What would you add / change to the FATE system?

[Malmstrom]

I like doing FATEs. Probably stems from the hours upon hours of grinding I used to do in my Everquest days.

Problem is, there isn't much reason to do them once you hit that specific point. Sure, you can argue that for lots of things in the game, but let's just kind of gloss over that for now, shall we? Just pretend with me for a moment that there is something that we can add that would add enough motive to do FATEs regularly.

So, on that note, what would you add or change to the FATE system that would make FATEs something you would consider doing during the day?

The rules are:
1) Nothing absurdly broken
2) Skip "Shared FATE for everything else!" That would be nice to have, but doesn't really add to the base system.
3) Something that makes it worth doing, but not so much so that it makes everything else NOT worth doing.

Basically, keep it realistic.

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I would like to see current level tomestones added to FATEs. A small enough amount to say... rival the amount you gain from Beast Tribe quests in time spent for tomes earned. 1/3/5 based on completion reward, maybe.

(Yes, I have suggested this in another thread I have made before, but I wanted to open it up to ideas instead of just throwing mine out there and everyone debating that one thing.)

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Rewards that cost an absolute metric crap-ton gemstones or some currency equivalent. Say, remove the cap and have something that costs like 25,000+ gemstones. Something that would definitely take a looooooot of grinding to get. Like, obscene grinding. Vanity items for the most part, but something that clearly says "Wow, that guy needs a hobby." Make it cost enough / take long enough to get, and you could add a couple of things per patch that would keep people from ever really running out of things to grind for.

So again, what would YOU add or change?

[Floortank]

Raise the level sync level on achievement boss FATEs no one does anymore so people can low man them.

[Payadopa]

Give them actual mechanics other than AoEs. They are just boring and brain dead.

[Shurrikhan]

Oof. That'd depend a lot on what is permitted.

For instance, if no holds were barred and it was just the 'open world repeatable content' niche I needed to hold onto, I'd probably scrap almost everything to do with FATEs in favor of dynamic forces moving around the maps.

Sticking to something more reasonable, though, and skipping the obvious like "Better scaling!", "Being able to receive whatever rewards you've earned thus far on a FATE even if you've gone into an instance or to another zone by the time it completes!", or "Rewards reasonable enough to still bother doing them after unlocking each zone's full rewards!", it mostly comes down to (1) minor gameplay and thematic components, (2) more interFATE interactions or series, and perhaps (3) higher difficulty tier of FATEs.

Though I can provide examples of the first two if needed, only the last needs much explanation:

Imagine an extension of "Better scaling" to the point of scaling encounters specifically for item level and the number of players in each role while also taking into account party damage dealt on a similar step in an earlier FATE in the given series, and rewards increasing the higher (i.e. harder) you scale it. If you have 3 tanks, 3 healers, and 2 DPS, for whatever reason, DPS checks will be softer, but you can damn well assume every one of those tanks and healers will be needed and will be under considerable pressure. The fight might start off with a horde of adds and two mini-bosses each with buff auras that must therefore be tanked away from the rest, with another mini-boss or add wave spawning after just enough time by which it'd be expected that you all (according to your DPS from the previous FATE) could finish everything off when accounting for movement, gathering, and swap times. By the end of the fight, each of these interactions (the manner of healing, tanking, and DPS-check responsibilities) should be swapped out, but the pressure should always remain, even if, say, 'separate tanking' ultimately becomes 'swapping in for incredibly frequent tankbusters' against a single, final boss, etc...

:: Not that this is ever anything but a false ultimatum, but if I somehow had to choose between getting people to play FATEs through making FATEs themselves more interesting or just upping their rewards, I'd go for the prior every time. Sadly, apart from the option of a single Duty Action, FATEs are limited to, well, the same toolkits as any other form of combat, which at this point don't allow for all that many interactions (especially compared to, say, a HW or SB-era Ninja or early ARR-era Bard, etc).

