[Megathread] Final Fantasy XIV

[Wrecktangle]

As previously mentioned with cross-server party finder, the world you pick no longer has any bearing on your ability to find a group.

You could be on the least populated world and still be able to be part of a static raid group based on any other. Or hell, you could be part of a raid group where no party member is on the same world, as long as you are all part of the same server group (Aether, Primal, etc...)

Oh shit, that's right. I keep forgetting about that. Nice catch. Thank you for pointing that out again. That said it looks like he still wants the guild plays together raids together camaraderie.

Well that's the hard part. Figuring out which realms are highly populated. And there's really no websites that show which realms are at what population I remember Balmung and Gilgamesh being the top populated realms back when I played. And I'd want to join a guild that plays together/raids together.

The population distribution likely hasn't changed except the small and medium ones bled to the existing giants you listed.

If you're into the RP thing Balmung is your go to, if not Gilgamesh is the raiding mecca. There are some other servers like Leviathan, Cactuar, and Behemoth that have decent populations as well, but not as big as Gilga.

[Kaelwryn]

The population distribution likely hasn't changed except the small and medium ones bled to the existing giants you listed.

If you're into the RP thing Balmung is your go to, if not Gilgamesh is the raiding mecca. There are some other servers like Leviathan, Cactuar, and Behemoth that have decent populations as well, but not as big as Gilga.

Be aware tho, the only way onto Balmung is to transfer on.

[Extremities]

Be aware tho, the only way onto Balmung is to transfer on.

Is Gilgamesh able to be transferred to? Gilgamesh would be the server I'd move to.

[Kaelwryn]

Is Gilgamesh able to be transferred to? Gilgamesh would be the server I'd move to.

I think Gilgamesh has a few windows of opportunity to get on without paying for a transfer but yes you should be able to transfer onto Gilgamesh with no problem.

[Kazgrel]

Is Gilgamesh able to be transferred to? Gilgamesh would be the server I'd move to.

Paid server transfers are a guaranteed way to get to those servers. The one major drawback is the gil limit; you can only carry 1 million gil and retainers can only have 100k on them.

[Faroth]

Is Gilgamesh able to be transferred to? Gilgamesh would be the server I'd move to.

We've not seen a Gilgamesh window open in months, if not a full year now. I think it's now transfer-only, same as Balmung.

[Aurimas]

Be careful. It might be worthwhile to stay on another server for release. Those two are going to have long log-in queues.

If you're going to transfer anyway (and are one of those power level persons who will play 20 hours a day upon release)... that is to say, if you are going to beat 80% of the population to the level cap... you might be better served by leveling on a server you can actually log in to. Then once you hit cap and maybe gear up a little, you should still have time to server transfer and find a guild while half of their members are still leveling and gearing for raiding (because they had hour long log-in times every time the server crashed).

Of course that runs the risk of you being a relatively unknown person... so the advantage of transferring now would be that you could help people and make friends and have a better chance of getting a raid slot.

Your choise. Just setting out some options and scenerios for you.

[Granyala]

I can't imagine it being terribly difficult/expensive to design a harder encounter of an existing one, but we do know that FF14 in the past has walked backwards not forwards. I.e. designed Savage, then cut it down to normal. I wonder which approach is a better process (internally of course, it's likely no impact to us). If I were a designer I'd likely lean to brainstorming creating a "savage" encounter and then cut it down for the majority playerbase, al FF14.

I'm just not sold that creating something difficult for the sake of difficulty is enough to get players interested in it. I love experiencing the challenge as a team and overcoming it, but I don't like regression and wipes because of repeated poor play. I would need something more than challenge to "stick with it" especially if it's not my fault we're failing. This is for me personally though. I hardly believe I am alone here, but if I was the minority I wouldn't be surprised.

