Linear, linear, linear

[OdinelStarrei]

Seriously, this is where the non-stop negativity just makes certain people's opinions not worth developers listening to. The point I made is straight-up reality. Apparently your approach is never take any blame for anything, always blame others (even when you're responsible)...

I am not responsible!

I didn't do anything except disagree with design/dungeon/job decisions and support/compliment things I liked! I've always said that fights should not be nerfed, that dungeons should not be in this straight line, or at least have the illusion of being more than just a straight hallway. I didn't insist, nor did I force SE to do dumb things that blow up in their faces later on, like Variants, which they STILL fumbled.

What is your endgame here? Are players who really want additional complexity simultaneously a minority that doesn't matter ergo shouldn't be listened to by developers AND the speed runner people responsible for killing more unique dungeons because Square Enix HAD to acquiesce to popular trends? "The enemy is too weak to acknowledge, but also so strong we need to allocate resources to resist them." We have Trusts now in almost all 4-man dungeon content going forward, players who want to explore HAVE that option without any judgement, and even now, with content like Deep Dungeons, full clears/exploration for silvers is far from uncommon. Yet the linearity, and simplicity continues. Why are WE getting blamed for Square Enix's choices, the ones they have barely ever added any transparency on? I don't appreciate being seen as a scapegoat! "Oh no, the players did what players do in every popular game ever made, no way we could have ever seen this coming, and designed for it accordingly."

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[Striker44]

I am not responsible!

I didn't do anything except disagree with design/dungeon/job decisions and support/compliment things I liked! I've always said that fights should not be nerfed, that dungeons should not be in this straight line, or at least have the illusion of being more than just a straight hallway. I didn't insist, nor did I force SE to do dumb things that blow up in their faces later on, like Variants, which they STILL fumbled.

Umm...I wasn't referring to you. Notice how the post you quoted has me talking about "your approach" - meaning the person who I was directly quoting and responding to.

To your larger point, it's not a matter of simply "popular" trends, but an immense majority. Think about how many ARR dungeons back in the pre-revamp time actually saw parties you were in do anything but the most effective linear path (and if a group actually did anything off the direct path, were you the tank prompting it). It's not that a simple "majority" did something; it's that practically everyone did. It's just simple reality that allocating time and resources to something that very few people will see just isn't worth it from a production standpoint.

Remember, SE has engagement metrics that we don't have. If they continue designing and expanding on things like Variant Dungeons, it's because they didn't fumble them, and people by and large are enjoying and playing them. So overall, yes, if you have what amounts to a very niche take on a major part of a game, it's unfortunate but reality that you're likely going to be left disappointed. That's not a question of what "should" be, but just a mature realization of what "is."