Off Topic Discussion Megathread

[SturmChurro]

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I do think Amazon is intent on ruining that game here. The censorship was unnecessary, as the people it is meant to satisfy aren't even going to play anyway, and, for that matter, would/will still be complaining over on Twitter, or making clickbait articles regardless. By the way, it is an "M" rated game, so it's even more laughable. There are a lot of other bizarre changes that I won't get into here, but it's not hard to find. It's really a shame, since all they had to do was bring over the same game with some progression and 'pay to win' changes.

Like, I've said before I actually only play FFXIV for a few months every year. I mean, I put a lot of time into it for the months I do play it, but largely throughout any given year I am doing other stuff or playing other games. There just isn't anything to do that interests me with the long content droughts or just simply content that doesn't last. I don't even really care to level my other classes. I have my main classes leveled. I cared more during ShB since I had a mount to work towards, but Endwalker, I don't really have anything I want to do. Overall, I think Endwalker was the weakest expansion launch I have been a part of. I am not even referring to the story necessarily, but the content. I want(ed) to play FFXIV more, but this is how it is. Now, I also stated I didn't want to main two mmorpgs, but if a competitor for FFXIV comes out, with a more constant release schedule, with quality content, outfits, etc. I would seriously consider just switching my "main" game over.

Buying skins doesn't mean I would be switching games or maining a different game. I buy skins in pretty much any game I like, and have wasted a lot of money in the process. I have ESO skins, GW2 skins (faces and hair too for each character), SWTOR I have a gigantic amount of cash shop items, Smite I bought skins, Warframe I have purchased things (I mostly just grind for stuff in that - which in turn burns me out), APB reloaded back when I was a kid I bought a ton of stuff, etc..

FFXIV just has a bulk of ugly outfits, and a general lack of outfits. Adding more cash shop outfits could at least encourage them to make more quality designs, to make more money. I wouldn't mind seeing just more available in general - this means hairs, etc. as well.

[Kolsykol]

I feel ya about wanting to play more, imo FFXIV kinda has the opposite issue where gearing is time-gated and you exhaust what you can get too quickly.
450 tomestones is too little imo, I don't understand why certain pieces like the chest piece for example takes two weeks too.
And I just did P1S-P4S in one sitting after reset then I only really had the tomestones left.

Granted I do want to level professions too and I do enjoy just hoping into dungeons simply playing the game is still fun to me.
But when I weigh leveling professions against playing another game the latter usually wins out.

I think FFXIV has a little the same issue a lot of Western MMO's have imo which is that they focus too much on things '' making sense '' over what's actually fun when it comes to gear.
I don't really mind it too much in dungeons and raids and I do like the raid designs.
But at the same time at least imo I don't find the more generic '' lore gear '' to be all that interesting most of the time, it's just a bit dull I prefer stuff that has more of a focus on aesthetic appeal rather than how it '' fits into the world ''.
GW2 does that really well imo, people complain about '' immersion '' but it's a MMO it turns into a fun sandbox after a while that doesn't actually matter long term, I think most people really don't care about that in MMO's long term and it holds it back.
I don't think that most people would stick around for very long if the gear was all google copy pasted historical armor, maybe some hardcore enthusiasts would but I think most people would lose interest and get bored of it.

The new expansion for GW2 actually kinda has this issue too imo, the new gear looks so dull and bleh in contrast with the overall game.
Because they went for a more '' realistic '' route and took a lot of historical inspiration, it makes some sense on some level but I think they went a bit overboard and it just kinda made it boring.
It has the same feeling as wearing a t-shirt and jeans it comes across as a tad underwhelming and bland.

I've been playing Nioh 2 recently again too, and it's the same issue I have there too.
I can only take so much Samurai armor or historical Japanese clothing.
It'd be nice with something a bit more '' fantasy '' and fun.

[SturmChurro]

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A lot of the gear definitely does take too long, considering the amount of classes there are.. It's a nightmare to gear them. Like, right now, I won't play my RDM, since I don't have the weapon, and won't have the weapon anytime soon (haven't actually played in weeks maybe.. more like two months actually). I am probably not going to even do experts on my tank, because it's insufficiently geared. I keep my main (whm) geared to (what I consider) an adequate level and that's about it. I don't do content like savage, so I can't even go beyond basic crafted (I have to buy) or tomestone gear.

Here's the thing with crafters and gatherers, I want to have them, but I also don't want to have them. The inventory management alone is still scaring me away from them. I just don't want to deal with the headache. Pretty much that simple. I know I need them, so I can craft stuff for my house, etc.. but like.. I don't know if I really want to, plus it's boring. So boring. I'd have to watch something on the side or something.

It's not that big of an issue to have outfits that are thematic to the game, the issue is actually making them creative and look good, and, frankly, I don't think SE does a very good job for the most part. The thing is though, I have seen really cool or higher quality outfits that they have made, like in PvP ranked. So I know they can do it, they just don't do it! The rare occasion we get cool stuff, the vast majority of players won't get them, and for that matter people are/were win trading to get them! It's unbelievable! Now, don't get me wrong, I also like casual outfits. I have worn them on my character, and posted them several times in various screenshot threads, but we get a severe lack of both, in my opinion. I mean, a severe lack of *quality* stuff. If this game had more *quality* collectibles and outfits to strive for and unlock I would probably play more, even with the content they release as is. We literally get slow content updates, and little to no rewards, or just not interesting rewards a lot of the time. It sucks.