How do we develop Better Casual Content?

[Moqi]

To me casual content is not easy content, but content that doesn't require as much preparation/team coordination so that you can go in blind without a set schedule or party and learn the fight before the timer ends (even if it takes many pulls).

That means mostly no lockouts and no bodychecks mechanics.

[Turtledeluxe]

Let's just come out and say it. The exploratory zone should be in this patch, it's just that simple. But the devs are too stubborn to disrupt their usual patch cadence. Aside from that, they won't produce extra content to fill in the gap that moving up the exploratory zone creates. So they're settling for alliance raids and calling it a day.

It's not an issue of better casual content, it's an issue of just not really having any when the game really needs it.

I was watching the official XIV twitch yesterday. And what a mistake that was. Because doing that will teach you quickly that unless you're main interest is farming alliance glam, this team is not producing casual content for you for a long time.

[Valence]

Oh, I meant Variant Dungeons and Blu collection spellbook, but the Criterion and Blu Savage fall more into "hardcore". It's hard to parse exactly what players want out of casual content here, my guess would have been more challenging dungeons they could play, you know, make the roulettes more challenging, but they went the other way by stripping almost everything that made dungeons interesting in service for their TRUST system.

But as I said, in terms of actual PVE, it's all casual. All of it. FATES, Dungeons, Normal raids, Alliance raids, it's all pretty casual. It offers no actual meaningful challenge or difficulty curb that requires skill or optimization. Nier and Ivallice were somewhat challenging but players complained it was too hard and they didn't sign up for the dark souls experience so, we got the snoozefest that was the Myths of the Realm AR.


Look at it, as opposed to "Hardcore" content. Hardcore is 4 savages and an ultimate every 9 months. Extremes are too easy for hardcore players, they eat that content in an hour, but even then it's one per patch. Compare it to the overwhelming amount of stuff you can do "casually" and without any time investment. It's 80% / 20% at best.

I honestly think people just want fresh and engaging things. Not the same stale formula. There was a lukewarm cheer when casual dungeons saw their difficulty ramp up a little as promised by Yoshida just before DT, and really, the difficulty "increase" is only on bosses, and it's not mechanical, it's just on execution because the thing they changed is the pace at which bosses throw mechanics at you, which is the laziest thing they could have done, but i'm going on a tangent here.

They just want for the low hanging fruit, which was difficulty and a willingness to make casual dungeons less of a snoozefest (it was said alongside those words by Yoshida, just more politely), when in reality they could have introduced variety and creativity, instead of vapid and lazy conformism. Yes, it requires more work, and yes, Yoshida expressly stated that the dungeon formula isn't going to change any time soon because of productivity considerations and because they're happy with it anyway. While it made me incredibly depressed to read this, in a way I still commend the man for finally stating clear directions to us instead of keeping us in the dark until done deeds.

[Shougun]

I primarily think open world when I go there, to which:

I feel this, in short is just the devs need better tools. I don't mean "SE" I mean the specific devs. If you notice the FATEs / quests, they all follow a very strict format- I feel that these tools need to be made better / easier to work with. With a byproduct of that being we could see skill expression from each dev more, when they can simply just do more UNIQUE things easier.

In the longer term, therefore- the devs should ask the devs what tools could allow them to do interesting things easily and how should it be made. Like WoW has the vehicle system which they use extensively for their mini-games, then they also literally made some mini-game systems, mixed with what is either a willingness or ease of adding unique effects.. you get more unique stuff, more often. Whether you're a goblin shredder destroying hundreds of enemies, a rolling ball of explosions, playing a fountain dance game with a loot goblin akin to the PvP water fountain (in CC of our game), to climbing a mountain of lava using a buff provided by slugs to reach a mini-boss (so you don't melt).

This is just a 'feeling' but I think our biggest long term gain isn't one specific content, but getting SE to support the tools necessary to provide many types of content more easily. The open world especially benefits from these systems. Like if the dev team could easily add slow to a water type, or modify gravity? Would they have? When I was in Ultima Thule in that oily sludge, why didn't it slow me or cover me in a muck debuff? That would have been awesome. When I was on the moon, why didn't I bounce higher? I assume it was because this would have required significant effort and the dev team went "yeah that's not good use of resources", yet if they could have done it easily? I 'feel' they might have, or hope they would have (because if they could have done it easily and still didn't, that to me says they don't have a very good immersive / roleplay directive).

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Hokay, actually some quick form ideas.. with the general theme of adding more interactivity and smoothing out edges while increasing value of that space. For example, if something is smoother to engage with you will more likely do so. If something is more rewarding, of course you will be more likely. If it's more fun, even better. Fun being example I could make a boring kill 10 quest worth a lot, but that isn't fun. So we want it to have a low barrier of entry, be engaging, but also be worth your 'time' in the longer run.

