proper tank mechanics (like immediately grabbing aoe hate).

Thats what I can think of off the top of my head.

Im very partial to the idea of GC dailies/weeklies that involves hunts and fates as I think the issue with the game is that people sit in cities to much and we need to incentive people to go out and do more open world things. Everyones always down for more glamour/emotes and the like and that would be a good way to kind of get people to go do stuff. Also the story quest for the GC would be very cool too. Itd start as something small and slowly expand outward as you go up in ranks.

[Aquaslash]

Job access for squadron members.

I've been wanting a SCH and a MCH forever