Ok back to the Light thing now. So we went from 5 weeks, to a month (which is 4 weeks) of doing ex and 60 roulette's every single day. I think when I quit there were 2 different 60 roulette's. Is this still the same (so 3 roulette's a day every single day)? So it's clear there's going to be some kind of an average based on how much you play and it's sounding like even in order to hit a month you have to play quite a lot.

1) Well it's similar in FF-XIV. Art assets will still be the bottlenecks. Sure, savage has unique abilities that change the fight but think of it this way: while the artists have to create the layout etc, the encounter designers need to work too instead of sitting around.

Doesn't make much of a difference whether you design from the top or whether you add on top of what you have. Both are minor alterations that aren't all that time consuming.

2) I completely understand that many people want more to show for it than a title or unique look. Imho FF-XIV has the right mix in Alex savage, where savage provides a minor boost but nothing that makes non savage characters look like complete garbage. If they really add a mode beyond savage, I definitely want them to give out visuals/titles only. Not because I'd begrudge them "savage+" raiders their item level but because the more difficulties you add, the more you push that difference between raider and non raider.
I'd like that difference to exist but in a small way, like it is now. Not in a ridiculous way like it is in WoW, because the way WoWs gear is set up completely kills any motivation about equipping my character. No matter how much I play, my power will be ridiculously weak compared to a raider that "plays the right way" in Blizzards eyes.

3) It's a guess. Please don't take it as gospel. I didn't record how many dungeons I did. It could take longer than a month via roulettes only.
You are right that you essentially have the choice between 6-8hrs of focused A1S spamming or a month+ of doing daily roulette (which will probably sum up to A LOT more playtime).

[dope_danny]

So more info was updated on the site. Apparently Red Mages are the survivors of the war between Mhach and Amdapor. So while the Amdapor were Wiped out by Diablos and the Mhachi died on the Void Ark some of both peoples got together to fuse their two schools of white and black magic to make red magic.

Given that we know they start in 2.0 areas and all the Mhachi stuff is in heavensward i would imagine they are probably going to be unlocked around the entrance to Amdapoor in the South Shroud. Which would be a bit funny since isn't that also the zone you get your AST job crystal from?

I always did wonder if the Kuribu boss turning into a statue with an interact message was going to be for something, maybe that HM's related to where these survivors have been hiding?

[Bullettime]

So more info was updated on the site. Apparently Red Mages are the survivors of the war between Mhach and Amdapor. So while the Amdapor were Wiped out by Diablos and the Mhachi died on the Void Ark some of both peoples got together to fuse their two schools of white and black magic to make red magic.

Given that we know they start in 2.0 areas and all the Mhachi stuff is in heavensward i would imagine they are probably going to be unlocked around the entrance to Amdapoor in the South Shroud. Which would be a bit funny since isn't that also the zone you get your AST job crystal from?

I always did wonder if the Kuribu boss turning into a statue with an interact message was going to be for something, maybe that HM's related to where these survivors have been hiding?

We know where they went to and it was in the description; Gyr Abania. Refugees from the war fled there to live in peace and survive the flood, fusing their arts together into a new "school" of magic. We'll likely see them start in Ul'dah but may see them in Gridania.

[Gibblewink]

I personally find it ridiculous to set up light farming as either A1S farming or DRE. The latter being zero added effort beyond "normal" play and the former just the most intensive version of farming.
Virtually any and all content in HW gives ligth, and how much extra effort you throw in to it while you are on that stage translates pretty much directly in to progress. The notion that you somehow HAVE to go A1S unless you're content with incidental light is quite frankly preposterous.

[Wrecktangle]

1) Well it's similar in FF-XIV. Art assets will still be the bottlenecks. Sure, savage has unique abilities that change the fight but think of it this way: while the artists have to create the layout etc, the encounter designers need to work too instead of sitting around.

Doesn't make much of a difference whether you design from the top or whether you add on top of what you have. Both are minor alterations that aren't all that time consuming.

