One dungeon per patch!?

[MOZZYSTAR]

I'm not sure how to feel about the one dungeon per patch thing. On one hand, it means more content elsewhere. On the other hand, I don't think SE should have to sacrifice something in order to make something else. This is a giant company that makes bank even when it has major losses now and then. But after reading around, it seems like they mostly hire contractors with very few full-timers, so... That's my gues as to why we're even seeing sacrifices like this.

On a selfish note, I don't think this Ultimate content will be content I'll personally invest my time in like I do with roulettes. Expert roulettes are already a struggle because there are so few dungeons in them to diversify them. So, adding only one per patch instead of two will exacerbate that "problem," I think. I'm hoping they'll keep all level 80 dungeons as expert during this phase, that way we have... like... some dungeons to actually roulette on.

I'm a big fan of 24-man alliances especially, but I also like 4-man content. I like the "dungeon" feel as opposed to an "arena" feel for PvE if that makes sense? So, I doubt Ultimates will be up my alley. Meanwhile, my amigo is way into arena/trialesque content, so he'll probably be all over this. Speaks to some, not to others. Though, even so, he's concerned about expert roulette, too.

[ForteNightshade]

I'm not sure how to feel about the one dungeon per patch thing. On one hand, it means more content elsewhere. On the other hand, I don't think SE should have to sacrifice something in order to make something else. This is a giant company that makes bank even when it has major losses now and then. But after reading around, it seems like they mostly hire contractors with very few full-timers, so... That's my gues as to why we're even seeing sacrifices like this.

To be fair, hiring battle designers is not an easy task. MMOs aren't a popular market nor is console/PC gaming nearly as prominent in Japan as it is the west. Most developers with the skill set Yoshida wants go into the mobile game industry because it practically prints money. And it isn't as though they can hire outside Japan since they'd require someone who is fluent in Japanese. FFXIV's team is actually among the largest for any MMO on the market; surpassing even WoW. They just have decidedly few battle designers. In fact, the person who designed Chocobo racing was trained to eventually become a battle designer.

Now SE could probably throw huge amounts of money to attract the right people. But what incentive do they have when FFXIV has not only ran smoothly for years but has gained new players consistency ever since it's re-launch?