Trends in content types and faux difficulty

[Zizzefex]

I agree loot/content that gives that loot should be skill based.... not luck based or time based. When you beat something... you should get a guaranteed drop (by drop I mean a token... not a actual item... so you need 10/20/30/whatever tokens for a item of your choice)... and perhaps a random shot at a item. Nothing is worse than beating something hard and getting nothing.

Garuda was a step in the right direction. It was hard, and you are guaranteed a token. This is how every boss (and it's loot) should be. Ifrit/Moogle should give 1 token a kill... guaranteed. Every AV/CC run should give 1 Darklight Ore/token at the end... which you can turn 50 or whatever in for a Darklight piece of your choice. With Garuda I hope it is a sign they are moving away from easy crap with low drop rates to hard awesome with a guaranteed drop.

The only thing wrong with hamlet defense is the reward.... it does not give Company Seals. You should be guaranteed a certain amount of seals depending on your score (and the supply rating).... especially if you are running the hamlet of your faction. They just came out with hamlet defense... after chocobo escort... yet I am running Totorak/Darkhold for seals.... why? I mean really. Hamlet Defense should give Totorak equivalent seals/hour if not better. Militia items should be buyable with seals... and those rare 'seal' things you need for the AF weapons should be a guaranteed drop if you raise the Supply rating to level 5.

I am absolutely dead set against any time lockouts. Implementing time lockouts (1 day/2 day/1 week/whatever) is a absolute no and a artificial way to stall someone's progress... it is no better than luck based lockouts (the way stuff is now).

Sure some people will blow through the game and have everything... that always happens. Most people don't though... and they want to see progress when they log in for a hour or 2 or 5.

Edit: I guess what I'm saying is I see Garuda is a big big step forward.... and Hamlet defense as a small step back (which can be fixed if they just gave Company Seals as a reward).

[TerahValeth]

And Kupo, I really do enjoy the game, I never got PLed, I work for everything I have in the game, but with the way the drop rate is designed (not my fault), unless you spam the content, you either need to be really lucky, or you won't get anything for months. Either way, this model isn't good for casual players, and it isn't good for skillful players, it caters to exploiters and people who for whatever reason, enjoy spamming the content for 6+ hours a day. Since I don't have time to do that, and since the skill and devotion I put into being the best at my class that I can be isn't going to pay off, I guess I get to spam in the hopes that I win that "lottery drop". I really want to enjoy the journey, but if the scenery isn't going to change, that leaves little to look froward to.

[Nullie]

It seems we have finally come to a crossroads, and I agree with you. It seems we never really disagreed in the first place. And as for future content, it does make sense. But what if the content doesn't come out like most are predicting? Will people get mad at devs when they come out with content that makes all current primal gear useless? For example, a boss that is impervious to Wind. Those that took the time to get the gear yes. I would. Which is why I wait... When it is obvious that I need the gear, I'll make the time to get it. That's just the way I play. =D

If content doesn't show or come out that is not the players fault. That is solely on the Devs and the longer they wait to release new stuff the longer time they'll have people who may quit the game. And players can only drag out content so long even if they go slow and take their time. The whole game in itself is content regardless of what you're doing so even if I'm spamming av or fishing or crafting I'm spamming the same thing over and over.

[Isaaru]

which is fine in theory- but in practice when it takes a hardcore player 500-600 runs to get a piece of darklight that a casual player gets in 20... there's a problem. basing everything on luck is just a slap in the face to anyone who puts in more than enough effort, but simply doesn't get lucky.

Basically the summary of the thread.

EDIT: Also note that the random number generators are not actually random. SE is using a poorly made one and it's not just in dungeons. Going 1/19 on a double meld for something that is a 24% chance success is absurd.

[Griss]

And the real kick in the pants about all of this is. The untold hours spent chasing after darklight or what ever new shiny carrot they put in front of you is going to be all for naught come the next patch. As the bigger better stronger gear mentality continues on.

When ever I see some one with a full set of dark light i don't think oh wow cool! I think that person is ether mind numbingly lucky or has spend more time then I even want to begin thinking about getting it. That's why i have mostly checked out of the Gear grind in this game. I log in do some stuff have some fun and move on. At this point all i care about is getting the clear for the stuff they put in to hell with the rest.

[Genz]

2-3 hour waits for a 10 minute fight? No thanks.

No, I've suggested to keep the right to repeat a content quickly, but to add a limit to the maximum number of times we can repeat the same content in a row, with a tags system (like guildleves)
The number of maximum tags for each content would be calculated based on a time frame of 2-3h, which would allow to repeat a donjon 2-3 times, and a primal fight 7-8 times in a row. I suggest 2-3h because I think it's near the average time we play each day and near the average time a party lasts.
I think it's important to be able to repeat a content because it allows to actually concentrate on the said content, and not on details. But if what we have know is a reason for the developpers to use low drop rate, then I'm all for a limitation on repeating content in exchange of higher drop rate, but not a heavy and strict limitation.

