I think I figured out why Alexander was so poorly received.

No divebombs. Needz moar divebombs!!!

Be-doo be-doo.

WHOOOSH

Goddamnit a dps was 3 inches outside of the pit and now both healers are dead.

It's mechanically less interesting than Coil? Absolutely. Just compare Faust with ADS... Both are effectively DPS checks, but ADS used to involve teamwork in a Silence rotation for High Voltage. Not the biggest thing in the world, but that just further adds to how pathetic Faust is... I really cannot believe they opened with Faust, possibly the worst first impression of a raid possible...

I'd also say the story is significantly weaker... Just another "Stop teh Primal!" plot, the Illuminati aren't particularly compelling (I think they should probably have been Hildibrand-level comic relief more than anything...) and I don't really care about any of the characters, since they just show up for the first time in the quest... Actually I was almost worried about Brayflox, but that point when no where... The whole plot just comes out of the blue at the end of the main scenario... Compare that to Coil... That plot was there from the very start of the game (before that even, "What happened to Bahamut?" was a question being asked right after 1.0s servers closed down...), as were the characters, granted Alisae wasn't great, but her relationship with Louisoix was presented in the main scenario and is far more compelling that... Whatever Mide is up to? Perhaps if Mide had been introduced earlier, or all that stuff I can't even be asked to remember because it was just words in a short quest to string the raid together, was introduced during 3.0, rather than during 3.05, the plot would at least be more compelling...

Also Twisters, need more Twisters, and "F*ck You" Dreadknights. For a raid sold as "You're fighting inside Alexander!", the environments are particularly dull, too... T5 we were fighting on Bahamuts hand for crying out loud... We're inside Alexander (giggity) now, and it's just... Boring... Musics great though, much better than Coil, save a few turns I shouldn't have to specify.

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Originally Posted by Nalien

Stuff

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Way to take a joke and make it serious....

boring story, boring gears, boring BGMs, boring atmosphere, and boring boss fights.

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Originally Posted by Miscreant

Way to take a joke and make it serious....

Savage 3+ is mechanically harder than Coil, Faust is trash, no one cares about trash...

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You think? Personally I feel they're harder DPS checks/Healing checks and at least have given tanks more to think about than coil ever did, but in terms of actual mechanics I still think second coil has the title of hardest actual mechanics (pre-nerf and pre-overgearing) especially for fights like tT7/T9. Final Coil was pretty mechanically easy though I'll agree on that.

Course what I think Alexander REALLY needs, is pre-nerf T5 twisters. For added WTF.

AND BEE'S IT NEEDS MORE DEMON WALL BEE'S.

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Originally Posted by Whocareswhatmynameis

No divebombs. Needz moar divebombs!!!

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"We heard the complaints in the community about there being a significant difference in difficulty between A2S and A3S. To lessen this burden, we added Dive Bombs to every wave of adds in A2S. Please look forward to it."

I cri evritime.

Alex might've been better served as being the 24-man raid, more I think about it. Compared to Coil the whole 'vibe' of it (antagonists, plot, bosses, gear design) seem less compelling. Also the sense of traversing through a large, active construct would have been better represented.

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Originally Posted by Jamein

Course what I think Alexander REALLY needs, is pre-nerf T5 twisters. For added WTF..

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Jesus christ man... Alexander already has enough latency problems as it is, that's going too far.

In other news I got to see Hand of Parting give Atrophy with the hands literally stacked on top of each other and only hitting for 803 damage last night. It was great. Great! GREAT!

(It wasn't great, this raid is awful.)

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Originally Posted by Miscreant

Way to take a joke and make it serious....

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Hey, SE started it...

Alexander and the Illuminati had potential for a lot of humor, did they offer any though? Nope. Instead they cut to Mide touching her scar as though that's meant to be something deep and significant.

