[Suggestion] Can we get a “Hide All Players” option?

[novamare]

Ackshually. Unless said player buys something from the Mogstation its not helping ffxiv at all.

Their subscription doesn't count?

"Player retention" = fewer cancelled subs = $$$ for ffxiv

And the devs have made it pretty clear that they want the MSQ to be a soloable experience, and if being able to hide other players helps more folks who genuinely aren't interested in the social element of an MMO feel more comfortable trying it out, that's a fair amount of new $$$ also coming in.

I just don't see the point in yucking someone's yum when it doesn't harm you? And especially when it could be an active boon to the game.

The only argument against this is "but it's an MMO" which, yeah, so what? FFXIV will never be a solely singleplayer game, but that doesn't mean we need to shut down folks who are only interested in playing alone. This game brings so much more to the table than just its social elements, and it would be a shame to gatekeep that from solo players just because they want to play solo.

[Saraide]

Ackshually. Unless said player buys something from the Mogstation its not helping ffxiv at all.

I know I dont pay your sub but do you know who pays your sub?

[Kuritzkale]

Their subscription doesn't count?

"Player retention" = fewer cancelled subs = $$$ for ffxiv

And the devs have made it pretty clear that they want the MSQ to be a soloable experience, and if being able to hide other players helps more folks who genuinely aren't interested in the social element of an MMO feel more comfortable trying it out, that's a fair amount of new $$$ also coming in.

I just don't see the point in yucking someone's yum when it doesn't harm you? And especially when it could be an active boon to the game.

The only argument against this is "but it's an MMO" which, yeah, so what? FFXIV will never be a solely singleplayer game, but that doesn't mean we need to shut down folks who are only interested in playing alone. This game brings so much more to the table than just its social elements, and it would be a shame to gatekeep that from solo players just because they want to play solo.

With all due respect (none) I don't think "seeing other players" is what stops people from playing MMOs. It's more than likely the sub fees, or not enjoying the gameplay. I really, really don't think this weird "people would play the game but they don't because seeing other people is scawy " thing is actually something anybody experiences. Also I love the handwaving away of the "it's an MMO" argument, as if it isn't a perfectly reasonable argument for not adding the ability to just hide people from view completely in a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, and remove like, the entire point of the genre.

[Deveryn]

With all due respect (none) I don't think "seeing other players" is what stops people from playing MMOs. It's more than likely the sub fees, or not enjoying the gameplay. I really, really don't think this weird "people would play the game but they don't because seeing other people is scawy " thing is actually something anybody experiences. Also I love the handwaving away of the "it's an MMO" argument, as if it isn't a perfectly reasonable argument for not adding the ability to just hide people from view completely in a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, and remove like, the entire point of the genre.

How does it remove the point of the game? You still have to see people to do actual content. No one's asking to run trials, dungeons and the like with just themselves on the screen.

It's easy to handwave your argument because it's non-existent.

[NitrogenFixation]

With all due respect (none)

why would you even feel the need to include this except to be actively rude about a debate that really, genuinely, does not matter? This is not important. This is not important. This is totally and utterly inconsequential. Why would you talk to another human being that way about something utterly inconsequential?

Anyway. At the end of the day, all of the "BUT IT'S AN MMO" is just the online video game version of pearl clutching. It's really not that deep. It is still an MMO even if people are given more accessibility options, whether for visual accessibility, personal comfort, or their poor PC's sake. No one is trying to stop it from being an MMO and you can literally just leave and be completely unaffected by people wanting this lol. It's so silly. It is nothing that's going to alter ANY aspect of the game for ANYONE who doesn't want it.

Like, it's really not even just about people wanting to play solo. There could be any number of reasons to disable other player models from appearing for a little while, like reducing clutter while playing through story. Playing through Endwalker on launch was ridiculously crowded even with all the measures taken. Reducing the argument to "lol no one should want to play an MMO solo" is farcical and shouldn't even be deigned with a response at this point when there are 13 pages of that being completely refuted.

[Silverbane]

I'd have nothing against this feature if it was already in the game.
But I would prefer the developers spend their time creating new content instead.

And I don't think this feature is as simple as people think.

For example, have you ever been doing a quest that spawned monsters, and had someone else spawn the monsters at the same time? Should those monsters the other person spawned (which except for levequests are targetable by anyone) show up under this option? Should they be able to target (and kill) the monsters you spawn?

