It's about time to add Coil story mode, isn't it ?

[Thayos]

When I talk about wanting story mode, I'm talking about all levels of coil, not just the old ones.

I also don't want anything nerfed.

I just want a mode with no loot or completion lockouts, so that it's easier for FCs and linkshells to work as a group so more people can master this content.

(For the record, I've beaten T5, so I'm not one of those people.)

I'm currently working on T6, and it's super frustrating because while I'm probably good enough to win it, I can't seem to find a party of seven other people who are as knowledgeable about the fight as I am.

If there were no weekly completion lockouts, I'd have gotten a win with my FC weeks ago and would be much deeper into Coil2. Instead, I'm stuck beating my head against the wall not because I'm lazy, but because it's so damn hard finding seven other competent people.

[Tiggy]

You're completely missing what I'm saying. I'll explain.

I'm in a great guild, and have lots of in-game friends. My FC has a couple of coil statics going already.

The problem is, completion lockouts prevent the FC from really helping people through coil, because those statics are already set and people already have their weekly wins. Once they win, they can't go back and help other FC members like myself. That's where a story mode would help.

It's not puzzling.

They purposefully do this instead of a CT/ST style look lockout so you can't easily carry new people through the content and for players to create their own story. For example. A newbie player has never tried T6 before, but gets 7 of his friends who have been beating it for weeks walk up and get him a win by the end of the day. As we all know it's easier to learn a fight when all the other players are doing this correctly already. It's a deliberate attempt to make users responsible for their own progress and to play with like minded individuals in a similar point in their progress as you so that you are all working hard together to achieve a hard fought victory that becomes your story. What you're asking for a system that trivializes those victories and accomplishments by making them common place.

You seem to forget that there is a huge part of the player base that wants it that way and would argue just as vehemently for it as you are for a story mode. Square has to make the game fulfilling for both sides and the balance struck is to make the current top end content restricted in this way. It puts it out of reach for a very short time for the "hard core" to go at it, and then puts it in the hands of everyone else for full on consumption. Everyone gets access to the fights eventually, and the hardcore get their time in the sun. If there wasn't a end-game in this style this game would be dead already. The past is littered with MMO's that didn't have a fulfilling end game. What you ask for would in a very literal way hurt this game and it's future.

I get it. I would love to help my friends too, but I look at the bigger picture and I know it would be worse to do what you suggest.

[Gardes]

I've tried several times forming coil statics in linkshells, but completion lockouts have always succeeding in tearing those groups apart. Members get wins with other groups, then can't run with us, and eventually they just leave. This isn't a result of me failing to try, but of SE's puzzling decisions regarding lockouts and community infrastructure.

This is the first time I've heard something like this. Are you sure you're actually forming statics and making people believe they're in one?

Personally haven't beaten T9 myself even though the first time I stepped into T9 was 3 months+ ago. My own group's problem was a severe schedule issue and some attitude problems. We've tried reforming like 3 times already but each new people we get and train up keep flaking out due to yet again their schedule. It's gotten to the point where the past month or two i've only seen nael twice (no point in forcing a win through pugs). And it wasn't even to the golems part. We're gonna try forming again soon but probably will have to see how much our new fc people wants the win badly and what classes we're gonna need. Hell, I've been on pld, drg, blm and soon brd just trying to let the people we recruit be whatever they want.

[Thayos]

Twiggy, you bring up some great points in that second paragraph, and you very well could be right.

It's a catch-22, I guess. I've seen lots of players quit this game out of frustration not because they're lazy, but because they got tired of beating their heads against the wall (starting back in the early days of Titan HM). There are many hard-working players who want to get through coil, but the game punishes them for not having static parties.

Meanwhile, this game really makes communities pointless. It's like my situation... I'm in this awesome FC that's filled with knowledgeable, helpful players... but the game's infrastructure prevents them from helping me. It's definitely frustrating, and many players share in this frustration. I know people who've quit over this.

That said, having these lockouts certainly lengthens the lifespan of these events... I totally get that. But at what cost? Is it better to wall people out, causing people to get frustrated and leave? Or is it better to incentivize more people to participate, which may take some of the exclusiveness from endgame, which may cause some super hardcore raiders to leave?

Personally, I think a no-loot story mode would be fine. People could still get clears for content, but they wouldn't have the rare, epic loot that hardcore raiders have. There would still be that pinnacle tier for those super hardcore players to stand on.

[Tiggy]

Twiggy, you bring up some great points in that second paragraph, and you very well could be right.

It's a catch-22, I guess. I've seen lots of players quit this game out of frustration not because they're lazy, but because they got tired of beating their heads against the wall (starting back in the early days of Titan HM). There are many hard-working players who want to get through coil, but the game punishes them for not having static parties.

I think this is one of those crappy situations where you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. I don't know what they could realistically do to free it up, but still maintain that rewarding end game experience. The only thing I could think of is faster end game cycles so that things swap out of the end game faster, but that has crazy amounts of other consequences on the game that make it unfeasible.

Game theory is a tough, tough mistress. Especially with so many different groups and play styles.

[Thayos]

Game theory is a tough, tough mistress. Especially with so many different groups and play styles.

Aye. /10chars.

[NyneAlexander]

You seem to forget that there is a huge part of the player base that wants it that way and would argue just as vehemently for it as you are for a story mode. Square has to make the game fulfilling for both sides and the balance struck is to make the current top end content restricted in this way. It puts it out of reach for a very short time for the "hard core" to go at it, and then puts it in the hands of everyone else for full on consumption. Everyone gets access to the fights eventually, and the hardcore get their time in the sun. If there wasn't a end-game in this style this game would be dead already. The past is littered with MMO's that didn't have a fulfilling end game. What you ask for would in a very literal way hurt this game and it's future.

This opinion is well stated and resonates much more than "get better", "just uninstall" and "mad cause bad". Thank you, sir or madame.

[Kuwagami]

That said, having these lockouts certainly lengthens the lifespan of these events... I totally get that. But at what cost? Is it better to wall people out, causing people to get frustrated and leave? Or is it better to incentivize more people to participate, which may take some of the exclusiveness from endgame, which may cause some super hardcore raiders to leave?

Am I the only one believing said "ultra-hardcore raiders" are like totally negligible when it comes to player base proportion ? If they are stupid enough to leave if they lose their story exclusiveness, they won't really weight a lot on the balance.

But I do trust they aren't idiot enough to react that childishly

[Exstal]

An easier alternative is to remove any kind of important story from Coil and any future raids.　It should be a side quest kind of like Hildebrant.

[Tiggy]

Am I the only one believing said "ultra-hardcore raiders" are like totally negligible when it comes to player base proportion ? If they are stupid enough to leave if they lose their story exclusiveness, they won't really weight a lot on the balance.

But I do trust they aren't idiot enough to react that childishly

MMO's literally fail because of the lack of a rewarding end game for those "ultra-hardcore raiders." It's the number 1 reason cited when MMO's fail. So no, it's not negligible.