2019 Patch 4.5 Release Schedule FEEDBACK

[CrimzunAeoun]

Please stop releasing content such as; "limited jobs", Eureka, and any other content on a weekly basis.

If players want to do MSQ they should be allowed to do that at their own pace.

If players want to do limited Job content they should be allowed to do that whenever they wish as well from the release of the patch.

We do not want content to be staggered by release.

I as a player feel very offended when I have to wait an additional week to play new content, because the development team decided without inquiring from player feed back whether we want the content to be staggered.

The ONLY time staggered release content is acceptable is on the release of a new expansion so that players do not have to rush through the story to get to end game content.

Please consider for future patches and expansions these desires of the players.

Additionally, due to the Subscription nature of this game, often time my subscription may run out 1 or 2 days after a patch is released.

I should not have to decide as a player to renew my subscription to try out new content that should be released on the same day as the rest of the patch.

This constraint causes me to unsubscribe from Final Fantasy XIV online because I feel as a player that the development team and producer are trying to "milk" every dollar from me, rather than develop quality content, and release it in a timely manner.

Because of this my trust in this development team and producer is weaker because I do not feel that they care about the players and our feedback

[Derio]

I prefer it this way than having to rush and do everything on day 1 to keep up with everyone.

[Vahlnir]

Some staggering is needed to prolong the content a bit. Such is the nature of MMOs. I do wish they would release more at the start of a patch though, don't get me wrong. It's just how they do things and have been doing so for years. If you want to see some intense content staggering, look at WoW recently. You will appreciate how they patch this game a bit more.

[DevonEllwood]

Oh no. One week. Just consider blue mage having it's own little patch that's a week from the other one.

[DrWho2010]

sometime stuff is staggered because they want to not overwhelm the player base - other times it is staggered because things are not completely finished yet. rabid content eater much? they have a vision as to how they want the players to enjoy the content. not see it gobbled up in one sitting with a giant mess left behind

[Bourne_Endeavor]

I prefer it this way than having to rush and do everything on day 1 to keep up with everyone.

Why do you need to keep up with everyone though? If I elect to finish Blue Mage week one while you're working on the MSQ, how does that impact you?

sometime stuff is staggered because they want to not overwhelm the player base - other times it is staggered because things are not completely finished yet. rabid content eater much? they have a vision as to how they want the players to enjoy the content. not see it gobbled up in one sitting with a giant mess left behind

Yes, because having the playerbase wait six weeks (4.3) for content is totes a better solution. This whole notion of overwhelming the playerbase is laughably absurd. Let's call it what it actually is: a blatant attempt to keep people subbed when they don't have a lot of content.

[kikix12]

Why do you need to keep up with everyone though? If I elect to finish Blue Mage week one while you're working on the MSQ, how does that impact you?

If for no other reason then to prevent being spoiled on stuff. Some people actually care about being spoiled, while many people won't keep their spoilers to themselves. Seeing as there is no real drawback to doing it...yeah.

If they didn't reveal this content earlier you wouldn't complain. If they'd reveal Blue Mage right after 4.50 saying that it will be released a week later you'd be praising them for releasing new content so often. It's all a matter of perception.

Yes, because having the playerbase wait six weeks (4.3) for content is totes a better solution.

Clearly you have not considered the actual implications. You're just looking at the single instance, in a void, and making claims based on incorrect information.

Let's say that we have several pieces of content released over half a year, as such:
1) Main story worth 3h in 1st month, January.
2) Raid worth 3h in 2nd month.
3) Primal (+Extreme) worth a total of 2h in 3rd month.
4) Main story worth 3h in 4th month.
5) Some new content worth 4h in 5th month.
6) Two dungeons worth a total of 2h in sixth month, June.

That gives a total of 17h worth of content. Do note that the numbers here are NOT relevant, so don't bother responding with "What kinda dungeon can take 1h to finish" and such. That's not the point.

With that "staggered" release, the wait time between each content is below one month (one month minus few hours of the content being done). The least is 669h in February, the most is 742h in March. That's a total of 4327h of wait time within the six months (for the July content).

Now, we'll have a batch release of everything. What happens?!
You end up having 17 hours of playtime. Then you have to wait...4327h until July release.

The amount of wait or play time does not change. Practically speaking, you get the same amount of stuff worth the same amount of time spent. You also have to wait for the same length of time between the release in January and the release in July. However, having to wait ~710h between new content releases several times is, for typical human, far less of a problem than waiting for 4327h.

If you care about money (don't want to be subscribed) and all you care about is the new content, there is zero reason for you to be subscribed between January and July. Just stop playing before then and resubscribe at end of June, rush through the content that's fully released then...yeah...Unsubscribe again waiting for the next several months worth of content. The difference between that and you getting a batch content "up front"?!...Everyone else will have already done that content by the time you start playing it. A slightly more "advanced" version of a batch "up front" release where many people would have finished most of the content before you start doing it, because they would have chosen a different order than you.

