FFXIV needs to stop accommodating Solo Players

[strawberrycake]

I don't get why you're trying to debate something that apparently has no effect on you. Everyone else here knows what I mean, and everyone is painfully aware of what Endwalker became of this; to people who wanted the game to have more singleplayer aspects.

I'm not debating, just trying to help so your point is understood is all. As if this is taken literally without nuance as it stands it could have effects on the game. Your base point when read in both languages has no nuance and Solo player within the language means something totally different to people who want to play an MMO like a single player game. Thats all.


Or a better way is yes we understand you in english, but when translated it's taken very literally, as in Solo players who don't play with friends, not solo players who don't want to play MMOs.

[Nighthawky2010]

What is accommodating "solo players" tho? Do you mean people looking to play a single player game within an MMO. I like to Solo play a lot, like I PF alone, do dungeons alone, do my rouls alone, that's solo play, you're not going in with friends or Fc mates, just you joining randoms alone for the sake of completing content. Or we can take it back to the OG meaning back when MMOs allowed you to literally solo content if you were good enough and were an actual solo player, because thats not possible in XIV at all.

I agree. The game is basically a solo MMORPG. Outside the new extreme, savage, unreal modes, you basically doing MSQ solo; now that there are the trusts & duty support, you can do the MSQ dungeons alone. I do alot of the old dungeons & extreme trials for the gear to turn into the GC. Most of the exploratory content can be done either solo or with a party, same goes for the deep dungeons.

[Nighthawky2010]

Solo players can go find another game. When you try to make everyone happy you make noone happy. This has always been true. IDK why Yoshi P and CBUIII keep trying to learn a lesson that's already been learned a million times by a million people. The game is called FFXIV ONLINE.

Noone ever will say this was a good solo game. EVER. Let's get that out of the way. So hopefully it's a great multiplayer game, and they focus on that. The framework of the game is for multiplayer gameplay, so any solo experience will always be compromised because the game isn't meant for that.

I disagree. FFXIV is my first MMOrpg That I started playing almost 10 years ago. The games is basically a single player mmo. Outside doing the newest extreme/savage content or new exploration content that require multi-players, the game is basically solo.
With the of NPCs, squadrons, Trusts all of the MSQ dungeons can be done solo.
The game should be balanced. You want to invite all people to join the experience, whether they are casual players such as myself, mid-carders, or high-end raiders. I believe the game should cater to all groups.

[DBriggs304]

There is a decent mix in my opinion. I do like that they have offered a way to do dungeon content with NPC's but hope they don't go overboard. As long as they keep the community interaction in check (Which they have) then I think it works out for more group content. I never tried to do group content in WoW cause I heard the horror stories of what I might encounter. This game pretty much cured that so I do that content here and there with zero issues.

[Supersnow845]

Allowing you to do dungeons with trusts is fine but the trust AI is so bad they are going back and remaking old fights into the same boring cookie cutter modern design that the modern dungeons run off

I don’t mind allowing people to clear sor khai with trusts, I mind that when I get it with players I don’t get the old hraesvalger fight because the trusts couldn’t do it

Besides maybe Toto rak and cooperbell they should have left the old dungeons for the players because in this situation as someone who has no interest in trusts my experience is being made worse to accomodate them

[Valence]

If you mean making basic MSQ dungeons doable with duty support NPCs, then I don't see where the problem is. If anything, I like having that option for story immersion the first time I do run them. And for people that just play for the story, it's great, while it doesnt hinder the experience of MMO players in any way, shape or form. It's a win win as far as I'm concerned, as long as they continue focusing on making multiplayer content (as they confirmed at PAX).

I do agree though that if they do'nt improve the trust AI, they're definitely not going to meet their new expectations of surprise and variations in dungeon encounters...

Now then if you had something else in mind with that nebulous title entirely, I'd be curious to hear about it, perhaps I could actually agree?

[LuciferNacht]

Dear SE,

To add feedback to this post from a different perspective, I thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to do the main story beats solo and hope that you continue with Duty Support and the capability of completing the content in the game solo in Dawntrail.

