Hopefully constructive criticism regarding the current state of FFXIV

[ovIm]

This is just cringe,boring and disgusting gimmick fights that nobody wants as proven by people skipping dungeons like that in rolo.

It's not that hard to just make bosses and trash be more interesting alongside the combat not being a snoozefest instead of gimmicks.

Well, those ideas are at least better than the slop we are being served currently. Sure, there will always be people that CBA to do certain mechs, but we see what happens to the game when it is being designed in that way. And personally, I'd rather CS3 experiment more with gimmicks and try to keep the game fresh than serve us the same dungeon again and again.

And yes, I agree - its not hard to make interesting trash and boss fights. CS3 have literally shown that they can (Criterion), if they are allowed to.

[TaleraRistain]

Tbf the dungeons you are describing are nowhere near a good dungeon design.. all those are just kinda bad because of the missing ability variety and randomness from mobs. Stone Vigil Hard, rarely anyone knows how to kill the second boss and more times than not in DF, people do not care to listen/read chat if you explain something.

What is good dungeon design then? The ARR optional dungeons are chock full of unique mechanics like SV Hard. Mechanics that make you think outside the box. Isn't this the type of thing we want to see optional content that can branch out a bit from the normal MSQ experience?

[SXTC]

What are you talking about? You can litterally put all the mechanics in a handful of boxes, nothing "out of the box" about it xD

[Basteala]

Honestly, for the casual fanbase, I think we really need to see a return of optional dungeons--with an appropriate award that would appeal to those players as well, and the MSQ needs more solo duties. I'm redoing DT's MSQ on one of my RP alts now and man--no one mentions it but even at the very beginning with the storm on the ship, that would have been a fun duty in ye olde times.

Optional dungeons also lets people ramp up the difficulty a little more without having to worry about every faceroller getting stuck in the MSQ because they can't handle something other than the box standard two tickle damage mobs.

Also, screaming hot take: ability prune. Healers and tanks both badly need it. Healers need more of a swap, some DPS abilities, less redundant healing CDs (both to make core healer job mechanics actually mean something and not to overwhelm newbies) and tanks need like...way less mit. Maybe it's different for the 1% in Ultimates, but you can cheese so much as a tank it makes things borderline braindead for tanks AND healers. And simply upping the damage just makes it unpleasant in the other direction if your tank or healer isn't as familiar with their job.

[Jeeqbit]

Honestly, for the casual fanbase, I think we really need to see a return of optional dungeons--with an appropriate award that would appeal to those players as well

But then if you think about it, we do get 3 optional dungeons: variant dungeons. The issue is hiding them away not even in a roulette and the NPC guide taking ages to appreciate the surroundings. And there are potential issues with how difficult they can make them when a DPS has to be able to tank them solo, although the last bosses were usually decently tough.

the MSQ needs more solo duties.

One thing I've thought is that, maybe due to the technology and graphics update, they haven't needed solo duties as much. Now that we can see NPCs follow us and we can follow them in the open world, it means we no longer need solo duties to achieve that.

The main benefit of solo duties now is if we are entering a special area we normally can't, or if the NPCs will be helping us fight, or if the enemy will have dungeon-like mechanics. But these things do make it more interesting than open world mobs.

[Basteala]

But then if you think about it, we do get 3 optional dungeons: variant dungeons. The issue is hiding them away not even in a roulette and the NPC guide taking ages to appreciate the surroundings. And there are potential issues with how difficult they can make them when a DPS has to be able to tank them solo, although the last bosses were usually decently tough.
One thing I've thought is that, maybe due to the technology and graphics update, they haven't needed solo duties as much. Now that we can see NPCs follow us and we can follow them in the open world, it means we no longer need solo duties to achieve that.

The main benefit of solo duties now is if we are entering a special area we normally can't, or if the NPCs will be helping us fight, or if the enemy will have dungeon-like mechanics. But these things do make it more interesting than open world mobs.

And I love variant dungeons, but accessibility is a thing, and as you said--they can't be readily accessed by roulette. And for tome grinding, they give out less, which people are going to care about as well.

Also where DT is concerned...where are they? I would be all over a variant dungeon if we had one by now.

The thing with Solo Duties for me is that it was a way to let players experience the story rather than have it all be passively observed through cutscenes. In a weird way, the over reliance on cutscenes to tell the story creates a "tell not show" dynamic with the stakes. "The storm was terrible, the battle against the Alexandrians in Tullyolall was a brutal one, take our word for it" kind of thing. It creates, I feel, a disconnect between the narrative and the player.

They could do that in the overworld with NPCs following us--that would be fine. But they need to....actually do that.

I think there was also the additional benefit in solo duties in having to do the content alone, and there's a sense of immersion from that. And--like you said--the enemies could have dungeon like mechanics. I think for me that's the key thing. The solo dungeons weren't *hard*, but they weren't absolutely braindead like overworld content is.

[Mikey_R]

The thing with Solo Duties for me is that it was a way to let players experience the story rather than have it all be passively observed through cutscenes. In a weird way, the over reliance on cutscenes to tell the story creates a "tell not show" dynamic with the stakes. "The storm was terrible, the battle against the Alexandrians in Tullyolall was a brutal one, take our word for it" kind of thing. It creates, I feel, a disconnect between the narrative and the player.

This was such an annoying thing in DT. The amount of times I was hyped up for a potential solo duty, only for it to be a cutscene. The absolute biggest offender is the attack on Tuliyollal. Going through the city to save citizens, just to be called to the palace to finish it up with a fight against Zoraal Ja. Up to this point, I don't think people of the New World really know how strong the Warrior of Light actually is, this would be a fight to show Zoraal Ja just how strong we really are.

So many moments ruined because we didn't participate.

[Basteala]

This was such an annoying thing in DT. The amount of times I was hyped up for a potential solo duty, only for it to be a cutscene. The absolute biggest offender is the attack on Tuliyollal. Going through the city to save citizens, just to be called to the palace to finish it up with a fight against Zoraal Ja. Up to this point, I don't think people of the New World really know how strong the Warrior of Light actually is, this would be a fight to show Zoraal Ja just how strong we really are.

So many moments ruined because we didn't participate.

Yeah. This is a thing I was thinking about with the PeluPelu quest when we're basically holding all the quest items when Wuk Lamat does all the work, but I really feel that--despite people's inability to voice it, it's not just that we're not the main character in DT--in EW Post we were arguably a supporting character too--but in DT it really feels like we're on hireling duty. NPC Duty.

[CidHeiral]

The dungeon bosses are better than ever but the space between the bosses could definitely use some work. The "pull two packs, AOE, pull two more packs, AOE, boss" formula is beyond stale.

[Valence]

Dungeons bosses are better? What changed?