AF+1 Costs WAY Too Much

[GilbertLapine]

So I thought to myself, "Wow, this mythology tomestone farming thing is taking FOREVER," so I tried science!

Having added up the costs, and accounting for cross-class usage of accessories I came to the following results:

Single-Job Numbers:
- Cost of complete AF+1/Relic+1 set (m. tomestones): 5,685
- AK runs to complete: 143
- Weeks to complete (assuming 300/wk): 19 (=~5 months)
- Hours of gameplay required (avg 60 min AK at 70% success rate + 30 mins of DF wait): 278

Total Completion Numbers (assuming shared accessories):
- Cost for all AF+1/Relic+1 sets (m. tomestones): 42,540
- AK runs to complete: 1,064
- Weeks to complete: 142 (=~36 months, =~3 years)
- Hours of gameplay required: 2,074

I believe the following pictures sum up my total feels at the present time:





These two posts, and my replies, pretty well sum up the reaction here:

A question for you people playing this MMO, do you plan playing this for more than 5 months?
If so, stop complaining. Not everything is time saving and convenient. Get used to it!
This coming from a Legacy player who started a new character and is by no means in any rush to get to the end quickly.
Because that's the thing with MMO's, there is no end.. really!

I had planned on playing for the long run, though this has me rethinking my decision. In order to 'finish' a single class, anyone with a job and a life has to spend 90-100% of their daily game time in a dungeon/LFP/DF, with little opportunity for working on subclasses, crafting, or community building. It's also a crapshoot for gil production unless you're taking the hit in stats to equip cheap white equips you can assimilate later for cash. So... that'll gimp a lot of players that decide to take time for gil farming when housing comes out as well.

So many people posting here seem to be blind to the fact that a) there's more to do in the game than grind Amdapor Keep, and b) (allegedly) there is more content forthcoming that isn't even dungeon-based (i.e., housing, PvP Frontline, etc.).

I would turn the question to you, then, and ask: do you plan on only playing until you get your equips, then quit? If so, what was the point of getting them in the first place? Do you have so little imagination that you can't play an MMO unless you're spoon fed progression? Because that's the thing with MMO's there is no end.. really! Unless.. you QQ once you get your end gear, that is.

If it we're that easy to get there would be no point to doing other things like Coil. Even CT that's coming out in 2.1 is supposed to be ilvl80ish. The AF +1 is meant to supplement or fill in gaps in your current gear that you don't get from the RNG chests.

I agree though, only one viable end game dungeon to actually get said myth tomestones outside of Coil needs to be addressed. This seems more like throwing a bone to people that either can't spend the time to do the higher end content or aren't able to complete it.

I gotta ask then, if this is the case why is it so damn hard to get? If it's just a gap filler, it shouldn't be so insanely troublesome to attain.

Also, it's rather disturbing how many people equate the game's "difficulty" and overall fun-factor with how many times you have to repeat existing content to move on. I dunno, I've always seen such filler repeat content as a cop out, not a value add. I mean, I've enjoyed the relic quests because they're so insanely difficult, and force you to master them (it's incredibly satisfying to spank Ifrit HM and Garuda HM, at least for me -- still working on Titan), but the tomestone requirements just insult to the intelligence of the player community at large.

Other rages:

Getting the best gear in the game takes time and effort?! OH NO!

ಠ_ಠ

5 months of straight AK runs for a single gearset exceeds "effort". At that point it ceases to become a game, and turns into just.. work. There's not even a skill or progression component at that point, its just repetition for the sake of repetition. Is SE really so scared people will QQ if they max out a single job in less than half a year of daily play?

Stuff.

Stuff.

Blah, blah, blah. I can see neither of you grasp the armory system (i.e. the idea that you can play multiple classes in the game), nor the fact that they've effectively made the gears unattainable before they are made obsolete by the next major content release (which is sure to come before, say, 3 years from now (which is the earliest a new Lv50 player could possibly exhaust the AF+1 content as it currently exists, so throw in a few more months if you're considering players just starting)).

I can also see you have no comprehension or aspirations for the game beyond gear attainment, which is sad. I'm offended by accusations that I would want to sell my account, especially. For my own purposes I want to be done with the chores of gear attainment until the next content release comes out, and simply enjoy running dungeons and raids for the fun of it. As of right now, the gear push is draining enjoyment fast.

