I'm going to apologize ahead of time if this seems disjointed, I'm going to regard each point individually in stages, and this may have me miss the forest for the trees here.
Seriha wrote:
- Leveled BLM to 50 with most other jobs at least 20.
- Leveled all crafting professions to 50.
- Leveled miner and botanist to 50. (Technically just need to spend the leves to do the latter, but that's like an hour of play tops)
- Have +1 Relic for my BLM and hat, body, legs, and feet with other DL or crafted accessories.
- Have completed all story content.
- Have most HQ crafter AF decently melded with materia.
You can call me hardcore if that makes you feel better.
No, I'd just say your time availability is a bit higher than the average. As it is I was able to get 1 Arcanist to level 50 with some subclass leveling as well as take a pre-leveled 50 Dragoon through most the story and GC ranking, as well most crafting classes to 10-15, on top of a fairly rigiours player-made content distraction in the form of Roleplaying and player made events. If I had invested my game solely into gameplay I'd be about where you are with both characters, I think.
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I'm more likely to put myself in the top 25% of the game's population than the 10% Yoshi alluded to with BC progress. You'll also notice I didn't mention participating in BC, in part because I utterly loathe being forced into scheduling or statics for content. So you could technically say BC doesn't exist for me as content. But let's look to some of the primary features set to come with 2.1.
Ok, I'll take that into consiteration - keep in mind that I will be addressing Coil as well as the average example may not fall in line with your, or my game habits.
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- More story content.
I believe Yoshi said this would take about 8 hours for people to consume if they don't teleport around a lot and such. I won't argue with this, either, as watching/reading cut-scenes was never really a time consuming process. Of this, we'll have Hildebrand stuff and some main plot happenings. This might take me 3 days tops depending on fight requirements and difficulty.
If we include any situations in which it requires 4 or more players, we may add delay to that content, as you mentioned.
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- PvP.
I have zero interest in PvP. This isn't something anyone has yet to successfully change my mind on, either.
Yet, it must be asked if you will even attempt it out of curiosity. This is after all Square Enix's attempt at PvP aside from FFXI's Ballista which, for a time, maintained a bit of popularity of its own. I'm actually looking forward to see if they may add objective based matches beyond the simple ones in the future.
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- FC Housing.
I've already expressed a lack of interest here. Me being in a small FC is burdensome even if I did. Were I being honest, I'm probably the "richest" of my lot with the highest cash generating potential, too. And, well, my patience has limits when it comes to sitting down to craft a lot.
Ditto for the whole crafting issue. However I find myself more interested because I exist on Balmung - which is one of the two Roleplaying Servers in this game for NA/EU, therefore the housing serves as customizable, shareable settings by which player generated content can take place. This heightens the importance of the accessibility in this content, which is what's making me angry about it. Some areas, such as Wineport, are simply too crowded with people to serve as effective RP hubs, and other locales that would be great for roleplaying are instead heavily populated by NPCs.
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- Crystal Tower.
This is where I raise a brow at your earlier stance. This isn't Coil, it's not the top-tier content. All those other jobs I have sitting at the 20s I'd feel more inclined to level if I knew they wouldn't be forced to sit in DL for months. Instead, not only do I have to fight RNG and diminishing returns as I potentially complete a set for a job grouping, but there is no "making up" of a missed/unlucky week and I really see no motivation for people to go back just because even if they did get what they wanted out of the week or in general.
This is where our viewpoint differs primarily. The main focus of contention when it comes to Crystal Tower is loot lockout on equipment. But absolutely no discussion has been made as to other forms of reward that may exist within this instance. Something as simple as high gil yield or currency drops may be enough for many groups to return to aid allies in getting their weekly drop.
As far as bemoaning success rates for drops and your diminishing returns, this is where the armory comes in, and I will touch on this again later as you mention the Armory and the design of lock-outs.
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- Dailies.
Just more grind. These also begin in the low-40s, which means they're not likely to be difficult. So, probably useless for my BLM, but at the same time, those other jobs will still be met by the collective restrictions imposed by the lockout, myth cap, and so on.
