First Expansion of ARR AnnouncementFollow

Coming at the October Fan Fest.

Source.

While I wasn't correct that the expansion would be announced at E3, I think I get partial points for the announcement of the upcoming announcement.

Yes, I'm looking forward to it!

SE continues the practice of announcing the announcenemt like they did with FF15.

While I'll certainly agree more content variety is needed, I personally would express caution in focusing on 8+ man or greater content in XIV's case. As you'd noted earlier in your post, the logistics of it all can be a *****, which can and does translate to some people missing out on content not because of lacking skill, but because getting the warm bodies together can be tricky, nevermind actual performance issues if something like the DF is available. Socially, constraining things more to FC/LS also invites people having to put up with others they really don't want to be around and all the related politics that can come with favoritism and cliques. To perhaps inject some of my own XI experience, I had some people accusing me of "seducing" some of our leaders to get things they believe I didn't deserve and attempted to covertly express that sentiment in hopes others wouldn't help me if I asked for such and to inevitably jump ship if I felt so appropriately alienated. Some bought into it, typically those that never played with me in low-man settings and were in different time zones. Some didn't, either by knowing me or actually trusting those who did. And while it wasn't true, I can't deny it hurt my XI experience in the later days as time and RL claimed the friends I did have.

That said, put me more in the camp that having things to do with others, even if just being passer-bys is good, but being too tight on minimum manpower requirements at the higher end can lead to complications. "This is an MMO" isn't a strong enough reason, as is commonly invoked in topics like this. If one is discerning enough, one can see how even a soloist can affect a server via rippling activity. And in knowing such, it's probably no surprise I'd favor some things being easier and more inclusive than harder and more exclusive. And when I think hard, it's definitely not XI's old habit of resource scarcity, time sinks, or herding the proverbial cats. I certainly don't miss being on a year+ long waiting list for things like Duelist's Chapeau. Then again, if you talked to the people I mentioned earlier, I didn't earn that despite near-perfect attendance and getting 4 of them into the hands of those ahead of me. Such swell allies I had, there.

More cynically, some folks are sick of enabling ******** and giving them the power to hold others back. Finding that perfect group of players and hopefully friends is never as easy as simply saying to do it. So, on that end, that'd also lead me to suggest server transfers need to be free so people would be better able to thanks to off-game conversation or even a pleasant DF matching. SE also needs to look into options for merging smaller FCs so, for example, those with their own houses aren't suddenly losing one they'd worked on if their group happens to be the one gobbled up. I've seen things up and fall apart in other games for similar reasons, but maybe that's just me favoring function over fashion.

I absolutely see where you're coming from Seriha, and I'm genuinely sorry you went through that. I'll even say your experiences are much more common than mine. It's like I mentioned, I was extremely fortunate to join the LS I did. The core group actually were some leaders from another successful LS prior who were put-off by the elitist attitudes that seemed to develop, if not there already, by the other leaders. They had an enthusiasm for not only the game, but for making people happy which just went beyond having xyz items.

Kind of going off tangent here, but I think it all starts (but not their sole responsibility) with the leaders and trickles down from there. I believe that a great trait for the people in command to have is someone(s) who will speak up/defend other members of the group. They'll make sure the most humble and quiet people who put in the work are recognized while at the same time showing appreciation and acknowledgement still to those who's lives online may not be as active. Someone in your position wouldn't have to defend themselves and be perceived as combatative. We're human, so it's inevitable two or more people will eventually feel they're more deserving of an item than their counterpart, which means the the leaders may to determine who should be first and keep their promise that the next person and everyone after gets their's in the fastest way possible. It's a balancing act for sure, and can be quite overwhelming. Eventually people will want rewards for their hard work, but if a level of patience and generosity has been instilled by convincing those involved on all levels that they will see the benefits soon enough and live up to their word it makes everything go by smoothly. Meaning person A,B, and C may want to have Wyrm items, but also make sure X, Y, and Z get their sky drops as well to avoid any kind of lopsidedness. Making it a habit where maybe a MNK in the party putting in work who has yet to get an Osode/Haidate gets one of the first pairs of Herald's Gaiters given to them unselfishly by an LS leader also maining MNK who was in line for it while it's still rare to have. You passing up on a Duelist's Chapeau after a year of really wanting it and known as a consistent passer would probably get priority for Excalibur instead.

An LS full of people who not only don't mind helping those in front of them get an item but also don't mind passing on an item they really want and in line for will go a long way because it creates a self-sustaining cycle. It might seem unreasonable to expect that, and is extremely rare, but I truly believe you'll attract people like that eventually if you're a similar person genuinely.

Edited, Jun 12th 2014 3:32pm by Rhythmmm

I have no doubt that things like token systems arose to not only serve as a hard counter to bad RNG of the olden days, but to help curb the player politics of yore with a portion of the who deserves what rhetoric. And while we still see the occasional drama with the few RNG drops here in XIV now, I do still worry a bit about the future of things when it comes to groups and choosing what activities to do, especially if they wind up better favoring a leader and their friends.

