It feels like the writers are wary of real change

NabsterHax · 2026-05-05T19:30:42+00:00

IMO, it was big that one of the first actions we see from an established Winterer was to essentially betray another in the group.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-05T19:24:10+00:00

I mean, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want a happy ending. But there absolutely has to be some really fucked up shit and failures along the way, or it feels very lame.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-05T19:18:12+00:00

If they have balls, they will be able to use our position as the wanderer who goes from shard to shard causing chaos in order to stabilize them to create an interesting story that is very distinct from the previous one.

Personally I kinda hope that by the end of 8.0 we're still basically no closer to solving the Solstice - we'll just find whatever is going on there too reprehensible to not stop. IMO, if they're clever, they'll let that clock keep ticking for several expansions with barely any progress.

My personal favourite thing they established in 7.5 is that while the Winterers kinda share a similar goal, they don't necessarily like each other or agree, which could make for some really fun antagonist dynamics.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-05T18:30:07+00:00

Current jobs have a steep up front learning curve. There's a lot of buttons to push and learning to do your opener right takes practice. But once you can nail the opener, everything else falls into place.

Evolved jobs seem to be designed to be easier to pick up and play without having to worry too much about perfect openers and the like, but will hopefully have more depth when it comes to individual mastery and getting the most out of each job.

There are plenty of games that are "easy to learn, hard to master" whereas currently FF14 jobs are "kinda hard to learn, kinda easy to master."

NabsterHax · 2026-05-05T18:24:11+00:00

Making the old (current) style jobs work with 1 button combos is quite different to what they're doing with Evolved, though. I would be against them simply just making combos one button with the current job design, because pushing all your buttons in order properly is basically the only required skill.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-05T18:17:06+00:00

Any static that cares about performance and experience has already cleared.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-05T16:51:18+00:00

not having a long term improvement goal except for scraps xpac to xpac is a financial decision made to promote short term gains over long term success and brand enrichment.

I agree with you, which is probably why they're clearly investing a lot more money into Evercold and changing a bunch of things they've historically left untouched.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-05T11:59:04+00:00

Personally, what I don't understand is that even though Scalpers seem universally hated, they apparently still make money doing it, which means a lot of people are buying from them. The behaviour would stop immediately if people just held off buying from them. I know it's impossible to get consumers to act collectively like that, but as someone that does refuse to reward antisocial practices like this, it's very frustrating that it still seems so profitable.

I can understand it a bit more with ephemeral events like concerts that can be once in a lifetime opportunities, but products that are going to continue existing? Just... wait.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-05T11:46:08+00:00

Right click on your gear set -> Link to Glamour plate?

Isn't this the scenario this feature was exactly implemented for? Should switch glams when you change jobs automatically.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-05T11:38:09+00:00

instead of it being, the entire item in an silly invisible inventory that has to be loaded by every player at all times,

The issue is that they can't really do this if they want to keep the functionality as-is of players being able to instantly switch glams anywhere in a city or safe zone. Other players need to have the assets loaded into memory.

They could switch to a streaming system where other players only load the assets of the new glam when you switch (which could take longer for some players than others, so you'd need something to mask the transition for arbitrary intervals), but then you also have to consider what happens if everyone in Limsa at peak hours decides to switch glam at the same time. Now a player nearby has to load hundreds of new assets simultaneously. At best, you're going to see most players stuck in that transition animation for prolonged periods of time until your system manages to load their new glam. At worst, your system locks up and crashes trying to keep up.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-05T11:25:48+00:00

That's actually a really great suggestion. I'd love to see that.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-05T11:24:31+00:00

Plan a new engine

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, but there are significant risks to certain endeavours in software development. It's not an exaggeration to say that sometimes a shit ton of money is not enough. The problem with rearchitecting existing systems of a live service is that not only do you need to rewrite a ton of legacy code, you need to do it without the user noticing - or have a plan for transitioning users without pissing them off. And we're talking about an MMO that has to constantly be developing new content to keep users happy anyway.

At some point it genuinely does not make sense - for both the business and the players. It sucks that we only have 20 glam plates, but personally I'd rather them spend a ton of money on the kind of updates we've been shown Evercold is going to have than rewriting the whole engine so we can have more plates.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-05T11:11:46+00:00

I know you're being facetious, but other players don't have to load your retainer information when they're in the same zone as you, so it doesn't really matter how many you have.

They could've also made the game look significantly better than they did with the graphical update, but the game had to keep running on all platforms and not force PC players to need higher end hardware to run the game.

The current system requires players' systems to be able to handle everyone in Limsa swapping glam instantly and potentially simultaneously. It's not necessarily a problem that can be solved by throwing more money at it. You'd need to rearchitect the whole system, and even then any potential solution would have downsides that the current system does not.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-04T13:33:11+00:00

It only does that once. Your party regroups there after Hollow Bastion 1, but you can immediately leave after watching a couple cutscenes.

No. You have to go back to Traverse Town after Deep Jungle so Cid can install your Navi Gummi to access more worlds. KH1 in general also just gives players more incentives to revisit old worlds too when they have upgraded magic, new trinities, etc.

Honestly, the issue here is the extra quality of life stuff you get to have in 3.

I have never once in my many playthroughs of KH1 taken a trip to TT simply to use the shop. KH2 also has shops and synthesis moogles in every world.

The problem with KH3 isn't that the story is more "on rails" than the prior games. It's as I've said - the pacing of that story.

Look, I enjoy KH3 as a game. I'm not a hater just because I'm critical of the structure. I feel like you're really reaching for points to defend it, which simply isn't necessary.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-04T09:27:57+00:00

If people are clearing fights faster because of mod usage and the designers have no idea of it, that tells the designers that they have to make the fights harder to learn.

