Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Needs more endgame for casual players...
gessekai332
Member UncommonPosts: 861
One problem with the game is that it lacks endgame for casual players. I am NOT a casual player and I am used to grinding dungeons for gear and I kind of like it. I had to join an endgame guild in order to do titan, BC, and to be more efficient with CM and AK runs, to grind for endgame gear. My girlfriend on the other hand, is a casual player and will have nothing to do once she finishes her story. She probably wont be able to complete her relic quest unless she is carried through Titan, BC will probably be too hard for her skill wise, and she will probably tire of the CM/AK grind that people need to do to get endgame gear. Endgame FATEs are also utter zergfests, you cannot even see Behemoth or Odin's character model most of the time and its pretty much just a blur of lights until you get your reward. I really hope SE can fix this because although I am personally enjoying the endgame content I feel that they should open up the game more to people who arent hardcore players. So far nothing except maybe crystal tower in the next patch makes me feel like there will be more to do for casual players (even housing may be somethng restricted to the ones with only the most money).
Its like once players hit a certain endgame, BAM you are suddenly thrown into the world of hardcore elitist gamers where you are yelled at because you watch cutscenes, dont have awesome twitch reflexes to dodge fast casting AoE, and have nothing to do except run 2 dungeons and fail at Titan pugs all day.
Most memorable games: AoC(Tryanny PvP), RIFT, GW, GW2, Ragnarok Online, Aion, FFXI, FFXIV, Secret World, League of Legends (Silver II rank)
Comments
I feel that housing is going to fit this niche quite well for quite some time. First, it's a huge gold sink for both the property and decorations. It's also a crafting sink, where if you want to do everything yourself, it's going to take time, patience and effort, which also alleviates some of the gold sink behind it. Additionally, if they make a robust trophy system that can be added as decorations to your home, then you have extended goals that many will wish to complete to deck out their home.
PvP should have it's loyal fans as well, but we won't really know how well it works until we get our hands on it.
Honestly, I think endgame is going to mean many different things to different people. Considering you can be all things on one character, I feel that portion alone is going to keep many casuals (and hardcores) busy for quite awhile.
Casuals players are nowhere near endgame.
Once they hit lvl50 they will have
Castrum Meridianum & Praetorium
The Wanderer's Palace
Amdapor Keep
Ifrit HM & Garuda HM
Parts of the relic quest (Chimera and Hydra)
If some of them happen to hit 50 before 2.1, that's what they can do. In 2.1 there will be in addition:
New instance (where does it stand in the progression curve? who knows)
Two HM instances
Crystal Tower (likely post-Titan HM content)
Housing
PvP
In all honesty if the game needs more endgame content for casual players the players need a reality check for what to expect in an MMORPG.
This is the beauty of enjoying the Journey, i'm so far from the cap this is of zero concern for me, probably for the next several months, playing since head start got a 30 Arc, 17 Conj, 9 Archer, 6 thaumaturge and several crafting profs in the teens, and all gathering in the 20's.
Literally months.
Uh yeah I play about 12 hours a week and I don't see myself running out of stuff to do. Did the same thing in SWG and that lasted 8+ years.
Yeah i'd safely say i average a dozen hours a week give or take.
SWG, same here, years. Other players were always blown away when i told them i was playing for 4 months before i ever left Tatooine for another planet. Naboo of course.
That was the thing about SWG for me, i knew i'd never be a Jedi, i was quite content being Uncle Owen. Being there was legendary, the only thing that bothered me a little at one point was Buff lines, i got caught up when i became a Bounty Hunter to line up for my buff's, great memory now, but at the time...
MAN, you sure stirred up some wonderful memories, Thanks. Was a great time.
Yeah i'd safely say i average a dozen hours a week give or take.
SWG, same here, years. Other players were always blown away when i told them i was playing for 4 months before i ever left Tatooine for another planet. Naboo of course.
That was the thing about SWG for me, i knew i'd never be a Jedi, i was quite content being Uncle Owen. Being there was legendary, the only thing that bothered me a little at one point was Buff lines, i got caught up when i became a Bounty Hunter to line up for my buff's, great memory now, but at the time...
