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Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward |OT| The Midas Touch

T

Tiops

Member
The changes they're promising for 3.2 already fix a lot of things to me.

Making Alexander Midas easier than Gordias and and setting the ilvl of the weapon to be higher than Tomestones/Relic is the way it was on ARR, and it worked pretty well there.
 
E

EndcatOmega

Unconfirmed Member
Tiops said:
The changes they're promising for 3.2 already fix a lot of things to me.

Making Alexander Midas easier than Gordias and and setting the ilvl of the weapon to be higher than Tomestones/Relic is the way it was on ARR, and it worked pretty well there.
Click to expand...

Yeah as far as Live Letters go this isn't the worst, but people bored with the current 'pattern' to content aren't going to find anything so far that will convince them to stay.
 
W

WolvenOne

Member
Tiops said:
The changes they're promising for 3.2 already fix a lot of things to me.

Making Alexander Midas easier than Gordias and and setting the ilvl of the weapon to be higher than Tomestones/Relic is the way it was on ARR, and it worked pretty well there.
Click to expand...

Yea, I was honestly shocked they didn't change the raid weapons ilvl in 3.1. It would've fixed a couple problems.
 
W

WolvenOne

Member
Frumix said:
Game is maybe kinda saved.
Click to expand...

Just having a raid that players closer to the average skill level will help some. Granted, the REALLY high level players will run out of content quicker, but ya know, mid level players vastly outnumber progression level players and all that. <_<;;

Cloud Bike mount!?
 
T

Tiops

Member
EndcatOmega said:
Yeah as far as Live Letters go this isn't the worst, but people bored with the current 'pattern' to content aren't going to find anything so far that will convince them to stay.
Click to expand...

Well, it's silly to expect a sudden change to the game style, like implementing horizontal gear progress. What they can do is improve the quality of the content and balance stuff correctly, but it's always going to be a vertical ilvl progress.

Maybe they could implement different playstyles for each class, and that would be great, but I don't know how this works on other MMOs that allows you to do that.
 
E

EndcatOmega

Unconfirmed Member
Tiops said:
Well, it's silly to expect a sudden change to the game style, like implementing horizontal gear progress. What they can do is improve the quality of the content and balance stuff correctly, but it's always going to be a vertical ilvl progress.

Maybe they could implement different playstyles for each class, and that would be great, but I don't know how this works on other MMOs that allows you to do that.
Click to expand...

I think there's ways of adding different styles of content while still being a vertical progression MMO (I don't want a system FFXI is dead thank christ). However their last attempt, Diadem, kinda failed utterly so I'm not particularly surprised at the lack of, er, surprises.
 
W

WolvenOne

Member
tiggerkiddo said:
3.2 sounds promising, as expected. Now to just endure the wait.
Click to expand...

Assuming you're not doing the Relic.Dabble a bit here and there, do PVP if you want to, maybe go through another game a put XIV into dabble mode for awhile.

You know, just manage yourself a bit is all. A bit of self management goes a long way when it comes to not getting burnt out. :)

Btw, I have no idea who this guest is, so, time for sleep I guess. XD
 
A

aceface

Member
So I'm reading up on their changes to raids and it sounds like they are just going back to the difficulty level and rewards that 2.x had. That's great but why did they change in the first place???
 
E

EndcatOmega

Unconfirmed Member
aceface said:
So I'm reading up on their changes to raids and it sounds like they are just going back to the difficulty level and rewards that 2.x had. That's great but why did they change in the first place???
Click to expand...

People on the OF asked for harder raids.

They also asked for larger grinds.

All hail the OF.
 
C

Critical Elk

Neo Member
What I got out of the OF thread was, "We didn't learn our lesson with BCoB and made them x10 instead of x15 again. Everything else was ruined because of it."

Something something people never learn.
 
K

Ken

Member
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...atch-3.1-and-How-to-Address-it-Moving-Forward

Hello everyone, director and producer Yoshida here.

Thank you for the large amount of feedback on the content released between the launch of Heavensward and Patch 3.15.