I got a chuckle out of the Illuminati boss having a cat minion, but they did nothing with that. It's a throw away scene, when it feels like it should be the set up for some Bond-villain parody. They've gone for some bizarre 50/50 split with the comic relief and serious plot for Alexander... We'll beat the Goblins, they'll blow up in what I guess is meant to be a humorous fashion, then a character we literally just met will show up, act like they actually did something, and we'll leave. Further reminding us that these aren't raids, they're static encounters... Were Alexander a raid, A1 through to A4 would be one single instance, Praetorium is more of a raid than Coil and Alexander in that respect...

Had they gone full on with the comedy, Alexander could have at least had some charm to it. Had they gone full on with the plot, perhaps it might have at least been interesting. Instead we have some odd mashup that reads like bad fan fiction... They really should have gone full comic relief with this, some of the mechanics certainly lean that way; the mounts in A2, or getting sucked into the vents in A4, even A3s jiggle-butt. It's not much, and they could have done more, but it would have at least given the raid some damn charm if nothing else...

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Originally Posted by FeliAiko

Alex might've been better served as being the 24-man raid

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o.O

24 man in Alexander? The same time?

How you want to fight, when it looks like this:

http://www.wittremberg.de/mediapool/..._0_600-534.jpg

On A3(S) if you wipe on the 2nd phase (the hand) it should, before letting you release turn around and give you the finger for lulz :P

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Originally Posted by Evangela

boring story, boring gears, boring BGMs, boring atmosphere, and boring boss fights.

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Half agree with this, i did like the BGMs, especially floor 4 but the rest is pretty much a snooze fest, no new story even for savage because they want "everyone to experience it" the gear was an insult as it's exactly the same look normal and savage, just with the "prototype" taken out. with the weapons being the only unique part of the set. the stages are unimpressive, they kind of dropped the ball on this one. Better luck with the next set, or raid. and most groups can't seem to pass A3 which is causing groups to fall apart because people are losing interest and don't log on or quit entirely.

The main issue was not enough AoE in general. As a white mage, I was able to stand still long enough to cast a cure every once in a while, that shouldn't happen .....

The music from Alexander didnt have enough Cowbell, in any of the songs. Need lots more Cowbell.

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Originally Posted by Jamein

You think? Personally I feel they're harder DPS checks/Healing checks and at least have given tanks more to think about than coil ever did, but in terms of actual mechanics I still think second coil has the title of hardest actual mechanics (pre-nerf and pre-overgearing) especially for fights like tT7/T9. Final Coil was pretty mechanically easy though I'll agree on that.

Course what I think Alexander REALLY needs, is pre-nerf T5 twisters. For added WTF.

AND BEE'S IT NEEDS MORE DEMON WALL BEE'S.

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From my experience learning A3S took my static longer to learn than both T9 and T9 Savage which were the hardest fights Coil had to offer bar T7, but T7 wasn't really mechanics as opposed to controlling your dps output and pushing phases at the correct time. When the game first came out I was really casual and didn't hit level 50 before they nerfed T5's Twisters so I can't comment on how brutal they were, but from what I hear they were pretty unforgivable.

King Theodan would of been much more amazing as a coil-type boss.

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Originally Posted by Nalien

They've gone for some bizarre 50/50 split with the comic relief and serious plot for Alexander...

Had they gone full on with the comedy, Alexander could have at least had some charm to it. Had they gone full on with the plot, perhaps it might have at least been interesting. Instead we have some odd mashup that reads like bad fan fiction...

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Couldn't agree more.

Even some dungeons have a better/more engaging story IMO.

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Originally Posted by Miscreant

When the game first came out I was really casual and didn't hit level 50 before they nerfed T5's Twisters so I can't comment on how brutal they were, but from what I hear they were pretty unforgivable.

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Life is better this way, I can tell you that pre-nerf T5 twisters were brain damaging, because after raiding you would smash your head against the keyboard/wall until you passed out.

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Originally Posted by Miscreant

I was really casual and didn't hit level 50 before they nerfed T5's Twisters so I can't comment on how brutal they were, but from what I hear they were pretty unforgivable.

