[Proposal] Vanilla A-Rank Adjustments

[Kaizure]

The Problem:
In the vanilla game (A Realm Reborn), A-Ranks are level 50 and are on a ~6 hour cool down period between spawns. With Shadowbringers allowing players to reach level 80, all vanilla A-Ranks can be soloed. New players and even some veteran players will be unable to get allied seals via A-Rank hunts because there is no longer any teamwork involved in taking out these targets.


The Solution:
There are a few options I have considered, each with their own pros and cons.

Option A) Turn Vanilla Hunts into Fates (Allied Fates?)
Pro: Like other fates, this system will force players to level sync. The A-Ranks will no longer be something a player can solo.
Con: People are more interested in Shadowbringers hunts now, so getting people together for ARR Hunts could prove challenging depending on the activity for your server.

Option B) Faster Spawns w/ 1 Time Daily Reward per Hunt
Pros: Fast respawn gives everyone a fair shot at getting seals. Less reason to hate your fellow gamers.
Cons: Players under level 50 would be at a greater risk in areas where quests are involved since a lot of A-Ranks are hostile and can spawn in lowbie quest zones.

Option C) Increase the level of all Hunts to 80 across all content.
Pros: Players would need to team up to take down hunts on all continents. No hunts can be killed by solo players.
Cons: Low level players would be at an extreme disadvantage with hunts prowling around their quest areas, and without the option to quickly kill a target, low level players could potentially be forced to wait hours to complete their quests because they can't reach it and nobody wants to kill the hunt.


Additional Notes:
1) The situation / experiences people have might vary from data center to data center. Some people might be very cooperative on one center, where others might not be on another. There is no one blanket solution the players can come up with without direct involvement from the developers. While hunters might make an effort to announce hunts and gather people so all can benefit, the fact remains that lone wolves exist and people will hunt targets without uttering a word to others.
2) I don't know how long the timer actually is, but it's my understanding it typically takes about six hours for an A-Rank to spawn between deaths. Since there are always new players coming to Final Fantasy and always players who want to acquire allied seals, it seems appropriate to give them a way to acquire them without having to compete with players who are max level.
3) I didn't consider S-Ranks for this list because I don't know how many people lone wolf them. It's my understanding that S-Ranks remain something that most hunting linkshells will coordinate to tackle, even in A Realm Reborn.

[Canadane]

First of all, Vanilla isn't what you think it is. ARR is what you're talking about.

Next, if you want to kill them, go do it. They aren't exactly a hot commodity.
You seem to think there's a problem with the current situation but have yet to actually explain why.
The only thing you mentioned is you cannot get allied seals from these. But you can. Also, allied seals come from more than just ARR hunts. It's not something people will be in short supply of.

[Jojoya]

SE has expressed reluctance over making any changes to existing hunts and ti doesn't seem like any of the comments from the player community over the past couple of years has them leaning toward reconsidering that stance.

ARR Rank A elites are actually on shorter respawn timers than later expansion mobs. Their respawn timers tend to be 3 to 4 hours, 3.5 to 4.5 hours or 4 to 5 hours (with a little bit of variation). It's the HW/SB/ShB Rank A mobs that have the 4-6 hour respawn timers.

Option A has been discussed with relationship to hunts in general in the past due. SE said it was unlikely to happen because it would take significant reprogramming of hunts.

I would imagine Option B would get the same response. Also, limiting the reward to once a day wouldn't prevent players from killing them multiple times just because they can (and there are definitely some players that would do that sort of thing).

Option C is not possible because that would remove hunt content from players below level 80 and yes, there are low level players that are part of the hunt community who do join in. SE does not want them excluded.

Everyone has the option of leveling BLU to do The Masked Carnival for Allied Seals. The Riding Maps have also been getting made available through the Moogle Treasure Trove Events, and those are really the only reason to get great quantities of Allied Seals. Players still have the Weekly hunt bill for 100 Allied Seals along with S ranks if they want the occasional item like the chocobo dye fruit seeds.