Quote Originally Posted by Shurrikhan View Post
Nearly all content in this game is time-gated content unless one ignores any and all rewards. Raids, Trials, Dungeons, challenge logs, PvP, side-content, etc., is all in some way time-gated. While not all players will care about the cappable rewards, most do consider reward systems as at least a nod to the intended direction of the game, if not a blatant pointer.
By time gated, do you mean the release schedule of content or how much of the content (or how often) you can do to receive its reward. I was under the impression the latter was being discussed, so trials and PVP are not time gated in that way.

Your comment about there always being a most efficient means likewise seems a bit disingenuous. Is it most efficient by .3%? By 3%? By 30%? The difference in perceived obligation between those is huge. 0.3% isn't noticed, period. 3% is noticeable under constraint. 30% is noticeable even to the most casual pursuit of a goal. The question isn't whether a most efficient means should exist, but rather whether it should be so much more efficient that it's apparent and significant to everyone. No one's railing at the fact that a meta may exist, for instance, but merely that it may effectively forces out everything else for what seems too large a portion of the player base. As the differences in performance increase, so does the operant conditioning. Our relative freedom then diminishes proportionately.
I would consider the difference in efficiency as not being significant enough to warrant complaint, especially when you can do all of it or mix and match what content you do.

Again, the reason I posed the question about roulettes, and how much systems should condition their players towards particular choices in the duration and locations of their playtime, is that as the game is increasingly streamlined, efficiency increasingly takes priority over engagement. We see this in the developers' designs and that does trickle down into player and community perceptions as to the shape and therefore intent of the game. (They then make requests for efficiency over engagement in ways that are easier for the devs to meet than requests for engagement over efficiency, and the feedback loop spirals on.)

I like that they exist. I just feel that given their current efficiency bonuses, they take too large a part in the game. Or, if you want to look from the surrounding content inward, I feel that too many other systems have seen their rewards stagnate as to be made increasingly less a part of the seemingly intended experience, which then narrows the game -- excessively, in this case.

I feel that excessive narrowing of the game harms the experience. While some structure is certainly a boon, and in catching up there are some parts that must be dispensed with to focus on a more core shared experience between players, when the shape of any game centers seemingly on efficiency or just the tools to accomplish something, it makes the means seem that much less important. Sure, players can go against the grain and ignore the signs and try their best to perceive things purely on their own criteria, but most experience games largely through their shape and apparent intent.

Now, is that all centered on Roulettes giving X bonus tomes? No. But I think we need to be less eager to ignore the fine details in favor of stark changes alone. Most losses veteran players will have noted to their experience over the years, especially if playing more than a single or few jobs, can better be attributed to the dozens of cuts of indirect changes than any one direct change.
Please explain the part in bold. By stagnated rewards, do you mean there are too many contents giving the same reward? If so, how does that make them less a part of the intended experience because I would think the opposite is true as then you can choose what you want to do and it would still be a valid choice.

On the other hand, it's true that if every content gives the same reward, you can favor the content that is more efficient, but again that is your choice. If every content gives the same reward, you can still make the choice to do the content that you prefer and sacrifice some efficiency while still working toward the same reward.