Can we talk about timed nodes?

[Vitallian]

Look I get it, they are in the game because someone thought they were a good idea. Leveling a BtN or any gatherer really becomes a damn chore with these things, show up at designated time get some, then either wait 12 minutes or go do another one. As much as I enjoy BTN in this game this is the one thing that i've sort of looked at and been like "Wow this is really fucking obnoxious. Why would anyone think this is a good idea?" I've never seen this in a game before aside from the system that Arch Age had and people hated that system, so i'm guessing a lot of people hate timed nodes. Can we just remove the restriction or something?

[DrWho2010]

it's to create artificial scarcity to build up an economy for said items.

[Dhaid]

it's to create artificial scarcity to build up an economy for said items.

Cant think of any other possible reason..
Gotta say that the whole idea of mindlessly sitting around waiting for a node to spawn isnt fun or interesting. Couldnt we have some other way to keep scarcity while also ensuring I dont have to wait an hour for a single darksteel ore i need?

[Elamys]

Go do something else? Gather from other timed nodes to save time in the future? I get that it's a little annoying when you want your stuff RIGHT NOW but it's not as if the game is forcing you to sit in front of the node twiddling your thumbs. Set an alarm and go gather somewhere else, or craft, or even just walk away from the game for a bit. I haven't really heard anyone complain about the concept of the timed nodes, beyond when it would despawn even if you had the menu open, the presence of enemies nearby which is negated by stealth, or a notable problem a friend of mine had in HW where her load times were so long on PS3 she had to "leave" to get a node like 5 minutes early to be certain to get it - a problem that was resolved by making nodes last longer and also by removing PS3 support.

[Dhaid]

Not saying it doesnt work, but it could be so much better. Which would you prefer, doing something for 5 minutes or be stuck watching youtube for 15 minutes as you wait for the last material you need for your airship?

[Caitlinzulu]

With all the different nodes we need to gather there isnt that much thumb twiddling. And whatever lirttle time we have left can easily be filled with some material crafting. So i dont see a problem with it.
I once sat on the platium node when it was just introduced to learn the spawning time on the other hand so guess i am patient.

[Vitallian]

First i'd like to thank you for the responses.

The concept of "making things more scare" is a farce and you know it's a farce. As for going around and doing other nodes, yeah that might work if I knew when and where they spawned...which I don't. Regardless of the positioning or concept of how you want to look at this, it is nothing more than a time sink...one of the second worse implemented ones I have seen Arch Age being the worst. It's also not just about going and popping from node to node and grabbing stuff for an additional class, as you're still going to be waiting that exact.same.amount.of.time every time. it's not a sort of way to do this and the fact that people have let this go on for so long baffles me.

You have to look at something and what it's worth, if the amount of time taken to get something does is not less than or equal to the effort needed to get it, it's basically wasteful. In other words, if someone has to go and watch something, and gets little to nothing for it then they probably will not keep doing it. Supply and Demand is a great concept..when it works, except going to a node and maybe getting like...a handful of things (prior to what 60?) does not equate to making more or the ability to make something useful especially where a "timeframe" is considered.

I'm not sure why this idea was implemented in the most minute concept. I also understand that a lot of the people in the community ESPECIALLY here on the forums get assmad over the slightest suggestion of changing anything, even if it is for the better. Removing timed nodes would be for the better, and it would also STABILIZE the markets since more people have access to those materials.

[Kirika-]

*snip*
that might work if I knew when and where they spawned...which I don't. *snip*

Garland Bell
www.garlandtools.org/bell

Your welcome.

[Vitallian]

Garland Bell
www.garlandtools.org/bell

Your welcome.

Not going to lie, i'll end up forgetting about this in the next 10 minutes. The rest of my points still stand regardless of this.

[Elamys]

Not going to lie, i'll end up forgetting about this in the next 10 minutes. The rest of my points still stand regardless of this.

The fact that you'll forget that website exists (there's another one, http://www.ffxivclock.com/ which I prefer over garland tools as I think it's easier) or when certain things spawn doesn't mean the system in itself is broken. You can even set alarms in game now. Outside of 4 items of questionable significance from ARR timed nodes, everything is there at the same time, in the same slot, in the same place. Even when I was brand new to gathering it didn't take long to figure out that Gold Ore was always going to be up at 9AM Eorzean in that tunnel in Thanalan in slot 6.

If SE changed timed nodes to be present all the time, then recipes would simply be changed to require more of that material. Yes, it's a time gate. We all know that. All MMOs are stuffed full of time gates. And yet the timed node has never felt punishing to me. Only the most active of crafters and those with the most ambitious projects will ever feel themselves excessively gated by it. I feel that for a crafting session the average amount of times I have to visit a node is two times. That's about one hour of time for HW and SB. For ARR nodes which still only spawn once an hour, the amount I can get from a single pop is so high at max level that I only need to go once and will probably still have extras. In the meantime I was gathering everything else I needed for that project, or producing the lower level materials. And since I gather those materials also in my down time so that I'm prepared in advance I don't always need to wait for the nodes. This preparation will pay off a lot if you intend to be serious about crafting and gathering, and it doesn't just apply to timed nodes. If I'm waiting in queue one of the best things I can do for myself is to gather materials from nodes and mobs to use later.

My defending the timed nodes isn't a knee jerk reaction of "don't change anything about my precious game." FFXIV has one of the most complex and layered crafting and gathering systems in MMOs today and it's paid off. Yes, the nodes in and of themselves don't add much game play wise, but it's another part of a bigger whole which requires you to think and plan more than just whacking trees mindlessly for ten minutes like almost every other item you need to gather in the game. It sounds like you had a bad experience with this in Archeage and that's why you're sour about it here, but FFXIV is a different game.