Critical Analysis: Relic Weapon Seal Acquisition

[Platinumstorm]

Hello,

I'm the author of
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...Hamlet+defense
which I wrote after the first hamlet defense turn in.

Ever since I began working on my relic weapon I have wanted to write a new thread, but without sufficient effort behind me, I expected plenty of character assassination attempts in any such thread. Activity from the "flood" of FFXIV information would have likewise diluted and lost my message to the ever fickle blades of 2.0 grass, and other interests, responsibilities, and my aggressive traveling schedule has also kept me from writing this until now.

Where I currently stand:
5 seals
Sarnga +1 x2 meld
Effort: There's no way I could possibly know, but I've watched multiple television series and movies while blasting my mind with repetition between gathering and hamlet phases.
----------------------------
My goal before the end of 1.0 was to collect all 9 seals. I don't have a linkshell which can tackle the content afterwards, and I was pretty content with that. Ironically, the one I did try to get involved with was only interested in me if I had collected all 9 seals. Not a big deal, that's a player issue.

I've become a provisioner on multiple occasions. Thankfully, players had a lack of interest in becoming provisioners, so getting into the top 20 wasn't terribly difficult on most occasions. The top 3 is often camped by guilds where players pool together resources, hand it to one player, and then he or she turns in as much as is needed to secure a top 3 spot while rotating turns. Likewise, individuals also farm for weeks hoping to gather enough materials to turn in and secure a top 3 spot.

Failing to secure a top three spot isn't a death sentence, but it is indicative of a large waste of time. I know one person who turned in around 1 million points worth of materials only to be relegated to 4th place. I imagine during his run 20th was around 20,000 points. That situation was quite a waste of his time.

I've turned in lesser amounts of materials only to be relegated to 4th place, nothing terribly significant, but the difference is since August hamlets on my server often fail to achieve rank 2. This shouldn't surprise anyone, as the advent of the educational season in the US [my server is US heavy] and diminished interest from those who have completed their relic weapon and never want to do hamlet defense again [can't blame them].

Failure to reach rank 2 means players who are not in the top 3 have no interest in running it unless they are somehow related to the persons in the top 3 provisioning because their mind has been turned into a puddle of hamlet goop and there is no way they will be rewarded from a rank 1 hamlet, this punishes anyone who is a provisioner whether they are ranked 1 or 20 and could, in unique consequences, have devastating consequences for the top 3.
------------
Without discussing the suicidal ideation often orated from players after monotonously trudging through a day filled with hamlet defense, this presents several problems.

#1. Square will always have to monitor hamlet turn ins across x servers for the entire lifespan of the game. This is a bad idea.

#2. If left as it is as servers become more populated it will remain difficult to break into the top 3, and it will become even harder to obtain the seals through top 20 provisioning since it will be more difficult. There is no consistency in the expected rate to obtain the item because it's almost like how FFXI leveling worked - it depended on the number of people around your level range. Furthermore, if future "upgradeable" versions of relic weapons rely on hamlet defense on higher ranking, competition will, at different times, become even more fierce for the same top 20 provisioner spots. This will additionally add barriers for players who haven't obtained their original weapon relic yet.

#3. The design of obtaining the relic weapon seals focuses on time spent and not the skill level of the player. It doesn't define skilled players from unskilled players, it separates players who have varying amounts of time on their hands.

The bottom line is the method behind collecting the seals isn't fun, it doesn't make you a better player, and is decided primarily on a function of time.
When you make content a function of time you tell people to sacrifice their personal life to achieve in game goals. When this reaches a certain point, most people will default to their real life responsibilities. In many cases, this leads to players leaving a game entirely.

The highlighted problems don't foster a healthy community, and they don't nourish a flourishing player base.

My recommendation would be to revise and design content around a reasonable time commitment but with focus around epically designed content and emphasis on player skill.

----
I'm expecting a fair amount of backlash here so, we'll see how this goes. =)

[Shougun]

Hamlet and relic quest are poorly designed

/signed [1.0 at least]

[Stanislaw]

Information in this thread should probably address your concerns.

[Raikki]

I agree that the seal pre-req is tedious and unskilled, but the rest of the relic quest is a lot better. It could stand to be harder, but the majority of the people who will complain about it on here aren't complaining because it's too easy, they're complaining because they want to make an excuse for not being able to complete it.

[Shougun]

I agree that the seal pre-req is tedious and unskilled, but the rest of the relic quest is a lot better. It could stand to be harder, but the majority of the people who will complain about it on here aren't complaining because it's too easy, they're complaining because they want to make an excuse for not being able to complete it.

... polling stats from the air?

Materia double meld on the relic weapon is also retarded RNG work. (But the whole materia system is retarded RNG)

[prymortal]

I agree that the seal pre-req is tedious and unskilled, but the rest of the relic quest is a lot better. It could stand to be harder, but the majority of the people who will complain about it on here aren't complaining because it's too easy, they're complaining because they want to make an excuse for not being able to complete it.

yeah & alot are complaining due to the time involved just to get the started & have nothing to show for it, they'd have many levels in another mmo or even in this one.

[Raikki]

... polling stats from the air?

Materia double meld on the relic weapon is also retarded RNG work. (But the whole materia system is retarded RNG)

Melded weapons are, what, 10-40mil on the wards depending on which one you want? That's really not a lot of money in this game. Why shouldn't relics have an economic component, anyway?

yeah & alot are complaining due to the time involved just to get the started & have nothing to show for it, they'd have many levels in another mmo or even in this one.

Oh no, a relic weapon takes a lot of time to get? How awful.

[Shougun]

Melded weapons are, what, 10-40mil on the wards depending on which one you want? That's really not a lot of money in this game. Why shouldn't relics have an economic component, anyway?

I didnt complain you could buy them. Though I think that is a little lame in the experience of making a relic.

I just said that materia is stupid RNG. Its been long enough companies should stop copying each other just because someone else did it. There are better systems that would still maintain difficulty and yet reward each work and not random work.

(thankfully SE is doing this, at least a little bit in 2.0)

[Raikki]

I didnt complain you could buy them. Though I think that is a little lame in the experience of making a relic.

I just said that materia is stupid RNG. Its been long enough companies should stop copying each other just because someone else did it. There are better systems that would still maintain difficulty and yet reward each work and not random work.

(thankfully SE is doing this, at least a little bit in 2.0)

I agree that materia RNG is not the most exciting, but there's really no shame in buying a melded weapon off the wards. The wards are there for a reason. It's not like you're going to SB farm (also lame RNG) all your own low-roll tier 4 materia for it anyway, so either way you're using the wards for it. Trust me, buying your M2 vs. melding it yourself really doesn't diminish from the "relic experience".

[tymora]

#3. The design of obtaining the relic weapon focuses on time spent and not the skill level of the player. It doesn't define skilled players from unskilled players, it separates players who have varying amounts of time on their hands.

I think that's IS the goal of SE, which they achieved.
Anyway, I got 9/9 from all PUGs in ~120 runs. Did 0 provisioning.