Why IS the savage lockout system the way it is?

[ArchlordPie]

I can't speak for SQEX, but as a former game dev I can absolutely tell you why I would implement the lockout this way. (Even if, as a player, I find the lockout mechanics annoying.)

Players in general will try to optimize content, and FFXIV players in particular will do this to an extreme degree.

Let's say the lockout was only a personal lockout: when you clear for the week, you can't roll on loot after that point, but it doesn't affect the group. So you could have seven people who've already cleared for the week, and the eighth would still get to roll on two chests. (In fact, since the other seven already cleared for the week, that eighth just gets everything in both chests.)

Now what you have is a scenario where a static could have each have two characters: one 'real' one, one 'throwaway' alt.

The party groups up with seven 'throwaway' alts and one player's real alt. They clear the first fight of the tier... and the seven throwaway alts pass, while the 'real' alt takes all the loot. Now the real alt logs out, that player swaps to their throwaway, and another player switches off their throwaway to their real alt. Party clears the first fight again -- the throwaways all pass (six of them have to anyway, since they cleared once), and the 'real' alt takes all the loot. That person logs out and swaps back to their throwaway, another swaps to their real alt, the group clears the first fight of the tier...

In essence, a determined group could have farmed nearly all their savage gear within a week or two that way. And if you think people wouldn't do that... you would be surprised. :|

Moreover, you could now have folks be like "we'll sell you a clear and all the loot" because it doesn't matter how many times they've cleared that week; the person they're selling the run to can still get both chests. (Not that people don't sell loot via clear now, mind you -- lord knows we see those advertisements in PF periodically as it is -- but at least they can only do it once a week under the current system.)

This guy gets it.

As much as it sucks, the current system is incredibly effective at deterring split raids and paid carries and that sort of thing. The last thing the high-end community needs is to have to roll a second character, MSQ it, level it, gear it, and start clearing fights 8 times a week in order to be "optimal".

[Packetdancer]

As much as it sucks, the current system is incredibly effective at deterring split raids and paid carries and that sort of thing. The last thing the high-end community needs is to have to roll a second character, MSQ it, level it, gear it, and start clearing fights 8 times a week in order to be "optimal".

*vibrates as she tries to keep from screaming internally*

That said, if I could change any one thing about this lockout system, I would make it so that the chest limitation does not kick in until two people in the party have cleared that week. It would still avoid the gear-cheesing, but it would get rid of the massive headache when you need to find a sub for a static member on a given raid night; I feel like that would do away with like... 70% of my personal annoyance with the lockout system as currently implemented.

(The remaining 30% of my annoyance with the system, I recognize there's no way to eliminate my annoyance without also introducing the very "cheese the gear grind" scenario I mentioned before.)