And if you can't see other players, can they see you?
Can they target you, and cast spells on you? Do you click-block them?

Are you allowed to participate in Fates or Hunts while hidden?
I can just imagine the griefing an invisible tank could pull if that were allowed ...

So there's a lot more going on here than just hiding other people in gpose.
And because of that, I don't want hide-all-other-players added to this MMO.

[Krotoan]

I'd have nothing against this feature if it was already in the game.
But I would prefer the developers spend their time creating new content instead.

This isn't an argument. Everyone would like the developers to work on the stuff they want instead of the stuff other people want.

And I don't think this feature is as simple as people think.

We can already toggle off effects. The game already culls rendering things beyond a certain limit (an actual problem sometimes). It's not a days work by any means.. but it's not outside capability nor would it add to networking backend since client side graphics options require no information sent to the server.

For example, have you ever been doing a quest that spawned monsters, and had someone else spawn the monsters at the same time? Should those monsters the other person spawned (which except for levequests are targetable by anyone) show up under this option? Should they be able to target (and kill) the monsters you spawn?

They.. can already? This wouldn't affect in game functionality just graphics. Personally I'd rather quest mobs like that wouldn't be able to attack others or be attacked by anyone not in your party.. but that's a separate problem.

And if you can't see other players, can they see you?
Can they target you, and cast spells on you? Do you click-block them?

This would be client side, so yes people could see you. There would be no need to affect functionality. Yes this means people could now intrude on your experience by constantly spamming spells on you but that's pretty straightforward harassment at that point and reportable.

Are you allowed to participate in Fates or Hunts while hidden?
I can just imagine the griefing an invisible tank could pull if that were allowed ...

The tank wouldn't be invisible to anyone who didn't have the option enabled, so no they would have no griefing capability beyond what they have now. The only detriment would be to the user who wouldn't be able to tell when other people were present to help or what they were doing.

So there's a lot more going on here than just hiding other people in gpose.
And because of that, I don't want hide-all-other-players added to this MMO.

There's not.

[NitrogenFixation]

For example, have you ever been doing a quest that spawned monsters, and had someone else spawn the monsters at the same time? Should those monsters the other person spawned (which except for levequests are targetable by anyone) show up under this option? Should they be able to target (and kill) the monsters you spawn?

This one is the only remotely valid concern presented thus far about the How of the implementation, but I already said earlier in the thread that the game would likely have to force disable it when engaged in combat, at least in the immediate vicinity (i.e. display character models up to a certain number or within a certain range, which is already something the game has a setting for/does on its own; if you've ever been in a massive hunt train, you'll know how hard it can be to even target mobs because the game doesn't render them until you're on top of them). All of the data required to render the models would already be present client-side (just not displayed), so it shouldn't really affect performance massively when they load in unless you're playing on an actual toaster. Certainly not in a meaningful way if it's an "a few mobs in the overworld" quest.

[Ayer2015]

When 20 players are all piled on the npc I need to talk to, hiding them all would have been nice.
That said, implementing it would really come down to how much dev resources would be required. Likely, it wouldn't be worth it.

[novamare]

With all due respect (none) I don't think "seeing other players" is what stops people from playing MMOs. It's more than likely the sub fees, or not enjoying the gameplay. I really, really don't think this weird "people would play the game but they don't because seeing other people is scawy " thing is actually something anybody experiences.

Anecdotally, yeah, it is. I have a couple of friends who love mainline final fantasy games, and I'm trying to get them to give xiv a shot (gotta get those referrals yknow lol), but they just don't jive with a massively multiplayer experience despite being very interested in playing through the story. Since the fact that by 6.5 virtually all of MSQ (some trials aside) will be solo-friendly, I don't think it's necessary to say "well, that removes the point of the game" because the point of the game for those players isn't the MMO, it's the RPG.

And to the point of the sub cost, $60 + $12/month for the couple of months that it takes a dedicated MSQ player to finish the story is a steal for the sheer amount of content available (even solo). It's well over 100 hours of just MSQ cutscenes, let alone other cutscenes (job quests, dungeons, etc.) and actual gameplay. And hey, maybe my friends would be willing to dip their toes into more massively multiplayer content once they're invested in the game, but that's why the suggestion to hide other people is a 100% optional toggle.

I also don't get the open hostility for people who want to enjoy a game differently than you do?