Voidwatch is currently one of the most popular new events for Final Fantasy XI, but like all events, that popularity is accompanied by concerns and complaints on the nature of the event. There are players that find the drop rates far too low for sought after equipment, resulting in hours upon hours of time and effort that some could consider "wasted", while others find the weakness stagger system flawed, since it requires either a feasibly difficult alliance setup to cover all potential staggers, or forego covering all staggers and risk not having access to a vital one.

In a recent post on the official FFXI forums, community team representative Devin Casidey, better known by his screen name Camate, addressed these issues and more.

The full details of Camate's post can be viewed below the break. Want to give your own feedback on his response or your opinion of the Voidwatch event in its entirety? Feel free to do so on the Zam Forums!

From the official Final Fantasy XI forums:

Thanks so much for all the feedback regarding Voidwatch.
I have a couple responses to some of the suggestions and opinions that have been stated. (Sorry it’s a bit long)

• Drop rates of equipment for each chapter
  There are no drop rate differences for equipment in chapter 1, 2, or 3. Each has the same amount of rarity and there are no differences between chapters.
  
  
• Bonuses for players who spawn the monster
  It would be possible to look into this if other players who pay the costs received the same effects, for example, receiving the same benefits when using the maximum amount of cells. On the other hand, we are not thinking about offering special benefits just for spawning the monster. In extreme cases, only the player spawning the monster would consume Voidstones and continuous battles could take place which would eliminate the good point of Voidwatch where each member receives their own reward and would also develop long claim times.
  
  
• Cruor needed for atmacite upgrades
  For the amount of cruor needed to upgrade atmacites, the idea was not to acquire these beforehand in Abyssea, but to upgrade atmacites while receiving cruor as rewards for Voidwatch. In order to save cruor, it’s possible to increase the amount gained by using cells or participate in battles without spending Voidstones just for cruor rewards.

In regards to other feedback we have received, especially about the areas we plan to focus on to address, I would like to go over the planned adjustments.

• Weaknesses and rewards
  Since exploiting a monsters weakness is directly linked to the rewards, it seems like players are focusing on creating parties that can quickly defeat monsters whose weaknesses can be exploited easily. As we would like players to utilize weaknesses as an element of strategy, we would also like players to have fun on a larger scale, so we will be looking into making it so that the connection between exploiting weaknesses and the rewards received are not too strong.
  
  
• Weakness revamps
  In order to create battles that can be completed without relying on temporary items, we are planning to revamp weaknesses as well as adjust the distribution of temporary items.
  
  Also, in regards to cases where the weakness is difficult or due to your setup you cannot exploit it even though you determined what it is, we are planning to perform appropriate adjustments. Though we have already received quite a bit of feedback on weakness, if there are any others you would like us to look into please submit your feedback.
  
  
• Addition of option to destroy rewards
  Currently, players need to receive all the rewards at once; however, since it is inconvenient when there is a rare item that you already possess and you are unable to receive the rewards, we will be making it possible to get rid of the item without obtaining it. We are planning to implement this during this week’s test server update.
  
  
• Subsequent follow-ups
  Depending on the route/monster (also depending on players), they are becoming split into popular/unpopular, so we will be continuing to find ways to make it so it will be easy for players that take on these routes later to gather party members.
  
  Also for players that have already cleared these routes, there are already benefits for them to re-do them, such as being able to participate without spending Voidstones and receiving cruor/XP rewards; however, since we feel this isn’t enough, we will be looking into other benefits to participate in fights that have already been completed.

Finally, we plan on discussing topics in regards the loot system in the future, so please continue submitting your feedback.