Seriha wrote:
I know people love to abuse the e-word on the net when it comes to MMOs and gaming in general, but I'm a firm believer that when people are looking to be entertained, it is in the now and not three months from now. So, when I see people having to drop money upfront, I'm pretty much sold on them being entitled (the e-word, here) to their fun as long as it's not rooted in being a huge detriment to others (like botting, hacking, ganking, etc.). And since it's not exactly an industry secret that sub-15% of any MMOs user base is clearing the top tier content by the time the next comes around, this means that 85% or more of those funds are going toward things they may never see. PvP also tends to be a minority if you use games where PvE and PvP servers are a thing. So, there seems to be this twisted industry preference going on where the minorities get preferential treatment, and I don't think that's cool. We've also got Yoshi on record saying he'd be more the hardcore and would even design a "harder" game if he could, but I can't help myself but feel that despite his attempts to divorce himself from that preference, it's still guiding his design philosophy here. Hence, crafting being second-rate, no top-tier open world gear acquisition, and the inevitable focus on dungeons/raiding.
So, think of this as a roundabout way of saying the whole "patch cycle" philosophy is rubbish. The big updates need to be bringing something meaningful for everyone. I know that's dreadfully vague, and in the past I've had people try to pervert that into wanting hand-outs or other back asswards hyperbole, but that's not it. It's about having things to do and not feeling left behind. And if we're aiming even higher, it's not about big patches every 3-4 months, but instead new things being rolled out as they're ready. Such has the added benefit of keeping the hype machine rolling instead of radio silence for 1.5-2 months.
I bolded the (IMO) important parts of your text. Once again I can see that your intentions are noble, but there's quite a few points to re-assess. Firstly and most importantly, if I understood the first bolded part right you're saying that since only ~15% of an MMO's user base clears top tier content in the time it takes for the company to release new a new set of top tier content, most of the money going towards top tier content may not benefit the remaining 85% of the user base. However I cannot help but disagree with the notion that the value of the current top tier content somehow vanishes once the new set of top tier content is released. You are essentially overlooking the "trickle down" effect that is an essential part of the MMO design philosophy and in my honest opinion it is this effect that completely turns the table in favor of the majority. In ARR terms, the big updates (aside from 2.0) have all brought something meaningful for a much higher percentage of the user base than the aforementioned ~15%. The trickle down effect makes sure of that. We may as well dive into the more philosophical questions like "is it new content if it has been in the game for six months?" and so on. But like with most philosophical questions, there is no one "right" answer. It is essentially new content to those 85% of the playerbase that have not had the chance to take part in it. Surely it is better than there being nothing "different from the past" to do at all.
I also see another philosophical question lingering in your post. The age-old question, "Who deserves to be the e-top dawg?" -Plato, 365 BC. Peculiarly you argue for more ways to penetrate the top-tier content even though those particular means would not exactly make the top-tier more accessible to the majority of the user base, only other minorities. Certainly the top-tier would lose much of it's significance if everyone could get there regardless of what they do or don't do in-game. With that said, there is no reason to exclude the majority from the equation (the user base that don't have the means or desire to penetrate the top-tier content). That is because It is extremely important to understand how the majority feels about the top-tier content in the game. In other words, if the majority cannot penetrate the top-tier content and thus attain the greatest rewards,
why would that be the case?
Since crafting boils down to money(=time) considering it doesn't exactly take a lot of skill to emulate the necessary steps needed for optimal results in the gameplay itself, by making crafting first-rate the devs would open the top-tier for those with little skill but all the money(=time) in the world. Since it is considerably harder to control the variables and build gameplay scenarios around open world content that is in any way different from instanced content, if the devs were to make these kinds of contents part of the top-tier they would be easy and time-consuming (to make up for the lack of difficulty). Once again the top-tier would be opened to those with little skill but all the time in the world. Not to say that SE hasn't already done this through the Zodiac saga, but I doubt that the weapons will go over ilvl110 even in their strongest form. Thus T9 will continue have the top-tier rewards.
The player mentality has changed a lot in the past decade. The majority will no longer accept that someone is the best simply because he has more time. He must also be more skilled, only then is it alright to be the top dawg. MOBA is an incredibly successful and a growing genre while MMO's continue to become stale. What do MOBA's have that MMO's don't? The gameplay is extremely skill focused, and if you are worse than someone it's because you aren't skilled enough. Time is a part of the equation, of course, but it is much easier to accept when it is not just time that a good player needs to excel.
SE is doing exactly what is demanded of them by the modern gamers, while the ancient gameplay designs are shunned. It is a different reality to people like you. In the end all you can say is that the devs don't get it, that they don't try enough, that you know better. You may continue to live being disappointed or accept the realities and move on. Most likely you will continue to make posts like the one I quoted with nothing changing in the actual games you play. It's just a sad sight to see, is all.