Personally, I don't feel charisma is a strength of mine. I may be able to wordsmith some good posts, crack some good jokes, and all that fun stuff, but I know I'm someone that better assists a leader than being THE leader. I think this is part of what upset some folks in my XI past and led to some misinterpretation as I was generally mindful of how my peers were performing and was often playing more the role of tactician to better adjust to what we had available and the flows of battle. I knew who was generally better equipped for what roles and if they were even any good at it. At the same time, we tried to juggle burn out so those "cursed" more into roles like BRD, WHM, or RDM got to relax a bit more with other jobs if possible. Sometimes the lacking experience of others stood out here, but usually successes were still had. Regardless, it sucked scheduling something for 8pm, only for us to not get started until 8:30 (which was now 1:30am for the Euro-folk) or later because someone was late, needed more time to job swap, someone vital didn't show up at all, or whatever. Hence the logistics of endgame being a pain in the butt.

Despite my own personal introspection, I know everyone isn't or can't bring themselves to be as bold as I am from time to time, and that's okay. I'd like to think I've got their back if a poignant issue is on my radar. In this particular case, I'd say it's simply the act of being able to participate in content in a timely manner. Some might be okay with the concept of nerfs 6+ months down the road or even the total lack of alternative progression schemes, but I'm not and I know others would like having more choices so even if they are guild hopping or struggling in the harder content with a group they do like, they've still got things to do on the side that can both better themselves and their group(s). Either way, I could hop to numerous game boards and find people telling others what they don't deserve, and ultimately only for selfish reasons. It's a sad thing I see perpetuated in communities via the players and inaction of devs. It sucks seeing your friends list dwindle. It sucks seeing groups break up for reasons outside our control. "Playing together" for me is more than just literally being in the same group, but some staunchly believe that is the meaning and subsequently escalates that into meaning bigger groups are even better for communities. In retrospect, there's likely a good reason why WoW dropped 40-man raids and it's a reason I suspect those at Wildstar will soon rediscover. XIV isn't at such an extreme yet, even though I do believe an FC should be able to field a 24-man CT group. Still, seeing some clamor for things like a 64-man Dynamis in XIV scares me. Done wrong, it will be so utterly terrible for so many people. But if we really are so dead set on those types of numbers, I'd rather look toward FATEs with a respect toward Rift's handling of zone events. Right now, XIV is a poor imitation in that respect, which I have no doubt contributes to the hatred I see some spew about FATEs themselves. Of course, it's usually around this point where someone will hop in and tell me I'm dumb and that I just want to kill the game with my bad ideas. So, I'll cut myself off for now in favor of fetching some grub.

SHUT UP AND LET ME MELEE

If you can equip it you should be allowed to attack stuf with it lol.

I've killed stuff with my hatchet while shard farming back in the day ;p

In the testing phase of 1.0 I rolled a DoL class as a starter for lulz. So yeah, during the boat sequence I was tossing pebbles at jellyfish for 1 damage a pop. I should probably be ashamed that it took me so long, but I couldn't defeat them without the NPCs helping me


Edited, Jun 13th 2014 2:27am by FilthMcNasty

Well, at least a hatchet or a pickaxe can actually do some real damage. They are heavy objects with either a sharp edge or a gouging point that can easily cause grievous wounds. Not so unrealistic.

An embroidery hoop, though? lol. I'd have to say of all the crafting classes, Weaver has it worst with trying to kill anything with their primary tool. Maybe a tie between Weaver or Alchemist.

Culinarians have a Skillet. Go ask Peach from Mario RPG how good Skillets work while bashing someone in the head with it.
Armorers and Blacksmiths have a hammer. Lots of people have been bludgeoned to death with a claw hammer or similar tool.
Goldsmiths have smaller tiny little hammers, but I'm sure you could try to poke an eye out or something with it.
Carpenters have wood saws. I imagine if you grabbed one and swung it like a sword, trying to rip it across someone's flesh, it could do some damage.
Fishers have Fishing Poles. You ever accidentally thwap yourself with a fishing pole IRL? That crap stings like hell (or you could simply try to strangle them with the fishing line)

So yeah, just Alchemists and Weavers... an Alembic made of metal could actually be used as a bludgeon-type weapon if held like a rock.

So..... that just leaves weavers and their hoops out in the cold.

Edited, Jun 13th 2014 8:10am by Lyrailis

This is a great point!

If they could make FATES more fun, more challenging, maybe even let them somehow change difficulty on the fly, that would fix a number of issues. Rifts really are a good example.

Some suggestions would be adding waves of enemies building up to the bosses, maybe something where crowd control was more important, a few mobs that have to be targeted FIRST, healers or mages maybe. Dark Devices is heading in the right direction. When they made FATES change difficulty based on prior participation, that was a step in the right direction. Still some funky things happen when two FATES spawn at once and participation is split. The difficulty of the next rounds is not properly balanced. Adding more Waves to the FATES would allow people time to come and they could instead change difficulty based on participation of the prior Wave.

Basically if FATES were actually fun it then the whole game design, including Atmas and Alexandrite farming, would all make sense.

It's a really good point that some tweaks to how and what FATES spawn (and maybe even loot/gil drops) is probably the easiest thing that can be done from where we are at now to improve the game.