NEW interview with Sage Sundi -- secrets revealed about ToA

[Caspian]

Re: NEW interview with Sage Sundi -- secrets revealed about ToA

I have two ideas for SE... they would help STPT and mission STPTs and even HNM LSes, which is the way to go in FFXI.

1. In-Game Calendar, to set dates.

2. The ability to set someone's 'reminder message' which would appear like a server message everytime someone logs in FFXI. It could update for itself. For example: "Leveling STPT"(Name) "Tonight"(Date/Day) "7:00 pm"(Time).

Uh anyway... yeah.

I really like that idea
or..."jackass, log onto your mule and check your plants before they die!"

[TheGrandMom]

Re: NEW interview with Sage Sundi -- secrets revealed about ToA

Play a drk or drg and wait 8+ hours for a party instead of rdm then make that statement.

I've played many of the jobs in game. Drk, drg, mnk, thf, etc. I had my fair share of long waits for a pt too but I will never want the game to lose the party aspect. If I want to play a game solo there are plenty of rpgs out now that I can play solo...offline. I play MMORPG's for one HUGE glaring reason...because I want to socialize with lots of new and different people. There is no better way to do that than to party up. Someone new each time you play and who knows maybe a new addition to your friends list! Most people that play MMORPG's play it for that reason, human contact. While I totally understand your frustration, I do believe there is always a solution to the problem. We might not like the solution but its there.

[Grizzlebeard]

Re: NEW interview with Sage Sundi -- secrets revealed about ToA

People seem to think that I'm frustrated getting party invites on drk or something hence my advocation for soloing. Firstly, my main is ninja as per my sig, my second job is pld at 66. My lack of invites come from my timezone not the party mechanic of the game so I have different issues there. What nettles me is someone bleeting on about the evils of soloing when they play a rdm and regardless of the fact they played a melee in the past with its associated party invite delays they ultimately play a quick invite job now.

I don't want FFXI to descend into a WoW style of game where, as my friend put it, "I levelled a cleric (whm) to 60 and never f**king healed anyone except myself!" That to me just screams something is wrong with a game's design. However, I will state I believe there should be a viable alternative to sitting around for hours waiting for a party invite if you're one of 30 DD's seeking. Farming and crafting can lose their sheen after a while and whilst you agree the main concept of FFXI is teamwork and party mechanics you aren't really getting that at 8 hours a time sat in your MH as some of my friends who play these jobs sadly do.

I'm not a fan of people tossing useless insults around so I simply won't do so. I'll let you come up with the inane insults and unwitty remarks...

Good to see you made it past the first sentence without tossing an unwitty remark... oh wait.

[nanatsu]

Re: NEW interview with Sage Sundi -- secrets revealed about ToA

What exactly is the problem with me saying that I don't like the idea of FFXI centered around soloing? Is that something RDMs are not allowed to say? Is that something I shouldn't be saying because of the fact I've played many melee jobs before? Are you really that miffed that I said that? Have I stumbled upon some strange Melee Police whose only real purpose is to 'keep the rdms in line'? Or are you mad at me because I can solo for 100 exp every 10 minutes?

Once again I said some form of limited soloing would be alright. But changing the very natire of the game away from party tactics and towards soloing to level 60 is the one thing I said I didn't like and said would go against the spirit of ffxi. So then you had to come in and make your little remark about drk and drg waiting a while for invites.

My beef with you right now is, since you obviously agree with what I'm trying to say, wth is your point? Wtf does drk and drg waiting around for days have to do with anything I said? You said I failed at reading comprehension but it honestly looks as if you couldn't and still can't grasp what I was saying in the first place. Why are you still arguing this, and why make that comment you made if you're basically saying the same freaking thing I said? It doesn't make any sense. I honestly don't know what your deal is, but seeing as how you refuse to or simply can't make any form of sense at the moment (or have some kind of problem against rdms in particular) I'll just remove myself from the argument and let you continue to complain about someone preaching about something they weren't preaching about in the first place.

