Stop dumbing down FF14

To acquiesce with the inane demands of casuals, everything in this game is being dumbed down to a level where a four year old can complete without difficulty. The only thing that requires any brain cell to do is now Ultimate.

Remember when Savage raids actually took more than a day to clear? Remember when crafting isn't just one-button macro that you copy and pasted from The Balance?

Job difficulty is gutted across the floor. Healers are now a two button job, one 30s DoT, one glare/malefic/broil spam with the occasional healing/utility ogcd weaved in. In Heavensward, healers needed to juggle Cleric Stance, and almost half a dozen DoTs in their DPS rotation. Today's Lv 80 healer is easier to play than Heavensward's Lv 60 healer. Tanks had to care about aggro, and jobs such as ninja had to actively help with aggro management. This resulted in creative applications of aggro management such as getting a healer to take one of the earth shakers in O4S with the combination of good tanking and good ninja play. Aggro management is now a one button afterthought.

Crafting and gathering are dumbed down to the extent that while Ironworks Cap of Crafting could fetch a hefty 2M on the market board in Heavensward, an Aesthete Cap of Crafting could barely fetch 90k gil. Because anyone and everyone can craft, including bots. They removed half of the crafting skills, and so-called Expert recipes are easier than the shortcuts you could take with Whistle While You Work all the way back in HW and SB.

Dungeons are nerfed over and over again. How many times have Steps of Faith been nerfed? Compare Pharos Sirius, an ARR Lv 50 dungeon to The Heroes' Gauntlet. Even after the nerf, you see more wipes in Pharos Sirius, something everyone easily out-item-levels by an expansion's worth, especially on the first boss, than in The Heroes' Gauntlet. Dungeons have gotten progressively easier and easier. There are more mechanics in Pharos Sirius's Siren boss than the entirety of The Heroes' Gauntlet.

Even Savage is dumbed down. There are now only 2 hardcore raids per expansion, compared to what is supposed to be 12 per expansion.

Stop dumbing down the game, you're making this game unfun and everything in this game other than Ultimate is now a snoozefest that people can sleepwalk through.

I'm impressed at how many accounts you seem to be paying a subscription for. I can see why you aren't banned now.

Nonetheless, you're the minority and you have a clear obsession.

Ironically the game seems to be doing pretty well...

OP just wait until they do pve combos like they are in pvp. You think snoozin through dungeons is boring now, wait till all the jobs just hit the same button to do their combos

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ADVSS

OP just wait until they do pve combos like they are in pvp. You think snoozin through dungeons is boring now, wait till all the jobs just hit the same button to do their combos

---

I recognize this comment is almost certainly hyperbole at best, and possibly outright trolling. But you know what? In all seriousness, I'd actually prefer that to the current behavior where existing skills are removed and rotations gutted to make room for new ones in a given expansion.

Yes, I recognize that if no skills ever went away or were collapsed down, hotbars would be unmanageable. But I think jobs suffer greatly at lower levels as a result of skill condensation; if you were to try to clear the Coils of Bahamut synced down fully now on scholar (i.e., synced both on level and synced to minimum ilevel), I suspect it would be a great deal harder than when it was current, if only because scholar has fewer things they can do at level 50 now.

Sure, I don't entirely like the idea of making one button that cycles through Keen Edge, Brutal Shell, and Solid Barrel on GNB, or that toggles between Demon Slice and Demon Slaughter for the AoE rotation. I.e., instead of 1, 2, 3 for single target or whatever you just press 1, 1, 1. Anything else aside, that's just not as satisfying a rotation; I mean, the reason GNB has become my favorite tank to play lately (sorry, DRK, you'll always be my first tanking love) is that Gnashing Fang -> weave Continuation -> Savage Claw -> weave Continuation -> Wicked Talon -> weave Continuation just feels good as an action flow.

But if it's a choice between collapsing existing rotations down to one button so they cycle through the steps as you unlock them, versus stripping skills out entirely to make room for new ones? Then yeah, I think I might actually prefer condensing some of the core rotations down to one button there.