Sorry if that wasn't clear.

[Isaaru]

And the real kick in the pants about all of this is. The untold hours spent chasing after darklight or what ever new shiny carrot they put in front of you is going to be all for naught come the next patch. As the bigger better stronger gear mentality continues on.

When ever I see some one with a full set of dark light i don't think oh wow cool! I think that person is ether mind numbingly lucky or has spend more time then I even want to begin thinking about getting it. That's why i have mostly checked out of the Gear grind in this game. I log in do some stuff have some fun and move on. At this point all i care about is getting the clear for the stuff they put in to hell with the rest.

Because Darklight was totally made useless after this last patch.

[Cer]

And the real kick in the pants about all of this is. The untold hours spent chasing after darklight or what ever new shiny carrot they put in front of you is going to be all for naught come the next patch. As the bigger better stronger gear mentality continues on.

When ever I see some one with a full set of dark light i don't think oh wow cool! I think that person is ether mind numbingly lucky or has spend more time then I even want to begin thinking about getting it. That's why i have mostly checked out of the Gear grind in this game. I log in do some stuff have some fun and move on. At this point all i care about is getting the clear for the stuff they put in to hell with the rest.

^ This guy has it right. My sentiments exactly. We should be best friends. I see the Darklight on my hardcore LS mates that did the run eleventy billion times (and still a lot don't have it) and then I think, that would be cool to have that. 3rd run in I'm like... oh... right, this blows.

I think i'm put off also by the fact that there is a chance that no matter how many times I do it, I may not ever get the item.

Also, Isaaru, do you really believe Darklight is the be all end all gear? Come on... its like saying Solid Scale Mail is still the best stuff. It won't last that long. Although the gear is pretty cool and I hope it at least has a place.

[Lux_Rayna]

And so we should punish players that don't abuse exploits and/or class stacking since it will likely take them longer to complete the content the first time, cause once they finally do, the boss at the end of the dungeon isn't Miser's Mistress, it's the RNG, and there is NO strategy for beating him. My ls (the one Sol is in) was first on our server to clear Aurum Vale, we never stacked MNKs, our first 5 chest speedrun was with PLD WAR MNK DRG BRD WHM WHM BLM (every job is represented at least once). But when we complete content as it was intended 400+ times (w/ 300+ speedruns), the content goes stale really fast, I enjoyed the dungeon the first 200 times, but after that I felt betrayed. I personally don't have a SINGLE piece of DL (and I showed up for 99% of our runs - it was not out of lack of attendance), our ls hasn't seen a SINGLE body drop, not once. So yes, we want content that rewards skill rather than luck, that doesn't need to be beaten to death to see results. With that system in place, who can blame people for wanting to take the easy way out.

I really dont consider it a punishment because I don't punish myself into running something hundreds of times. You know what I did to get my Ifrit weapons? Did Ifrit about 2-5 times a day, depending on how fun the party was. Within 3 days (so 15 runs max) I had the 2 weapons I wanted, an ifrit weapon i didnt want, and a handful of totems. Luck? Absolutely. Was it fun? Absolutely. Punishing? Absolutely not. The fault lies with players approaching luck-based systems the wrong way. By wrong I, of course, mean the most punishing, masochistic, and ineffective way possible. Trust me when I say, you *never* want to prove low odds true. Ever. And low odds will prove true the more attempts you make over a given amount of time. If you spread em out, you might be able to beat the odds with much less pain. If you run it a few times and get nothin, just stop for the day. It may sound superstitious but trust me when i say its not worth it. In any game of odds, luck can be very streaky. Don't ask me why, but its true. If you're on a hot streak, you can't miss. If you're on a bad streak, you will fail no matter how many times you try. This happens in real life and in rng. Why it happens no one will ever know. Is there a lady luck? Who the hell knows. All I know is you have to set limits on things or you will kill yourself.

I do believe that there needs to be variety though. Like I said before, the whole luck thing isnt for everyone. It requires a lot of patience, discipline, and of course luck. Its mental torture for some folks so there needs to be guaranteed reward based content as well. For whatever reason SE hasn't gotten around to it, probably due to having trouble balancing content difficulty. I'm all for other options though, but the luck thing is only punishing if ppl do it wrong. As it stands, just about everyone does it wrong except for the few who understand how to do it right.

[Volsung]

as long as they get rid of speed runs haha. I'm saying this as someone that has the achievements already, just because theyre doable =/= enjoyable