90-99, Whats Going To Be Next?

I'd say adding the whole synthetic atmas for doing old stuffs was a good idea but id say that's as far as you go. I feel like i kinda missed out on endgame myself because I never had a job with a consistent schedule so all i got to do on my previous account was level jobs. For ppl like me I wouldnt mind going back and checking these events out, im sure some of the gear is worth going back to get (mostly accessories such as the +7 skill necks from jailers unless there is something better.) Id say farming dynamis relics/mythics is good enough of old endgame to make it worth keeping around thanks to the ToTM. I honestly dont see a reason outside of these events other than the atma's. So honestly for those that didnt get to do the endgame get to experience it with less ppl and get these atmas are enough as far as im concerned. On the other hand, I really just hope that endgame does go outside of Abbysea but as far as im concerned the atmas are what makes me think this isnt going to happen. I'm not saying abyssea is bad its just it like something more than rehashed old zones in the past with a different colored sky/mobs. I think SE made a smart move with abbysea and would like to still see it become successful but adding some HNMs and some MEGABOSSES!!!! Wouldnt necessarily be a step in the wrong direction since there are plenty of other things to do :/

Well when it really comes down to it, all you can really do is 4 simple words. "Just wait and see." One can only hope a whole new horizon full of new events and endgame awaits us once we reach that new dominate level cap.

I'll say again: Making people go back and grind old content just because they attached it to a Trial is not fun. No one wants to kill Byakko 30 times. No one even wants to collect 30 Byakko pop sets. It won't add anything to the game and would appear lazy on behalf of the Devs to basically just toss us an "Expansion" that is "Now go kill dead content for your next shiny, I can't be assed to come up with anything new." Fifty Kirin kills wouldn't be impressive, it'd be boring and a formality to people overleveled and able to crush him with ease. The prices of pop items would skyrocket for a bit and that would be the only thing to come of it, outside of some likely botclaiming lottery pops. Hooray.

A lot of creativity into what we have now? Absolutely. Rehashing that into "Now clear Dynamis X times, Kirin Y times and Limbus Z times" isn't creating anything new, it's warmed up leftovers.

I'm hoping once Lv.99 is here and in place, Square-Enix is going to take a step back from all their hard work giving us tons of new and cool things and think of ways to:
A, re-balance the game, giving every job an equal opportunity
B, revitalize the old endgame stuff; maybe give us Trials for relic armor, Salvage gear, and whatever else.
C, revitalize the old pregame stuff; believe it or not, I actually kind of miss leveling in the Dunes.
D, seriously (I mean "seriously") consider dropping PS2 and maybe 360 support to breathe some fresher graphics, user interface controls, and all the stuff that we'd have if not for "PS2 limitations". More character-creation options and whatnot too. (I'm not really biased against PS2 either, since I've used that all the way from when I started 7'ish years ago until actually quite recently)

As for between Lv.90~Lv.99, I think we are going to see a lot more of what we've been getting: new challenges, new armor, new customization, etc.

A) This game is Focused on PvE, the concept of balancing your refering to is something that would lean towards more of a PvP focused game. And they already claimed they are hard at work to make sure each job keeps it unique style (so just subbing rdm wont rep it at higher lvs, and so on) So no way they gonna "balance" the game.

What's wrong with balancing jobs in PvE content?
Ppl with right job grind gears 3 times more efficient than ppl with wrong jobs. For ppl who has no MNK, no NIN, no BLM, no THF, no WAR or no WHM, they may ended up having to find extra hands for proc when trying to grind KI, seal or gears. And they may ended up killing slower or less drops, thus lower the efficiency. Keep each job's unique style has nothing to do with job balance. Who'd like to play a job(no matter how much you like that job)that can't do things as efficient as other jobs?

You sound like PvE focus MMORPG has no competitive element, but that's not true. FFXI players compete in gear, when ppl with right jobs grind gear fast and efficient, they'll ended up having better gear than ppl with wrong job, who'd have to spend more time getting extra help, or fight NM more times for KI/seal/gear drop.

What Aeguis said was pretty much spot on as far as where the game in general stands. The whole idea of Atma based areas outside of Abyssea is possible but if this is the case Im hoping we can get some new zones. Some can argue about gear and job balance but with the level cap being raised, the options on subs fill all the spots for classes that needed them. Hence DRK could sub SAM and have protection abilties + faster TP gain which makes the arguement a few posts up a wasted effort.

Id like to see an expansion, as i mentioned before rather than "packs". I feel that abyssea is great for the reasons It remains challenging for smaller man parties. Just like some have mentioned, they have limited schedules, but with some good RL/In Game friends you can get on for short periods and still get things done. Streamlining the content was the point of Abyssea and theres no shame in enjoying it. I just feel this is the beginning of something big which is why it doesnt bother me when i think of old endgame as a moot point.

I do feel that old endgame can still be useful rather than shunning it outside of relics/mythics. God forbid there were those that actually enjoyed those evening assualt runs and nyzul climbs and even those salvage runs with their buds. The way SE made content work without raising the level cap was making gear more customizable and hybrid (like pup being a deeply gimped melee dd yet they got access to the salvage set and this all changed for them) which is why I wish SE would do this:

1)Make all the old endgame sets combineable with the later 75 sets.
IE: Grab Nyzule or Sky pieces and combine with a Salvage Piece through something like Synergy and have some mats needed for the fusing as point purchases from ein/assault currency or some other form of old currency to create a Aug Piece. Have it retain some characteristics of the two pieces with 2-3 augment or evo slots and make evo's drops from the old endgame or as point purchases. Maybe make some evo's and currency purchased mats rare so they can be sold to those who dont wish to grind old endgame and bam! you got some sweet new gear. Creating ToM for these pieces would be a moot point which is why i would love a system like this instead.

2) Instead of scaling this gear on whether its better or weaker than the AF3/90-99 gear make it's purpose customizable as gear thats situational or that piece for the certain stats you need at that situation. This prevents old endgame from being obsolete while creating a depth of gear creation thats suitable to those that dont mind coming back for something different or those that need some incentive that weren't able to do the events orininally.

3) Make achievements. I know this will anger some and ill get the "go back to wow or lol xbox epeen score hurr durr" but thats not what i mean, i mean just like we have achievement and point spreads on the completion of things on FFXIAH why not have some areas for complete armor sets or ToM trials? Thats plenty of incentive for me to climb nyzule and complete the mage/dd set and have it viewable on my char here. I know there are plenty of completionist players out there that feel the same way. For those worried about clutter in MH, have these sets storeable just like old AF sets. I think it would be cool in the armor sets section to actual see all the completed sets you have and to have points give for all these.

They already implemented #3, it's called Empyrean Weapons. The non-NM paths are just that, a progression designed with those who don't want to kill NMs for their weapons in mind. Nevermind the fact that they're better for mages since SE has some bizarre obsession with useless mage uberweapons.

It would be lovely to see an old foe revitalized and perhaps shown in "Ultimate form". Like in all final fantasies the main boss has almost 3 forms, and if not close to or more. This game's main foe standing out to me as the Shadow Lord, though he does have 3(?) forms in the game already.

Perhaps the ultimate insult being an Ally such as Prische turning evil, who then teams up with other HNM status bosses. And yourself teaming up with old faces and allies like Gilgamesh, Lion, Maat, Aldo, etc in a climactic battle to end all battles.

/monkeydance