If it weren't for OP and his 10 accounts posting entertaining threads every day in the forums, I would never even check this place.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Packetdancer

I recognize this comment is almost certainly hyperbole at best, and possibly outright trolling. But you know what? In all seriousness, I'd actually prefer that to the current behavior where existing skills are removed and rotations gutted to make room for new ones in a given expansion.

Yes, I recognize that if no skills ever went away or were collapsed down, hotbars would be unmanageable. But I think jobs suffer greatly at lower levels as a result of skill condensation; if you were to try to clear the Coils of Bahamut synced down fully now on scholar (i.e., synced both on level and synced to minimum ilevel), I suspect it would be a great deal harder than when it was current, if only because scholar has fewer things they can do at level 50 now.

Sure, I don't entirely like the idea of making one button that cycles through Keen Edge, Brutal Shell, and Solid Barrel on GNB, or that toggles between Demon Slice and Demon Slaughter for the AoE rotation. I.e., instead of 1, 2, 3 for single target or whatever you just press 1, 1, 1. Anything else aside, that's just not as satisfying a rotation; I mean, the reason GNB has become my favorite tank to play lately (sorry, DRK, you'll always be my first tanking love) is that Gnashing Fang -> weave Continuation -> Savage Claw -> weave Continuation -> Wicked Talon -> weave Continuation just feels good as an action flow.

But if it's a choice between collapsing existing rotations down to one button so they cycle through the steps as you unlock them, versus stripping skills out entirely to make room for new ones? Then yeah, I think I might actually prefer condensing some of the core rotations down to one button there.

---

Even if you silenced echo and synced down, Binding Coil would be hella easy these days due to the increased potencies across all jobs an the fact that every tank has mitigation out the booty hole. Granted, level 50 rotations are only slightly more boring than they were back then, and I don't like the skill pruning either, but old content only gets easier.

The one exception to this was the first tank nerf in HW. Tanks lost 218 ATP and gained a ton of HP they didn't need. Made groups still working on the tight Gordias DPS checks unable to clear suddenly. Good times.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Vyrerus

Even if you silenced echo and synced down, Binding Coil would be hella easy these days due to the increased potencies across all jobs an the fact that every tank has mitigation out the booty hole. Granted, level 50 rotations are only slightly more boring than they were back then, and I don't like the skill pruning either, but old content only gets easier.

The one exception to this was the first tank nerf in HW. Tanks lost 218 ATP and gained a ton of HP they didn't need. Made groups still working on the tight Gordias DPS checks unable to clear suddenly. Good times.

---

man i remember those days, i used to go on tirades about no longer being able to str tank. But the hp jump was kind of funny

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Packetdancer

I recognize this comment is almost certainly hyperbole at best, and possibly outright trolling. But you know what? In all seriousness, I'd actually prefer that to the current behavior where existing skills are removed and rotations gutted to make room for new ones in a given expansion.

---

The funny thing is that at one time i actually wanted this to happen, but after they pruned down several jobs(mainly the tanks)I feel like it would make the jobs even less insteresting to play than they already are. Might not be so bad for some DPS, though SMN maybe DRG. if its optional i like what they did for RDM by just combining skills like verthunder/aero to just become verflare/holy when the combo req is met.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ADVSS

man i remember those days, i used to go on tirades about no longer being able to str tank. But the hp jump was kind of funny


The funny thing is that at one time i actually wanted this to happen, but after they pruned down several jobs(mainly the tanks)I feel like it would make the jobs even less insteresting to play than they already are. Might not be so bad for some DPS, though SMN maybe DRG. if its optional i like what they did for RDM by just combining skills like verthunder/aero to just become verflare/holy when the combo req is met.

---

That's what I want, more skills that morph. They've shown they can implement it with stances, level, and combo reqs now, so it's totally doable!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Vyrerus

That's what I want, more skills that morph. They've shown they can implement it with stances, level, and combo reqs now, so it's totally doable!