MAN, you sure stirred up some wonderful memories, Thanks. Was a great time.
Yeah I was a dedicated droid engineer for years. Dabbled in ranger, pikeman, rifleman, shipwright, but always kept my droid business going.
I can see myself doing the same thing easily with this game. Get my house setup just right, all my retainers stocked. Head out and gather mats, make a few choice HQ items, some dyes, maybe a couple materia. Head on over to the golden saucer for some socialization. Thats the perfect mmo for me. Raids? Dungeons? Speedruns? lol its not even an afterthought for me.
Wow you are smoking good crack. There is a lot of endgame for casuals:
Relic Quest:
Chimera
Hydra
Ifrit HM
Garuda HM
Titan HM
Fates:
Odin
Behemoth
Dungeons:
The Wanderers Palace
Amdapur Keep
Raids:
Castrum Meridium
Praetorium
2.1:
Crystal Tower
King Mog
Extreme modes of primals
Thats just casual endgame. Hardcore endgame has that plus only Bahamuts Coil. Op is not really playing this game.
Any graphical, audio, or gameplay restrictions not seen in other mmos but found in FFXIV can be blamed on one thing.
PS3
MMORPGs aren't casual games. That's what so many people, including developers, seem to continue to fail to realize. The best MMORPGs aren't casual at all. There is NO lack of casual games, even online games, so it's always kind of boggled my mind that any attempt has been made to make MMORPGs less hardcore - all it's done is create a parade of failed games.
Developing so much of the game, even if it plays ridiculously fast and easy, to be solo/casual ez-mode when the heart of MMORPGs is a more hardcore group-oriented style, is just foolish development.
They do it to hook the casuals into playing, then pull the rug out when the "real game" starts.
What would you propose they add that's more casual at end game? More solo ez-mode crap similar to what you do while leveling? More solo stuff that's done way better in single player games?
Premium MMORPGs do not feature built-in cheating via cash for gold pay 2 win. PLAY to win or don't play.
This game's pretty easy on casual players in the endgame IMO. Outside of Bahamut Coil, you can just load up the duty finder and do everything else. If you just want to play for an hour or something you can knock a dungeon out no problem.
Really the only thing you'll have trouble completing in the duty finder is Titan HM. It's definitely doable though, I did it. Or you can just join one of the many groups wanting to do it that are hanging out in Mor Dhona and can get a full group of people that at least know the fight that way. Either way, it's not something you need a FC of players for. Nor is it something so exceptionally difficult that a casual player can't practice until they feel comfortable playing it properly. Not that it isn't a tough fight, but it has a relatively easy to memorize pattern to it. Only have to complete it once after all. Failing all that, there's always buying the carry if it's a continuous problem that you don't feel like dealing with anymore.
As for Bahamut's Coil, I'm seeing more and more PUGs shouting for people to run it. Can always just join one of those. Whether the group has success or not, least one can get some practice in. As the weeks roll on I'm sure more people will be pugging it successfully with more practice.
That Crystal Tower coming in 2.1 is apparently going to be duty finder activated too. Will be neat being able to do 24 man stuff in the duty finder. No idea how hard it'll be, but you can load it up at least.
Whether the game has enough endgame content or not (regardless of how casual/hardcore you are) is an entirely different discussion, but as far as what we have for now, casual players can certainly get in on it without much issue. Regarding having an appropriate amount of variety in content so one isn't just grinding CM/AK repeatedly, 2.1 seems to flesh that out a fair bit if nothing else.
Of course it will be more EFFICIENT to be in a FC for this stuff, as is always going to be the case in just about any MMO, but it isn't necessary.
Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
Considering Bahamuts Coil is supposed to be content to be consumed AFTER Crystal Tower, shes fine. She has CM, Wanderers, Amdapor, and ifrit. She can also level up tradecrafts n stuff..
''/\/\'' Posted using Iphone bunni
( o.o)
(")(")
**This bunny was cloned from bunnies belonging to Gobla and is part of the Quizzical Fanclub and the The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club**
From no where. This is info pulled out of the air. Its probable he has many friends or FC mates who have done it/know others who have but.. that statement is completely false.
