Thread: BLU MAGE...PATCH 5.1...HMMMMMM?

Originally Posted by Auryan

You're trying to have your cake and eat it too. You stated flat-out that BLU "performed badly" and used an unverified census to prop up your dislike of the content. Now you're trying to create deniability by saying you were only "suggesting"? Okay, sure.

Apparently, I had to spell out specifically because despite originally citing it as the "unofficial census," which should imply it's not a 100% objective analysis. You accused me of claiming it was.

Originally Posted by Auryan

YI wasn't actually comparing the number of people still doing Savage come 4.5 with BLU. I was comparing the rates of completion for Savage from 4.4 all the way to 4.5 with BLU. That Savage/Ultimate had a small number of people doing it, and even less completing it in the span of months. That's okay though, since it's 'niche'. While side activity like BLU isn't 'niche' and thus has to be <this level of> popular to justify its existence, for some reason? But okay, I'll concede in saying that Savage/Ultimate have a distinct purpose for a subset of the player base. Though I wasn't suggesting that Savage will ever appeal to a majority of players. I don't think any content, besides the MSQ and maybe GS actually reaches a majority of player participation. Because like you said, XIV is a casual, theme park MMO that offers something for everyone. And not everyone will take try out or like every attraction.

Yes? The part you seemingly keep missing is the scope of players they're trying to reach. I certainly don't think it's a stretch they intended for Blue Mage to be for a significantly larger audience when they dedicated a whole segment of the Fanfest Live Letter to both it and the Limited Job concept. They even slotted right after the Data Center split, which they knew wouldn't go over well. Now I'm merely speculating here but I suspect that was done intentionally with the hope it would quell the fires. They were booed. At Fanfest. Not loudly but audibly enough you could hear on stream. I know plenty of people who attended NA Fanfest that verified the reception was not kind. As for your mention of Savage and Ultimate, you outright claimed they were attempting to appeal towards a general audience. That typically refers to your average player. Even if it may not be the majority, it still implies they intended for Savage to be attempted by the average player when that hasn't ever been the case.

Originally Posted by Auryan

Then why not do a more appropriate comparison of content. Let's say...DoL/DoH vs. BLU. It's been two months after ShB's release. What do you think the numbers are for the adoption and completion rate (to lvl 80) of the gatherers? Are these numbers what we can be considered "successful"? And are these numbers comparable to BLU's completion from mid Jan to mid March?

You're comparing battle content and collection against crafting and gathering. Not only do they have very different appeals, the targeted demographic is going to be different. In fact, only now have they even dedicated much attention to either activity. It should also be noted upgrading items you can craft necessitates significantly less resources than designing whole new battle systems. Not to mention, crafting as a whole will always pepper off following the initial rush because gil has so little value in this game, and the gear they can make becomes outdated. Now with the Restoration of Ishgard forthcoming, you could maybe compare the two in terms of resources spent at the very least. We'll see how that pans out when 5.1 launches.

That being said, given how little interest Blue Mage seemed to attract, I suspect crafting did better. It certainly saw more longevity.

Originally Posted by Auryan

And you're Pagos' statement, while you summed it up correctly, it doesn't actually mean what you think it means. The appeal for Pagos isn't the same for Savage/Ultimate. Where Savage appealed to the elites' desire for difficult encounters, Pagos was an appeal to the elites' tolerance and like for grinding; a throwback to old MMO's like XI. I mean, I did Pagos with few issues, completed Hydatos and BA, yet never set foot in Ultimate. I'm not that kind of "elite", I guess.

That was their design and their wording, not mine. Anyone would tell you it was a flawed perspective and rather foolish comment from the onset. Once they put the relic in Eureka, it was never going to be "elite" in any sense of the word since the relic has always been a general attraction.