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Long story short, original twisters weren't tuned to deal with any latency above 30 ping because all testing is done over LAN internally. So literally hours after the first couple of clears they decided to retune the timing to better accommodate.

Much unlike a couple of fights we have now.

don't forget that the Alexander arc is not over yet. we still haven't defeat Alexander itself. more boring raids are coming.

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Originally Posted by KarstenS

o.O

24 man in Alexander? The same time?

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If it was done in the style of the CT raids, yes.

So far, Void Ark has:

- Better-looking gear (generic for some classes yes, yet still better overall than Gordian sets)
- Better lore backdrop (War of the Magi), and hence potentially more interesting mobs (voidsent, as opposed to robots)
- Return of a character (Diabolos) far more compelling than any of the bosses in Alex

Just a shame the more interesting looking one is relegated to being just 'lesser', 'catch-up' content.

Void Ark gears look terrible. What happened to the gear design recently?

Music is the only good thing about it. Having the story done before the hard stuff removed the motivation to complete the Savage version. Gear looking the same didn't help either.

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Originally Posted by FeliAiko

If it was done in the style of the CT raids, yes.

So far, Void Ark has:

- Better-looking gear (generic for some classes yes, yet still better overall than Gordian sets)
- Better lore backdrop (War of the Magi), and hence potentially more interesting mobs (voidsent, as opposed to robots)
- Return of a character (Diabolos) far more compelling than any of the bosses in Alex

Just a shame the more interesting looking one is relegated to being just 'lesser', 'catch-up' content.

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I think someone mention that a article stated that did/doing it that way so more people can be included in the story and not raider type like coil was. That just what I remember reading but I could be wrong.

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Originally Posted by Lexia

I think someone mention that a article stated that did/doing it that way so more people can be included in the story and not raider type like coil was. That just what I remember reading but I could be wrong.

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Yeah, I understand why the 24-man raids are made to be less difficult. Just felt that the theme behind this one is better than what we have with Alex so far.

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Originally Posted by Evangela

boring story, boring gears, boring BGMs, boring atmosphere, and boring boss fights.

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absolutely agree with you, alex savage is not worse to play ..... the whole fck shit is damn boring, thats why i take a break of the game until 3.1
I lost all of my motivation in this game and its not more interesting, i loved all of the Coil turns and story! but Alex savage näh ..... go away with this boring raid..

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Originally Posted by Evangela

What happened to the gear design recently?

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The only thing I think is wrong with Alexander gear is normal gear's really bleh color scheme. The tank gear looks really good, imo... just not in seafoam green.

I think the healing gear looks rather nice, compared to the casting set. But maybe that's because I know i100 PvP gloves for WHM/AST offset the awful sleeves the gown has. XD

Void Ark's gear isn't hideous, but I am rather sad that every single set has the same colors (excluding the healer set). Kind of makes it feel less individual.

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Originally Posted by Jamein

Course what I think Alexander REALLY needs, is pre-nerf T5 twisters. For added WTF.

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"Hey guys, does anyone know why there are 5 people dead now ?"

"Nope, they just ate something and dropped dead. I think I saw something like a cast but not sure"

good times, good times... *cries in a corner*

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Originally Posted by HorseBoots

Long story short, original twisters weren't tuned to deal with any latency above 30 ping because all testing is done over LAN internally. So literally hours after the first couple of clears they decided to retune the timing to better accommodate.

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actually, you could dodge them by randomly moving when the timer was about to bring twister back. But by coupling :

=> insane latency issues we had back then
=> incredibly tight timer on twister AND enrage (at that time, not overgeared)
=> other shit going on at the same time, especially coral knight + twister

you had a random fight with random death. The first clears were exploiting a critical bug. The following were exploiting z axis glitches. The only legit clear before the twister adjustement (I can't really call it a nerf) had twintania bug in the end so it's unclear if they would have killed it in time or not (most probably yes, but you can never be sure), and was relying on luck on every twister, on top of super precise timer and ability calls.

