A player thinks, frankly, too much about improving PvP

[Sauteed]

Is there something in particular you can point to in PvP that is not engaging for you? Your feedback about rewards was worth discussion, but this last bit in particular is just bashing PvP for the sake of bashing PvP and wouldn't give them anything to work towards beyond 'not this'. The design space of things which are not what FFXIV is currently doing for PvP is just far too wide open to actually do anything with feedback that is 'this sucks, I don't wanna play it', so I hope you can give us a better idea of things that make the PvP less fun for you from a gameplay standpoint!

A few things, first of all, most of the "pvp" modes in this game are capture the flag. With the exclusion of The Feast, i feel like this complete dodges what I think of as pvp. A few games I've played in the past genuinely ensure you are fighting other players, not annoy them while they stand there and grab a blinky sparkly node of some sort. Sure most "modern pvp" games are like this, but I really don't play any of those either, for similar if not exactly the same reason. It's not pvp, it is annoying.

Additionally, the every one is just level 30. All stats are identical, everything is "too balanced" but not even really balanced at all aspect annoys me. This has been a huge issue for most of the people I've talked with but I won't go as far as to say "everybody" or "most" because I really don't know how most or "everybdoy" feels about it. I know it annoys me. Outside of the pvp aspects, there is really no impact on any other system of the game except gaining levels, and nothing I do outside of the pvp aspect has anything to do with anything IN pvp but, everything I do with pvp levels up my combat classes outside of the pvp world for some reason. I kind of feel that's a cheap way to draw someone's interest to it that has no real desire to play pvp in and of itself.

To double back on to one of your previous points about potd, I really just enjoy that. It's nice also that I get experience for it. If it gave NO experience, I'll admit I'd be less inclined to just go do that. I have not used the titles associated with POTD, and dont' do it to sell items either. I do it because sometimes I get the itch to go do it, I'm not sure it's the random floors, or changing music or random challenges and hurdles it throws at you at the start of each level, but it is a charming game play mode, and a nice alternative to queue'ing up for a roulette sometimes. I don't recall ever getting tomestones or other items like wolfmarks for ever doing potd, but I have many times over chosen to do Potd in place of leveling roulettes or other things for experience points.

PVP on the other hand is often littered with people who just queue up and go auto run into a wall or enemy base and is usually coupled with teams purposefully throwing a match to ensure some other group get a victory. To further add to this kind of jambled mess of "features" now you can only join pvp as a freelancer and can't choose to be only your Grand Company. The "lore" behind pvp or reasoning behind it is bizarre to me. I know the "Eorzean Alliance" doesn't want to go to war with each other but they want what the pvp areas give, like some kind of tomestones etc, so nothing done in those battle zones will ever be somethign they can hold against each other, but what functions like that in real life? We could look into how proxy wars really work in war torn zones in the world and I assure you, the repercussions are there and much worse than people are led to believe. It has not teeth, there is no kind of investment in it on any level for me. It's like a good ol waste of time. It doesn't matter how ready I am to win, I'll usually queue up and see 1 person making the big calls, and about 15 other people do anything but that and die horribly and blame someone or start cutting insults the whole time. That's kind of par for the course for most pvp games i've played but it's just annoying the framework we are given. Also the removal of smaller teams being able to queue up for some early or off hours pvp hurts what is already there.

The skills being "stream lined" is helpful in some ways, but also really just a further detachment I have with pvp. Some skills do something completely different altogether than their pve equivalents. The everyone gets 3 healing potions bugged me, I could list things that annoy me about pvp but I rarely just bash something to bash it. I honestly have said much on the forums about pvp. It was part of the reason I signed up for the forums. My distaste is quite real, and in my eyes as legitimate as any other player of the game.