We’ve been reading over all of your feedback as well as playing the game alongside you, and we understand that there are various issues with game balance and content balance at the moment.

We plan on correcting the game balance in Patch 3.2, the next major update; however, I would like to take a moment to discuss the development teams understanding of the current problems that have developed from 3.0 to 3.15 and the thought process on how we plan on addressing them in Patch 3.2.

I’ll be covering many different points, so I apologize for the long read.

The Difficulty and Rewards for Alexander: Gordias (Savage)

One of the major pillars of FFXIV’s game design is based on the item level of weapons and armor. Furthermore, the latest raid, Alexander: Gordias (Savage) is content where you are able to obtain items with the highest stats as a dropped item.

The difficulty and the item level of the items that can be obtained in this raid were set to be the highest in terms of game balance, so I would like to start off by talking about this point.

Jumping straight to the conclusion, I feel that the difficulty level of Alexander: Gordias (Savage) is too high. I’ve met many players from all over the world and have been hearing requests for even harder content, and it was to answer these requests that we set the raid to its current difficulty. However, this caused the following as a result.

  • The difficulty was high to the point that players were transferring to different Worlds in search of groups to beat it.
  • The difficulty was high to the point that players were unable to clear the content, and the time in which they were unable to obtain items grew too long.
  • Due to the severity of DPS checks, it’s not possible to supplement with item levels only.
    Players who were seeking difficult content welcomed this, but for those who are unable to beat this content, it’s the same as if Savage never existed, and we are reflecting back on this now.

Based on this, we are currently making balance adjustments to Alexander: Midas (Savage), which is scheduled for release in Patch 3.2, so that the difficulty is somewhere between The Second Coil of Bahamut and the Final Coil of Bahamut.

With these balance adjustments, I believe the number of people who are able to clear this content will increase, and it will be possible to find parties to challenge this content on your own World.

Furthermore, we also understand that obtaining an item level 210 weapon for clearing the fourth area of the extremely difficult Alexander: Gordias (Savage) is an issue due to the fact that this is the same item level as that of the upgraded Esoterics weapon. Had Savage offered an item level 215 weapon, it would have given a clearer identity to those who cleared this content. It would also have made it possible to implement the Esoteric weapon upgrade and Anima weapons earlier, and in turn made those easier to obtain.

In summary, the development team feels that the difficulty level of Alexander: Gordias (Savage) and the item level of the rewards for this content were poorly set, and as a result it largely affected the content that came afterwards.

Based on the feedback that we have been receiving, we will be lowering the difficulty of Alexander: Midas (Savage) that will be implemented in Patch 3.2, while simultaneously setting the item level of the Savage weapon and the item level of the new Allagan tomestone weapon to be different. We would like to revamp the overall balance moving forward with these changes.

Exploratory Missions

Exploratory missions were implemented as a new type of content based on the idea that items can be randomly obtained through farming and players could create their own rules and approaches. Up until recently, there were many limiting rules and a focus on set content in FFXIV.

However, since this deviated greatly from the content we’ve had up until now, there has been challenges involving the friction between players who want to gather and those who wish to battle, as well as the length of time spent playing this content.

Additionally, due to the fact that this was new content, we felt the need to include reward items which were attractive, which is why we decided to add item level 210 items to Diadem. This had both pros and cons. With the item level of the rewards for Alexander: Gordias (Savage) set to 210, we had to restrict the amount of item level 210 gear in circulation in order to maintain the minimum amount of motivation for players challenging Savage.

Just as mentioned in the feedback we have been receiving, had the item level been 205, I believe we could have kept it as it was for farming and not had to make adjustments. This equipment could then have been used to challenge Savage, and we feel that this was an issue as well.

In accordance with feedback, we will be aiming to make exploratory mission content more rule based, such as the following.

  • More chances for exploration.
  • Make a system for matching routes with different objectives such as battle and gathering focused.
  • Add variation to the exploration objectives, and make it more fun to explore as an individual party.
  • Create set rewards and make it so that farming is not the only objective.
  • Reduce the content time, and turn it into content that does not rely greatly on player skill.
  • We'll be introducing changes via maintenance in order to reduce the content time of exploratory missions and to make adjustments to the balance of item circulation, while making it into a place for collecting items and spirit bonding. We’re also planning a large scale expansion to this content in the next exploratory mission update. We’ll be utilizing everyone’s feedback as much as possible for this.