You've created an incredibly amazing but sometimes frustrating MMO community where a majority of your player base (at least in NA) are painfully terrible at the game in almost every aspect and almost proud of it. Then due to your TOS changes, we're forced to pretend this isn't the case due to your insistence on toxic positivity.

When my friends can't be on the game with me clearing, or doing the content. It's just significantly better experience to do the content alone. The daily roulettes is about as much tolerance as I can take of subpar play.

If you want to build a community that is forced to rely on each other for content, like in the olden MMO days, then let's look at how Eureka was upon release:

You cannot let tons of people AFK waiting to claim a reward for a NM while only a small percentage of people work to spawn it, and then ban the working people when they are justifiably upset at those afking.

Every iteration of group content that you release, you protect those that thrive in doing the bare minimum and that's fine. I am 100% willing to concede to the fact that this game can be however SE deems it to be.

But do not remove the solo option. It provides an amazing reprieve from this incredibly underperforming casual toxicity kingdom that you've created.

You have not built a game where people are held accountable for lack of participation. So do not force participation anymore than you already are through roulettes, the 24 mans, etc.

Your community is full of fun, well meaning but absolutely poor performing players for our battle content. Which is insane considering most fights are just one long script of the same mechanics in order every single time.

Feel free to add more community interaction in anyway that you want, as this is an MMO but continue with the solo opportunity for the MSQ and side content as you have been doing so far.

I'm only interested in being forced to rely on other people in 2024 when they know how to pull their weight. That might seem elitist, but I mean it's not. People are just really... really bad as the norm.

[Taliriah]

Solo players can go find another game.

Not really no, because the game industry at large is obsessed with co-op games, as they know that social ties are one of the strongest driver of player retention. Many people keep playing games they don't otherwise really like anymore because they don't want to let their friends down. That's manipulative.

I don't like game where success requires playing with others. I prefer when socializing is something you do because (and when) you want to, rather than doing it because otherwise your progress is impeded.

In the later case, people often view other players are merely tools to further their own progression in the game, and that's why you have people who are so intolerant of people "not playing the game right" or not micro optimising their rotations and such. Socialization mandated by gameplay mechanics is not good socialization.

FFXIV is mostly fine as it is. It gives you plenty of options both if you want to play solo and if you want to play in a group. (It still sucks when you need to sit in a queue for half an hour to complete a MSQ duty, for instance).

[LuciferNacht]

Not really no, because the game industry at large is obsessed with co-op games, as they know that social ties are one of the strongest driver of player retention. Many people keep playing games they don't otherwise really like anymore because they don't want to let their friends down. That's manipulative.

I don't like game where success requires playing with others. I prefer when socializing is something you do because (and when) you want to, rather than doing it because otherwise your progress is impeded.

In the later case, people often view other players are merely tools to further their own progression in the game, and that's why you have people who are so intolerant of people "not playing the game right" or not micro optimising their rotations and such. Socialization mandated by gameplay mechanics is not good socialization.

FFXIV is mostly fine as it is. It gives you plenty of options both if you want to play solo and if you want to play in a group. (It still sucks when you need to sit in a queue for half an hour to complete a MSQ duty, for instance).

I completely agree with this. It is awful when you are reliant upon others and their skill level to progress in the game. It's incredibly frustrating.

SE can have the best of both worlds, create tons of community interaction but ensure the MSQ at a minimum remains able to play solo. I will play with my friends or static for everything else.

[Jojoya]

I don't get why you're trying to debate something that apparently has no effect on you. Everyone else here knows what I mean, and everyone is painfully aware of what Endwalker became of this; to people who wanted the game to have more singleplayer aspects.

No, we don't know what you're referring to. Every MMORPG is solo friendly in some way or another because friends can't always be online at the same time but they still want for things to do when that happens. WoW became massively popular because it was extremely solo friendly compared to the other MMORPGs of the time.

If you can't be specific in making your point and just keep repeating that "everyone knows", you come across as a troll.

Despite the solo friendly aspects like Duty Support, the game is still ultimately pushing players into the social and group aspects. Can't do roulettes with Duty Support. If you want those roulette bonuses, you have to play with others. Can't do high content solo and synced. If you want those rewards while they remain meaningful to the community then you need to do the content with other players.

So what is your specific concern?