The Lessons Not Learned.

[Rezef]

Hasn't the relic always been inferior to tome weapon and raid weapon until the final form which is on par with raid? Am I missing something here?

[Avoidy]

I think a major problem is the gulf between normal difficulty content, and extreme/savage. Extreme difficulty is a sweet spot for many people. Harder than normal, but not the steep penalty for failure like savage. And yet, we only really get one of those EX trials every several months or whatever. Meanwhile, if you enjoy normal difficulty content, that's like 95% of the game, and if you enjoy savage+, there're 4 raids per tier and an ultimate for you to sink your teeth into. The midcore people get lost in the middle. I haven't done the new Criterion dungeons yet, so I can't say if it scratches that itch or not. A relic could tide people over who just want something to do, but the way it was implemented, you can be done with it in a single day. Maybe more if you're gearing multiple jobs, but yeah. And the dungeons you grind for tomes aren't exactly fun. The level 90 dungeons are really lackluster this time around; I don't even look forward to doing expert roulette anymore because troia's a boring dungeon with an add boss, and the other one is just old at this point.

Basically if you're the type of person who's bored by normal difficulty stuff but either can't get 8 people together for savage or you just aren't interested in the prog process of wiping for potentially weeks because of other people, you get 1 EX trial roughly every time a new tier comes out and that is it. And people sorta stop running it after the first week because of how the content rollouts work. For example, when Barb EX came out, a week later the new savage came out so everyone I knew stopped caring about barb EX and the PF quality plummeted. I might be off-base here but I think the game's making a mistake by not appealing to this middle of the road group. Maybe criterion dungeons will scratch that itch. idk. People have been asking for harder dungeons for years, but the way the devs phrased its implementation, it sounded like they wanted to just make even more shit for the savage raiding crowd, since it's tuned for savage bis. I genuinely wonder if there's even a place for mid-tier difficulty stuff in this game anymore.

[Amarande]

Basically if you're the type of person who's bored by normal difficulty stuff but either can't get 8 people together for savage or you just aren't interested in the prog process of wiping for potentially weeks because of other people, you get 1 EX trial roughly every time a new tier comes out and that is it. And people sorta stop running it after the first week because of how the content rollouts work. For example, when Barb EX came out, a week later the new savage came out so everyone I knew stopped caring about barb EX and the PF quality plummeted. I might be off-base here but I think the game's making a mistake by not appealing to this middle of the road group. Maybe criterion dungeons will scratch that itch. idk. People have been asking for harder dungeons for years, but the way the devs phrased its implementation, it sounded like they wanted to just make even more shit for the savage raiding crowd, since it's tuned for savage bis. I genuinely wonder if there's even a place for mid-tier difficulty stuff in this game anymore.

Lately, I frequently feel like social media is strangling the middle of the road, the ordinary gamer (who are likely like myself, older, decently skilled but definitely had our gaming prime years ago) - specifically, the community's massive over-reliance on Discord.

I'm not against the idea of hopping in voice for content that benefits from it, I'd be fine with having to install Ventrilo or TeamSpeak like old times, but Discord specifically is problematic - specifically the way their Trust and Safety enforcement works, which more or less makes it impossible to run a publicly visible community unless you have an incredible amount of free time. As a result, middle of the road working adults are shut out from having much of a voice; the public face of XIV's community disproportionately slants to the hardcore crowd and SE likely is influenced by what they see.

We need a new platform. Even going back to TS/Vent/IRC would likely be better than the warping effect Discord (a fitting name) has. I'm not sure how to go about persuading people to stop doubling down on Disc, though

[hagare]

Lately, I frequently feel like social media is strangling the middle of the road, the ordinary gamer (who are likely like myself, older, decently skilled but definitely had our gaming prime years ago) - specifically, the community's massive over-reliance on Discord.

I'm not against the idea of hopping in voice for content that benefits from it, I'd be fine with having to install Ventrilo or TeamSpeak like old times, but Discord specifically is problematic - specifically the way their Trust and Safety enforcement works, which more or less makes it impossible to run a publicly visible community unless you have an incredible amount of free time. As a result, middle of the road working adults are shut out from having much of a voice; the public face of XIV's community disproportionately slants to the hardcore crowd and SE likely is influenced by what they see.

