Retainers Will Gather For You in ARR

[Hyrist]

*looks*

I find myself wrestling with my more Jaded nature here. I can understand the idea of having a system of depth and enjoyment for those attracted to it. But one without enough attractive features can be harmful to the game as a whole in more ways, as you'll just get a few select people abusing crafting material prices or intentionally flooding the market.

Having a retainer who, after an ample amount of investment, can say, bring some meterials for a guy working two jobs and having about enough time to raid before he goes to bed for the next double shift, it helps them not fall so far behind in the other parts of the game he simply can't play.

Over all it feels too knee-jerky of a reaction to call fowl at giving the Retainer more functions than simply storing and selling stuff. And at least with 'legal botting' there can be a level of control given to the amount of worth one gets out of using this function.

Feeling passionate about something is usually the incorrect course of action when trying to mull it over logically.

[Akubikumo]

But...isn't this the whole crux of the hardcore/casual question? "This thing here is really hard/time consuming to get, therefore only the hardcore players can/should get it". Just seems like a double standard when we talk about gathering like this. Maybe im not understanding how this is supposed to work, but...so far, im not liking it.

...
...Feeling passionate about something is usually the incorrect course of action when trying to mull it over logically.

Normally true yes, lol, but this is about a game and how to enjoy it. Logic isn't really at play here...

And also, there arent many of us 50x3 Gatherers for a reason. We put a lot of hours and effort in and this whole concept makes me a little sad. One less point on my precious snowflake maybe but, damnit, my snowflake IS special...to me. So yeah...passionate all the way baby.

[Uriahnool]

I had an idea waaaaay back when 1.0 was first out that it would be cool if everyone had their own personal moogle to go buy and sell stuff from the shops and not having to always go to the shops to set these things up. If a retainer can handle buying and selling for me, that would be awesome. Gathering? Also a plus.

To those who are upset about having to do all that gathering to get to level 50 and feeling the retainers will take away our jobs - consider that if retainers have levels, would not you have to gather your way to 50 through the same hard work and dedication as usual in order to have a level 50 retainer? Once at level 50, additional gathering on your own time will not get you anywhere, so retainer-gotten materials sounds like a good thing.

[HiirNoivl]

To those who are upset about having to do all that gathering to get to level 50 and feeling the retainers will take away our jobs - consider that if retainers have levels, would not you have to gather your way to 50 through the same hard work and dedication as usual in order to have a level 50 retainer?

You have my ears.... of course, players would have to be online to level retainers... yes?

[Mortechai]

I find the very idea of my gather items competing with what NPCs do in the marketplace distasteful. NPCs should be that. NON-playing characters.

It's making botting legal.

I agree with this...it's basically having sanctioned botting...except it's built into the game. Give RMT long enough to level hundreds of "Retainer farming" accounts and soon enough you'll have a flooded market with hugely inflated prices.

[Zenaku]

We just wanted to let you know that relying on your retainer alone to gather for you isn't going to cover all of your gathering needs. We are planning this system very carefully to ensure it does not destroy any sort of economic balance so you can rest easy in that regard.

There you go just like i said many time it going to be balance it be just something fun to have around. But it wont be something that would help 100% your needs.

[Akubikumo]

..
To those who are upset about having to do all that gathering to get to level 50 and feeling the retainers will take away our jobs - consider that if retainers have levels, would not you have to gather your way to 50 through the same hard work and dedication as usual in order to have a level 50 retainer? Once at level 50, additional gathering on your own time will not get you anywhere, so retainer-gotten materials sounds like a good thing.

Well, ok good point. But...i like gathering. I'm not so into the idea of leveling a retainer .__.

[finiteHP]

Retainers gaining lvls no thnx. But now they gonna gather like in a game that failed miserably . Yeah excellent idea lol. We can only hope they listen to the ppl that dont want this to fail.

Doesn't really matter whether a game it appeared in before failed or not. It wasn't the gathering that made it fail. By that logic we shouldn't have anything that was in the original XIV since it failed.

As for the issue itself, at the moment I'm indifferent. I'll wait until we have more information before making up my mind.

[HiirNoivl]

I wonder how "easy mode" it is. If buying the stuff we gather is more convenient than retainer gathering, then it will remain the "poor man's option", thus lessening the effect on the economy. If it doesn't take away the need for gathering subclasses, then I would hope that people would still consider picking up the ol' hatchet and going out and harvesting and gathering, thus preserving the subjob of gathering

This is my hope and I'll give it a chance, but the minute I see retainer run businesses I'm crying foul. We can't let this get out of hand.

[Seraphe]

I've found my passion for gathering very late in FFXIV, but when I finally started it it was awesome. It is certainly the first thing I'll do when I get to play ARR at release. It is by no means a chore as it is a system about knowing the market, exploring Eorzea and chat with fellow gatherers. Besides you could call everything a chore. Leveling to 50? chore. Dzemael Darkhold 1038712 times to get 1 piece of equipment? chore. Why can't we let our retainers form a party to farm the darklight gear then?

If a vast majority of the players doesn't want to gather that's cool but letting retainers do it for you is not a solution (not even to a small extend). Make Gathering even more attractive if you think we gatherers can't deliver supplies for a stable economy. Well but we'll have to wait for Beta to see how it turns out.. MAYBE it is balanced and does NOT affect the economy. Otherwise prepare for some serious feedback from Hiir and me >_<. Nice to meet you btw

Can't find it on the roadmap (unless it's "Player Search
Markets / Item Search (text strings, HQ, materia, etc.) / Other" in Phase 1)

Well let's hope for the best><