(05-21-2015, 06:20 PM)hauntmedoitagain Wrote: Item level in particular has always baffled me as a design choice. Why not just go full horizontal at level cap that way the gear you find actually has some long-term value? I just don't get it.
Also, while the story in FFXIV is certainly competent, it is not the main draw for me, not by a longshot; the game world and attention detail are what draw me here as well as the varying mechanics at max level. It's an expansive, nuanced game hidden behind numerous locked doors.
The reasoning is extremely obvious: they want a carrot on a stick for maxed-out players to chase over and over again. Horizontal gear drops does not accomplish this because the motivation to gun for that gear simply is not strong enough (not to mention it can introduce serious balance issues that result in certain pieces of gear being used for years without replacement). This is besides the fact that the game was not designed for that sort of thing to begin with, so adding it down the road would only introduce massive complications as they try to work things out.
I do understand the game's story shouldn't take so much priority in your view, but obviously Yoshida disagrees, and he is treating the game much like a single-player RPG in that regard - he wants to able to have some serious story developments occur, and having people be able to skip around is quite problematic for that kind of storytelling. Unfortunately, if this does not sit right with you, it's just something you'll have to deal with.
(05-21-2015, 06:42 PM)Kellach Woods Wrote:(05-21-2015, 06:12 PM)Natalie Mcbeef Wrote: If a brand new player isn't willing to go through the original game, and just wants to hop into new content, well then tough luck, this game isn't for them.
That's less of a concern than how many new players will there be at those levels? Most of the gating content is group-based.
People are already having a tough time to do MSQ dungeons if they're a certain class while leveling. Not because they're difficult but because nobody queues for low-level unless they absolutely need to. Couple that with the typical lack of tanks/healers in MMOs, there's the recipe for a full blown disaster. Around as bad as the original Tri-Disaster.
They only need to properly incentivize the low-level roulette. As it is, it's just not rewarding enough for the time you have to put in. Give it enough of an incentive and people WILL run it.