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Originally Posted by FeliAiko

Yeah, I understand why the 24-man raids are made to be less difficult. Just felt that the theme behind this one is better than what we have with Alex so far.

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Yeah, Void Ark actually has a compelling theme (Mhachi, War of the Magi, Voidsent), Alexanders "theme" is "Remember Alexander? Want some Goblins too?", that's it... Beyond that though, Alexander just doesn't feel like a Raid... Raid level boss encounters, Raid level loot, but the event itself just feels like some lazily slapped together boss fights... The same was true for Coil of course, but Coil at least had an amazing environment to work with... Alexander is just claustrophobic and samey... I'd consider both to be real Raids if they were just one continual encounter, rather than being split up, but Alexander would still come out being fairly meh if they'd done that... Crystal Tower felt like a Raid precisely because it was one big encounter, and Void Ark will feel like a Raid for the same reason (I hope). They got Raids right with Crystal Tower, heck they got it right with Praetorium, but for some reason when it came to Coil and Alexander, they decided to split stuff up... Can you imagine if, for Syrcus Tower, you had to beat Scylla, then re-enter to beat Glasya Labolas, and so on? It just wouldn't work, and that's partly why Coil and Alexander fall short.

Of course, Alexander falls short for many more reasons, but I'd still consider it an improvement if the encounters were set up more like Crystal Tower. Coil, Praetorium, even The Aetherochemical Research Facility (if you strap Thordan on at the end too, damn that would make an epic Raid...) just simply have an epic feel that is completely missing in Alexander... Hell, some dungeons feel more epic, Brayflox's Longstop (both versions) had some foreshadowing for the final boss, for example. The original more so, when the dragon drops down and finished a boss off... Something like that would have perhaps given players more investment in the encounters in Alexander, but instead each boss is brand new. Manipulator and Oppressor are perhaps a nice nod to (I guess) retro Alexander designs, but the player has absolutely no connection or investment in beating any of Alexanders bosses... Was Aiatar the most enthralling villain ever? No, not by a long shot, but having him there right at the start, having him drop down on one of the bosses, that built anticipation for getting to the end of that dungeon, something Alexander completely fails to deliver... It's really quite sad, since we damn well know SE can do better... That's not to say every encounter is like that, the Labyrinth of the Ancients certainly didn't have this, nor did the first Binding Coil, but they at least made up for it with their environments. Twintania didn't make T5 epic, fighting on Bahamuts hand did... On paper Alexander should have had that down, we're fighting inside the iron giant after all, but in practice the interior is just so bland... His whole design is bland, come to think of it... Compare some of the art work we got in the lead up to Heavensward, to this sad robot trying to crawl out of a river we actually got in game... Yeah...

Thinking about it, Alexander just fails as a villain for the same reason the Ascians kinda did... Alexander hasn't done anything, he just needs to be stopped because "Primals are bad!"... At least the Ascians actually did a few bad things on screen, though annoyingly their biggest act (destroying the Isle of Val) happens off screen... Alexander hasn't done a single thing... Couldn't they have slapped a small Goblin settlement off in the distance from Idylshire that we can't actually access, and then had Alexander summoned and Holy Judgement'd the place off the map? That would have built some hype that the actual encounters couldn't live up to, at least... Instead he is just slowly crawling out of the lake and it feels like we're bullying the special needs Primal... Like I said earlier, they probably should have gone with the comic relief style for Alexander, Hildibrand Trials certainly suggest they can deliver on those kinds of encounters, too. Make Alexander secondary to the Illuminati and have them be as goofy as Brayflox's Longstop (Hard) suggested, though I'd probably still be disappointed with that, since Alexander had some epic promotional art in the lead up to Heavensward, and instead it turns out that he is going to spend the next year crawling out of a river... Just what the hell SE... How do you go from "Ancient Dragon God destroyed the realm and vanished, lets find out what happened!" to... to this...

This rant was brought to you by "Finally getting a proper EU data center!"