[AnimaAnimus]

I would love more variety and to have the make an actual impact on the world. I think doing something more interesting than 1: kill boss, 2: kill lots of mobs, 3: collect 20 items and 4: escort this dude over there (also the WORST) would actually make ppl want to do them more often. Then add an element of changing the world with keeps being overran or trade routes being blocked, etc, would just add much needed flavor to an otherwise very stale overworld.

Then we have rewards, as it stands right now the rewards are not worth it in all zones outside the ShB zones, and then they go and give us better rewards but waaaaay overdo it in the new areas to unlock everything. The amount you need to unlock the vendors should be half, at least, of what they are, esp for content that is otherwise repetitive and boring. Even with the rewards the grind is not worth it for a lot of people I would guess, seeming as how few you see doing fates.

They wanted to move away from leves, which were basically the FATES of version 1 and instead they created an even more bland, grindy and unrewarding system. Then they really kicked us in the face with them by using them for nearly everything, holiday events, special events, relic grinds, etc. Which just makes ppl more resistant to them

[Brightamethyst]

Give them actual mechanics other than AoEs. They are just boring and brain dead.

Like what, exactly? There are only so many mechanics you can add to drop in content designed for varying numbers of people. Can't add group mechanics because what if you're solo, can't add tank mechanics because what if you're a healer, etc. Dodging AoEs on the other hand applies to everyone equally no matter the job or how many people are there.

I would love more variety and to have the make an actual impact on the world. I think doing something more interesting than 1: kill boss, 2: kill lots of mobs, 3: collect 20 items and 4: escort this dude over there (also the WORST) would actually make ppl want to do them more often. Then add an element of changing the world with keeps being overran or trade routes being blocked, etc, would just add much needed flavor to an otherwise very stale overworld.

ARR actually has some of that. A few of the bigger FATE chains have vendors that show up if you complete them all. IIRC there are a few minions you get that way. That still has the same issue though of only needing to do it once and then ignore it forever.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

Remove the map circle, jingle when you enter it, and pop up on screen. Then people will run across them randomly and think they are neat instead of hating on them "because reasons"

[AnimaAnimus]

Give them actual mechanics other than AoEs. They are just boring and brain dead.

to be fair, most the mechanics in the game consist of dodging, the rest consist of dps checks, so they cant really do that much combat wise, without completely changing how combat works.

[Amnmaat]

I'd just like a progress system for fates, after completing a certain amount they summon a world boss or 2 with rare glams or rare mounts or rare high level weapons.
Progression systems are meaningful systems, doing fates without a feeling of progress is what hinders a lot of XIV's systems.

It's why the Shared Fates/Gems merchants system was good while it lasted, you were making progress towards something. The problem with this Shared Fates system is that the rewards were too easy to get to after you got rank 3 on all areas. A more long-term system like the progression system I talked about makes these rewards a bit more exclusive. Use the same Ishgard restoration system for Fates, that's basically where I'm getting at. Add a long bar to every area of Shadowbringers/or whatever expansion which requires 5000 Fates to spawn rare bosses in these areas

A similar system should also be added to levequests and other world systems, progression systems for everything. It's working for Ishgard Restoration, it should work for the open world as well.

[Vespar]

Here's what I would add:
Random gear & food item rewards that mesh with the level of the fate. If its a level 30 fate, give it possible lvl 30 gear drops.
The gear or food, etc doesnt have to drop EVERY TIME, but it should have a decent potential of dropping. (kind of how the old lvl 1-50 leves sometimes gave a gear reward)

I'd also love to see them add the "riding maps" as a completion reward for completing a certain amount of Fates in a zone so that folks have other options beyond Hunts/Carnivale to get those.

What I would remove:
Not much, I would just rescale the lesser BOSS FATES so that they can be done by 1-3 players if there's not enough people around. Some of the lesser boss fights are impossible to do with 1-2 people and often they never get done anymore because of it, I'm referring to: The Eyes Have It, Svara, etc.
I'm not referring to Odin/Behemoth, etc. But those could also use a revamp in scale just not to the same degree so as not to cheapen them.