Yeah no doubt. I was merely curious about the topic because I hadn't thought about it. I thought about which way I'd approach it if I was a designer. To me felt more natural to cut down, not add up. Just because it feels natural doesn't mean it's optimal though. Every single tennis trainer I've ever had tried to get me to scrap my full western forehand for a more semi-western (what most pro's use), so sometimes feeling natural may not be the most optimal hence why I was curious what pose you'd have taken and why. No need to dig deeper, pure curiosity.

If they really add a mode beyond savage, I definitely want them to give out visuals/titles only. Not because I'd begrudge them "savage+" raiders their item level but because the more difficulties you add, the more you push that difference between raider and non raider.

I sincerely hope they don't add another difficulty. They need to make the existing difficulties more robust, not add more layers IMO.

3) It's a guess. Please don't take it as gospel. I didn't record how many dungeons I did. It could take longer than a month via roulettes only.
You are right that you essentially have the choice between 6-8hrs of focused A1S spamming or a month+ of doing daily roulette (which will probably sum up to A LOT more playtime).

Not gospel, just another data point that's all. It does look like my understanding was correct though.

I personally find it ridiculous to set up light farming as either A1S farming or DRE. The latter being zero added effort beyond "normal" play and the former just the most intensive version of farming.
Virtually any and all content in HW gives ligth, and how much extra effort you throw in to it while you are on that stage translates pretty much directly in to progress. The notion that you somehow HAVE to go A1S unless you're content with incidental light is quite frankly preposterous.

I explained it earlier in case you missed it. It's called opportunity cost. If my goal is to complete this step, what are my options to complete the goal.

If I only have x time to play and want to complete said goal I have to make a decision. I can play the way I want and complete my goal slowly over time doing the content I want that rewards me with relevant progression, or I can go farm an old raid over and over in 2 minutes that poses absolutely no danger, offers no items I need to further my progression, or any meaningful currency and get it done quickly and go return to the content that I want to do.

The issue is that there is a clear winner to time spent vs. currency gained (currency meaning light). There should be a relative balance so that anyone pursuing the goal should be able to do what they want and remain relevant, vs. selling their soul to farm the same encounter 40+ times in the span of 2-3 days. Which we've already established is not fun. Not only by my admission, but others who did it.

[Gibblewink]

My point would be that the differtence between A1S and farming other higher-yield content is not 2-3 days vs several weeks - It is 2-3 days vs maybe 4-6 days worth. It is the spamming of content without downtime that is the game changer, not the one instance that is better by a colossal margin. If people play more or less normally and then decide that progress is too slow then it is entirely on them that they suddenly feel they must choose the most grindy, repetitive version to gain a fairly small edge.
While the light per time of A1S is the best, there is as you pointed out preciously little else to be gained there, so if people would incorporate other gains from running "worse" content they might find that they gained more overall. SE doesn't have to hold our hand all the time - sometimes we get to make decisions without training wheels.

[dope_danny]

We know where they went to and it was in the description; Gyr Abania. Refugees from the war fled there to live in peace and survive the flood, fusing their arts together into a new "school" of magic. We'll likely see them start in Ul'dah but may see them in Gridania.

Ah i missed that bit. I've been wondering if Gyr Abania is the foggy, more marshlike woodlands we have seen in some screenshots. Lot of folks expected a Ghost Train style story from there but 60-70 RDM stuff could be interesting, god knows i never expected RDM to have any ties to mhach. My money was on Old Sharlayan or maybe some elite group from Nym.

[Wrecktangle]

My point would be that the differtence between A1S and farming other higher-yield content is not 2-3 days vs several weeks - It is 2-3 days vs maybe 4-6 days worth. It is the spamming of content without downtime that is the game changer, not the one instance that is better by a colossal margin. If people play more or less normally and then decide that progress is too slow then it is entirely on them that they suddenly feel they must choose the most grindy, repetitive version to gain a fairly small edge.
While the light per time of A1S is the best, there is as you pointed out preciously little else to be gained there, so if people would incorporate other gains from running "worse" content they might find that they gained more overall. SE doesn't have to hold our hand all the time - sometimes we get to make decisions without training wheels.

