I hope Square doesn't keep deeming certain content unnecessary

[Shurrikhan]

I'm open to different variations, but the manual spawning and non-competitive (maybe even cooperative) nature (IIRC) of guildleve are the features I want.

Here's one spitball variation, though I guess it'd be a little more like to a Behest...

There are various little rifts throughout any zone (level of pre-information TBD). Upon reaching them, or after a small process of assembling related clues in the area, you can lift your clear Guildleve glass (those stain-glass plates, though this one normally without an image) and it fills with a particular, stylized image (in old 1.x fashion alike to an exceedingly large Tarot deck), and some hints as to what would be required of you. If you then focus your Echo and peer through the glass, you are transported to a particular time in that place, and enter automatically into a short quest in an instanced space. Anyone in your party and in the zone can choose to join and be transported there automatically. No overall timer -- only that of very particular events that thematically need it -- and you can mostly exit and reenter as you please, including to do DF activities.

:: When completed, you and your party can exit the Echo through an interactable rift, to the position of that rift in the "uninstanced" world, or exit via the UI to return to their previous positions from which they entered.

Alternatively, Guildleves as... Bounties, of sorts. No timer or the like, as not to punish queuing or swapping over to FATEs. Instead, you simply have additional Key Items by which to spawn particular enemies, and certain gatherables and nodes are uniquely visible to you.

There could be more of such links, but independent FATEs would still have to exist. Sometimes, you just want to do something without feeling like you've just started on a chain that you may not have time to complete.

We could say the same for anything. "Sometimes you just want to gain a level without feeling like you've started on a leveling progression you may not have time to complete." Etc., etc.

Chains don't give outright compounding experience. They're just related FATEs that sometimes unlock a FATE that's meant to be more challenging and thus more rewarding.

My point was just I feel the world shouldn't just be... stagnant... outside of FATEs. Rather, the FATEs themselves should just be proof of the zone's motion, calling attention to any of its many strands when they give opportunity for bigger spectacles or larger-scale combat.

[linayar]

Chains don't give outright compounding experience. They're just related FATEs that sometimes unlock a FATE that's meant to be more challenging and thus more rewarding.

And I'm not against that, but sometimes I just want to get to the most rewarding and challenging FATE without having to do previous FATEs (or worse, wait for others to do them and just join at the end).

The point here is that I just feel like the world shouldn't be stagnant outside of FATEs. Rather, the FATEs themselves should just be proof of the zone's motion, calling attention to any of its many strands when they give opportunity for bigger spectacles or larger-scale combat.

I don't mind more of that, just not all.

[lezard21]

All that "cut content" was repurposed elsewhere though. The devs have a vision they want to realize as well. They can't possibly acquiesce to every whim and want that the player desires.

Covid also really reduced what they could do. Even now Yoshi-p says they're still not back at full working capacity like in the past. (I think the latest stat he threw around was like 90%).

Deep dungeon in 5.x was cut because just pumping out another version wasn't what they were looking to do. Instead the leveling method got put into Bozja. We also got 3 new large scale instances as well associated with this (CLL, DR, Dalriada).

Hildy was put on the backburner for 5.x because they also felt it was getting stale. They have said he will be back for 6.x though, so don't worry there. He just needed a rest.

Sure it's disappointing that there is not going to be an Allied Beast Tribe quest this time, but *shrug* it is what it is. It just wasn't a priority this time around. As well the three beast tribes this time don't really.... mesh well together? Plus the usual catboi villain guy doesn't exist on the First either. It was a stretch that he was there for the Stormblood one.

The resources were obviously redistributed to new ideas, like Delubrum Reginae, Delubrum Reginae Savage, Memoria Misera, a second BA-like thing (Dalriada), critical engagements (which each involve the same amount of design work as dungeon bosses), the Firmament, ocean fishing, crafter and gatherer overhauls and QoL.

To be honest, this is pretty much the reason why we have less content. Square enix factually made less content, with comparison charts to prove it, while making more money than ever, but Square forum warriors will contort themselves into a human pretzel trying to justify it.

To the list of cut stuff people mentioned we then also have 2 new races very half assedly introduced, genderlocked and unable to use hairstyles and hats.

