Summary
When it comes to game balance over time,Final Fantasy 14and Square Enix constantly strive to find common ground by balancing or reworking outdated content when either new content is introduced, or significant system changes are made to the core of the critically acclaimed MMORPG. But, with the swaths of new content that arrive with each expansion release, both the developers and the community ofFinal Fantasy 14have ways to ensure that most players still have to respect older challenges and not make mincemeat out of them entirely.
Like any MMORPG that has a lengthy development cycle, multiple expansions worth of content, and activities with each major update,Final Fantasy 14releases new Jobs and new forms of content for players to enjoy. While some forms of content miss the mark, such astheFall Guyscollab exposingFF14’s netcode issues, the raids and trials that the game has to offer have remained the constant focus of players. Needless to say, creating different forms of content over time leaves some to gather the proverbial dust, and experience a problem known as ‘power creep’ that can get worse if left unchecked.
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Combating ‘Power Creep’ In Final Fantasy 14
In short, the concept of ‘power creep’ is a common problem that many online games face over time. By definition, power creep is the result of newer content or systems rendering old ones obsolete or moot. For example, if a newFinal Fantasy 14Job introduced inEndwalkerhad abilities or traits that trivialized the difficulty of content fromHeavensward, it would create an imbalance across that level of content. This imbalance would be exploited to no end by players as a way to “cheese” fights in ways that would draw the ire of developers, by not only exclusively using thoseFF14Jobsto execute such a plan, but excluding other Jobs that cannot do so as efficiently.
Suffice it to say, such an imbalance would cause an uproar from both players and developers alike until either the boss or the Jobs in question are adjusted accordingly. With that example laid out, balance across all levels of content is one thing that Square Enix must consider when designing anew Job forFinal Fantasy 14within their assigned role. While some Jobs such as the Samurai and the Black Mage are designed with raw damage in mind, others like the Dancer and the Red Mage are given more group-supporting tools to compensate for their lower damage output.
Synced Duties and Job Balance Ensure Nothing Is Obsolete
As a byproduct of ensuring that no Jobs can completely sweep a fight, most ofFinal Fantasy 14’s instanced content is synced down to a given power level. For example, after months of player feedback, Patch 6.5 applied an item level sync of 570 to “The Final Day” Trial. Given the importance of that particularboss battle within the main story ofEndwalker, some players were disappointed that the fight was trivialized for a time since players had access to higher item levels of weapons and armor. As of the Growing Light update, that is no longer the case, and both new and veteran players can face The Final Day on a level playing field.
In addition to story content, one specific test has long forced players to challenge it within set parameters. At the time of writing, all five ofFinal Fantasy 14’s Ultimate Raidshave fixed Job and item level syncs in place, along with fight-specific mechanics, to ensure that even Jobs that come out after the fact can have a fair shake. Between designing Jobs to complement what came before, and controls in place to prevent these new Jobs from exploiting older fights,Final Fantasy 14has kept power creep mostly in check. Only time will tell howDawntrailwill continue that trend.