Here are the data points I know of to complete AC (light step):

80+ Pulls of A1S on bonus. 2-3 minutes per pull.
160+ Pulls of any instance not on bonus. Time varies per content.

So with these data points I know that I need to run ~160 pieces of content over x time (x defined as how long I'd realistically like to complete the goal). Your average dungeon is what? 15-25 minutes? What other activities are there that I can do and what is my rate of return (defined as instance completed x time required to complete). If all activities take 15+ minutes, and one takes 2-3 minutes. That's an issue that welcomes abuse. Abuse being defined here as playing the game in a non-fun/non-rewarding manner to significantly reduce the time required to achieve a goal.

That's my point. What content are you spamming outside of A1S to complete your light step in 4-6 days. How many runs of what per day and how long does each of these runs take?

[Aruhen]

What happened to just playing the game for fun? I do my regular activities and still get light at a decent pace. Is it as fast? No but does it matter? Again no because the relic is most of the time just a thing you get for glamour. If people want to get it faster that's their choice and more power to them.

[Gibblewink]

You are gaining one reward - light - by sacrificing every other - tomestones, loot and for some fun. That choice is on you (and me).
Having the option of gaining the required ligth fast is what allows those lovable nutballs among us to get several or even all the animas done in a marginally timely fashion, while still allowing it to have some duration for those who are just doing their one anima.

I got my first ones done spamming mentor roulette, which admittedly at the time of the first had an inordinarily high amount of Diabolos-only Dun Scaith, but also included non-HW content. They had the advantage of virtually zero wait time and no need to even form a group. The second one is about 60% done, but I only started serious work on it for this stage a week ago and cheerfully "waste" time on doing other things.

I can't tell you how long each one took or the exact amount done, simply because I flat out refused to regard it as work on the clock. That was also the reason I refused to farm A1S: It sounded far to much like work and too little like fun. So I made a choice to take a bit longer and gain more in the process.

[Kazgrel]

Light values for anima weapon.

Since that's still a point of contention.

[Granyala]

I personally find it ridiculous to set up light farming as either A1S farming or DRE. The latter being zero added effort beyond "normal" play and the former just the most intensive version of farming.

Why would "doing all roulettes every day" be normal play? Oo
If you only do them for the tomes you would do fewer of them. Esp if you look at the time where the cap was 450.

Imho both types are equal "farm fests" the roulettes are merely distributed over many weeks, whereas A1S can be pushed through on one day. @Wrecktangle: If you have a bonus window, A1S is by far the most efficient route. I'm not aware of other "spammable" content that would make sense in that regard.

- - - Updated - - -

That was also the reason I refused to farm A1S: It sounded far to much like work and too little like fun.

I made the first 40% of my relic (only have one) passively via doing roulettes for tomes and doing the 24mans in order to get the 270 upgrade coins.
Eventually I was in the mood to push and so I took a peek into reddit, saw A1S as a fresh bonus and decided to run it. Well.... it got another 2hrs of bonus right after that, so my group kept going.

Watching CSI on a second monitor kept me sane but I was pretty braindead after those 4 hours. Was worth it, brought me up to 85% or so. Did the rest in the following days.

[Katchii]

Paid server transfers are a guaranteed way to get to those servers. The one major drawback is the gil limit; you can only carry 1 million gil and retainers can only have 100k on them.

The way many folks get around this apparently is to purchase the tokens/ coins on the MB (the ones commonly given out as quest rewards that sell for a specific gil amount) and then you have them in your inventory so it doesn't count as gil and then when transfer completes you just sell them and get back a majority of your gil. You'll lose some due to MB taking a cut and stuff but a few% loss when you have WAY more than 1 million is much better than losing everything over the cap.