In the Live letter, it was illustrated that there were multiple available Beastmen to talk to with various difficulties of quest. Unless they attached level of fame to the level of content, you're likely able to just do the level 50 dailies if you wish, with your BLM.
Also, I'll contest the fact you dismiss this content as just a grind as it also has been stated that the Beastmen content also contains story elements relevant to the Beastmen and their own lore. Coil is a grind, Crystal Tower, is a grind, Leveling is a grind, quests are a grind. The term 'grind' is a scapegoat to express personal disinterest in repeatable or mandatory content. I, myself, am excited for more casual content and the opportunity to learn more about the Beastmen. Additionally it is another alternative to doing Dungeons for Tomes, which honestly, is a vast improvement being overlooked here.
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- Dungeons.
They'll be fun a few times, but I have no delusion about people falling back into the path of least resistance while the rewards from these will also be lesser than DL.
Given the issue with FC housing, alternative drops such as Gil and Tomes will also start to become factors for desirability on Dungeons. Not to mention, Duty Roulette, tied to strong rewards, such as bonus Tomes will likely enforce usage of more than just your path of least resistance, especially those who do not have statics to be grinding WC in.
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- Extreme Primals, Ultima, Mog.
It's just hard to feel excited about reskins, Mog aside. But like dungeons, these will also fall into routine.
I would have to ask myself what sort of reaction this statment would garner if it was spoke about Raven Nevermore, which was effectively, just a reskin of the story quest "To Kill a Raven."
I wonder how many insulted the instance on that grounds.
Challenge modes have been a Enix staple since before the merger. Harder versions of famous fights or re-imaginings of previously used assets, is absolutely nothing new, especially to us FFXI veterans. After all, one may complain that Dynamis Lord is just a reskin of Shadow Lord - lets not even mention Fait Lux or Abyssea. Goodness knows, we easy, hard and extreme of Summon battles there too.
I suggest you judge your excitement on the battles themselves, rather than the fact that they feature used assets or similar battlefield circumstances.
In summary in this section: Everything done ad-nausea will be boring. Coil would be far more if done more often, which then would almost guaranteed to have less drop rates in return. What Yoshida and crew have created here, is a game that enforces its diversity for the sake of preventing burnout. Sure, doing WP 15 times a week is going to get really repetitious. But that's why you can gain tomes through Roulette and other sources now. Is it a grind? Sure, if you don't like it. But it is a far wider of a grounds to play in, and you do not need to do it that way if you prefer simply pushing WP and only WP.
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I really can't stress it enough that SE is undermining their own armory system with these decisions.
This is where I disagree,
heavily, with the commonly spoken talking points. The lockouts, especially the Crystal Tower Lockouts do
not undermine the Amory system. It in fact
accentuates it by making you value every drop provided, and giving you the capacity to make use of it.
You mentioned before that inevitably you will come across decreasing returns on your primarily desired gear, and that this will become an issue if your desired drop does not show towards the end of the week. The genius of the system starts to show itself once this problem begins to manifest as you will become tempted to settle on drops other than your primary desire, which will in turn encourage you to gear and play other classes. The increasing locks with increased gear level in turn forces you to look at loot from a
graduating perspective, not a specialization perspective. Granted you will still want to prioritize the Jobs that you are most comfortable playing, but inevitable you and your allies will encounter the efficiency of upgrading gear of your secondary and tertiary jobs as the gear becomes available.
You will be tempted
not to let that piece hit the floor, because it may be another several weeks before you see it when you decide upon yourself to level and gear that class. And in turn, having that piece will tempt you to work on that class to make it available.
And this is where the diversity of endgame starts to break apart the lockouts. Tomes provide a dependable source of planned gear, starting with Darklight then moving, in graduation, to Myth, in which, as drops start to distribute among your available jobs, will be able to serve as a gap-filler and intended upgrade between the two primary endgame Raids.
Meanwhile accessories and an alternative path to stronger weapons is provide through the Challenge Mode fights (Extremes and Minstrel's Melodies).