Anima Weapons

The successor to the Zodiac weapons, Anima weapons, have been implemented; however, their balance is directly linked to the item levels of the rewards for Alexander: Gordias (Savage).

Since it is currently only possible to obtain an item level 210 weapon from Alexander: Gordias (Savage), the time and effort required to create an Anima weapon was set to be roughly the same level with this as a benchmark.

Similar to Zodiac weapons, Anima weapons are based on the following concepts.

  • Will not be the strongest weapon at the same time as the rewards for clearing the hardest difficulty content.
  • Clearing the hardest difficulty content will not require you to obtain Zodiac/Anima weapons.
  • Creating these weapons will require you to put in effort over a longer period of time.
  • Just as mentioned in the patch notes, a long period of time will be required to complete Zodiac and Anima weapons, and they have been designed based on the idea that you will progress through the series at your own pace. Additionally, this content is strongly geared towards the element of time for players who are not into raids or other difficult content, or for those who wish to play solo.

An exception to this concept was the necessity to beat the hard versions of Ifrit, Garuda, and Titan for the relics released at 2.0; however, looking at the percentage of players who possessed relics at that time, we determined that this was a wall for players who were not into difficult content.

The development team will no longer be using difficult content such as this, but in the event that they utilize content completion as a requirement it would be on the level of storyline primal battles or Alexander normal, and such. By doing so, even players who are not into clearing difficult content will have a goal and be able to earn powerful weapons if they put in the time, though they will be slower to reach this point than the top tier of players.

However, due to the fact that the item level for Alexander: Gordias (Savage) is 210, we were unable to make the current Anima weapons any higher than this, which resulted in concerns being raised about Esoteric weapons and the lifetime of weapons that are to be implemented in Patch 3.2. Furthermore, with the difficulty of Savage being very high, Anima weapons have become the sole option for obtaining item level 210 weapons for some, and we understand there is an issue with there being no other options.

With these weapons starting at item level 170, players who have joined the game later can quickly reach item level 200 without having to rely on the weekly limited Esoterics. Additionally, in regards to collecting crystals through FATEs, using feedback from the 2.X period, we eliminated the job restrictions, removed level restrictions, and prepared multiple avenues for obtaining items, so players are able to collect items how they want.

With all that said though, we will be revamping the item level hierarchy in Patch 3.2 and making adjustments so the flow afterwards is more fitting. The next phases for enhancing Anima weapons will take place in Patch 3.25 and Patch 3.3.

While we've been receiving requests to make Anima weapons involve more challenging content and to not tie it to randomness or crafted items, just as I mentioned above, this is content that is focused on creating weapons by spending time, so I’d appreciate everyone’s understanding that this is an option for players who are not into challenging difficult content.

To repeat what I said earlier, we made mistakes with the setting of the difficulty for Alexander: Gordias (Savage) and the item level of the rewards, which affected the content that came afterwards leading up to Patch 3.15. We are reflecting on this problem, and based on everyone’s feedback we will be revamping the balance of the game from Patch 3.2 onwards.

As always, thank you very much for your feedback and support!
Click to expand...
 
A

aceface

Member
Sandfox said:
People were asking for that here too.
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Really, people were asking for harder raids here? I don't remember that. Everyone around here seems to think that Coil was pretty much perfect. The only person I remember saying that things were too easy was Tia in one of his longer rambles. T9 was beat by most GAF groups the day before echo.
 
