I'll save you the trouble, Nashred... you won't find it. I've never said Atma farming is fun.
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I don't understand how people enjoy standing in the middle of nowhere and wasting 3 hours waiting for a FATE to pop.
I do believe atma farming draws upon the same inner gamer urges as NM farming. I spent way more time trying to get drops from NMs that I did getting all 12 of my atma drops (and I easily spent more than 30 actual hours farming atma). That's just me... I was luckier than some, but not luckier than others.
(NOTE: Although I'm not really a fan of NM camping from a "fun" perspective, I'd love for NMs to be implemented in FFXIV, and I perceive the lack of true NMs to be among the more significant weaknesses of this game. Fortunately, it's a weakness that doesn't really affect me.)
Now, to be perfectly clear, I do believe this type of content is good for XIV. Could the atma content have been implemented a bit smarter? Yeah... the RNG could have been calculated to provide improving returns for the amount of FATES you do in a zone with the quest active and a zenith equipped, or something like that. But I'm not capable of kicking and screaming over a burnt piece of toast. I believe FFXIV is better with the atma/animus weapon quests in the game. Doesn't mean the entire journey is fun (not everything needs to be fun), but I'm glad the journey is there.
To bring this back to the OP (which is the success of the PS4 launch and the continued influx of new players), the atma farming was probably designed to include FATE grinding as a way to populate "newb" content at a time when lots of new people are coming into the game. Shrewd move by SE, imo.
EDIT: One more thing, Nashred... if you're still grinding FATES, then clear out your seals by getting as many venture vouchers as you can. Even with just two retainers, you'll blow through those vouchers pretty fast, and later you'll be glad to have a huge stockpile of vouchers while others are worrying about how to get more.
DOUBLE EDIT: Also, I am sorry that you're having such horrible luck with the RNG.
Edited, Apr 18th 2014 9:04am by Thayos