Is pvp dead? Can it come back?

[Lenko]

I've played on and off and always had nothing but a bad time whenever I tried pvp in ffxiv.

Is there anything being done for this? Are there any plans to make pvp competitive or playable at all?

[ItMe]

Lol didn't they just have a big PVP overhaul with, like, 5.0 where they almost doubled the number of abilities you have and added new maps?
It's been what I've needed to finally enjoy PVP, sorry to hear it hasn't made it better for you.

[snipski]

I wouldnt say they doubled your abilites they mostly added AOE abillties that are pretty bad unless your doing large scale PVP like Frontlines.

What i have learned from years of PVPing in this game PVP is an aftertought and the PVP devs dont seem to listen well to the playerbase.

They keep making dumb decisions for PVP specially around balancing jobs.

Why do we have to wait for a patch to fix something super broken like healing down stacking wich is a thing in the current PVP it's an easy thing to fix by a hotfix or something like that.

As a rule Jobs should be balanced around Feast wich is the arena based PVP in this game not around Frontlines.
They somewhat managed to balance jobs in the end of Stormblood the FRC event but then they made a complete overhaul once Shadowbringers hit and right now PVP is a complete mess thanks to it.

Also there is just not enough reason to PVP in the game you can get everthing you want from Wolf Marks in a week of doing PVP.
They keep adding special rewards for Feast to keep players doing it, even then it just dies out after a month or so when ppl find out whats meta and not and when Q ends up dying because none play.
You can do so much more other things outside PVP in the game so why even bother, you might have some players who only PVP and dont even do other things in the game but they are a super rare.

[Barachim]

I was never a big fan of PvP and the last time I actually "enjoyed" playing it, was when we had access to our full skill list. The last time I played it, was to unlock the "Metal Gear Revengeance" gear. Haven't bothered with it since.

[Esmoire]

PvP has a reasonably-sized audience compared to other side activities, like for example serious crafters, or Gold Saucer monsters (like me), or people who do ultimates, etc. Frontline queues are <5 minutes in the evening which is pretty good. To call that dead is hyperbolic, and eager to over-simplify the situation either wilfully or out of ignorance.

I think there are fundamental improvements that can be made, and I think we need to change the offerings to have more smaller scale activities (since FL asking for 72 players to queue at once is a bit much and not sustainable past peak hours), but I wouldn't say it's dead. Just not really using a design that does a good job of serving its audience as well as it can. Maybe get an 8v8 mode going, do a daily challenge for RW or have it share one with FL and switch based on the number of people in queue. Have some rotating maps for Feast. Bring back map rotation for FL (which they are doing in a few weeks).

All in all the audience is there and the foundation is there. The limited resources the developer gives to PvP just needs to shift a bit.

[Divinemights]

They just need to revert back to 24 men

[Esmoire]

They just need to revert back to 24 men

If you mean 8v8v8, hard pass, at least the way they did it before. I really hated the experience of having these huge maps that clumsily scaled objectives, if scaled at all. Shatter was a disaster especially.

When they had 8v8v8, I didn't want to try queueing too early or too late so I could avoid getting put into that experience, and I was certainly not alone (or people leaving when they zone in). Plus the nature of psychology is that it's easier in 8v8v8 for people to see which team is weaker or stronger, resulting in more people just ceasing to try more readily than 24v24v24. As such, while I can see why some people feel getting put into an 8v8v8 is better than nothing, I think overall it was more detrimental than it is helpful.

The general idea of shifting PvP players into an activity that requires fewer players is good, though. Maybe if they could make like micro versions of the maps with objective changes that work better so we aren't wailing away at chunks of ice forever. Figure if it's just using existing assets they could throw together something. Won't fix all of the problems but it would have been better than what they had.

[Gula]

If you mean 8v8v8, hard pass, at least the way they did it before. I really hated the experience of having these huge maps that clumsily scaled objectives, if scaled at all. Shatter was a disaster especially.

I think it could work with a smaller map. Scale it down, 8v8+open outpost. This way there's additional points to be had and an incentive to, you know, actually PVP instead of waiting in line like you're getting your ID picture taken.

[Divinemights]

If you mean 8v8v8, hard pass, at least the way they did it before. I really hated the experience of having these huge maps that clumsily scaled objectives, if scaled at all. Shatter was a disaster especially.

It may be the case for you if you are Zerg type of player that must have a healer to follow you around. Not for me, that type of a PvP just plain straight mind numbing clown feasr. (again, this is my perspective of view). I am pretty sure everyone here had countless games at Onsal where a bunch of people just following group mindlessly.

You may enjoy those But not me, I prefer 24 men that requires you to have tactical thinking and human resource management skill. 72 men restriction is not going to work for NA/EU PvP community because we don’t have that size.

[Esmoire]

It may be the case for you if you are Zerg type of player that must have a healer to follow you around. Not for me, that type of a PvP just plain straight mind numbing clown feasr. (again, this is my perspective of view). I am pretty sure everyone here had countless games at Onsal where a bunch of people just following group mindlessly.

You may enjoy those But not me, I prefer 24 men that requires you to have tactical thinking and human resource management skill. 72 men restriction is not going to work for NA/EU PvP community because we don’t have that size.

Yeah but what is the identity of Frontline? I don't think it's fair to manufacture and produce that kind of experience from something that says you are queueing for Frontline, you are hoping to get into Frontline, then the gameplay experience is radically different when you zone in. That's not Frontline anymore. Like, it feels like the fundamental shift in 8v8v8 is way out of bounds with the way any kind of duty you queue for in FFXIV can change. Sounds like a reason to craft a small scale experience more conducive to organized strategic PvP that isn't Feast, to stand on its own. I totally respect that some people don't dig the chaotic nature of FL but I think the mode should embrace its volatile experience and when people queue for it, that's what they should get.