You have enough casual/fluff content now, how about that endgame progression SEnix?

[HakuroDK]

This is more of a casual patch though. I felt the same way about 2.2 that you feel about 2.3. I was disappointed with second coil because I don't have the time to commit to learning it so I couldn't really experience that content. So now with 2.3 there is new content that I can experience beyond just grinding soldiery tomes.

I was frustrated after 2.2 and almost took off, but someone on the forums reminded me that pretty much every other patch is casual > hardcore > casual > hardcore. Maybe 2.4 will be more your style

Pretty much this.

Yoshi has pretty much stated that patches will be taking turns between hardcore endgame raids and casual endgame raids. There simply are not enough people in the game willing to participate in 24-man hardcore content on a regular basis with a healthy playerbase in the same way as Crystal Tower content. I HATE Coil, to be perfectly honest, because it requires a level of focus that I simply cannot put out. I haven't even cleared T5 yet because, even as an MT, I have to be a hell of a lot more careful than I have to be with most other content, and it can be very, very stressful, and not at all in a good way.

Hardcore combat content is just one facet out of several that this game has to fill. There's Hardcore Combat Content, Casual Combat Content, Questing, Open World Content, Crafting Content (Both Casual and Hardcore), Gathering Content (Both Casual and Hardcore), and the list is only getting larger.

I mean, if you're getting tired of a lack of hardcore content, why not just unsub for a few months, pick up Dark Souls 2, then come back later when the next bit of Coil comes out?

As for the above post about giving Sands/Oil of Time and UATs to "Casuals", it's pretty much the third weapon option.

Option A: Relic Weapon
Option B: Coil Weapon
Option C: Equal-Strength Weapon

Relic is the weapon that requires the least skill, but the most time. Coil is the weapon that requires the most skill, but the least time. The equal-strength weapon (Rowena's Token Weapons, EX Primal Weapons, etc.) are the middle ground. Have been since 2.1. And to be perfectly honest, there should not be more than one set unlockable by a single specific dungeon, especially if said specific dungeon is supposed to be the hardest content in the game. So really, Sands/Oil/UATs are the only way "casuals" can get i110 armor and weapons, where it originally used to be that we'd have to farm Myth for AF2 and Relic Zenith in order to get gear on par with Coil drops. It was a mistake on SE's part to put Sands/Oil/UATs in Second Coil, and I am glad that they opened it up to drop in more content.