FFXIV needs to stop accommodating Solo Players

[Supersnow845]

14 is an MMO that enforces cooperation by forcing you to play with other people to progress essential duties

So the game by default has solo elements and cooperative elements no matter how much you only like to do one or the other.

So there is no reason why solo play shouldn’t be encouraged when it doesn’t encroach on enforced cooperation, but as soon as cooperation is part of the equation then it should be the central focus, overpowered solo elements shouldn’t be bought into that equation nor should solo play attempt to even encroach on what is done via cooperation

[RedLolly]

I think having a solo aspect to MMORPGs is important, but shouldn't overshadow the multiplayer aspect to it.

It's good to just log and do activities alone to relax one day, and then fully indulge in organized PF high end duties on the other. However, about the multiplayer aspect, there's something quite funny about XIV's encounters. While you usually do those in a multiplayer scope, there are very little interactions needed.

Let's say the 2min meta, which some people die by the hill that it's important because it promotes "group play". When it was the last time you were in a group that coordinated the 2min burst in a different way? The structure of most of the content itself just encourages you to do your opener and just press everything on cooldown afterwards, as the burst windows will naturally align. There's no actual planning needed salvo for very specific and uncommon situations.

The 2-minute meta allowing average players to still line up bursts without any real coordination is a feature, not a bug, of why players wanted that design.

[Absurdity]

The 2-minute meta allowing average players to still line up bursts without any real coordination is a feature, not a bug, of why players wanted that design.

Except it also defeated the entire point of lining up your buffs, that it was something extra to do.
You could easily clear any savage fight without it before, it was never an absolute requirement and only allowed well-coordinated groups to achieve faster kill times, which felt nice when you managed to do it properly.

Now it just happens automatically, takes close to 0 thought and is already accounted for when they design fights, it went from something interesting to optimize to just being a baseline expectation.



Actually, let me go off for a second here.
I'm convinced that the people who wanted consolidated buffs and burst windows were just parse bros that blamed the old system for their inability to get oranges.
It never mattered to casuals, they probably never even thought about it and just did their own thing, and it didn't matter to the high-end because they managed to align their burst with the old varied cooldowns just fine.

It's not like it really solved anything either, you still get people in party finder who let their buffs drift into Narnia.
Now you just get punished for not doing it because the fight expects everyone to line up their burst, it's supposed to be automatic after all.

[Kohashi]

Since when has having multiple ways to play become a bad thing?

There is only a handful of true solo play content in this game, and I don't think it affects the overall game in any way.