[Rayquan]

Re: NEW interview with Sage Sundi -- secrets revealed about ToA

I would think maybe implementing some kind of "exp bonus" to parties with a fewer amount of people. Nothing too drastic though to where it makes it so you don't even need the extra people. This should also be put into solo exp as welll

[Grizzlebeard]

Re: NEW interview with Sage Sundi -- secrets revealed about ToA

They did something similar to that in Everquest, you gained more xp for killing mobs with a reduced party size. It's not a bad idea but it is open to abuse. You used to find that end-game players with superior gear were making three man parties and destroying mobs it took most people a full party to kill. End of the day, the difference wasn't so huge and it was only the top 3% who were benefitting in this way. There isn't such an issue with min/maxing of gear in FFXI as the stat differences aren't really that noticeable.

[Rayquan]

Re: NEW interview with Sage Sundi -- secrets revealed about ToA

Actually, it was opposite, they had exp bonus in parties, but it was a very small one in small parties, it grew a lot as you got near a full party. People around monsters and partying were always like "we need a 6th player for the big bonus"

[Grizzlebeard]

Re: NEW interview with Sage Sundi -- secrets revealed about ToA

There was the sweet spot four man limit I seem to recall. Used to be beneficial to have a slightly smaller party in LDoN or when you had a kiting party. Druid, necro, wiz, cleric used to always rock for us at the tables but it's been over a year since I played now and they may have tweaked it somewhat.

[nanatsu]

Re: NEW interview with Sage Sundi -- secrets revealed about ToA

That actually sounds like a really great idea, having exp bonuses with the more people you have in your party. A lot of times I've wished I could duo or trio with a close friend or two without having to worry about too many other people. I really think that could work if done right, cause small groups are always fun. A little worried about the socializing aspect, but I really think it's a great plan. Much better than exp bonus items. :p

[Rayquan]

Re: NEW interview with Sage Sundi -- secrets revealed about ToA

I am not familier with the caster'ized groups in EQ, was never a part of an AoE group, but I heard they pulled in MASSIVE exp. It was eventually nerfed (can no longer hit anything with any AoE spell unless it's standing still)

In Everquest, groups of Wizards or etc would go to dungeons etc and AoE Ensnare (slowing NPC momvement speed) and run them around while the others casted AoE spells on them constantly. Bards and Clerics or any healer really helped this process, especially with Mana Song, mezzes, roots, or etc.

[safyre]

Re: NEW interview with Sage Sundi -- secrets revealed about ToA

That seems like an okay idea, but I think we have to face that whatever happens, there aren't going to be many ideas that can't eventually be taken advantage of by some group of characters. Personally, I don't think that SE would be foolish enough to add in too much solo content. As we know from the first FF that the spirit of the game lies in the party setting. If the game loses that, it would probably lose credability with many of its most avid supporters, and make FFXI (which is already seen by some as the weakest of the game line) to be the farthest from the orginal concept. SE has good thoughts on most of what it has done, I think that we should have faith that they know how much solo activity is appropriate.

Sincerely,
ARSafyre

p.s.-if not...lets hope they can fix it...

[Karinya]

Re: NEW interview with Sage Sundi -- secrets revealed about ToA

The developers will never fix the "too many melees" problem because the developers didn't create it. It is a player problem, not a game problem. (And every MMORPG to date has had it in one form or another.)

BRD is an incredibly powerful and versatile job in a party, desired in almost all party setups and universally beloved. It isn't the devs' fault that it's also extremely rare. If half the DRKs in the game switched to BRDs - not only would there be less competition for DD spots in parties, but there would be more parties earning more exp.

There's an old saying that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink; the developers can make jobs like BRD and SMN but they can't make people play them in any significant numbers.

[Shiro_Hayate]

Re: NEW interview with Sage Sundi -- secrets revealed about ToA

I'll put it simply, I play both FFXI and WoW right now. WoW is FAR less rewarding, and it has far more dumbasses compared to FFXI (tanks that don't tank, healers that don't heal, so on).

While I admit FFXI is more of a game for "elitists" due to the party system and everyone always trying to be better then the other, it's better then being in WoW and having to deal with morons.

