Adding a mentor network for new players to an 18 year old game is like a vegan restaurant adding baby back ribs to their menu.
No one already at the restaurant wants it, and no one who wants baby back ribs would ever go to a vegan restaurant.
We CAN fault SE for being so out of touch with their customers that they provide horrible service. That's not expecting the game to cater only to the ultra-decked endgame player...that's expecting a company to know where their bread is buttered.
They're a business and they've got more data to base their development/budget decisions on than regular players who mostly just frequent limited forums like FFXIAH. Clearly they saw some need to add this channel because they are either seeing a surprising influx of new or returnee players that aren't just RMT or banned people (which might be the reason they're pushing the November campaigns to the holidays) or they're planning ahead for something else.
Adding a mentor network for new players to an 18 year old game is like a vegan restaurant adding baby back ribs to their menu.
No one already at the restaurant wants it, and no one who wants baby back ribs would ever go to a vegan restaurant.
We CAN fault SE for being so out of touch with their customers that they provide horrible service. That's not expecting the game to cater only to the ultra-decked endgame player...that's expecting a company to know where their bread is buttered.
They're a business and they've got more data to base their development/budget decisions on than regular players who mostly just frequent limited forums like FFXIAH. Clearly they saw some need to add this channel because they are either seeing a surprising influx of new players that aren't just RMT or banned people (which might be the reason they're pushing the November campaigns to the holidays) or they're planning ahead for something else.
I don't doubt they have the information, I just feel they are so disconnected from their own playerbase they aren't analyzing that data properly.
They see new accounts being created and see them as "new players". They don't see what those of us actually IN GAME know- that the vast majority of new characters created are being started by already-existing players who don't need nor want a mentor network.
Clearly they saw some need to add this channel because they are either seeing a surprising influx of new players that aren't just RMT or banned people
Honest question though, but how would SE differentiate between a new player, a banned rerolled player, or an RMT?
This whole mentor system may have been based off of false data.
Or they saw enough bitching on this forum about not seeing ranks so they made their own dumb system. *** that noise, I like the pictures with my weapons to flaunt my ***.
For the record, for people who think there aren't (m)any new players coming to FFXI: new players and returnees very frequently post on the FFXI subreddit looking for help or info. And those are just the ones who post, so there are likely far more people who just start playing without mentioning it publicly.
They can also see payment and personal info. Unless all of that is convincingly faked or obscured the majority of the time they'll probably be able to tell who's actually new and who isn't. They probably also have a lot of other data to make their judgments, like mission completions, daily playtime, party history etc.
And you all know you can't really keep track of every single new player running around. You guys just notice the obvious RMT or experienced returners because they stand out. It's confirmation bias.
Adding a mentor network for new players to an 18 year old game is like a vegan restaurant adding baby back ribs to their menu.
No one already at the restaurant wants it, and no one who wants baby back ribs would ever go to a vegan restaurant.
We CAN fault SE for being so out of touch with their customers that they provide horrible service. That's not expecting the game to cater only to the ultra-decked endgame player...that's expecting a company to know where their bread is buttered.
They're a business and they've got more data to base their development/budget decisions on than regular players who mostly just frequent limited forums like FFXIAH. Clearly they saw some need to add this channel because they are either seeing a surprising influx of new players that aren't just RMT or banned people (which might be the reason they're pushing the November campaigns to the holidays) or they're planning ahead for something else.
I don't doubt they have the information, I just feel they are so disconnected from their own playerbase they aren't analyzing that data properly.
They see new accounts being created and see them as "new players". They don't see what those of us actually IN GAME know- that the vast majority of new characters created are being started by already-existing players who don't need nor want a mentor network.
Who cares its not like its hurting anything its there if its needed/wanted if not ignore it.
And it matters not to a game like FFXIV that has a functional staff that can handle both content development and player services at the same time. FFXI has clearly shown it doesn't have the resources for that, and they have to choose where to put their focus.
When time is spent developing something like this, it means that less time was able to be spent on actual content.
It might also be important to note that after all these years they're finally doing a FFXI theme at the SE café and they're releasing more and more merchandise. Whatever the reason, they seem to have a newfound interest in promoting FFXI again, despite its age.
Maybe they finally managed to get FFXI Mobile out of development hell and are close to announcing it properly. Who knows? But it would certainly draw some people to the original FFXI as well.
It might also be important to note that after all these years they're finally doing a FFXI theme at the SE café and they're releasing more and more merchandise. Whatever the reason, they seem to have a newfound interest in promoting FFXI again, despite its age.
Maybe they finally managed to get FFXI Mobile out of development hell and are close to announcing it properly. Who knows? But it would certainly draw some people to the original FFXI as well.
Wait the one in Akihabara in the transfer tunnel where the crepe shop is?
I haven't looked into the details since I can't go there, but this is what they've announced:
Ohhh awesome. It is the Akihabara one. I'll be visiting next month then when it starts. I'm hoping they have a Rolanberry themed dessert.
Take a look at the "Grand Menu" tab under the second link I posted. It'll show the themed food they're offering along with descriptions, though I don't think it has been updated for FFXI yet. Maybe they're waiting until it actually goes live.
I haven't looked into the details since I can't go there, but this is what they've announced:
Ohhh awesome. It is the Akihabara one. I'll be visiting next month then when it starts. I'm hoping they have a Rolanberry themed dessert.
Take a look at the "Grand Menu" tab under the second link I posted. It'll show the themed food they're offering along with descriptions, though I don't think it has been updated for FFXI yet.
Looks like its the current collaboration they got going on right now.
Looks like its the current collaboration they got going on right now.
Yeah, I spoke too soon. Sorry to get your hopes up. But Rolanberries have always been popular in FFXI, so I'm sure there'll be something.
Its all good! I'm pretty excited because theres another store in Akiba that sells FF7,9 and 14 related items but nothing for XI. SE Cafe has had a few FF Crystal Chronicles collabs and at one point a FF7 so I was wondering if anything XI related would ever come around. I'll be sure to get photos of things and post here.
Seriously, this system is their way to tell us to shut the *** up and grind old junk just be be artificially kept busy
How in the world did you reach that conclusion? Mastery Rank doesn't even have clear progression to increase its rank, so it's hardly meant to keep people busy. The grinding and/or epeen contest is purely self-inflicted.
Also people need to calm down. I want solid new content (not Odyssey) as much as anybody, but just because updates don't solely exist to please fully decked out endgame players doesn't mean the patch was garbage. It just wasn't aimed at you. There are tons of players who are still a long ways off from getting to the point where they've beaten and obtained everything and are bored. For some of them new story quests are exactly the right kind of content to break up the grind for a little while.
The updates “haven’t been meant for us” for ages now. Pretty sure it’s fair to complain about a complete trash update with yet more content not aimed at endgame players.
For a while now I've been thinking about player made content. Maybe pay Drayco for some of the items he 3d prints as prizes. Create some sort of mystery/scavenger hunt. Incorporate watching cutscenes from the Melody Minstrels/Goblin Footprints etc etc get some of the ffxi youtubers involved to create player made cutscenes...
For a while now I've been thinking about player made content. Maybe pay Drayco for some of the items he 3d prints as prizes. Create some sort of mystery/scavenger hunt. Incorporate watching cutscenes from the Melody Minstrels/Goblin Footprints etc etc get some of the ffxi youtubers involved to create player made cutscenes...
I dunno, make our own content as players.
You can do this already in-game, minus the meatspace merch.
There actually is a system in place to create and run player-designed events, customizable NPCs included. It takes a ***-ton of prepwork, and scheduling with SE employees, so I've never had enough motivation to go beyond looking into it a while back.