How to make the game better for new players?

[HyoMinPark]

I disagree. It is gear that makes old content imbalanced. Look at the Crystal Tower raids. Or Void Ark. Or even old dungeons synced down, with players still having an edge just because of their gear. That being said, they should have tweaked the boss HP levels or something to reflect that growth, but they did not. If anything, our characters are way too strong in some instances and could use some nerfing in the form of a lower synced item level. The Ivalice and Nier raids are much more balanced in this regard, though that doesn't completely stop players from steamrolling through Rabanastre. I'm guessing all of this is at least a small factor in their reasoning to perform their future stat squish.

I think it’s both gear and rotations that lead to older content being trivialized (outside of general nerfs). Just look at some jobs in synced content versus others. A good example is level 70 NIN versus level 70 SAM. So much of SAM’s core rotation is now post-70 that it is actually one of the weakest jobs in UCoB. NIN, on the other hand, is laughably overpowered in there. You can also throw DNC or RDM in level 50 content and they are stupidly overpowered compared to other level 50 jobs. Especially those that had a lot pruned throughout the years.

So there is the gear aspect, but there’s also the design of each job at each capstone.

I think it's intentional. They want the older raids to become easier so that people do them in roulettes. Even orbonne is MUCH, MUCH EASIER today than it was when it first came out due to gear. If it wasn't they could just lower the syncing cap to keep people closer to gear levels from when they were relevant, but they don't.

The nier raids too will succumb to this in 6.0 when people are level 90 and ilvl 600 or w/e.

It’s more that Orbonne is the only 24-man they put automatic Echo in (lol) and they also nerfed Thundergod Cid. So it’s less so gear and more that, in my opinion. Orbonne was never hard. It just required more than autopilot from a player.

That's been the problem with the system from the start. They actually have a button bloat issue at end-game that really pushes the limit on what people can rote memorize with some jobs, so it turns into how do you get enough to make the job interesting without breaking it. Melee DPS is absolutely the worst due to also having to manage positionals and it really shows in savage with all the deaths they keep accumulating to boss mechanics.

Being in discord it feels like back seat driving with the melee to make sure they get call outs and don't die to things.

If you are a melee DPS and have to rely on mechanical callouts to not die, that is entirely a you problem and not at all an issue with a particular job or its buttons. Plenty of melee DPS hit positionals just fine and do mechanics without dying. If you can’t do both, then you need to practice more.

As for the button bloat, there’s arguably only a couple jobs that suffer from “button bloat”. Most jobs can fit all their skills comfortably on two cross hotbars (if you’re a controller user). Other jobs like the physical ranged have empty space due to the sheer lack of skills they have. Just look at DNC.

[Vahlnir]

I think it’s both gear and rotations that lead to older content being trivialized (outside of general nerfs). Just look at some jobs in synced content versus others. A good example is level 70 NIN versus level 70 SAM. So much of SAM’s core rotation is now post-70 that it is actually one of the weakest jobs in UCoB. NIN, on the other hand, is laughably overpowered in there. You can also throw DNC or RDM in level 50 content and they are stupidly overpowered compared to other level 50 jobs. Especially those that had a lot pruned throughout the years.

So there is the gear aspect, but there’s also the design of each job at each capstone.

Yeah, I see both sides of that now. That's a fair assessment of the situation you've got here.

[linayar]

As for the button bloat, there’s arguably only a couple jobs that suffer from “button bloat”. Most jobs can fit all their skills comfortably on two cross hotbars (if you’re a controller user). Other jobs like the physical ranged have empty space due to the sheer lack of skills they have. Just look at DNC.

I think Dancer is one job that can fit all its skills comfortably on two cross hotbars. In fact, I wouldn't mind having one less skill so I can fit in Sprint, though I know that I can replace Duty Action II with Sprint for most contents, and I do have Peloton and En Avant. It really is almost perfect for me.

[HyoMinPark]

I think Dancer is one job that can fit all its skills comfortably on two cross hotbars. In fact, I wouldn't mind having one less skill so I can fit in Sprint, though I know that I can replace Duty Action II with Sprint for most contents, and I do have Peloton and En Avant. It really is almost perfect for me.

DNC doesn’t even take up two full crossbars. None of the physical ranged do, honestly. The only jobs that I’ve had to really finagle my layouts with are PLD and GNB.

I have Sprint macro’d to Macro #99 and have that bound to R3. So whenever I press my right analog stick, I start sprinting. I don’t experience too many issues with it clipping, so it works for me.

[linayar]

This might be a good time to post part of a PC Gamer article:

https://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantas...om-other-mmos/

Of course, that focus on story makes getting into FF14 a daunting prospect. There are hundreds of hours of narrative twists and turns spread across four (soon to be five) distinct arcs, and it'd be easy to see a post-Endwalker reset as a way to create a fresh jumping-on point for newcomers.

But Yoshida isn't concerned, saying that the decision to start anew wasn't driven by a desire to cater to new players. The feedback overwhelmingly seems to be that while new players are brought in by the latest expansion, they don't much mind starting afresh from A Realm Reborn.

"Fundamentally, Final Fantasy 14's story can be thought of a TV series that has different seasons. We are not forcing people to play all of the previous expansions—however, we do want to offer the opportunity for players to enjoy the story from the beginning, just like one would with a new show they want to watch. That’s really all there is to it."

Yoshida ended on a somewhat refreshing note for seasoned MMO players. We've all burned out on the endless content churn, and the director seems surprisingly accepting of folks who've taken an extended break. The team simply hope they can tell a story worthy of luring lapsed players back to Eorzea.

"I would love to tell those currently on a break from the game that there are even greater adventures and stories waiting and invite them to return to the game. I think the best way to accomplish this would be for us to make a game that is worthy of our players voicing their love for the game to let others know 'it was the best!'"

So, as much as I would like a reset in the new player experience for personal reasons, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Then again, it makes sense since they've opted instead to make a huge part of the beginning as part of the free trial, which doesn't actually help players like me when creating a new character, but oh well.

DNC doesn’t even take up two full crossbars. None of the physical ranged do, honestly. The only jobs that I’ve had to really finagle my layouts with are PLD and GNB.

I have Sprint macro’d to Macro #99 and have that bound to R3. So whenever I press my right analog stick, I start sprinting. I don’t experience too many issues with it clipping, so it works for me.

Yeah, it's great that it doesn't take up the whole bars so you can fit in things like teleport and mount. I don't really like using macro/hitting the stick buttons, but yes, if those work for you, it definitely saves more space. As it is, as my picture shows, Dancer fits what I would call basic necessities in those two bars, more or less.

And yeah, I was leveling Machinist for a bit and I think it may even have less buttons then Dancer, though I think Bard has a bit more.

Thats not really a problem. one of the biggest complaints about the MSQ is that much of it shouldnt be in the MSQ and should be side quests already. this has been true with every expansion and you can guarantee it'll be the same in 6.0 as well

You wouldnt have to make the MSQ longer becaue of it at all.. The only reason the msq is as big as it is in an expansion is because it aims to grant enough exp to get you to the level cap..

making sections of it optional. would allow players that want the EXP to go and do the optional parts.. but players who don't or have already levelled ahead of the story could just say No thanks Alphinaud catch ya later.. and cut the filler out. and resume the story where it goes back to the main plot..

I think that they write out the quests based on the story they want to tell and then allocate exp rewards for those quests to roughly hit the leveling dungeons and trials and role quests and eventually get to cap based on how long the MSQ turns out to be and how much side/repeat content they want players to do outside of the MSQ.