These Relics Aren't Relicing

[ty_taurus]

Nothing - I like them just fine.

Don't they serve the purpose of being a relic to obtain easily with tomes then? Why have two?

[NekoMataMata]

Feel like the relic topic is just overdone at this point.

From the second step and onward we knew that it would be the same. We've been told there's going to be new exploratory zones in DT, and while I don't have much faith in them not to make a mess of it somehow, there's a good chance it'll be tied to the relics again. Possibly.

This isn't saying I'm happy about EW's relics. Just that I've moved on. It's done, there's nothing we can do at this point but hope for better with DT.

[caffe_macchiato]

Dude, you forgot something. This is Final Fantasy XIV. The entire purpose is to play other games. You DO have other games to play, don't you?



Now that'll be $13/month!

[Avoidy]

Agreed, thank god Endwalker is behind us though, and hopefully Dawntrail's relics are actually FUN to get this time, like Shadowbringers relics were.

Mr. Yoshida mentioned in some interview that he viewed the Endwalker relics as a great success because more people obtained a relic this time than in prior expansions. His logic was "more people are doing it, therefore it must be good."
Of course, we all know "more people did it" because... it was basically a free relic you obtained by just logging in and doing the bare minimum daily roulette stuff. Many people logged in already capped and bought it in the first minute.

For some people, everything I've just said is a massive positive and they have ZERO issue with it and that's fine. For other people who really wanted something to "work towards" that didn't involve progging the same wallboss for weeks with a group, it was extremely disappointing. I doubt they're going to change course though, because this sort of relic grind is easy to design, lots of people prefer it, and the engagement levels were high so it "works." I would be (pleasantly) surprised if DT saw it change at all. Someone somewhere said it best, that this game feels like it's being made easier to manage, without much care for how much actual enjoyment is obtained in the process.

On an unrelated note, I thought it was really really bad of them to anchor the relics to Hildibrand quests. I did all the prior Hildibrands before I even knew that a relic was going to be tied to them. I saved them for when I had absolutely nothing else to do, and I took my time with them as a result. I had low expectations, because most of the writing/presentation in this game's quests is not good. But to my surprise, I enjoyed it. And I think that's largely because I approached this as optional content and just did it because I felt like it. For many many people on my friends list and here, they sped through it just to get the relic and were bitching the entire time because they didn't want to do it and felt compelled to or they'd be gated from doing one of the few things on offer for this expansion. And hell, in EW, every time they added a new chapter to Hildibrand I'd find myself sort of rushing through it in the same way because my tomes were capped and I wanted to unlock the next relic step ASAP so I could spend my tomes and stop overcapping. There were times where I didn't really want to do hildibrand at all, but did it anyway so I could hurry up and unlock the next step of the relic grind. I just think it's unfortunate. I hope they make the new relics independent of Hildibrand in DT so I can just do Hildibrand at my own pace without screwing myself on the relic content.

[Shougun]

I like the idea of a very 'grindable' relic, but I do see how leaping right to that step was a bit awkward and potentially underwhelming. Would love to see this smooth grind idea be continued, but maybe not instantly lol.

Mentioned in similar thread, but why not again haha, I think beast tribes could be one option for smoothing grinds out later. For example Ixali tribe completes sections of the book for tokens, first page is cheap and gets more expensive per page of the same book. Purchase a sunwell structure from the slyph that is placed in their space and you can dunk a relic in it each day for light, or use a bottle purchased from their vendor to get a consumable potion that does something crazy like quadruple or quintuples the next light from content (for many tokens you can place one in your island).

Tomes is quite convenient though. I'm not sad the idea exists, I quite like it, just that I can see how it makes their grind for players looking to engage with content essentially non-existent / subpar.

[SoloWingMetatron]

Bring back unique relic content! - I want something to work towards and to look forward to...Not something I can claim literally the day the latest patch goes live...Most FFXIV players seem to not realize how easy they have it, even when Atma and Light farming was fresh...In classic FFXI relic weapons would take well over a year to obtain a single stage.

Nothing about any of FFXIV's relics are particularly hard and in comparison to other games not even that bad as far as grinds go...So to reduce a relic down to 1500 old tomes per stage with no other pre-requisites (apart from some cutscenes) is incredibly pitiful and reductive!

I swear people these days want to be given everything on a silver platter without even trying to lift a single finger...Might as well ask the devs for a button to instantly make you max level, with gear at max ilvl and all tomes capped whilst you're at it because that is the exact same energy these people are giving!...and people wonder why player retention has been low this patch cycle?!...

[Ardeth]

Dude, you forgot something. This is Final Fantasy XIV. The entire purpose is to play other games. You DO have other games to play, don't you?



Now that'll be $13/month!

That month were I completely forgot this game existed and beat Elden Ring was dope.

[OdinelStarrei]

That month were I completely forgot this game existed and beat Elden Ring was dope.

Hmm. I did notice that the less I think about XIV, the better my mood is...

head empty no thoughts has merit?

[Eraden]

Mao would like ask those whats complainings about Yoshi saying to take breaks and play other games, if thems understand just how hard it would be to supply content to keeps peoples busy playing game constantly? When 6.55 came out Mao started doings the new content and was finished in a day. To keeps Mao busy day after day with new content likes this, would require army of developers and BILLIONS of dollars. Mao nots want put such heavy and unrealistic burden on SE. Mao willings to take breaks and play other games from times to times. Now, Mao nots saying is no room for QoL additions and increasings the quality of the contents. Mao hopings those things will come. Mao just saying is nots possible to supply enough contents that peoples would be playings FFXIV nonstop.

[ty_taurus]

Mao would like ask those whats complainings about Yoshi saying to take breaks and play other games, if thems understand just how hard it would be to supply content to keeps peoples busy playing game constantly? When 6.55 came out Mao started doings the new content and was finished in a day. To keeps Mao busy day after day with new content likes this, would require army of developers and BILLIONS of dollars. Mao nots want put such heavy and unrealistic burden on SE. Mao willings to take breaks and play other games from times to times. Now, Mao not saying is no room for QoL additions and increasings the quality of the contents. Mao hopings those things will come. Mao just saying is nots possible to supply enough contents that peoples would be playings FFXIV nonstop.

Here's the thing that I don't understand about this argument...

Let's say that in the past, FFXIV developed a reputation for having a major FOMO environment, where there was this feeling that a player was obligated to log in every day and grind daily in order to keep up with the game's increasing demand for better gear and higher stats, even on the casual level. In other words, if you took a break, your gear would fall so behind that when you returned, you'd need to spend a lot of time simply grinding and farming materials to update your gear enough to continue new story segments or participate in new content. Then, EW comes along and changes that so that players can now comfortably take breaks without putting themselves in a situation where grind will be a requirement to jump back into the game later. That is an environment in which this argument makes sense to me.

But that is not the story of FFXIV. This game has always been an MMO that allowed you to play other games, take a break, or just casually log in to hang out with your friends without putting you in a situation in which getting back into the game later becomes a chore. And yet, at the same time, it offered unimportant, optional rewards that players who were up-to-date on the game's content could grind out if they wanted to, giving them something they could sink time into when they want to play the game.

So what sounds like the better environment for the most amount of people, an MMO that does not pressure you to log in every day, but offers objectives you can grind out if you would like--objectives that do not gate players behind engaging with new content or progressing the story? Or an MMO that does not pressure you to log in every day, but also does not offer any sort of grind for players who like grind, and anyone who has gotten their account current must wait until the next update in order for them to have new content to play?