---

yeah i do like that just as long as they dont go pverboard with it. then it would be nice to a degree.

I agree. But this is the natural evolution of all services in a capitalist society. It will continue, it will get worse, and there zero chance that things will go back to how they were before they decided a growing playerbase was more important than fun gameplay.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jamjeeshoul77

I agree. But this is the natural evolution of all services in a capitalist society. It will continue, it will get worse, and there zero chance that things will go back to how they were.

---

???? Titanmen, is that you?

dont mind me im just playing responses bingo while w8ing for the 3 usual fishes to bite

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Packetdancer

Yes, I recognize that if no skills ever went away or were collapsed down, hotbars would be unmanageable. But I think jobs suffer greatly at lower levels as a result of skill condensation; if you were to try to clear the Coils of Bahamut synced down fully now on scholar (i.e., synced both on level and synced to minimum ilevel), I suspect it would be a great deal harder than when it was current, if only because scholar has fewer things they can do at level 50 now.

---

You would be incorrect. While jobs have less buttons to press, they typically are balanced much stronger than past iterations. Ninja, for example, is laughably overpowered at lower levels. Nevermind, jobs like Red Mage, Dancer and Gunbreaker all being woefully unbalanced for 50 content. There's a reason Dancer is usually top in Crystal Tower. None of that content was designed with that kind of burst in mind. Really, the only major difference for healers, specifically, is the need to actually GCD heal, which is otherwise a last retort. Furthermore, combo consolidation would do literally nothing for Scholar. So it's a moot point, regardless.

Whether or not this thread is a troll is up for debate however it’s true. My three year old son picked up my wife’s controller, flying around il meg he stumbled across an A rank. Of course the entire data center turned up and he sat there pressing one button, got max points carried on flying around the map with zero consequences.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Seddrinth

If it weren't for OP and his 10 accounts posting entertaining threads every day in the forums, I would never even check this place.

---

You mistake entertainment for a very sad cry for attention.

Even though this is a troll thread, I do kinda agree. I typically do all the savage fights while mutitask watching youtube videos, which...well I couldn't do before. So I agree, but yeah; I know its a troll so.

Yeah this game is so easy now . Pve , Craft everything is so easy and the sad part is that people still complain about stuff being too difficult , really really sad.

Troll thread indeed but it has a ring of truth. It sort of feels insulting to play sometimes, like the devs seem to think we're just not capable of anything requiring the slightest brainpower or patience. I like a game that tests me a bit because it feels like the developers design the content assuming I'm at least semi-intelligent and when I progress or beat something I feel satisfied. Things like the Beast Tribes "mine 3 NQ ore" or "press Groundwork 3 times" or MSQ npc duties with 2-3 buttons or Normal mode bosses you can beat with 20 deaths and so on just feels like the Devs have given up hope on us. Playing the regular game just irks me more and more lately.

Savage is accidentally in a reasonable spot because it's given us sorely needed midcore content. I actually like e5-8s and it got my FC in there for the first time. But they need to expand on it and give hardcore something more in exchange. Also EX is gradually slipping and is far, far too lenient on enrage timers so midcore have lost that. It's sad that Shiva Unreal is too hard now because EX has babied us for too long. They've removed a dungeon per patch and deep dungeons, there's room to give us something like Alliance Savage and Savage dungeons.

Crafting is just gone. It's done, over and dead. There's no turning back without causing mass riots from people who have become used to free hand-outs, but the only purpose it serves is letting people who hate crafting have crafted items and providing a market for bots to churn out endless Neo-Ishgardian. I have no hope for crafting anymore.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Raikai

Ironically the game seems to be doing pretty well...

---

So do skinner boxes disguised as mobile games.

This is quite possibly the most toxic thread I've seen in a while... Depressing times...

Even the forums are being dumbed down.

At least you can't do any more on your necromancy account.