How about some actual challenge to FFXI?

[katoplepa]

Abyssea was all about including everyone, they added difficulty modes so that even crappy players (no offence to anyone but they do exist) can enjoy the content.

If you hardcore players picked easy modes then...you didn't really want a challenge did you? A whm for instance picking up "poor player help" of +15 mp refresh atmas and then complains about difficulty is not to be taken seriously.

Atmas are no different than cheats devs put into single player games, if you chose to pick them you play the game in easy mode and not whine about it. If these buffs were forced on you when you entered, then you would have a point but they aren't.

you right again.
but the problem here is some contents casual players cannot enjoy for lack of time to invest in... and an exclusive reward that can distinguis you hardcore player from other casuals... or something that hardcore can monoplyze again like Ridill or E-body or Dalmatica, etc... this is the point, even if they don't say it clearly...

[katoplepa]

If there were hard modes obviously they should drop better gear then Normal mode.

see ?
the problem is the reward that qualify you like an hardcore player distinguishing from casuals...
it's not the challenge itself...

[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.

[Maquis]

Well, if they want that challenge and distinguish themselves without having impact on the whole player base being blocked from good gear:

They could make a BCNM with the new crests added, throw in 6 or more Rani like mobs and have a 0.0001% drop rate on a costume gear that allows you to float around as a Caturae in any city. Then you have your challenge and your epeen and the casual player base can just have fun while obtaining gear.

[Urteil]

If you want a challenge, I hang out on this really nice beach, its got a couple of flaming lanterns to keep the Caribbean Blues away, and during the day the water is as blue as the eyes can see.

But its my beach.

Mine, mine, mine.

But you can come hang out, we'll have some fun.




In all seriousness though, I sort of think Brews ruined the game as far as the easier factor goes. It was kind of overkill when we were allowed to spam those....and I still use them.

I am an awful person.

[Nathos]

Do Abyssea w/o any buffs from npc or Atma. You're not forced to use them.

[Dallas]

The "best of the best" players no longer play FFXI due to a little incident in Salvage. Something about "too difficult without it." The 2 toughest mobs in the game were nerfed because they were "too difficult." SE, leave the content alone. It's just right.

[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.

[Hayward]

It's getting really annoying to hear these jerks from BG and the wanna-be's from Alla talking out of their behinds about how FFXI is "too easy", as though they haven't been catered to enough over the past 6 years (Absolute Virtue, Pandemonium Warden ring a bell?). The most galling thing is they have a tendency to cheat their way to the top (see: Rog) and swear up and down that they're justified in doing so.

These folks don't want a challenge in FFXI. They only want the best gear to be accessible to only them and no one else so they can flaunt some kind of artificial "prestige" that they can't get in real life.

[Fiarlia]

Actually a number of the people in here telling the people whining about it being too easy to shut the hell up are from BG. >_>