Forked Tower's Entrance System is Beautiful

[Hastatus]

Warning: If you are easily offended, do not read! 8)

I have not tried to enter Forked Tower (FT) yet because I am still grinding out Phantom Job masteries and gear upgrades like many others, but I do understand the numbers and exactly how it works. Hearing all the youtubers complain about the FT entrance system has put a smile on my face. SE wanted 'snipers' who are willing to pay to get in: this was obviously not an accidental design choice. For once the top players and those who have connections to other top players actually get to experience what average players experience. They cannot just go in and clear week one, or two, or three...who knows how long some will have to wait? It is glorious to see them complain about the entrance system when the same people generally argue against players who complain about the Savage entrance system. Hypocrites! Hypocrites who are almost always catered to!

Some players need better gear to be able to participate in Savage and always have to wait while some skilled Savage raiders farm gear using alts. We all know many high end raiders use illicit add-ons and they hint at it in their videos, so those players who do not use these add-ons will need to wait many many months for gear to compensate for their pings in some cases. SE has very few teaching tools between Normal and Savage. There is a wealth of Savage-level content and yet very, very little on the Extreme level: what have we received so far? Three Extremes in DT with a couple others that were supposed to have been Extreme level in difficulty but ended up closer to Savage? The dumbing down and removal of Expert Dungeons over the years didn't help. And now those very skilled players who might have to bring along undesirables from time to time have to wait for those less-skilled players to grind their stuff in CEs, Fates, and gold farms at a more normal pace to catch up.

'Get a static' is one of the most pervasive counter arguments of the top end players: 'it's a social game,' they say. Average gamers can't all schedule time for statics. I suspect a lot of more-skilled players will have to wait for more average players to catch up for FT to hit its stride. The more-skilled players will have to experience those players who do not know what they are doing or have not studied how to do the content for hours beforehand. How ever will they handle prog-points? Us average players have experienced prog-liars for years. That one cannot just make fully pre-made groups very easily for FT is excellent. They'll get to experience what PF is like. Emphasizing PUG groups is great and I hope to see more of it from time to time for optional content in the future. The system actually seems intentionally designed to force the issue of having to wait a month or two and bring along more average players. I know some will work their ass off to figure out how to bypass this and hopefully they fail, their complaints are considered invalid by SE and Yoshi-P doesn't cave. I hear the high end player strategy will be to not revive those filthy evil 'snipers' who will ruin their fun: they mention it with the hope it happens and cover themselves by saying those players have the right to be in there. So to all the whiny players who are obsessed with clearing as soon as possible who have to wait for the rest of us to get there, as Ultimate and Savage raiders sometimes say: 'it's optional content and you don't need to do it' or 'try forming a PUG' (I switched out 'static' for 'PUG'...teehee).

Thankfully they get to experience a little bit of what we experience almost every time new, usually high-end content is released. They obviously can't handle the FOMO the rest of us are accustomed to. Forked Tower may or may not turn out well, but the entrance system is socially elegant. Many of us average players have trained long and hard for this kind of entrance challenge and for once they've designed an entrance system that seems perfectly average difficulty to us. Some high end players have become too comfortable with their statics and voice chat and can't seem to handle a little friction. It's not really that hard to get in, some just feel entitled to get in immediately and with the 'right people'. If SE has made any mistake it was coddling those high-level players/influencers for too long. So skilled players learn to have patience, be more social, try meeting new players, try learning some new skills, and try to have fun. I know I am by just seeing the shoe on the other foot for once.

P.S. I am talking about a tiny subset of players with vocal online opinions: social media influencer types. Most high-end players are not loud, whiny, and entitled and rarely visit forums because they are busy having fun.

[Nero-Voidstails]

it is beautiful but just getting in is the massive problem xx)

[Maltothoris]

There's only one issue. JP pugs have stopped doing this. They are not happy with this certain system. They've stopped doing FT. Plus we have all the nuances with the tower itseslf. Best way to say this, you need 3 time mages, 2 thieves, 2 geos, 2 rangers, 2 berserkers, 2 bards, 6 knights and 6 chemists and 1 oracle and 2 cannoners. You also have the 2nd boss who all have wipe mechs. You have bridges which could also lead to a wipe. You have the lockwards where you need careful rotation of who silences which add. Sorry to say this but the the average player isn't really going to consider this.

[SeriousPan]

Snip.

Where's the thread or all the comments about JP's FT experience? I'd like to have a read. It's nice to see all sides of the community joined in disdain for FT. lol

[RyomaUchi]

There's only one issue. JP pugs have stopped doing this.

Where u get that info from? I have seen some ppl saying this but never with any proof.

[JuicyHeals]

Where u get that info from? I have seen some ppl saying this but never with any proof.

https://ff14net.2chblog.jp/archives/...ml#comment-end

[Maltothoris]

Where u get that info from? I have seen some ppl saying this but never with any proof.

Admittedly I heard it mostly through sausagerolls chat during one of his forked towers runs. However thanks to the other response, look at all those replies and here's one with their own experience.

https://x.com/taisan_ffxiv/status/1930318947603362135

[JuicyHeals]

I suppose the average player could do it if you leave them dead the whole run and people offer carry runs. But as is when one person can wipe a whole alliance I don't see the average player doing this.

[Infindox]

P.S. I am talking about a tiny subset of players with vocal online opinions: social media influencer types. Most high-end players are not loud, whiny, and entitled and rarely visit forums because they are busy having fun.

I mean... Most high-end players are taking a break currently because they are also pissed off about how FT was handled.
Not sure why this content put "a smile on your face" because literally all players are being affected, not just the ones you hate.

Where's the thread or all the comments about JP's FT experience? I'd like to have a read. It's nice to see all sides of the community joined in disdain for FT. lol

]

Go to the JP forum section on here to look, under this same section. (Not sure the exact one but I've seen chat about it in a few different areas) Google translate isn't perfect but you can tell that some Japanese players aren't pleased about it.
Makes sense, because JP players are far more into using PFs and/or pugging to do content instead of Discord.

[Infindox]

I mean... Most high-end players are taking a break currently because they are also pissed off about how FT was handled.
Not sure why this content put "a smile on your face" because literally all players are being affected, not just the ones you hate.

Should also add to this: it doesn't even matter if the "content creators" complain about it, they still have the luxury of getting enough people to run it and have people willing to wait hours between attempts.