The tl;dr of suggestions is that there is probably no content that can 'never die', certainly some stuff can be more evergreen, I feel a moogle or chocobo tribe could be cool to keep up, but sometimes its good they stop; however, the interactions with world feel very narrowly scripted both in their gameplay but in their reward structure too. I know that the vast majority of quests will offer a pittance of exp, irrelevant gil, and generally be non-valuable, while also following a very strict formula that they do try to mix up but again it's on a very narrow beam of options. That narrow beam also applies to what makes my character better. The glamour system is a bit cumbersome so collecting random stuff isn't very exciting cause I'll have to 'manage' it. What I can visually do is limited (can't change effects or form visuals). And the items themselves are exceptionally numerical in expression, The great flaming axe that sundered the world and started the age of fire +5 skill speed or the wand from the time god that helped stop bahamut + 5 spell speed.

• - Turn the zone level system into a zone portfolio, perhaps called the travelers journal (may use tabs to reduce overwhelming info) - which catalogs COLLECTIBLES, zone level, aether currents, quests, sight seeing, hunts, delivery npcs (add combat ones), reputation, and itself is a rewarding experience (outside of the ubisoft, check box thing). For example, there are zone achievements that unlock content like with the dwarves if you get level 2 of the zone and level 1 with them they place cannons throughout that will launch you great distances and when you press spacebar trigger a parachute (slow fall), the doma dam after a certain progress may be repaired, etc. Some are visual some are 'fun content' (like the cannons), and some will be tangible rewards. Like by reaching a specific rank and quest in the Greatwood you unlock an NPC that will sell a new mount (glamour, minion, etc). The portfolio system may also include special daily / weekly quests for rewards. Hunts are tracked in here and work with the other systems too, like kill tracker / first time kill bonus, etc. Allow these concepts to apply elsewhere when not painful. For example if you HAD to do this to get current gear value, that'd be frustrating for new players who need to do dwarf grind to get level 100 stuff- but if you had it so like getting good reputation with Garlean Ironworks grants access to additional house decoration recipes and island visuals.. neat.
  
• - Use the new tools to make more interesting side quests, release them in waves rather than all at once (no reason to overwhelm the map, and the waves will allow better thought on making the quest fun rather than just 'touch X and come back'). Also use the armoury bonus on quests, so they are more than just some lore quips. Given the above, certain milestones might require specific quests. Currently some cards are behind quests, that's an idea- but go further. Like when I was hugging the minion, poking, and stuff in that Zeal place part of EW.. could have been the moment to give that guy as a minion.
  
• - Probably in above but challenge log could be revisited, with perhaps new 'grand challenge' options done through a limiter system. So you get a list of things you can do but only X of them can trigger the reward (this way instead of 100 tasks, to which you can do them all) there is 20 tasks and you can do 5. This allows for those 5 tasks to feel substantial in value, without destroying balance, and still lets you choose what to do. Like you might get 50 end game tomestones by playing the saucer.
  
• - Collectibles. Make the zones worth exploring. While playing GW2 and WoW there were many items and things to find and collect that were just interesting. Whether it was a useful unique item that had a glamour or if it was a toy that just did something nifty. FFXIV doesn't do this, essentially at all. Exploring is extremely superficial. Change this. Don't tell us but perhaps have a minimum number of substantial interests per zone. Substantial interests being nifty glamour, mounts, minions, or equipment. Like in the greatwood there might be a Ronkan puzzle that will grant you a cool looking Ronkan style machinist gun which comes with unique effects (every third shot is a aetherial laser rather than a bullet, causing linear piercing up to X and additional 50 potency). Or a bag full of fae dust from Il Mheg which grants glide fall (no fall damage, glide being it's not 'slow' per say but negates gravity and you can move quickly in the air) and triple jump (which is visually fae dust sprinkling). This by the way can be added to dungeons too (like besides glamour), but open world particularly suffers. I have one of those map mods in WoW and I have many than a dozen interesting things to grab that will stick with me beyond the zone itself, when I go into a zone in FFXIV I know I have a corridor to the next area that will look very pretty. Remove the corridor mindset, zones are not just a transportation to the next dungeon.
  
• - more customization, that marries collectibles. For example you can now customize your magitek mounts paint color (rather than do something silly like rerelease the mount in a new color... it feels kind of goofy I wouldn't just paint my rig in that situation), be able to change my abilities a little to reflect my style. Like Dragoon may choose a nidhogg visual vibe to skills or hresvelgr. Dark Knight may choose instead of the red effect for dark side they go smokey black. By placing these customizations throughout the game world you'll be sure people are going to be interested. If you complete the Tactics raids your summons might get a Zodiac like appearance option, dope.
  
