"Revamped" Rewards System

[mbncd]

I agree that power creep ages content instead of adding to it. What is the point of a game that has a hundred things to do if only the three most recent things are considered to give currently acceptable drops? The other 97 things just rot and the game loses most of what it has going for it, the content everyone wanted. "There's not enough stuff to do!"

[Rukkirii]

While the details have yet to be finalized, Yoshida did discuss a bit about his plans for the new rewards system in a recent media interview. He said that for the overall path for how adventurers increase their strength, they're creating a flow where you would earn tokens via content to purchase equipment. Then, using that new gear, would be able to take on challenges for rare items, and once complete, challenge ever harder content to really become powerful. Players should be able to achieve the first objective, and then really challenge themselves on the higher difficulty content.

As soon as we have more concrete examples or details, we'll be sure to pass them along!

[Mijin]

While the details have yet to be finalized, Yoshida did discuss a bit about his plans for the new rewards system in a recent media interview. He said that for the overall path for how adventurers increase their strength, they're creating a flow where you would earn tokens via content to purchase equipment. Then, using that new gear, would be able to take on challenges for rare items, and once complete, challenge ever harder content to really become powerful. Players should be able to achieve the first objective, and then really challenge themselves on the higher difficulty content.

As soon as we have more concrete examples or details, we'll be sure to pass them along!

It’s is basically what I was afraid of. This system is a carbon copy of WoW’s horse-and-carrot rewards system to keep people constantly replacing their gear sets. I assume since they’re following WoW so closely in this aspect, and several others for that matter, they will also follow in their footsteps of releasing new content every several weeks that replaces the old “best gear” entirely forcing you into a never ending cycle of collecting completely new gear sets.

I can’t help but suspect this system is going to further undermine crafters as well. If everyone is gearing up by doing low end dungeons to gain the user accepted “gear rating” to raid, people are going to lose a need for crafted gear. I would also venture to guess that the current gear you have already worked so hard to obtain will probably be made obsolete at the launch date.

In any case; WoW fans will rejoice, and FFXI fans (aka the majority of people interested in FFXIV) will be much less pleased. Of course I'm speculating about a few things here so I'll retain some optimism, but for the record, as Rukkirii just confirmed, my speculations turn our to be true more than not.

[Shougun]

It’s is basically what I was afraid of. This system is a carbon copy of WoW’s horse-and-carrot rewards system to keep people constantly replacing their gear sets. I assume since they’re following WoW so closely in this aspect, and several others for that matter, they will also follow in their footsteps of releasing new content every several weeks that replaces the old “best gear” entirely forcing you into a never ending cycle of collecting completely new gear sets.

I can’t help but suspect this system is going to further undermine crafters as well. If everyone is gearing up by doing low end dungeons to gain the user accepted “gear rating” to raid, people are going to lose a need for crafted gear. I would also venture to guess that the current gear you have already worked so hard to obtain will probably be made obsolete at the launch date.

In any case; WoW fans will rejoice, and FFXI fans (aka the majority of people interested in FFXIV) will be much less pleased. Of course I'm speculating about a few things here so I'll retain some optimism, but for the record, as Rukkirii just confirmed, my speculations turn our to be true more than not.

Everything in the game is designed to keep you playing. . . And just because WoW does it doesnt mean everything that happens in WoW will happen here.

Oh noez i see an exp bar and a mini map on my screen, must be like WoW. WoW didn't really create as much as it made renovation to preexisting systems. And while it may not be everyone's favorite game they obviously did enough right that even with a subscription they reached millions of players.

SE wouldnt be wise to try and make another WoW as WoW is WoW - and is still alive. However, there are tips they can take (That WoW has taken from other mmo's :P, also can look at other big mmo's for what they do well/not. Like GW2 has a better sense of working together, no bitching who gets the first or last hit).

I hope they make ideas their own as well though, like when they do token systems perhaps they can blend it into the game in a less obvious way - like crafting material drops and such that are a more natural sense of getting items.

[Mijin]

Everything in the game is designed to keep you playing. . . And just because WoW does it doesnt mean everything that happens in WoW will happen here.

Oh noez i see an exp bar and a mini map on my screen, must be like WoW. WoW didn't really create as much as it made renovation to preexisting systems. And while it may not be everyone's favorite game they obviously did enough right that even with a subscription they reached millions of players.

SE wouldnt be wise to try and make another WoW as WoW is WoW - and is still alive. However, there are tips they can take (That WoW has taken from other mmo's :P, also can look at other big mmo's for what they do well/not. Like GW2 has a better sense of working together, no bitching who gets the first or last hit).

