Thread: Frontlines 7.1

I like FL and play solo most of the time. I liked how accessible it was: you don't need a lot of experience, you don't always have to bring your A game, and the pace is slower than CC. As a solo player, I was proud of what I accomplished on my own. It was jank, even on that cloud server test, but it was an acceptable tolerance of jank. I didn't always have fun (I hate deathballs, being part of them or against them, and some people can be unbearable ice lickers or consistently make bad choices), but it was fun most of the time.

Back on topic, yeah these changes are killing any enjoyment I'm having with FL. There's a lot of things that feel wrong, like the hit detection, my main jobs hitting like wet noodles even with BH5, way too much damage, cc, and guard piercing moves going out, and the combination of them all.

Sadly, I think I won't be playing much FL for the foreseeable future. I'm not having fun nearly all of the time. And suddenly having to give up something I enjoyed makes me pretty upset.

Originally Posted by Bonoki

I can absolutely confirm this. I’m in a Discord server where people treat PvP like it’s parsing in PvE, prioritizing padding their stats over actually winning the match. To them, having the highest number of kills or the most damage is what matters because it makes them look like they contributed more and, by extension, look better than everyone else. Winning the match has become secondary to boosting their own numbers. When I first got invited to the server, I was genuinely shocked by how widespread this mindset is. It’s not just a few players—it’s a significant number, and they even run premade groups nightly with this exact goal in mind. It’s like parsing culture bleeding straight into PvP.

This is actually why I left a couple of large PvP Discord servers. Made me feel queasy. It's a great shame, because some of those guys have done a lot of good (RW would be stone cold dead rather than just ailing without them), but you've described the situation perfectly. It's personal stats first, with winning little more than a side bonus if it happens.

this game stopped being good with the launch of endwalker, then pvp stopped being good with the launch of 6.1, just unsub, no more coping.

Originally Posted by Mawlzy

This is actually why I left a couple of large PvP Discord servers. Made me feel queasy. It's a great shame, because some of those guys have done a lot of good (RW would be stone cold dead rather than just ailing without them), but you've described the situation perfectly. It's personal stats first, with winning little more than a side bonus if it happens.

In all fairness, as I am someone who occasionally pads. It is much easier to pad and play for your numbers and yourself than it is to control 23 other people on your team. Some outcomes of the match are just out of your control but playing for numbers and performing well on a job is still something you can do plenty. I think the only issue with only playing to pad is if you end up hitting the wrong team because it is either weaker, squishier (more ranged = bigger numbers) or they're clumped up more. Besides from that I don't think there's any issue only playing to pad so long as you're stopping the winning/stronger team as well. I think doing both is just fine and it's how I play.

In terms of looking for damage, I'd be more impressed at a SAM or a WAR doing over 1.5m damage than I would some ranged/caster anyway. Some jobs just make it easier like right now RDM/AST/SMN are the top dogs from my experience. Gone are the days of SCH! (good riddance)

Originally Posted by YouWereIndicted

In all fairness, as I am someone who occasionally pads. It is much easier to pad and play for your numbers and yourself than it is to control 23 other people on your team. Some outcomes of the match are just out of your control but playing for numbers and performing well on a job is still something you can do plenty. I think the only issue with only playing to pad is if you end up hitting the wrong team because it is either weaker, squishier (more ranged = bigger numbers) or they're clumped up more. Besides from that I don't think there's any issue only playing to pad so long as you're stopping the winning/stronger team as well. I think doing both is just fine and it's how I play.

In terms of looking for damage, I'd be more impressed at a SAM or a WAR doing over 1.5m damage than I would some ranged/caster anyway. Some jobs just make it easier like right now RDM/AST/SMN are the top dogs from my experience. Gone are the days of SCH! (good riddance)

I understand working with 23 (or 20) randos can be frustrating, but I still think the priority should be helping the team win. I know many premades on Aether who don't communicate with the team (bit of a clue when the leader types "vc" in party chat and that's the last we hear from them), are clearly padding, or in some cases carrying out a vendetta against an opposing premade.

Since such players tend to be the most skillful, it's absolutely crushing if they focus first on K/A instead of team goals. It's incredibly selfish (although not as bad as AFKers before someone counters with that). Obviously sometimes padding coincides with team goals, simply because wiping out opponents is important. But I'd bet many of these instances of 2nd place going after 3rd arise from padders feeding on the weakest opponents.

Originally Posted by Mawlzy

I understand working with 23 (or 20) randos can be frustrating, but I still think the priority should be helping the team win. I know many premades on Aether who don't communicate with the team (bit of a clue when the leader types "vc" in party chat and that's the last we hear from them), are clearly padding, or in some cases carrying out a vendetta against an opposing premade.

Since such players tend to be the most skillful, it's absolutely crushing if they focus first on K/A instead of team goals. It's incredibly selfish (although not as bad as AFKers before someone counters with that). Obviously sometimes padding coincides with team goals, simply because wiping out opponents is important. But I'd bet many of these instances of 2nd place going after 3rd arise from padders feeding on the weakest opponents.

Absolutely. I agree with you there as I only have ever wanted balanced matches and people to try their best. I was merely speaking from a solo perspective and how someone else sees padding. Thankfully with DRK being much weaker (I was also someone who played DRK) I think the mindset of only trying to pad is kind of dying because this iteration of PvP requires team support much more and people can't really get carried by DRK anymore as it is much easier to counter and die on. But dealing damage is just harder in general right now, once AST (hopefully) receives the DRG treatment it will be interesting to see what jobs and comps people will pick up now. I'm sure you will see people trying to accomplish and be greedy on Onsal though. As that map definitely rewards padding and pushing more, still. At least from my experience and playing lots of melee last time the map was in rotation despite melee being much harder to play now imo.

RIP to my beloved Dragoon in Frontlines, though. :'(

Originally Posted by YouWereIndicted

Absolutely. I agree with you there as I only have ever wanted balanced matches and people to try their best. I was merely speaking from a solo perspective and how someone else sees padding. Thankfully with DRK being much weaker (I was also someone who played DRK) I think the mindset of only trying to pad is kind of dying because this iteration of PvP requires team support much more and people can't really get carried by DRK anymore as it is much easier to counter and die on. But dealing damage is just harder in general right now, once AST (hopefully) receives the DRG treatment it will be interesting to see what jobs and comps people will pick up now. I'm sure you will see people trying to accomplish and be greedy on Onsal though. As that map definitely rewards padding and pushing more, still. At least from my experience and playing lots of melee last time the map was in rotation despite melee being much harder to play now imo.

RIP to my beloved Dragoon in Frontlines, though. :'(

Agreed, Mid on Onsal is probably the clearest example of people putting their own goals above those of the team.

Frontlines on 7.1 feels much better now that DRK got nerfed and Purify got buffed. Any DRK that tries a plunge gets swarned and pecked to death.

Of course now the problem is AST stacking with their ungodly damage, mobility, and AoE Gravity II. Who in the hell asked for that?

Originally Posted by Alyko

Frontlines on 7.1 feels much better now that DRK got nerfed and Purify got buffed. Any DRK that tries a plunge gets swarned and pecked to death.

Of course now the problem is AST stacking with their ungodly damage, mobility, and AoE Gravity II. Who in the hell asked for that?

I'm afraid I've just had reports that The Maid is back, apparently commanding as a DRK with double AST and either BRD or DNC?

The DRK meta is not dead.