• - Improve movement. You navigate the world, this is a content even if you might not immediately think it as such. Movement skills should feel as they look, when you blink as a ninja.. don't detect a linear path, let them blink. When you jump as a dragoon, don't detect a linear path, detect the curve to location. You don't need to go as crazy as GW2, but even WoW.. my god does it feel so much more fun to navigate the world. When 50% of your time is navigating, having it be C tier experience IS NOT A GOOD THING. It sounds silly to some but I swear, if something makes up a lot of your time, it's not a waste to consider improving and at least IMO, I immediately notice the quality of my navigation when I go from WoW, GW2, FFXIV, and even sRPGs. Being painted to the ground is a sucky feeling. This goes beyond just how things are calculated (skills) or how you interact while flying, but like if you have a bouncy looking mushroom.. make it bounce, come on lol. Which can lead into content too, whether it's fight or just a cute puzzle.
  
• - Better phasing, such that you can see more changes to the world space based on your actions (not just beast tribes). Although I do appreciate it if they are either done so that we can exist in the same space, even though it looks different to our screens, OR is cleverly placed so I don't have a boss issue or cant see my buddy the second I zone in (so do this carefully). For example if in Ultima Thule the beast tribe area wasn't in a separate zone but was just simply off on the side, that'd be awesome and cause little issue- even if we disappear from each other if in a different phase.. Just leave the space if we want to kill the s rank in the zone.
  
• - Revamp FATEs and hunts to scale better, actively dynamically, with GW2 and WoW being better examples of scaling (not perfect, sure, but it's better). Thus ensuring quality experience, so its not either pointless cause you'll lose or boring cause you cannot lose nor 100 year struggle because it's poorly scaled. Revisit rewards if needed (like if things between slower such that hunt trains used to evaporate all monsters and now you actually have to fight them, maybe they reward more)
  
• - Chocobo hot and cold, better mini-game archeology. One time rewards, repeatable rewards (perhaps on a periodic system, so it isn't nerfed into the ground for botting reasons)
  
• - Sync Beast tribes to all levels (improve their quests with the new tools, like the cannon tribe quest in Stormblood was cute but due to how it ray tracing fires (instantly).. is just okay.. using projectiles / aoe targeting system akin to WoW would be more fun)
  
• - Get an ingame calendar, plaster that calendar with rotating events. Make your events better with the new tools, and them come back and BUILD on those events. Posted sketches of a christmas theme one here: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...=1#post6618381. Below I also have an uther party / mario party / itadaki street idea for golden saucer.
  
• - Reward leveling jobs by giving them mounts or neat toys / glamour, particularly if they can be shared later. Like if you level WHM you get a flying variant of your wing skill, even neater if while WHM that mount is instant cast (to show heritage and add flavor). This is because, imo, leveling is part of the fun of the game and further encourages it. Also leveling is easy, so sure you can whine about a cool thing being behind a piece of content.. but its not like you 'cant' do it, unlike some hard content (ultimate for example)
  
• - Reformat exploratory content so that it is new zone(s) to the regular world, use the best ideas and sprinkle them throughout all the zones of that expansion (like if you come up with a cool FATE mechanic, don't relegate that just to one zone). You can have content 'focus' so that people will collect in specific areas, but in general the rising tide floats all the zones not just one zone (in terms of quality).
  
• - Don't be afraid to make new systems that are not just excels. Like the Squadrons for GC could be more Dynasty warrior like where you have a zone map where you go around establishing outposts, escorting caravans, capturing hamlets back, attacking strongholds, going into old dungeons with a twist where you do things like get rare resources (go to the lava dungeon to make a foundry, unlock new gear for your GC, etc). Island Sanctuary under the same thing. Instead of toss and watch the animal system could have used transformed variants of golden saucer mini-games.
  
• - Not sure if people agree, but at least I play PvP and I feel casual.. so for a casual PvP player lol, give a drain to the tokens that makes function gear. Like every expansion there is a new set of PvP gear, you can then feed it wolf marks to increase it's iLVL (or whatever mechanic).
  
• - Add a glamour log, this benefits all players but if you give the casual player a lot of different sources to get cool gear and then let them collect it.. They're going to go through all your content to get it. Having the log is like having a completionist tracker that provides them QoL as they do it.
  
• - Give leveling your companions a bioware / baldur's gate vibe (or like your companion in 1.0). Also see companion in WoW (where you can customize them). This adds more personality and relationship to them with customization and quest content, as currently the exp system may as well be removed and turned into an achievement of 'run x content', because its a very shallow relational system.
  