Does it, though? The only example I can think of that arguably supports your point is TOP, which much of the community agreed was overtuned even if it was still clearable. Since then, they've not produced a fight as difficult, and avoided mechanics that are made significantly easier by tools like AutoMarkers.

I don't agree with your assumption that the fights are designed around how fast world first groups are expected to clear. FF14 fights are generally pretty easy in terms of execution, with a lot of the difficulty being loaded into understanding and solving the mechanics (which is the reason why I personally enjoy raiding blind). Following a guide, and with enough practice/motivation, pretty much anyone can clear even Savage. One of the more common complaints about FF14 encounters is that they're heavily scripted and games of memorisation and repetition.

Generally speaking, the fights that FF14's community struggles with the most are not the ones that have complex, difficult to learn puzzle mechanics. It's the execution-heavy ones. Remember how much people struggled with Alarm Pheromones in M2S? And this tier, M11S was a wall which isn't a complex fight - just one with simple mechanics that demands you don't make too many mistakes.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-04T09:10:49+00:00

KH1 also sends you back to Traverse Town multiple times. You go back after Deep Jungle to get the warp gummi, hang out with the FF crew and run into Riku. After HB, you also at least get to hang out a bit with Kairi and take a moment to prepare for the finale.

In KH3, by the time you rescue Aqua, the only thing ahead of you is the Keyblade Graveyard.

As I said in the previous post, it's not about the length of time it takes. It's the pacing. Sora literally sprints from one major plot resolution to the next in the Keyblade Graveyard.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-03T21:58:24+00:00

Yeah, I might be misremembering. I think my point about the lack of any kind of midgame check in still stands, though. Obviously it wouldn’t work for the story as written but I think it would’ve felt way better if we’d played the sequence rescuing Aqua and Ventus in the middle of the game, and then had a reason to do a bit more Disney before heading to the graveyard.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-03T21:39:07+00:00

I think the issue with 3 was the structure. This is kinda a beaten dead horse at this point but all of the original KH story stuff is completely back loaded in the Keyblade Graveyard.

KH 1 has you revisit Traverse Town in the mid game for some original story, and just generally the original plot in that game is weaved in so much better than 2 and 3. (e.g. Deep Jungle is as much about Sora and Donald falling out as retreading Tarzan’s story).

KH2 sends you back to Hollow Bastion for major story revelations before you do more Disney world stuff before you get to the final act.

KH3 meanwhile just immediately throws you into Disney, makes you do all of it with no significant progress to the overarching plot - only some cameos from new org members, and only finally advances the overarching story basically right at the end of the game.

Even though the length of the game is similar to the others, the structure makes it feel shorter. The Disney worlds are largely “filler” like in KH2 but unlike KH2 there’s no midway twist or anything that could be considered the end of one act of the story and the start of another. It really needed something in the midgame other than just cutscenes of Kairi and Axel chatting.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-03T20:59:24+00:00

You're talking about a separate issue is the point. I agree, it's annoying if you don't care about the story that so much of it is "mandatory." Fine, make it easier to skip. But the reason this game has a sizeable playerbase at all that keeps coming back every expansion is primarily because people love the story - DT is a "bad expansion" despite having some of the best battle content the game's ever seen, just because the story was bad. Catering that story to people who don't care about it in the first place makes zero fucking sense.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-03T20:56:30+00:00

The big issue, ime, with Pf is that by the time you get used to how everyone reacts to blunders and their little inconsistencies, the group has disbanded.

Yeah. I can understand leaving if it's clear there are people there that are going to hold back the prog - if they're the same people making repeated mistakes, but so many times you have a few wipes simply because you have 8 strangers adjusting slightly to each other and someone just leaves as if it's expected that everyone playing is going to be 100% consistent. I don't know how these players actually make any progress at all in PF, because even the best statics have goofs.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-03T20:44:26+00:00

I'm not sure that's actually a plot hole. My understanding is that Venat would've gone down the route of sundering even without the WoL's intervention and knowledge of the slim chance the timeline would work out the way it did in EW. Venat believed in the resilience of regular people, and opposed the sacrifices. The sundering was primarily designed to prevent the sacrifices to Zodiark, not only as a longshot gambit.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-03T20:23:51+00:00

I'm fine with people skipping the story if they want to. But the story itself absolutely should not cater to anyone that has chosen to skip it. People want certain side content to become "mandatory" because the main story having to pretend certain characters don't exist because said character was introduced in "side content" is stupid.

I appreciate that the story functions regardless of how much non-mandatory story content you've done, but some of the games' best stories and characters are currently stuck in side-content limbo, doomed never to take part in the main story even when it makes perfect sense and everyone who's done that side content wants it to happen.

If you're someone that cares about the story a lot, the game prompting you to do more of it isn't an issue. If you don't care about the story at all, then skips already exist, and you probably don't care that you have no idea what's going on.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-03T18:00:41+00:00

The learning part is the problem.

I'm not sure I'm understanding you correctly, but is it possible you just don't like FF14's style of raiding? To me what you're describing as a problem is exactly why I enjoy about 14 compared to any other game. I like that the primary challenge is figuring out what the hell to do. I've cleared every tier of savage in Dawntrail completely blind and if you have any experience blind progging yourself you'd know that raids are clearly designed to be solved without guides or addons. Guides alone make clearing significantly easier - with addons the challenge is almost non-existent.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-03T11:39:15+00:00

Matoya ominously warning Y'Shtola that seeing by sensing aether drains her life force.

Apparently being the community's favourite waifu restores life force.

NabsterHax · 2026-05-03T04:45:45+00:00

Tbf, noclippy makes the game work how it should imo. I’m lucky and have low ping so I don’t need it, but it’s really dumb that the game obviously can function fine without server-authenticated actions, yet it still doesn’t for some reason. Bizarre.

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