It's a shame that SE has to build in a constant stick-and-carrot to keep people like you happy.

[KiriA500]

Welcome to the MMO genre. Enjoy your stay!

[GilbertLapine]

Welcome to the MMO genre. Enjoy your stay!

Welcome to an MMO that is not WoW. If you want to get geared quick and easily, you should go back there

Never played WoW, sorry. Just because that game was apparently over-easy doesn't mean XIV needs to knee jerk in the opposite direction, though.

On a side note, while I didnt play WoW I do despise what it did to one of my favorite childhood RTS franchises. WCIII was so good... and then WoW destroyed it and made 'Azeroth' a byword of disgruntled nerdom. At least SC is still rockin'.

[ImeXo]

Never played WoW, sorry. Just because that game was apparently over-easy doesn't mean XIV needs to knee jerk in the opposite direction, though.

On a side note, while I didnt play WoW I do despise what it did to one of my favorite childhood RTS franchises. WCIII was so good... and then WoW destroyed it and made 'Azeroth' a byword of disgruntled nerdom. At least SC is still rockin'.

You're really calling 5 months long, considering that in FF11 you had to wait roughly 2 years at the time it came out to progress and complete your relic weapons, 5 months is like a walk in the park. If the stats are really worth it then yes, I don't think everyone should be running around with said gear, there needs to be some difficulty in obtaining it and not that I agree with dungeon grinding, but I guess that's the only way they found to limit it thus far.

[Sol_Aureus]

Getting the best gear in the game takes time and effort?! OH NO!

ಠ_ಠ

[Obysuca]

Getting the best gear in the game takes time and effort?! OH NO!

ಠ_ಠ

This ^

People these days expect to start up a game and have everything handed to them, it's pretty sad. Working for stuff actually feels like an accomplishment when you finally get it. That's how getting a relic feels to me too :/ I literally started my relic, got all the way to the end in 1 day. 1 day for the best weapon thats out now? What kind of crap is that?

[Fuddy]

Getting the best gear in the game takes time and effort?! OH NO!

ಠ_ಠ

I think a lot of people like this ^ are missing the point. Spending months grinding is NOT compelling content. It is in fact boring. Players who enjoy this are the minority. If you are one of those who enjoys this grind I really question how you value your time. Having to work for something in a game like this is fine as long as it is fun but in its current state in FFXIV it is NOT fun and the pay off for months of work it turns out isn't worth it. That much time isn't worth the result and that is the real problem.

Sometimes I wonder if the argument against "casuals" isn't really just an argument against people who really value their time.

Secondly, people are again confusing hard with boring.

^ This

[Feathery]

I think a lot of people like this ^ are missing the point. Spending months grinding is NOT compelling content. It is in fact boring. Players who enjoy this are the minority. If you are one of those who enjoys this grind I really question how you value your time.

I disagree. Have you ever played any Asian MMOs? In fact grinding is a major component of most Asian MMOs simply because Asian players enjoy grinding. I am a veteran L2 players possibly one of the most grindy MMOs it would typically take about 1½ years to reach max level and endgame was more grind, the game was wildly popular in Asia and especially South Korea. What's my point? Well FFXIV:ARR is an Asian MMO and one of the biggest markets is Japan, a country in Asia.

[Madruk]

I think a lot of people like this ^ are missing the point. Spending months grinding is NOT compelling content. It is in fact boring. Players who enjoy this are the minority. If you are one of those who enjoys this grind I really question how you value your time. Having to work for something in a game like this is fine as long as it is fun but in its current state in FFXIV it is NOT fun and the pay off for months of work it turns out isn't worth it. That much time isn't worth the result and that is the real problem.

Sometimes I wonder if the argument against "casuals" isn't really just an argument against people who really value their time.

If you don't want to grind there's Bahamut's Coil. Pretty simple concept. About the only argument here I see is if people want the unique look of AF instead of Allagan.

[crimsonlung]

Getting the best gear in the game takes time and effort?! OH NO!

ಠ_ಠ

There is a difference between fun, enjoyable effort, and lengthy, outdrawn grinding.

The people with the best gear will not be the ones with the most talent, they will be the ones who can do the same dungeons 1000 times in a row without getting bored and switching to a different game.