FFXIV Random Complaint Thread II: DPS can't count to potato

[Destinye]

Come on that's a bit of an over simplification right? If every person on a given server all had two extra retainers, or there was enough people buying more than two retainers to make the number of bought retainers totally equal to the number of normal retainers then this logic would fly. However I think probably the number of people buying extra retainers is a lot lower than you think. I agree that the servers can probably handle the load, but I think your logic is pretty faulty. Making some players cause an additional impact on the server is not the same as making every player (over 17) cause the same additional impact.

It's more than likely a bit higher than people realize because they tested the waters with Fantasias as people were begging SE to let them buy it, then let them buy unlimited. Now some people are in desperate need of INventory (and really, what game DOESNT have free inventory increases at some point?) but we're given the excuses "the servers will crash" but they can sell us retainers no problem. So while it's not accessing the same memory, it is also part of the "every 5 seconds auto-save" (or 3?) that they say the game uses.

So they can't offer us the retainers (and thus more inventory space for people) for free, but can easily sell it to us. I know more than a handful of people got a 3rd+ retainer off the bat and people who tend to maximize profits usually employ 4+ retainers alone. The cash shop is extremely lucrative to SE which is why they continue to add to it, because SE has proven they'll easily cut their losses on something that isn't doing anything for them, e.g most mobile and their cloud services the past few months.

[Kaisha]

I remember when retainers were going to be $1/mo back in 1.X because it was basically being looked at as having a storage mule like in XI, where you had to pay for each extra character on your account in that game.

Spoiler: show

1.X charged $3 per extra playable character instead. Having more than one character is kinda pointless in both games, besides in ARR if you want to cover all specialist crafts (terrible system), or be part of the 0.10% that does progression raiding on multiple characters for quicker gear acquisition on your main.

Granted ARR still has the bullshit where you can't mail stuff to yourself.

On the 1.X note, with all the tokens and pop items it had, and the mess that was the ludicrous number of variants of craft mats before that got sanitized in a later update, did 1.X ever have as much of an inventory problem as ARR does now?

Glamor and holding onto i130 lvl50 gear (incase new jobs can use 'em, will do the same for best lvl60 gear come 4.0) is the crux of my inventory problems in ARR.

[Niiro]

I don't recall ever having serious inventory woes in 1.0, but it's been a long time now.

Also, all what tokens and pop items? There were 3 tokens and 3 "pop items" for the primals, that was it.

[Silenka]

I wonder what would happen if every active player on the server bought an extra retainer.

Surely they planned for that scenario, however unlikely, when they implemented the ability to buy retainers?
My guess is it's entirely possible to give everyone an extra retainer. We all have 2 already - lots of people have many more than 2 - and the servers seem fine.

(Of course, again, this whole problem could be circumvented by revamping the fucking broke-ass glamour system. I know my retainers are mainly full of glamour gear).

[Kaisha]

Also, all what tokens and pop items? There were 3 tokens and 3 "pop items" for the primals, that was it.

I just figured there was more given the game followed a lot of XI's tropes, my bad.

I wonder what would happen if every active player on the server bought an extra retainer.

I presume the retainers are stored completely separate from the players (since on-hand inventory is saved way too frequently, all the server's retainers would just be in a large separate database with your character ID assigned to it), so it shouldn't hinder the server at all, just whatever drives the marketboard listings and whatever fetches the venture timers.

It's likely the reason why the marketboard is so sluggish after a maint, it has to recache everything.

[Worm]

So they can't offer us the retainers (and thus more inventory space for people) for free, but can easily sell it to us.

Right because giving everyone 50% more or a 100% more storage space represents a different server load than selling 50% or 100% more storage space. Honestly I found that a lot of people early on weren't even aware extra retainer slots were something you could purchase. I first realized it when idiots on reddit were calling cash shop minions and dyes "Pay to Win" because "pets and glamour is someone's endgame" and when I told them purchasing extra retainers was what was really P2W(in a light way I'd argue) my most common response was "BUH?". This happened a few times in game as well. So I think maybe you have a bit of confirmation bias that when you look at your circle of friends and then extrapolate their behavior to the average player.

I think they should and probably could increase storage, the best way to do it would just be some sort of porter who takes up a retainer slot (no ventures, no class, no marketboard) that way there isn't whatever allocation having 20 items on the Market Board is. Though storage is weird, up until Wrath WoW had a SERVER CRASH BUG related to guild banks which was super easy to execute. I bet we could all get a 3rd retainer for free, but I'm just not going to act like I have some smoking gun that proves it. Assigning a cost to things in these games can be a pacing mechanic, you can see it with race changes, server transfers, name changes, and I guess retainers.

