July 15 Hotfix NotesFollow

You have the occasional asshat that comes along and just claims without warning, but it's not happening often enough to bother THAT many people.

So there's 0 reason to run any endgame content, ST or Coil.

There's a bit of irony in calling for seals elsewhere, but wanting to remove tomes from Hunts.

There's a bit of irony in calling for seals elsewhere, but wanting to remove tomes from Hunts.

Putting ease of mobbed content aside, I suspect a large part of what we're seeing is the frustration of dungeon grinding.
1) Queues suck, especially as a DPS. The unpredictability of the wait and the time of the total run can leave some weary or skeptical.
2) Once you're in a party, there's no guarantee it's any good.
3) DF objectives may conflict. Full clear or speed run? If not up for one or the other, hello drama.
4) Not all dungeons are created equal. People dropping PS when it rolled in the past, anyone?
5) Dungeon loot on its own sucks. i70 stuff or sh*tty greens isn't much of a motivator past vanity.
6) Lock outs, both of the loot and access variety. Knock it off, SE.

1, 2, and 3 aren't really something SE can do.anything about specifically for dungeons, as it's a mesh of preference and RL availability. This is partly why I've been so big on adding open world content with actual endgame progression. It's here, yay, but it's not perfect, I'll agree. Now, points 4, 5, and 6 can kind of entwine, with 4 itself maybe dipping back into the preference pool. This is where I'd then propose chests within dungeons could drop allied seals, logs, or sands and such directly, though comparatively rare depending. Though, I can't say I'm a fan of the loot drama the last two might evoke in the PUG setting, so party-wide seals may be the safer solution. I could also get behind some degree of randomization within the dungeons themselves, where a rare, but appropriate, spawn may show up for some bonus loot. Or they could even be tied to objectives like clearing everything in an area, or beating a boss in X time. Stuff like that.

Either way, XIV's dungeon/raid game isn't perfect, nor is it everyone's cup of tea. I'm more than aware there are people out there whining that people can gear up to i110 outside of coil, but that's seriously just an ego problem. Get over it and play what you like. If it turns out not as many people like what you like now that alternatives are present, welp, welcome to a better perspective of your peers. Consider, however, that when the next gear tier hits, Hunts may not follow suit, at least not initially. Right now, the biggest perk of hunts is the fact someone could actually get multiple jobs better endgame viable in a more timely manner. The weekly tome cap is still at play, but things like that and lock outs just fly in the face of their all-on-one-character class system.

Considering I actually keep up with this game and it seems like you don't, Yoshida actually admitted it was a last minute addition. I know it makes you feel better to bash games you never played, but the only reason they're doomed to make adjustments, as you say, is because it wasn't a thought out system to being with.

Oh, and also every MMORPG to ever exist makes constant adjustments during it's run. Stop pretending that's new to the genre.

Coincidentally, this argument could be applied i110 gear prior to this patch. On the other hand, I also went on to write that I don't have issue with seals showing up elsewhere. Just do it right.

As is, I'm feeling like the game is on its way to currency type bloat. Gil, GC seals, Philo, Myth, Soldiery, Allied, PvP, and maybe even some I'm forgetting about. This is an issue Rift has faced and eventually led to them phasing out some old stuff. Personally, I'd have no issue with Philo, Myth, Soldiery, and Allied being combined, with related item costs then be scaled to a projected a difficulty of acquisition. If running the "hard" dungeons is to be expect of getting i100, you could set the base around 8 runs per piece. On the other end, you could maybe buy an i90 piece in 3-4. While I am aware this still presents the "problem" of "not deserving" loot by grinding easier content, I still say its more in the head while leaving folks more free to work on other jobs.

But something I didn't quite speak on as to why it's okay for Hunts to triple dip into the currencies with Myth, Soldiery, and Seals is the aspect of time. Is it for the betterment of the game if you throw a laundry list of activities at the player they may not want to do, but have to do in order to get something? I don't think so. Especially with the pressure of a daily/weekly clock. I find myself reminded of a period in FFXI where a player's day could look like logging in to Dynamis, Salvage, an Assault or two so you can do Salvage, and then maybe Limbus before you could start talking about other time consuming activities. You lose a few hours in the first few alone, and days where you don't participate is potential progress and profit forever lost. It's a dangerous line to toe, overwhelming players. In contrast, I @#%^ing hated how Rift had certain accessories be PvP only or something like Conquest Power being a virtual stat requirement if you wanted raid "seriously" in the end. Trion flubbed pretty hard here, pulled people every which way, to the point that at least CP is primed to be removed.



I believe there is such a thing as "holding players hostage" when it comes to certain types of games, and MMOs are one of them. When incentive becomes requirement, as I noted earlier with the Rift example, and more broadly with XI's event bloat, you start taking choices away from the player. I'm not exactly keen on the whole, "If you don't like it, then quit!" rationale that tends to be proposed in counter. That said, we, as players, also hold ourselves hostage with things like DKP systems, the formation of cliques/statics, or even demanding stuff like voice chat (even if you don't like or want to use it). Sure, in-game tokens take a bit of sting out of the former, but we've still got random drops in Coil where the question of "Who deserves it?" must be asked, especially if trying to move beyond Need/Greed. And fundamentally, the more people you add to an equation, the less likely they are all going to be friends.

I've shared some of less favorable social experiences in XI here in the past. Maybe I'm jaded. Maybe I'm cynical. I don't need a 30+ person guild/linkshell to enjoy a game anymore, assuming the game allows me to. I don't want to have to tip-toe around people I dislike. I want to know my friends are with me to be with me, and not to just use me and scram. It's far too often that these are what the "warm bodies" are that are generally filling out raids while one or two folks bark orders at the herd. So, for me, it's also about showing true colors. I don't fault people for being selfish in their own ways, that's just a part of gear-based progression. If the challenge and potential friendships with a side of bragging rights (not gear) is not incentive for the people who do fear losing their sheep for alternative content, however, I stand by my point that maybe that particular type of content isn't what people are craving.

I know it's a bit dev chic to claim a customer doesn't know what they want, but sometimes they do. To the point of specifics. I imagine the popularity of the Hunt system, despite its flaws, should be sending a pretty big message to SE. My concern, however, is where it goes from here. If we go to BC being the only source of top gear in the future, I'd call it a step backward. Personally, I have no issue with there being two sets of top tier gear, with the harder stuff being the "prettier" version. You'll still have people ******** about the welfare scrubs muscling in on their turf, though.

...if you want Allied Seals, you have to hunt, period.