The announcement of the Trust system in Final Fantasy XIV made our author Irie a bit more excited than perhaps healthy. But fan service is not the only reason for that.
What is the “Trust” system? At the Fan Fest in Las Vegas, producer Yoshida introduced the “Trust” system for the first time, which will come with the upcoming expansion Shadowbringers to Final Fantasy XIV.
With this system, players will be able to team up with their favorite NPCs. They can then dive into the game together, for example in dungeons.
Currently, the number of NPCs is limited, but according to Yoshida, it will continue to expand in the future, and new faces will be added. So far, there are 4 NPCs known that can be invited to your group:
- Minfilia
- Thancred
- Y’shtola
- Urianger
The system will only be available in the main scenario quests and associated content.
That’s why I’m excited about the feature: For me and many other players in the community, the announcement of the system was a very pleasant surprise, as the feature was actually only a joke in a slightly altered form.
Many NPCs in FFXIV have grown dear to me over the years. They are charismatic, intelligent, and have undergone some developments as well. Therefore, I am really looking forward to seeing which NPCs will be added and how exactly to build my relationship with them.
It also adds a lot to the immersion when fighting side by side with important story NPCs in a dungeon. The new dungeon “The Ghimlyt Dark” makes this very clear, in my opinion.
And I will carve my way through the new content in Shadowbringers alongside my waifu Y’shtola and my husbando Thancred. What more could one want?
Fanservice feature with a pragmatic core
What is the actual purpose of the function? But joking aside: besides the obvious fan service and the opportunity to master adventures with your favorite waifus and husbandos, there is a much more pragmatic reason for this feature.
Lack of tanks and healers is a problem that every MMORPG with a “Holy Trinity” system must face. There are almost always too many DPS and too few supporters.
This is frustrating especially in Final Fantasy XIV:
- The basic structure of the MMORPG requires that players must complete the main story before they can access the endgame.
- To be able to play through the main story, they must go through 5 to 7 different dungeons that are often story-relevant.
- The waiting times for players playing DPS are long and can be really frustrating.
While the developers have reduced the number of mandatory dungeons in the past, for lore reasons they will probably not disappear completely.
Also, the new tank job Gunbreaker will not change the waiting times, at least at the beginning of the expansion when everyone is playing the story. It starts at level 60 and must be leveled to 70+ before it can enter the new dungeons.
The new “Trust” system would be the solution to this problem. It refers exclusively to the main story content of FFXIV and will enable DPS players to complete mandatory dungeons faster and progress in the story.
As an eternal bard DPS, I will definitely try the system as soon as it is available because it can be really annoying to sit in a queue for 30+ minutes before each story dungeon.
Is there a catch? As fun as the system sounds at first, it could also have negative effects on queue times for content.
Primarily, it naturally reduces the total number of players signing up for the content, which could lead to a general increase in waiting times.
However, these are purely speculations, and it is hard to predict how exactly the system will ultimately affect content searches.
The DPS players should benefit from it continuously. And on top of that, grab some fan service.