In the end it will be a situation where someone who missed his coil static as a Damage Dealer one day, may be able to make it up as a Tank with a group needing one later on that week. Or someone who is hard on luck in Crystal Tower will find an item they can use for their Monk dropped while the other Monk attending in that party did not need it.
Does it slow vertical progress? Absolutely! And that's frustrating - about as frustrating as a drop-rate so low that you would have to play the game obsessively even to have a chance to get the item within a year or two of religious trying (Hello Duelists Chapeau.) It's just a method of going at the delay a different way, one that isn't punishing to those who do not or no longer have the time to play a game with disheartening low drop-rates, and enforces a hierarchy that causes the majority of players to feel worthless and quit.
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I don't expect others to play as much or as efficiently as I might. I still help newbies if I can and explain dungeons if I find someone's new to them. It's not so much that I'm whining about there being nothing for me to do, but rather SE is saying I couldn't do it as much as I'd like. So it winds up artificially creating nothing for me to do and I'm pragmatic enough to realize this means I'll be sitting on my thumbs a lot. And to me, this also establishes a precedent, a statement from SE and Yoshi that they don't really care about players like me who would still like to play, but simply won't because rewards are throttled.
Let's speak honestly. We're veterans of MMOs. We know the rewards were
always throttled. In this way, we are not discouraged from enjoying the casual elements of the game because the content is throttled
not on RNG availability that throttles drops, but instead on an admittedly more transparent, yet more user friendly, trottling system.
In the end they (Being MMO designers) were always saying "If you want this, you have to wait and work for it." At least now they are giving you the ability to explore other content during the more nakedly enforced waiting period.
In my opinion, this is afar more honest approach, that actually states they do care. They care enough not to waste your time with the illusion, and instead try to give you more breath to play around with. You may be sitting on your thumbs, and thats going to continue for a lot of people until more content comes out. But taht is due to disinterest in what they are providing, and the limit to what they can provide with only so much development time.
They're going to throttle endgame, they always have. That's how they keep you here. But instead of saying you must only play endgame exclusively to progress in endgame, they're offering the rest of their game to entertain you while you push against the throttling, and at the same time opening up the door to others who do not or cannot play as religiously. Telling them they can play and progress without sacrificing their outside lives or feeling beset upon by the 'hardcore' community.
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Well, understand that for some people chasing that carrot is the fun. I don't need a giant FC to socialize with. I don't even need a house to do that. I'd love for there to be more worthwhile things to craft, but there isn't. I want more of an open-world endgame, but there isn't. I'm still sympathetic toward casuals, but at the same time, I feel the game is being a bit two-faced in its promotion of casual content. Looking at statistics only goes far. I'd certainly be curious to see the average size of all FCs with then a breakdown of numbers like 10 members, 25, 50, and so on. Maybe this is just a social thing and the JPs are running around in far larger groups than NAs, but demanding millions largely for vanity purposes... just, no.
I don't like what they did with Housing, but as I've always said, MMO's reward the patient, so that's what I'll be with that issue.
But as the matter of lock-outs are concerned. They're going to be less and less impaction as the game progresses and diversifies. It was sky and Dynamis before it was Sea, Sky Dynamis, and Limbus- then Salvage was added, and so forth. Endgame will flush out and its players will have plenty to do. The way things look, progress will be more staggered lateral than vertical linear. And like every other twist in endgame between MMO to MMO, players will adapt, and the game will adapt as well.
So no, I don't have sympathy for those crying Wolf on lockouts that they may very well become thankful for as Endgame Diversifies, and that Casual audience will most defiantly be thankful for as they start gearing and realize they're not impossibly far behind. It's going to take time for things to sort out, and we're going to lose people, and gain some too. But SE is laying the ground work for the long term game here where people can do their endgame duties and then enjoy other parts of the game without feeling perpetually locked down or behind. The sacrifice made for that enviroment is a more naked version of the slow down on progression that has been there all along.
Trust me, I'm not happy either. 