If all you're complaining about is the additional wait time...then you simply never bothered to do the math, because there's literally zero additional wait time.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

If for no other reason then to prevent being spoiled on stuff. Some people actually care about being spoiled, while many people won't keep their spoilers to themselves. Seeing as there is no real drawback to doing it...yeah.

If they didn't reveal this content earlier you wouldn't complain. If they'd reveal Blue Mage right after 4.50 saying that it will be released a week later you'd be praising them for releasing new content so often. It's all a matter of perception.

If you're that concerned with the possibility of being spoiled, then do the MSQ first. Even with their staggered release schedule of late, the MSQ always comes first. If they fronted loaded everything else, people more invested in the story could simply elect to do that first.

That being said, unless you go out of your way to find spoilers. They're generally easy enough to avoid. I still haven't done 4.4 yet frequent both here and reddit yet haven't been spoiled on the MSQ.

If all you're complaining about is the additional wait time...then you simply never bothered to do the math, because there's literally zero additional wait time.

It has nothing to do with the wait time. I simply dislike bit sized content releases. When newer things come out, I want to jump into it yet because of these staggered releases by the time I'm hyped up... there's nothing left. I am far from the only one who dislikes this change either as it has been a frequent complaint—even being brought up in one of their Q&A if I recall. There was zero reason to delay HoH six weeks like they did. It makes each patch feel increasingly more hollow, and in my opinion at least, really puts an emphasises on how stale their formulaic structure has become. This is especially true for the .5 patches, which used to be much larger. Now we have a bunch of little patches instead of a main patch and an additional one.

What it boils down to is trying to keep people subbed longer. I get it from a business perspective. It doesn't mean I like or agree with it.

[kikix12]

If you're that concerned with the possibility of being spoiled, then do the MSQ first. Even with their staggered release schedule of late, the MSQ always comes first.

First, I don't care about spoilers. In fact I often check whether this or that character dies in a movie or a game before trying it, and if they do, I tend to not touch it. Not because I was spoiled but because most deaths in media are shoehorned for easy drama and I just don't enjoy that. Final Fantasy VII was the cause of this habit being made, in fact.

That being said, I realize that I'm not the center of the world and that there are people that do care about being spoiled. But if me or others aren't actually hurt by it...why not give some leeway to those that care?!


Also, there's a MAJOR issue with what you said. Everything except PvP is a story. You can spoil the raid, you can spoil the Blue Mage story, you can spoil the Trials, you can spoil the side quests etc. If EVERYTHING can be spoiled, you're basically gambling on what to pick, hoping that people will focus on spoiling that piece of content instead of the rest.

That being said, unless you go out of your way to find spoilers. They're generally easy enough to avoid. I still haven't done 4.4 yet frequent both here and reddit yet haven't been spoiled on the MSQ.

Again, the problem is that it's not always the case. People can be spoiled individually in game. Especially really social people...You know, the ones that many others claim MMO's to be for. There are many people that in discussion after doing something they find exciting will just spill the beans.

It has nothing to do with the wait time. I simply dislike bit sized content releases. When newer things come out, I want to jump into it yet because of these staggered releases by the time I'm hyped up... there's nothing left.

Sorry, but here I can only suggest not hyping yourself up. As I said, it's a matter of presentation. If they never revealed all that extra content until it was next in line, you would never "hype yourself up". In that manner I agree that they are choosing a rather irksome marketing plan. Stuff shouldn't be revealed until it's next in line. Not third or fourth in line. Expansions, being the large chunks of paid content they are can be exceptions to it...but individual patches should not.

I am far from the only one who dislikes this change either as it has been a frequent complaint—even being brought up in one of their Q&A if I recall.

Many people complaining about it are the sort that want to burn through the content and then unsubscribe, but are too impatient to do so "at the end" rather than the "beginning". Others are like the original poster, they see a shiny and they want it now. They wouldn't see a difference if they never saw that shiny in the first place.

What it boils down to is trying to keep people subbed longer. I get it from a business perspective. It doesn't mean I like or agree with it.

Of course. The problem I have is with incorrect arguments though. Your post is literally the first in this thread that I can think of that gave an actually valid argument that is not just a matter of psychological conditioning that is always present (regardless of how they would be released). The argument about the bite-sized patches ending up just as the hype is building up. But hey, that too is known as a cliffhanger and is actually used throughout all fiction with more than one release per story.

All other arguments up till now were boiling down to either impatience or the humans natural habit of wanting the shiny stuff they see in front of them.


Some people don't like staggering releases?! Sure, I'm not telling you to like them. But they should at least be upfront with it and say that they're too impatient and they want everything that's revealed at once, not try to argue that the staggering release plan itself is some sort of problem, bad or whatever.

'Tonnes of people'

Tons is correct.

[Esp]

I don't see much of a problem with them staggering content currently. It's fine to not gobble up all content on day one, and it's also going to be passed the holiday season. People have lots to do and FFXIV isn't the only thing out there, even if it's on a subscription fee.

This will give people time to play/do other things no matter if I can finish everything or not. It's not always a bad thing to stagger content.

Not to mention....it's a week, it's not that long. If necessary, hold back on renewing your subscription until the week after the patch. There is really no reason to rush.