• - Consider lite horizontal progression (so gear you obtain isn't instantly thrown out, and primarily only for glamour value), also increase the interest of those items by adding something beyond +2 strength. This still wont help longer term, but short term may encourage you to revisit a content more than once because you didn't get the sword from the dungeon which has that cool effect you really wanted and know wont instantly become pointless.
  
• - Improve gameplay diversity so that while I exist in the world I have the opportunity for higher diversity in that same space. WoW example, when I run around as a DH and see through walls, seeing chests, double jump gliding off of stuff, getting out of combat in impractical ways and traveling canyons easily, I feel different than when I am a Death Knight on my permanent ground mount, or my druid who can gather while mounted and instantly transform. This is movement examples, but this does move into combat too. FFXIV doesn't have 'no' difference, but the differences are more minimal to the point that my brain doesn't really get excited to try the same content in a different job.. I've done it once and I'm like "that's done now", unlike when the jobs would be more different and I'd imagine how that would feel on a different job. Rogue has chests, etc. Here in FFXIV, beyond movement (like the skills mentioned already) you might have moments where the WHM can speak to elementals rather than kill them, Black Mage could be powering machinery with their lightning, Ninja could be doing some assassination quests custom to them or unlocking chests, Dark Knight and Reaper could be exorcising.
  
• - No more limited jobs, add more limited jobs. Make limited jobs capable of doing normal content by whatever means is both MOST interesting and least impactful to their character, make OTHER jobs existing in the game gain limited like concepts. For example in WoW you've hunter with their pets, and many many pets to collect (with combat differences), or Mage and their portals, etc. Here you would have things like Blue Mage getting their own spells, as they do, with a set of specific spells that become your normal kit. You would have Bard's music system expanded upon, or you'd have the painter job being able to collect different inks and effects having one of the greater amounts of skill expression customization, etc. Systems added on top of jobs in ways that expand their identity. Which means a painter would be going through the world to find both inspiration but unique mediums to use for their work, finding their ink painting visuals in doma, and vibrant chalk like effects in Azim Steppe. The summoner would be going on solo boss pilgrimages and sometimes quest chains (Ramuh) to collect both new egi options but also visuals.

Probably have a lot more but for now that's fine. Also some threads that do cover some of the above:

• Comparing-FFXIV-Gameplay-Roleplay-to-Other-MMOs
• Gold-Saucer-Mini-Games-Levels-or-Challenge-Weekly
• Mario-Party-Uther-Party-other-wc3-Itadaki-Street-Fortune-Street-Dynamic-Team
• Please-Consider-Boosting-Side-Quest-EXP
• Please-Consider-New-FATE-Participation-Ranks-FATE-Tiers.-EXP-to-Tomes-Tokens.
• Seasonal-Event-Border-for-MSQ-Tracker-Mini-Map
• Island-Sanctuary-Desires-Gathering-Loop-Variation-Wild-Leavings-Mammet-Qs-More
• Smooth-Job-Changing-Particularly-DoH-DoL-One-Job-All-Jobs
• Couple-Job-Specific-Mounts
• Gear-w-Stats-akin-to-Crafting-Gear-SFX-Relic-Like-Opportunity
• Bonus-Beast-Tribe-quests-Relic-Accelerants
• Boss-FATEs-please-dynamically-adjust
• Squadrons-are-dead-Long-live-Squadrons-Suggestion-for-Squadrons-given-trust-changes
• Squadron-Chocobo-Trust-Retainer-and-Companion-Lite-Unification-and-New-Features
• Gravity-on-the-Moon
• Update-Revisit-Your-Blue-Mage-Thoughts-Limited-Jobs
• Horizontal-Light-Gear-Progression-Targeting-Difficulty-to-the-Audience
• Magitek-Mount-Unification-paint-decal-etc-Cid-s-Garage-FFXV-Workshop
• -I-quite-like-the-Shared-Fate-idea-hope-to-see-it-expand-and-perhaps-go-to-ARR-HW-SB
• Airship-Content-Bringing-Back-the-Nostalgia-Maybe-a-Feasible-House-for-All-FC
• Chocobo-Content-Update-Hot-and-Cold-mini-game-Chocobo-Paradise-Beast-Tribe-etc
• Housing-FATEs-Seasonal-Content-Possible-Chocobo-Racing-etc
• Aether-Forge-Crystal-Library-New-Glamour-Log-stores-almost-all-Token-System
• Movement-System-Like-GW2-for-Mounts
• on-conventional-mounts-using-the-system-for-non-mount-purposes
• Thanks-for-the-Custom-Deliveries-Please-add-more

I mostly just casual content in this game.. so I think about it a bit.. xD