Former WoW player: Suggested changes to FFXIV Raiding end-game

[Garnix]

yes let's make this game that isn't WoW into WoW and then everything will be solved! smh

Not what I am saying/implying.
IMO, with the player base increasing so much (and assuming people actual stay in the long term), I am hoping/expecting that the budget of the game will increase, and that they might eventually create more challenging content if there is an increasing demand for it.

[Shurrikhan]

Not what I am saying/implying.
IMO, with the player base increasing so much (and assuming people actual stay in the long term), I am hoping/expecting that the budget of the game will increase, and that they might eventually create more challenging content if there is an increasing demand for it.

But surely WoW must have exclusive hold on further difficulty levels, challenging small-group content, remotely impactful gear progression, less regularly shaped boss arenas, or dungeons not being face-roll...

[TaleraRistain]

They should definitely step-up in the amount of hard content they are releasing though. Especially with the amount of WoW refugees coming in lately, who are used to playing a raid-centric game.

Hard disagree here. I feel for the WoW players that they're finding themselves without their preferred game to play. However, this is not WoW and the solution is not to have this game become WoW. WoW players should appreciate this game for what it offers, and if it's not offering what they need, then there are other options. We all have that choice and many of us stay here because it's not like other games out there and doesn't focus on the same things.

[Garnix]

Hard disagree here. I feel for the WoW players that they're finding themselves without their preferred game to play. However, this is not WoW and the solution is not to have this game become WoW. WoW players should appreciate this game for what it offers, and if it's not offering what they need, then there are other options. We all have that choice and many of us stay here because it's not like other games out there and doesn't focus on the same things.

Again, I am not saying that it should become WoW and become all about raids.

I am a casual player myself and don't do any difficult content whatsoever.
I think that the team is doing a good job for players like me. The amount of non-endgame-raiding content is fine. And they are adding more and more and more over time.
Including that Island Sanctuary which is likely to become a big part of my time in game depending on what it actually ends up being.

However, what I am observing is that a lot of the criticisms the game is getting, especially with Shadowbringers, and even from people who have been playing the game for years, are about the lack of challenging content.
So, while I personally don't care, I think they should not cater to any specific audience. Which means there should be more casual content AND more difficult content.

[Jojoya]

Again, I am not saying that it should become WoW and become all about raids.

I am a casual player myself and don't do any difficult content whatsoever.
I think that the team is doing a good job for players like me. The amount of non-endgame-raiding content is fine. And they are adding more and more and more over time.
Including that Island Sanctuary which is likely to become a big part of my time in game depending on what it actually ends up being.

However, what I am observing is that a lot of the criticisms the game is getting, especially with Shadowbringers, and even from people who have been playing the game for years, are about the lack of challenging content.
So, while I personally don't care, I think they should not cater to any specific audience. Which means there should be more casual content AND more difficult content.

Any game has to decide on what audience it wants to cater to. It's impossible to please everyone. There's not enough time to make enough content for everyone to get something they want.

Deviate from what had been a successful formula and you end up with a WoW - a game with a player base a fraction of the size of what it had been at its peak with the numbers being masked by a reboot of the original game that's turned out to be more popular than what the game has become.

[Cebo]

Any game has to decide on what audience it wants to cater to. It's impossible to please everyone. There's not enough time to make enough content for everyone to get something they want.

Deviate from what had been a successful formula and you end up with a WoW - a game with a player base a fraction of the size of what it had been at its peak with the numbers being masked by a reboot of the original game that's turned out to be more popular than what the game has become.

This is what I don't get though. Asking for more varied dungeon designs and boss arenas doesn't seem like it's catering to hardcore raiders at all. Do casual players really enjoy every end-game dungeon resulting in the same wall-to-wall pull then boss ad nauseum?

And adding a scaling challenge mode to dungeons, where the only reward is extra tomestones, titles, or cosmetics, doesn't affect the casual playerbase. It'd solely be an optional challenge, providing more end-game content to those that want to partake in it, and NOT at the expense of casuals missing out on gear/story. If people don't care for it, that's perfectly fine. They can simply ignore it, just as I ignore crafting or mahjong cause it's not my cup of tea. Why deny the option of having challenge modes to other players?

[TaleraRistain]

Again, I am not saying that it should become WoW and become all about raids.

I am a casual player myself and don't do any difficult content whatsoever.
I think that the team is doing a good job for players like me. The amount of non-endgame-raiding content is fine. And they are adding more and more and more over time.
Including that Island Sanctuary which is likely to become a big part of my time in game depending on what it actually ends up being.

However, what I am observing is that a lot of the criticisms the game is getting, especially with Shadowbringers, and even from people who have been playing the game for years, are about the lack of challenging content.
So, while I personally don't care, I think they should not cater to any specific audience. Which means there should be more casual content AND more difficult content.

They already have Savage and Ultimate and sometimes Extremes. The challenging content is already there. But it's the typical problem of people who only focus on one aspect, chew through that, and then want more more more. They are never satisfied. This game doesn't cater to that mindset. It tries to have a balance for everyone.

[Wavaryen]

Also former wow player, and agree with others on this state. Things are fine as they are.

[Larirawiel]

I agree with the TS, especialy point 1, 2 and 4. That a reason why i can't play FF14 for a longer period of time. You know one dungeon and you know them all because the only differences between the dungeons are different colors.



I find point 3 is not a good game design offering content with different difficulty levels. It is all about cutting costs and a reason to make less new content.


Cheers

[TeraRamis]

I just feel like, as things stand, gear in FFXIV is pretty close to being worthless - especially when ultimates normalize item level. Is that a problem? Uh, I dunno - not really? There's so much about the game that doesn't really revolved around the gear (and thus, by extension, the high-end raiding scene) that even a minor change in this regard would mark a fundamental shift in the paradigm that governs FFXIV. Having said that, I do miss the feeling of just overpowering content at the end of an expansion because you've evolved into such a terrifying beast. That never really occurs in this game. Yeah, you improve your gear, and some people have the nicest items possible, but, at the end of the day, individual performance has as much (or more) to do with dodging stuff and not dying than becoming a human flamethrower.

Honestly, if I had to make one thing about FFXIV more like WoW (and, really, this is the only thing), it's the PvP. Because the PvP in this game is just terrible.