A thread to gush about the Trust system

[Omedon]

I need to do this in a space where it will be appreciated or at least understood.

The Trust system is, and I realize this is a high bar and that’s acknowledged, the greatest system in any MMORPG of remotely the same design, that isn’t tied to personal character expression.

It’s better than automated group assembly, it’s better than deterministic currency gearing, it’s better than WoW’s “personal loot.” I love all of those systems, but trusts are the pinnacle of approachability and enjoyment as it relates to storytelling, gearing and learning to play within instanced content.

The Scions of the Seventh Dawn are the only companions I need to enjoy FFXIV. I of course reserve the right to join an actual FC if I find myself entering a long stint in the game (at the time of this writing my sub runs out in 5 days, and I’ll largely be playing WoW for a few months), but knowing the Scions have my back, and will be waiting when I return, assures that that return is inevitable. I find myself complimenting them out loud for their performance and thanking them for guiding me through fights on a regular basis. I promise I’m not crazy, or some lonely shut-in with no friends, I just love these characters like I love the cast of any Final Fantasy game, and this one is designed to be played for longer, so of course I’m attached!

Trusts are my condition to return to FFXIV, and the only reason I tolerate their absence in WoW is because WoW’s approachable casual open world game is top tier. I don’t do instances in WoW as enjoyably as I do in FFXIV with the Scions.

That’s all I want to say right now, thank you for reading! You folks are so lucky to have trusts, I hope you appreciate them!

[Goji1639]

Agreed; I honestly hated having to run story dungeons with a bunch of randoms for everything before SHB. It didn't fit the narrative at all, especially with most of the primal fights, and all the rushrush made the pacing of the story feel really disjointed. The dungeons are supposed to be these big set-piece moments in the story, but instead you're basically forced to rush through them as fast as possible, with people in chicken costumes who have nothing to do with the story.

Trusts made SHB 100x better and I think they should be implemented in more than just the main story.

[Bacent]

but instead you're basically forced to rush through them as fast as possible, with people in chicken costumes who have nothing to do with the story.

Gods, I feel so called out right now.

[Krissey]

Hard agree. I love the trust system and believe it’s everything I thought Blizzard was trying to do with Garrisons and Garrison followers, the whole going on mission with them and getting loot thing. Sending them into “dungeons” by themselves and waiting 8 hours was… not my expectation. I adore the trust system as well as the Grand Company squadron system. Would that we could mix and match. I love the characters of the Scions of the 7th Dawn, however on the other hand I hate to leave behind my hand picked GC Squadron mates who I’ve also run content with. It would be too much work I imagine to fuse the systems and have them go from 1-80 but what we have I love immensely.

[Conundrum]

Another agree. I play MMOs to get away from people (as counterintuitive as that may sound), and Trusts and to a much lesser extent Squadrons facilitate that. I honestly wish they would extend Trusts to all MSQ related content.

[LaylaTsarra]

I like trusts I use them all the time for story dungeon clears on my main and many alts. Have them fully leveled on my main and one alt in particular.

[Theodric]

I'd rather have more opportunities to team up with other players rather than less. I already have ample opportunity to 'go at it solo style' in the form of...numerous single player games.

I think it's a real shame that MMO's have become far less social experiences over time.

[ZedxKayn]

I think it's a real shame that MMO's have become far less social experiences over time.

I agree. XIV is in kind of a tough spot in being a FF MMO and needs to cater to both single player RPG players and MMO players.
But personally I prefer how ESO dealt with that...

[Misplaced_Marbles]

I think it's a real shame that MMO's have become far less social experiences over time.

Best and only good solution in MMOs? Options. If people prefer not to deal with other people they should have the ability to choose so. They just need to expand trust to all story dungeons. Obviously this should also work in the way that you should be able to choose how many bots you want with you so you can play with your friends if you want.

If giving people options makes it so nobody "teams up" anymore, it was just a facade from the beginning. What i'm saying is that they never were any more or less social. People who want to socialize, socialize. People who don't want to, won't. Simple as that. It's just not done out of necessity to progress anymore.

[Vidu]

I'd rather have more opportunities to team up with other players rather than less. I already have ample opportunity to 'go at it solo style' in the form of...numerous single player games.

I think it's a real shame that MMO's have become far less social experiences over time.

Never liked it never used it, it made the dungeons more lax and made them fewer cuz all dungeons from now on just be tied to our party members. It makes no sense to have solo opportunities for a mmo in most cases but in dungeons it skews away ques. But people always forget you can use party finder, your FC pals your friend lists, or just shout. These things eliminate the opportunity for socializing and if you don’t play MMOs for multiplayer your in the wrong genre

MMOs should not discourage party play. At least Trusts are way slower than normal parties but it's a worrying trend. There is over a dozen FFs out there who can be enjoyed solo.

I never really understood the sentiment thats displayed in these quotes - this dislike for solo opportunities really puzzles me.
I get that a lot of people might play MMOs primarly for the social aspect - and I do enjoy said social aspect myself (at least most of the time). But no one forces you to use the Trust-system or engage in any of the other solo-content, you can still play this game with the social aspect.
I'd argue that you've lost nothing from the implemantation of the Trust-system - but just to get some arguments out of the way:

1) "There are less people in the queue now, because they're using the Trust system now!" - The people who are using thge Trust-system might not have used the dungeon queue in the first place, either because they partied up with friends (and why do you care wether or not someone whos got nothing to do with you socialises with their friends?) or because they didnt pick up the game in the first place. In the later case we should all be very happy, because the game attracts more players now! Its not all that bad to cater to more than one audience and seeing how the FF-franchise is mostly singelplayer-games it doesnt seem like a bad idea to allow those people who enjoy an FF(story/game) but dont want to play with other people to enjoy this game aswell.
Besides... so far the queues havent died and I doubt they will - since I believe that we're not taking that many people out of the queue and mostly people who wouldnt have been in the queue in the first place.

2) "We got less dungeons because of Trusts!" - true, the Trust-system might have played a roll in that, but wasnt the sole reason why (that being them experimenting with other content like Bozja). In the end I can say that for me, personally, its not a big deal to get less dungeons - back in ARR they were pretty much the only thing to do, today there are enough alternatives that I find more enjoyable for capping tomes and things like that.

3) "Dungeon mechanics got worse because the Trust-AI has to handle them!" - I cant say that I've noticed the dungeons declining in quality, rather the opposite.

So, yeah... for me this boils down to finding this attitude of "if you dont want a social experience stay away from this game where I seek a social experience!". Me not wanting to play with you doesnt hurt you, not even following your own logic of "If they dont want to play with others, they shouldnt play at all" - in neither scenario do we end up in a dungeon together.
I'm wondering if MMOs have become less of a social experience because they dont have to be anymore, because they're alternatives now... if the social experience was forced upon a lot of people in past MMOs, a hinderance rather than something to enjoy... Why would you want to play with people who dont really want to play with others, but are forced to do so?
Maybe MMOs have become less of a social experience because thats what a lot of people want. And I'm sorry for all of you who are here because they seek that social experience - but do you really want to achieve that by forcing other people into that?