How about some actual challenge to FFXI?

[Zumi]

If you min/max your character content should be challenging. Handicapping yourself is not a real challenge. Content needs to be challenging to people who play at the best they can play, not doing stuff to make it artificially harder. Yes the best gear should probably be going to the best 1% of the players.

There are other games not going to name them that have a clear rate of like 0.01% on the hardest content.

[Avarice]

Handicapping yourself is not a real challenge.

One of the very few core reasons anyone would handicap themselves in an event where they would normally face little to no opposition is to increase the difficulty. I'm not talking about trying to accomplish things through impossible methods that will absolutely not work, but using new and abstract ways to accomplish the task at hand in ways that would seem difficult, but will allow a chance a success. That's one definition of a challenge.

[Fiarlia]

One of the very few core reasons anyone would handicap themselves in an event where they would normally face little to no opposition is to increase the difficulty. I'm not talking about trying to accomplish things through impossible methods that will absolutely not work, but using new and abstract ways to accomplish the task at hand in ways that would seem difficult, but will allow a chance a success. That's one definition of a challenge.

Agreed. People who do speed runs in older games usually do it for a challenge. Or play the original FF with only a White Mage. Or the original Legend of Zelda without a sword (except for Ganon, obviously, since it's required to kill him.)

Some people never choose to play through the second quest of Zelda. Some people choose to pick easy or normal difficulty in offline games as opposed to hard. Some people choose to only use Atma/Cruor buffs and pop a brew.

The first time my group of people beat Shinryu we didn't use a brew. We also didn't just zerg either, we tried for Blue and Red procs. This was also before we'd gotten practically any of the Heroes Atmas/Abyssites. We also didn't have Doomscreens. I'll tell ya, that was one of the most epic fights I've done in my entire time playing FFXI. It was hard. It was fun. It obviously wasn't impossible to do without a brew, since we won it.

Challenges exist in this game, y'all just have to stop choosing "easy" at the main menu.

That being said, for 99 content, I'd love for there to be challenges that cater to the more "hardcore" or "elite" crowd, ones that don't have an option to play on easy mode. PW would be nice. Hell, even something like Vrtra was back when he was first introduced (took a long time before he was taken down IIRC, even though his difficulty level is nothing compared to PW). Vrtra was another one of my epic battles from the game that I'll always remember fondly.

If 99 comes and there's no hard content... then I'll be upset. Until then I'm going to hold my judgment, and enjoy what the game currently has to offer and build my character up, hopefully to be ready for the challenges that will come.

[katoplepa]

Vrtra was another one of my epic battles from the game that I'll always remember fondly.

hell yes !!
we tried to do Vrtra in 6 , we came saying: it will be easy, let's see... noway, we fail like noobs^^ (it was a fun fight)
it's not easy : the area is full of undead, those behind the door come in if you are in yellow even if you are in the room, Vrtra keep popping your pets even if you kill it and the room itself is full of undead... it's a very challenging fight!!! try it!!
our pt done Jormungand (easyer respect Vrtra) and it was a nice fight too... not for drops, just for the fight!
the game is still full of challenge if you want to try in lowman.

[Ilax]

hell yes !!
we tried to do Vrtra in 6 , we came saying: it will be easy, let's see... noway, we fail like noobs^^ (it was a fun fight)
it's not easy : the area is full of undead, those behind the door come in if you are in yellow even if you are in the room, Vrtra keep popping your pets even if you kill it and the room itself is full of undead... it's a very challenging fight!!! try it!!
our pt done Jormungand (easyer respect Vrtra) and it was a nice fight too... not for drops, just for the fight!
the game is still full of challenge if you want to try in lowman.

But that been said, is just harder because of the need to toss more body in the fight for 1 item also.