Raider to Non-Raider: an exhibition on thoughts and misconceptions

[Rin_Kuroi]

Sacrificing friends for the sake of potentially clearing a savage floor : Yes, sad indeed.

It is but what do we do? Our raid group was been built around clearing content of a certain difficulty. We either get bored as we faceroll stuff or frustrated as we smack our heads into a wall. Neither of these outcomes are good for friendships and enjoying the game. It's sad because I liked the people who left but if they didn't leave the whole group would have suffered.

I'm sure my situation is far from unique.

[Ashkendor]

Sacrificing friends for the sake of potentially clearing a savage floor : Yes, sad indeed.

If the static is formed for the purpose of clearing content and one or two people are holding you back, there's not much else you can do though. It sounds like they were given every chance in the world to step up their game. It doesn't mean they don't still want to be friends with those people or do other things with them; it simply means that the static's raiding goals and their raiding goals aren't compatible. It makes things awkward to say the least, and there's really no way to "win" in that situation. Either you let a minority hold back the entire raid, in which case the static will eventually fall apart anyway because pointlessly beating your head against a wall sucks, or you potentially hurt some feelings by replacing a couple of people so you can start making progress again. The people that get replaced can either accept it for what it is and try to get better at the game or find a more compatible static, or they can go sulk in the corner and complain about how elitist the rest of the static suddenly is and how they don't want to be friends anymore.

[Ibi]

If the static is formed for the purpose of clearing content and one or two people are holding you back, there's not much else you can do though. It sounds like they were given every chance in the world to step up their game. It doesn't mean they don't still want to be friends with those people or do other things with them; it simply means that the static's raiding goals and their raiding goals aren't compatible.

I think it's more subtle than that. The static's raiding goals and the individual's raiding goals are the same, but where the individual's capabilities was sufficient to allow them meet those goals in FCoB, that's no longer the case for Alex Savage.

The goals stayed the same, but SE moved the goal posts.

[Kanzer]

I think it's more subtle than that. The static's raiding goals and the individual's raiding goals are the same, but where the individual's capabilities was sufficient to allow them meet those goals in FCoB, that's no longer the case for Alex Savage.

The goals stayed the same, but SE moved the goal posts.

Pretty much. And it wasn't really a sacrifice, it was a decision made to keep the group together. (This is to the person who said it was sad.) As several people have mentioned, it was already causing stress and conflict within the group to the point where those friendships ultimately would have been lost anyway and the group disbanded. Instead of letting it come to that, we simply chose to reform. We all play the game for different reasons, I'd still be friends with all those people if they wanted to be. Trust me, it wasn't a decision made lightly, or painlessly.

[Ashkendor]

I think it's more subtle than that. The static's raiding goals and the individual's raiding goals are the same, but where the individual's capabilities was sufficient to allow them meet those goals in FCoB, that's no longer the case for Alex Savage.

The goals stayed the same, but SE moved the goal posts.

Yeah, that's equally difficult. How do you tell a friend they're holding you back in content despite how hard they try? :x

A3S is breaking so many statics it's almost unbelievable.

[zosia]

Yeah, that's equally difficult. How do you tell a friend they're holding you back in content despite how hard they try? :x

A3S is breaking so many statics it's almost unbelievable.

Yup, logged in yesterday to find out my in-game hubby lost his static. Same as last week. A static who got a few server 1st and server 2nd kills in ARR broke up after losing their healer on a4s. It's happening every week, statics are just blowing up. The people who still want to play are either giving up raiding or trying to find a new static. Sadly, it seems more people are opting to quit rather than keep playing.

I totally get it too. I would not want to keep playing if my static ever broke up. Our static has raided for two years now and this is the only time I have felt that we might break up if we don't get a4s down. I am sure we will get our a4s clear, I hope at least.

I think it's more subtle than that. The static's raiding goals and the individual's raiding goals are the same, but where the individual's capabilities was sufficient to allow them meet those goals in FCoB, that's no longer the case for Alex Savage.

The goals stayed the same, but SE moved the goal posts.

[StrejdaTom]

Snip

I know that feeling, 2 people just decided to leave my static when we cleared A3, fortunately one of them changed his mind so we just have to find new tank for A4s.
But that is kinda impossible job too. Many people say that this is normal and it is how it has always been but I disagree.

In last 2 years I had less problems with statics than since Heavensward. (In my 1st post heavensward static 3 people left in A3, we had problems finding replacement so I left. I replaced BRD in this second static and now the tank left)

From what I remember earlier people were usually leaving because of IRL stuff, now it is mostly because they are bored. Atleast in my case.

[Alkimi]

I'm hopeful that SE have taken on board the many many criticisms of Alexander in general. They do have a principle of "content costs" so if they see that since July an absolutely miniscule amount of people have fully cleared Alex Savage then they will hopefully take that into account when designing the next tier.

Rather than having extra difficulty levels or nerfing/buffing the current ones, they just need more raiding content. How about 8 bosses instead of 4, and gradually increase the difficulty and quality of the drops (eg. 210 from 1-4 and 220 from 5-8). Not 2 faceroll floors then a brick wall. Hire some more developers if need be, I'm sure this game makes enough money for it.

[Ryel]

I'm hopeful that SE have taken on board the many many criticisms of Alexander in general. They do have a principle of "content costs" so if they see that since July an absolutely miniscule amount of people have fully cleared Alex Savage then they will hopefully take that into account when designing the next tier.

Rather than having extra difficulty levels or nerfing/buffing the current ones, they just need more raiding content. How about 8 bosses instead of 4, and gradually increase the difficulty and quality of the drops (eg. 210 from 1-4 and 220 from 5-8). Not 2 faceroll floors then a brick wall. Hire some more developers if need be, I'm sure this game makes enough money for it.

While i would hope this is the case i get the feeling they'll justify the low clear rate of Savage by interpreting it as a lack of players interested in raiding, leading them to toss more ilvl drops into things like hunts / the potential airship content coming up (which i think will make or break the first half of the 3.x series at this point).

I fully agree that they need more diverse raid content though, 4 bosses every 6-8 months at this point is really disappointing in a subscription based MMO.

[Alahra]

I spent much of the last hour liking a number of different posts in this thread. There's a lot of great feedback and thoughts here, from different perspectives. I won't waste time retreading it, but I definitely want to echo the feeling that we're missing content that was on the level of SCOB or FCOB. For those of us that enjoyed clearing that content but weren't interested in SCOB (Savage), we have nothing. And to make matters worse, we're now unable to obtain the "best" gear sets, when we weren't before.

I can only hope the developers are taking such thoughtful feedback into account.