C

chrono01

Member
Ken said:
This is so boring but I can't stop watching.
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image.php
 
B

BadRNG

Member
Didn't watch the letter, only read YoshiP's post on the current status of the game along with what has been translated thus far in the official thread, not sure what everyone is excited about. New trial by Titan/Thordan designer could be great, and it'll be nice to finally have the dummy/training hall stuff in

But based off the status post apparently;
  • he thinks Alexander's major issues are DPS checks that cannot be adequately out-ileveled. Which is just bullshit. Alexander's issue is that 3/4 of the fights are goddamn terrible, and if there is any aspect that is overly tuned it's on the mechanical end. The higher the floor the greater the issue becomes, where every mechanical mistake can very quickly cascade into a wipe just because the punishments are ridiculously high. If anyone doing mechanics correctly is at a real DPS wall post-3.1 gear they are just bad at their class, and should probably reconsider raiding on it if they don't want to ever get better. That sounds super harsh but seriously, the checks themselves are lenient, it's the mechanics surrounding them that are what get you. What group stuck in AS3 or AS4 are wiping consistently because of enrage style mechanics? It's almost always messing up one of the billion things going on that can quickly kill everyone (or sometimes not so quickly, just potentially guaranteeing death to a mechanic that comes later - hello digitis, damage stacks, and dumbass doll people).

    Framing this as an ilevel or DPS issue is just going in the wrong direction, and the fact he mentioned SCOB at all as a reference is terrifying because that place was the same flavor of bullshit that Alexander is loaded with. If they want to lower the DPS checks that's whatever, as long as it at least requires some competences in regards to basic class function and rotations I will be happy. But the bigger thing is just making the fights fun and not loaded with bullshit you have to endure for 11-13m (why is this always the breakpoint, can't they do challenging fights that don't force you to spend hours redoing shit you already did to master each new phase?)
  • I should probably note before starting here that I've not even unlocked Diadem so maybe I am way off base, but from everything I have heard it is basically sky hunts just like many of us thought it'd be. Facerolling open world bosses that you grind on for gear. The ilevel of the rewards is pretty whatever, especially in a catch up patch. Why is it any worse to get 210 there then getting it from the freebie twines in Void Ark? Separating gather/battle and making new objectives sounds cool. Further lowering skill level is a bit...what? though. Like what. Was anyone complaining these guys were too hard? Pretty much everyone I heard talk about it said it was brain dead easy.
  • We'll never see any unique, fun, relic steps ever again. I had pretty much accepted this but I guess it's nice to have confirmation.

Why would I be excited about any of this. It seems like the biggest part of the overall message was just "we'll make it easier to get ilevel next time, and you'll get a tiny bit better for raiding" and then just calling it there. Do they not realize that there are other aspects of the complaints? Like how we are only getting 2 dungeons per patch now? Constant rehashing of old stuff at every opportunity? That even the endgame raid has a feeling of being rehashed because rather than design a unique tier it's just a tuned up version of story mode? And without any semblance of trying to make those fights fun and unique like primal retunes. Look at the mess that is AS4 for reference. They took A4N and sloppily threw together ways to make it harder
more frustrating
without caring if the fight was actually fun to play.

P.S: Fucking lol at 3.3 for more housing zones/content. I feel so bad for people that care about that stuff, that entire aspect of the game has been so terribly handled. The only people who could have a comparative beef are the poor souls who thought the PvP would be good.

Frumix said:
Game is maybe kinda saved.
Click to expand...
Yoship: Thank you for your feedback regarding 3.x. Using this feedback, we have decided to, in the future, make it 2.x again.
but with less content in patches
 
K

Kintaro

Worships the porcelain goddess
Reading Yoshi's letter seems to confirm that "easy" and "casual" = mindless boredom. This is sad to see. "Casual" is akin to logging in and doing your esoteric dungeons and logging out for the day. It's quick, tiny progress that adds up. Their "casual" for this weapon is not even in the same realm. Some may do it, but the player base is tired of it. Which is where the blowback came from after the dev team has delivered miss after miss after miss.

Hopefully they can recover with 3.2 but I think the damage has been done to both their casual players and their raiding players. With their HW patch cycle, I wonder if they can recover enough faith for people to buy into the next expansion. Korra said it earlier in the thread. I think this team has run out of steam.
 
K

Kagari

Crystal Bearer
Personally I have little motivation to do the relic right now. I'm tired of farming stuff that we were farming a year ago. It's just... Boring.
 
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