If FFXI came completely centered around soloing I'd quit the fucking game. I don't care if I wait 5 hours for a party as a DRK. It was fun hitting 75 and taking 2 years to do it. WoW I have a 60 Warrior, 60 Rogue and 60 Mage. There's so much class unblanaceness I might as wel go fuck myself because Warrior is so disgustingly overpowered and Blizz hasn't noticed the fact that every server has more Warriors on top 10 BG ranks.

Basically, if you want to play a game that doesn't require waiting timse for PTs go play WoW. No one's asking you to stay on FFXI. Everything in WoW is so easily done, it doesn't feel as rewarding. And also, it doesn't make as many memories of FFXI. I still remember the first time I entered dunes and watching people get owned by goblins during. WoW, what memories were there? Besides a few "OMFG WARRIOR OWNS, I GOT #1 AGAIN ON BG SCORE!!" There was nothing memorable about the game, hitting lvl 60 takes a month, if you're really crazy you could hit it in 2 weeks.

Anyways, no one wants FFXI to become WoW, the ones that do...what the fuck's wrong with you? Go play WoW. I play both, you can too, no one's saying you can't.

[Manatra]

Re: NEW interview with Sage Sundi -- secrets revealed about ToA

The developers will never fix the "too many melees" problem because the developers didn't create it. It is a player problem, not a game problem. (And every MMORPG to date has had it in one form or another.)

There is too many melee, there's only 6 spots in a party. Only 2 of them are open for melee in a typical party setup. How many melee does FFXI have? 7? And they're basically defined only to do one thing: damage. You have only two tank classes: Ninja and Paladin (yes, Warrior and Monk can tank, but in normal circumstances they typically don't). So now we have 3 spots left one for caster damage, one for support, and one for main healing. BLM, SMN, and RDM can all fill the caster damage slot to some capacity, SMN, RDM, BRD can all fill support, and SMN, RDM, and WHM could fill up the healing slot as well. While my example isn't perfect, I think you get the idea?

The thing is, the casters are far more versatile than the melee. There's basically 7 classes that compete for two slots in the party, and some of those melee are far more efficient at doing damage than the other melee. While casters are all extremely efficient at at least one of the typical "caster" slots, and most of them can fill roles other than the one they are "most suited" at quite well.

[Caspian]

Re: NEW interview with Sage Sundi -- secrets revealed about ToA

The developers will never fix the "too many melees" problem because the developers didn't create it. It is a player problem, not a game problem. (And every MMORPG to date has had it in one form or another.)

BRD is an incredibly powerful and versatile job in a party, desired in almost all party setups and universally beloved. It isn't the devs' fault that it's also extremely rare. If half the DRKs in the game switched to BRDs - not only would there be less competition for DD spots in parties, but there would be more parties earning more exp.

There's an old saying that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink; the developers can make jobs like BRD and SMN but they can't make people play them in any significant numbers.

I agree with most of what you're saying. However, just b/c its a player problem doesnt mean it wont get fixed. (I dont think they'll ever make great changes to get drk and drg more invites, but you never know, they may). Take the rng patch. You could say that it was how it was meant to be played etc. I dont believe that they never realized it, and it took something like 3 years before they realized rngs did a ton of dmg. What brought the notice of the devs, was the fact that a lot of people started hitting 75 and could now easily fund a 2nd or 3rd job of rng. Rng's flooded the servers and the imbalances that were once easily overlooked due to the rarity of the job were now staring them directly in the face. Good acc. with a drk can often be a problem, not a big deal when there are only a cpl drk and it goes unnoticed, but when you have a lot of drk's all spending a long time on waiting for invites b/c of it, then it becomes more noticable. Same for drg and good WS dmg or keeping their wyvern alive and such.
Now, I'm not a proponent of major soloing possiblities, just trying to say that even though its the population that has turned it into a problem, and not the dev's it is not beyond the possiblity of a patch. IMO, if you love the job, then you'll play despite the longer waits and despite some the jobs shortcomings. I feel the same way about rng's who bitch about paying for arrows and bullets. Well, no shit, you're playing rng, if you dont like paying for your damage then go lvl something else.
I agree with the majority of this thread's consensus. A little soloability is fine, just dont overdo it, and dont change the game dynamics.