And from what's been shown so far, 6.0 is shaping to go down the same path or even worse, with no limited job announced, and the release of only 1 of the gender locks.

[kaynide]

Unfortunate reality of old systems in MMOs is to just get left in the past. I mean, if serious dev time was spent on a system that is already obsolete and rarely used, would it suddenly start finding use in the community? Maybe…, or would people scream about wasted dev time and “why didn’t they just make a new DD??”?

Sometimes it’s better to just cut it off and start fresh/try something else. If the team has extra time for a kind of TLC update, great! I’d love to see some overhaul here and there…and maybe a removal of needlessly complicated things…but until they have that kinda budget/dev team, I’d rather they keep doin what they’re doin.

In response to why we have less total content.. I dunno.. I mean if they just made a new deep dungeon, it would be significantly easier to copy paste code than to make the entire Bozja system. So while there might be less end product for us to physically do, the code and man-hours put in are probably similar, and moreover the code put into place allows future systems based on the new code to be easier to do.

[ZedxKayn]

Unfortunate reality of old systems in MMOs is to just get left in the past. I mean, if serious dev time was spent on a system that is already obsolete and rarely used, would it suddenly start finding use in the community? Maybe…, or would people scream about wasted dev time and “why didn’t they just make a new DD??”?

Sometimes it’s better to just cut it off and start fresh/try something else. If the team has extra time for a kind of TLC update, great! I’d love to see some overhaul here and there…and maybe a removal of needlessly complicated things…but until they have that kinda budget/dev team, I’d rather they keep doin what they’re doin.

Arguably, old systems are obsolete and rarely used because the devs don't do anything with them after release, they could release them flawed and leave them to rot, or have a great release that becomes dated as they don't get new things, but leave these to rot instead of improving and refreshing them.

[Shurrikhan]

Arguably, old systems are obsolete and rarely used because the devs don't do anything with them after release, they could release them flawed and leave them to rot, or have a great release that becomes dated as they don't get new things, but leave these to rot instead of improving and refreshing them.

^

Step 1: Half-ass implementations for a given system.
Step 2: Stop iterating on the system.
Step 3: "Well, you wouldn't want us to waste time on something no one plays, would you?"
Step 4: Receive praise for "pragmatism" and/or "making the hard decisions."

[kaynide]

Arguably, old systems are obsolete and rarely used because the devs don't do anything with them after release, they could release them flawed and leave them to rot, or have a great release that becomes dated as they don't get new things, but leave these to rot instead of improving and refreshing them.

I haven’t done any of the guildhests or guildleves outside of those specifically required by the main story (achievement? Or to just check it off to say I did them once?), and I’ve been here since more or less day 1. They were dead content on arrival for me. The hall of the novice effectively has effectively replaced the guildhest system entirely and perhaps should be rolled together to teach mechanics.

I mean, good or bad, SE doesn’t bash their head on a wall trying to make something bad work for too long. They did a little with Diadem, but mostly if it isn’t so popular they move on and try something else. Some cases I think that’s a good call, others like Blu I think should get a little more refinement time.

[Jennah]

And for the right-thinking people who refuse to touch Bozja with a 10-yalm pole, there really IS dramatically less content...

[DrWho2010]

To be honest, this is pretty much the reason why we have less content. Square enix factually made less content, with comparison charts to prove it, while making more money than ever, but Square forum warriors will contort themselves into a human pretzel trying to justify it.

To the list of cut stuff people mentioned we then also have 2 new races very half assedly introduced, genderlocked and unable to use hairstyles and hats.

And from what's been shown so far, 6.0 is shaping to go down the same path or even worse, with no limited job announced, and the release of only 1 of the gender locks.

yes just because they get more money than ever means they have the time and manpower to get everything that every player wants done. smh. you cannot just throw money at a problem and it magically goes away.

and if you're sooooo disappointed in what direction the game is taking... well there's always the cancel sub/cancel account button. byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

[DrWho2010]

And for the right-thinking people who refuse to touch Bozja with a 10-yalm pole, there really IS dramatically less content...

that's on them then. not the devs. the game can't be everything to everyone. it will never happen.