Suggestion: Being able to re-do old/missed seasonal events.

[CarpeDiempreecha]

I know that the ability to re-do old side/story quests is a feature that is often requested, and I don't disagree that it would be nice (I also don't think that the proposed implementation for 5.0 is what people wanted at all, but that's a different topic altogether). However, a similar request that I rarely see mentioned is the ability to re-do past seasonal events, or complete them for the first time if you missed them. The reason I dislike the current system is that it's a no-win scenario for players.

If past seasonal events were entertaining and had story arcs, then players who have missed them will likely never have a chance to experience them. For example, the past few years' Little Ladies' Day with the Songbirds. The end of the last event makes it clear that that arc is finished, and I think it is a shame that players who missed out on any of the events of that arc will never get a chance to play through it themselves.

It seems like the dev team is aware of this, and increasingly try to make each seasonal event story self-contained. However, this ends up making each event extremely milquetoast and unexciting. Event NPCs give but a passing acknowledgement of your character, and the interactions they had in the past. Character storylines (such as in Valentione's Day, for example), stagnate and refuse to progress for fear of alienating players who haven't done all of the events in sequence. I used to look forward to seasonal events regardless of rewards just so I could see the progression of characters I had fond memories of interacting with, but the past few years I've become apathetic for most of them.

I realize that there are difficulties in implementing a feature like this, especially ones where the cities get seasonal makeovers or there are cooperative activities, but I think it can be managed. I realize that this is a bizarre comparison, but I often think of Granblue Fantasy, a mobile RPG, when I think of the ideal quest system. Not only can every story and side quest be repeated, but old story/seasonal events often get rerun before their follow-up events go live. For older events, they make them into "Side Stories" which vastly simplify the event, strip away any multiplayer components, and make everything into single player instances. I think that FFXIV is more than capable of doing this, given the prevalence of instanced single player content already, and I would love to see such a system put in place. Does anyone agree?

[Soupa]

I feel like it might cheapen it for people that were actually there. Kinda part of the fun.

[WellFooled]

I feel like it might cheapen it for people that were actually there. Kinda part of the fun.

I would normally agree with this. I'm a big fan of limited time events living up to their name, but Square already sells limited event items for real money on the Mog Station (Must....resist....urge to write multi-paragraph rant against the mog station...) and frequently revisits past events. Since they're already cheapening it for those that were actually there, I say they might as well at least turn those old events into longer lasting content.

Either that or actually make limited time events and items limited time.

[SigmaOZ]

I agree that old events should be brought back at least once every two years because even if you can buy most of the prizes in the MogStation you still can't buy the "titles" given in some past events and there is no way to obtain them for new players that didn't exist at the time!...


SE will disagree because they would lose money in sales but then they could unlock the titles when buying unique event prizes, even then it wouldn't be as nice as clearing them for the first time!...

[Shougun]

I believe them being able to sell these event items encourages them to make them have more things than otherwise, so I think that's a nice concept (I could be hoodwinked though lol).

I strongly feel that you should be able to buy the event from the mogshop though (as a whole bundle), such that you get the achievement and all related items to that event too (perhaps even the quest line, if possible, complete able at your leisure).

I'd argue that perhaps every other year on cycle they unlock the shop (and quests, if possible) for those who've earned the achievement previously (meaning also those who bought it from the mogshop). So you can buy those fireworks, dinner platters, and what have yous that are normally unique to the event again after a year skip (but still encourage SE to put more money into it as they will probably still get whale money out of it).

[DevonEllwood]

I would be happy just to be able to see them in the inn room, because apparently a lot of seasonal events can't be viewed there. There's also several I missed (including one of the Little Lady's day events) that I would like to see. I don't need the achievement, items or title, and I know I can just watch them on youtube, but I'd rather have the scene I can interact with myself. If they can find a way to have the complete events every season to be able to be replayed, I'd like that too.

[Kallistra]

I'd love to do events from early 2.0. I was there for the first Halloween event but for whatever reason I skipped the Christmas and New Year's events and I really regret it.

I also think that the items from previous events should be available for purchase from a vendor for gil or event currency. They did this once with the Moonfire Faire, where they released new Yukatas but also had the Yukatas (and I think some swimsuits) from the previous year(s) from a vendor for gil. I think this is how they should have done it in the first place. Allow us to obtain the previous rewards when the seasonal event rolls around while still having the items on the Mog Station for those who don't want to wait a whole year for the event to come back around again.

[MistakeNot]

I feel like it might cheapen it for people that were actually there. Kinda part of the fun.

No, it wouldn't. Not being able to do the event again adds no fun for those who already did it, it just sucks for those who weren't there.

[Iscah]

I would also love to be able to revisit the earlier seasonal event stories. Having been here for around a year, most of the seasonal events have seemed rather trite and empty, while also giving me the feeling that I'm missing out on critical backstory for these recurring characters - and perhaps that's why they seem so completely uninteresting.

The best one for me was the Hatchingtide 'bonus stories' and seeing all those little interactions between characters from the main game. They were delightful, and it's sad that nobody will ever be able to see them in future.

Digging around on Garland Tools for quest scripts, I've also seen that there were other stories like these in previous quests. Fun little character pieces that build on characters' relationships or give more flavour to 'random townsfolk' that don't do much in the course of the main game.



I figure there are two major obstacles to implementing the past quests:


1. How to integrate them into the current setup. Can they just be made available again from the original NPC? Add a note saying it is the quest from year X?

Also I know there's at least one major character who would be.... jarring to re-encounter in a seasonal quest at this point.


2. Items. The key issue, given that they are currently sold on Mog Station and presumably they don't want to lose that.

At first thought, it could be a simple matter of letting you do the quests, but stripping out the rewards.

However, some of the quests give you the gear early, then require you to wear it for the second part of the quest. (eg. last year's All Saints' Wake where you got the werewolf costume, then had to dress up and try to scare the townsfolk.) Can they easily remove these requirements? Would they want to if they could, or would it seem 'artistically wrong' or something to give a lesser version of the quest?

They certainly can't expect you to purchase the costumes from Mog Station to complete the quests!

(Well, technically they could, but that would be a seriously bad PR move.)

[Penthea]

I feel like it might cheapen it for people that were actually there. Kinda part of the fun.

No my experience isn't cheapened by others being able to enjoy it at a later date. Exclusivity has never been something to enhance the quality of anything for me.