Archmage Callinon wrote:
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Yeah, I think this is going to be the biggest problem unless 4.0 is completely different.
I've tried asking Nashred this question before and had no success with an answer, so I'll try asking you: different how? In what way would an expansion need to be different from the game it's expanding in order for it to be "something new?" No snark here, I really want to know what you think.
Just something other than the usual tome grind + primal (or whatever they're going to call the next round of primals/eikon battles) - Take for example the numerous augment systems in XI. Reward a set of gear you can constantly upgrade through that initial cycle rather than offer 3-4 sets of armors with 1 set tied behind a monthly progression point to keep us busy. Heck, it's well accepted the Alluvion+ augment systems in XI were some of the best because it wasn't heavily reliant on RNG and it was based on the route you chose first and foremost. In a game like XIV, having "progression routes" for your 4.0 Armor/Weapon is even more relevant than it is in XI. That way you can not only allow players to build the armor of THEIR choosing, but it also breaks the reliance on weekly tomes to draw appeal to actually doing roulettes/dungeons they release because after the initial run of a dungeon it's almost guaranteed you're not running it of free will unless you ABSOLUTELY love the dungeon design that much you don't mind the outdated gear it drops.
Speaking of - Make dungeon drops relevant again and make them actually more..apart of the world, so they serve more of a purpose to not just the story/lore but actually having multiple routes that serves multiple purposes, since I don't know many if at all any players who run the dungeons once their tomes are capped for the week. There's literally no reason other than poor planning or trying to keep rushed balance in tack to not have dungeon gear be a way to gear up players and offer even some progression to an extent where if you want to go above and beyond THEN you challenge Midas Savage.
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I'm not sure that's because of different standards so much as rushed or many times haphazard development of a localized game. I'd love more variety in the MMO space and Korea and China pump them out like some kind of MMO-making factory..country...region...thing...I got nothin. But even when they create a good game, the localization tends to fall flat on its face when it's brought to the west (did you see Blade and Soul's tooltips when they launched in the US? Hoo boy). So maybe everyone could try just a bit harder there and try making a good game instead of a cash in on hype.
Yeah. mostly mean in regards to how a "big grind" isn't as looked down upon in Asia compared to NA/EU these days, which is a big part Sega will never bring PSO2 out west because grind games are basically deemed "outdated." Poor localization doesn't help at all either.
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Why NOT raise the level cap? Does raising the level cap preclude development of other systems? Does raising the level cap stifle innovation in some way?
That's the thing - Normally it doesn't, but with XIV it seems to because it's stated raising level cap is more for adding abilities than anything since everyone will be on "equal footing" instead of job a getting new abilities and job b not getting anything and job c only getting 1 and so on. So raising it to 70 means everyone will get about 6 new abilities if they keep current system and we'll be in the same spot as Heavensward launch in terms of design. If they keep the level cap, they can just build around it and readjust the balance before making another raise, so that way when they raise it again the game will already have evolved in such a way that it's actually able to offer varied content. 2.0 style overhaul won't happen, but since they said 3.5 is when they're overhauling stats again (at least Parry and Det again) that's the perfect chance to dump "legacy items" in Deep Dungeon, see the player feedback and incorporate more varied itemization that allows for more progression content since quite frankly, doing 3 content systems for a body with STR+131/141/151 just quite frankly gets old and basically pointless at this point in time. So if the high tier content offers more "enhancing" gear and the lower tiers build up towards it, that's only something that can be done during an expansion rather than in patch cycle and if they simply raise the level cap, it's more than likely going to follow the same format as Heavensward unless they pull out an absolute shocking surprise, since 3.0 was supposed to be "very different" from 2.x, as 2.x was playing it safe being a relaunch.