I hope they make ideas their own as well though, like when they do token systems perhaps they can blend it into the game in a less obvious way - like crafting material drops and such that are a more natural sense of getting items.

I'd like to remind you that wow clones never work.

[Yrusama]

I'd like to remind you that wow clones never work.

He's not saying it should be a WoW clone. He's saying it's not a bad thing to adapt good ideas from other MMOs to XIV. FFXIV tried too hard to be different at its initial launch, which was part of its failing. There are also a lot of other features that set XIV apart from other MMOs, namely being able to switch not only from job to job, but between job and class. I hope they give us more uses for the classes, though, because the class-only gear looks nice.

[Reika]

While the details have yet to be finalized, Yoshida did discuss a bit about his plans for the new rewards system in a recent media interview. He said that for the overall path for how adventurers increase their strength, they're creating a flow where you would earn tokens via content to purchase equipment. Then, using that new gear, would be able to take on challenges for rare items, and once complete, challenge ever harder content to really become powerful. Players should be able to achieve the first objective, and then really challenge themselves on the higher difficulty content.

As soon as we have more concrete examples or details, we'll be sure to pass them along!

So pretty much youre going to make all new gear that is weaker than the current abysmal drop rate gear, thus keeping abysmal drop rates abysmal?

I don't know.... Sounds like people are still going to spam content that way if you ask me.

[Orophin]

Sounds like tiered content from WoW then. Get to level 60 > Scholo and Strat > LBRS/UBRS > MC > BWL > AQ > Naxx > etc, etc...

I just hope some content will be relevant more than 3 months at a time. I didn't play FFXI endgame much, but it sounds frustrating to have had LV75 gear for 5 years then everything made obsolete in a short period of time within the level cap being raised.

[Erics_Asura]

Sounds like tiered content from WoW then. Get to level 60 > Scholo and Strat > LBRS/UBRS > MC > BWL > AQ > Naxx > etc, etc...

I just hope some content will be relevant more than 3 months at a time. I didn't play FFXI endgame much, but it sounds frustrating to have had LV75 gear for 5 years then everything made obsolete in a short period of time within the level cap being raised.

I'll agree. It sounds more of a WoW system. I didn't really care much for that system at all, but I am willing and hoping Yoshi-P makes it more of an "original" style, then just copy/paste just because a player base wants loleasymode. There is a reason FF titles are JRPGs, gives a good challenge for gear that is amazing.

The gear being obsolete after 5 years is a lot better than most MMOs, usually gear is obsolete within a year or so. Also, any gear is going to be obsolete in any game when levels increase, that's just how it always works.

EDIT: If Yoshi brings in "gear score" or anything similar, I will probably hang in my head in shame.

[Orophin]

I'll agree. It sounds more of a WoW system. I didn't really care much for that system at all, but I am willing and hoping Yoshi-P makes it more of an "original" style, then just copy/paste just because a player base wants loleasymode. There is a reason FF titles are JRPGs, gives a good challenge for gear that is amazing.

The gear being obsolete after 5 years is a lot better than most MMOs, usually gear is obsolete within a year or so. Also, any gear is going to be obsolete in any game when levels increase, that's just how it always works.

It's not so much an issue of things becoming obsolete, that much is a given. It's just there needs to be an acceptable amount of time pass before your gear goes the way of the dodo. 3 months I feel is too soon, but 5 years is just way too long.

Personally I think your gear should remain viable until there's a level cap raise, but they should do those way more frequently than what happened in FFXI with the stagnation at 75. The gear they dished out was more or less sidegrades, and equipment swapping doesn't seem too viable here, so gear should be a bit more meaningful for longer periods of time before they introduce more.

Considering Rukkirii said nothing about the level cap, I'm thinking it might be more along the lines of zone vendors in TOR than WoW's ladder progression into raiding.

I was using more of an example of what WoW's progression was like at the cap in Vanilla (60) to illustrate that it was necessary to farm each one of those dungeons until you were geared well enough to move up to the next one. You had to stay within that order I posted originally, else you wouldn't have the necessary stats to survive the next level of difficulty dungeon.

We've had a little more freedom in FF14 1.0 because of materia. Darklight isn't absolutely necessary since you do have the ability to multi-meld craftable equipment, even though there's a pretty costly investment and luck factor to do so.

FF14's progression has basically started with DH armor, which was made obsolete with materia melded gear, which was somewhat overshadowed by darklight, if you could get it. For weapons, the primal weapons were a natural progression with each new fight that came out. When it was announced that WS damage was tied to the DPS of the weapon, this kinda limited some options with the exception of moogle weapons being used in the case of high accuracy needed.