There are probably a lot of things going into the decision to not give people an extra retainer with the expansion (I mean increased inventory space is pretty much a expansion pack mainstay) but I think primary might be the lost revenue from people who only have on retainer. Since that retainer is leveled and everything that player isn't going to buy a new one most likely. So I wouldn't be surprised if whatever they add to deal with the storage space is not related to that.

[Jem]

See I could have sworn at one point it was said that Legacy players would get a 3rd retainer for free but if you do, I certainly can't trigger it!

[Cassalot]

See I could have sworn at one point it was said that Legacy players would get a 3rd retainer for free but if you do, I certainly can't trigger it!

Dont believe Yoshi P's lies

[Niiro]

Who has the Momento shoop of the polaroid with Yoshi's picture on it? That's a good one.

[Shenrien]

See I could have sworn at one point it was said that Legacy players would get a 3rd retainer for free but if you do, I certainly can't trigger it!

Konami code at the mog station followed by removing your payment information.

[agrotc]

Who has the Momento shoop of the polaroid with Yoshi's picture on it? That's a good one.

[Worm]

See I could have sworn at one point it was said that Legacy players would get a 3rd retainer for free but if you do, I certainly can't trigger it!

Yeah all I remembered about it was the reduced fee and the prerequisite that you subbed at least 90 days.

http://web.archive.org/web/201407041.../campaign.html

Can't get it into English because the flags don't work, but google translate doesn't bring up anything about retainers. Though some old blog posts referenced something about retainers being account wide, so maybe that's where this came from?

[Raldo]

I seem to recall their idea being that the 2nd retainer was going to be free for legacy, then they decided to just give it to everyone.

[Ragnus]

The thing I'm wondering is how much server capacity they're losing because of people who refuse to buy retainers just using an alt character's free retainers

[Raldo]

The thing I'm wondering is how much server capacity they're losing because of people who refuse to buy retainers just using an alt character's free retainers

Probably not many...? What kind of stuff would someone put on an alt retainer? If you have the freedom to put it on an alt retainer (i.e. a pain to access), you probably don't need to be holding it in the first place.

Also, you'd have to be on the payment plan that allows you to have multiple characters per server (extra $2). You should just buy extra retainers if that's the only reason you're making extra characters. And you'd also need both characters to be in a FC with chest access, since you can't friend yourself anymore.

The only thing I use my alts' retainers for is for storing event furniture which I think I can turn a profit on in the future (which never actually happens, since I always forget it's there, so I've never actually sold any of it).

[Katlan]

Probably not many...? What kind of stuff would someone put on an alt retainer? If you have the freedom to put it on an alt retainer (i.e. a pain to access), you probably don't need to be holding it in the first place.

Also, you'd have to be on the payment plan that allows you to have multiple characters per server (extra $2). You should just buy extra retainers if that's the only reason you're making extra characters. And you'd also need both characters to be in a FC with chest access, since you can't friend yourself anymore.

The only thing I use my alts' retainers for is for storing event furniture which I think I can turn a profit on in the future (which never actually happens, since I always forget it's there, so I've never actually sold any of it).

My alt 50 houses all my extra housing and airship venture bullshit. as well as all my gardening seeds and soils ive collected. I'd be screwed without it. But granted not everyone is in co-charge of an FC to need to store all that extra crap

[KCem]

Apparently distracting nearly the entire flames party in FL and leading them away from our node multiple times will get you kicked for not being a team player.

In other news, AST is extremely good fun in pvp.

[Silenka]

In other news, AST is extremely good fun in pvp.

Nocturnal stance?

[Marcicus]

let's not boot the DRG who has LITERALLY NEVER ONCE UNTIL TODAY used Heavy Thrust or the Chaos Thrust combo, let alone have them on his hotbar, but let's boot the guy who's doubling this ninja's DPS on MCH and is the only one AoEing and killing shit.


i fucking hate DF i swear to god

[Lujei]

let's not boot the DRG who has LITERALLY NEVER ONCE UNTIL TODAY used Heavy Thrust or the Chaos Thrust combo, let alone have them on his hotbar, but let's boot the guy who's doubling this ninja's DPS on MCH and is the only one AoEing and killing shit.


i fucking hate DF i swear to god

DF in general is retarded. I got called rude for saying, to a level 50 Gladiator, these exact words: "You really should unlock PLD man, you're missing half your toolkit" this week.

You know, I don't expect randoms to be able to play their job perfectly, no one does amazingly well when they first hit the level cap, but it would be nice if they tried to improve when you respectfully point something out to them. Most people do, in fact. It's the people who attack you for pointing something out by calling you an elitist or an ass that are the real problem. They're the enablers, stifling the possible improvement.

(I also got called an ass for telling the healers in Bis Normal to stop whining about being assigned to the Dragonkillers because timing in Bis normal isn't strict. Perhaps not the most respectful way of criticizing on my part, but it worked. Sometimes you just need someone to be critical to improve, so that you don't live in a bubble.)