We need a new platform. Even going back to TS/Vent/IRC would likely be better than the warping effect Discord (a fitting name) has. I'm not sure how to go about persuading people to stop doubling down on Disc, though

you should try playing in JP DC.
With a strat approved by the community and macros for positioning. No voice chat is necessary.

[Tiramu]

I think a major problem is the gulf between normal difficulty content, and extreme/savage. Extreme difficulty is a sweet spot for many people. Harder than normal, but not the steep penalty for failure like savage. And yet, we only really get one of those EX trials every several months or whatever. Meanwhile, if you enjoy normal difficulty content, that's like 95% of the game, and if you enjoy savage+, there're 4 raids per tier and an ultimate for you to sink your teeth into. The midcore people get lost in the middle. I haven't done the new Criterion dungeons yet, so I can't say if it scratches that itch or not. A relic could tide people over who just want something to do, but the way it was implemented, you can be done with it in a single day. Maybe more if you're gearing multiple jobs, but yeah. And the dungeons you grind for tomes aren't exactly fun. The level 90 dungeons are really lackluster this time around; I don't even look forward to doing expert roulette anymore because troia's a boring dungeon with an add boss, and the other one is just old at this point.

Basically if you're the type of person who's bored by normal difficulty stuff but either can't get 8 people together for savage or you just aren't interested in the prog process of wiping for potentially weeks because of other people, you get 1 EX trial roughly every time a new tier comes out and that is it. And people sorta stop running it after the first week because of how the content rollouts work. For example, when Barb EX came out, a week later the new savage came out so everyone I knew stopped caring about barb EX and the PF quality plummeted. I might be off-base here but I think the game's making a mistake by not appealing to this middle of the road group. Maybe criterion dungeons will scratch that itch. idk. People have been asking for harder dungeons for years, but the way the devs phrased its implementation, it sounded like they wanted to just make even more shit for the savage raiding crowd, since it's tuned for savage bis. I genuinely wonder if there's even a place for mid-tier difficulty stuff in this game anymore.

Sorry, am I being daft, but whats the steep penalty for failing a Savage? XIV has no discernable penalties for failure. Just keep going until you win/get your reward.

Otherwise, I agree with the thrust of what you're saying.

[Brill_]

Basically if you're the type of person who's bored by normal difficulty stuff but either can't get 8 people together for savage or you just aren't interested in the prog process of wiping for potentially weeks because of other people, you get 1 EX trial roughly every time a new tier comes out and that is it. And people sorta stop running it after the first week because of how the content rollouts work. For example, when Barb EX came out, a week later the new savage came out so everyone I knew stopped caring about barb EX and the PF quality plummeted. I might be off-base here but I think the game's making a mistake by not appealing to this middle of the road group. Maybe criterion dungeons will scratch that itch. idk. People have been asking for harder dungeons for years, but the way the devs phrased its implementation, it sounded like they wanted to just make even more shit for the savage raiding crowd, since it's tuned for savage bis. I genuinely wonder if there's even a place for mid-tier difficulty stuff in this game anymore.

100% agree. My schedule does not allow for a savage static. Normal content is braindead boring. Something in the middle would be perfect. I don't think that will ever happen. The dev team is so stuck in their formula, I don't think they are capable of coming up with something new.

[Stormpeaks]

And no one was surprised, this game just repeats the same mistakes over and over again lol, housing is also a good example of that.

[Greyhawk]

And no one was surprised, this game just repeats the same mistakes over and over again lol, housing is also a good example of that.

It's because the NA community has absolutely no say in content. This is a 100% JP community-driven game. Developers go there for any ideas, content, criticisms and other things that the NA Community would call a waste of time, a joke, etc. Culture completely drives the game content here, and if JP has a say, that's who they follow first and foremost. I am frankly surprised they have even taken any housing furnishing ideas from anyone NA.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

It's because the NA community has absolutely no say in content. This is a 100% JP community-driven game. Developers go there for any ideas, content, criticisms and other things that the NA Community would call a waste of time, a joke, etc. Culture completely drives the game content here, and if JP has a say, that's who they follow first and foremost. I am frankly surprised they have even taken any housing furnishing ideas from anyone NA.

I mean, they have shown thats not the case, but this keeps getting parroted so I guess people still believe it.

[Greyhawk]

I mean, they have shown thats not the case, but this keeps getting parroted so I guess people still believe it.

Okay, good luck with white knighting their efforts.