A very small percentage has hit level 50 with the player base. They released stats on this during the Tokyo show.
[mod edit]
Right now, there isn't much at L50. The game is supposed to emphasize horizontal progression; you level up a bunch of your classes, including gathering and crafting. That, and because it's so soon after release, there isn't a lot of content for people to push forward on. You have HM Primals, a couple of events with your Relic quest, and Coil (which isn't even complete).
So, to help gate this, there are some artificial constraints. Titan is fairly difficult (regardless of how many people love to tell you how easy it is, even if the mechanic is easy you still have to fight the server lag). You have the artificial constraints of Coil lockouts and weekly Myth caps.
If there were more content, these constraints wouldn't be necessary. It's likely they will be adjusted or removed entirely at some point in the future.
So, if your casual, you may get hung up on Titan or Coil, or get tired of farming the thousands of tomes required. But right now the game is designed to hang players up there, those constraints will more than likely get relaxed or lifted in the future. There are a lot of things besides the "endgame" right now and the endgame right now is extremely thin, so go for breadth rather than depth.
Tough. Either get geared or use the DF. If the DF fails, find a FC and make a static party to clear content.
Can't do any of the above? Quit.
Groups that are not using the DF are trying to grind content. They want to do it fast, so they set a bar where they know they can clear things quickly and have enough of a pool of players to quickly fill a party. You are not required to join them.
I'm equally frustrated by people trying to speed through content via DF.
Except for the fact that Mtibbs is entirely correct. Titan is extremely easy. Heck, my FC pulled in over 1 million gil in about 1.5 hours of selling Titan fights. If your girlfriend can get into crafting, you can easily buy a run from us. There are many other FCs that do the same.
We were one shotting Titan with - 1 paladin, 1 warrior, 1 dragoon, 1 monk, 1 blackmage, 1 scholar, 1 white mage (aka - not a very good setup).
[mod edit]
They are loosening the constraints tomorrow, by the way.
it is not tough. people do not have to be jerks to play a game. remember it is a game. people want to have fun and no one will let them because they treat it as a job.
i am fairly geared with several DL and the rest if AK gear with Ifrits bow.
DF is crap until they put a gear limit on people that should not be going it.
You are not entitled for special treatment just because you want in a speed run. Sorry, the group can define their requirements however they want. You are not special. You are not important. You are not powerful.
They are not being jerks just because they set a bar too high for you to achieve. Obviously, plenty of players have achieved that otherwise they would never find a party. I'm sorry, you gear is very blah - the top tier speed runners are full DL and Relic with at least 900 myth tome worth of ilevel 90 gear.
If you can't find a party, that's what the DF is there for.
You are clearly incorrect. I constantly come on these boards and see players bitch on every game that the Dev's are catering to the casual gamers. And they're right. WoW has done it, Eq2 has done it, lotro has done it. You know why they do it? Because hardcore gamers spend less time on a game then casual gamers. They blow through the content in record time, grind some raids, complain and quit. You could set a watch to it. Casual players on the other hand, take forever to accomplish anything. They stay with the sub longer and end up paying more money to consume the same amount of content as a hardcore player.
Why do you think Wow has maintained it's popularity? By becoming more and more casual. By adding the group and raid finder. Not by staying vanilla. They know, if they give the hardcore crowd what they want, they will consume it and quit. So they cater to the folks paying the bills. Get used to it.
Btw, all the most popular games right now.. are casual as hell. Maybe not the "best" by your standards, but the most popular. Mmo's seem to be casual games in my opinion.
Never seen anything so wrong in all my life. Before WOW started catering to the casuals their subs where growing, when they did it started dropping fast.
WoW has always been the most casual MMO in the market. It got continually worse with each expansion. You want to know when they finally reported losing subs? Cata. What did Cata do at first? Tried making things harder again. People started whining endlessly about how hard things were and how frustrated they were with LFG because of bad players.
No, if anything WoW started losing subs when they tried to actually give players a challenge for the first time since vanilla. WotLK, the pinnacle of casual WoW was the height of there success.
I laughed out loud. Bull****.
You play well my friend..