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

[ShaneDawn]

I agree with a lot of posts here. We had to replace several people in the first few weeks of Savage and trial a lot of people for the sake of progression. Then we got a decent static and were steadily heading for server second of A3S. That is until our SCH suddenly called it quits, which resulted in a chain reaction of people leaving after their closest in-game friend called it quits. It's sad, as that's not even an uncommon issue. Raiding teams that have been raiding for years together are suddenly disbanding as it's no longer fun/rewarding to keep on going.

[Odett]

I agree with a lot of posts here. We had to replace several people in the first few weeks of Savage and trial a lot of people for the sake of progression. Then we got a decent static and were steadily heading for server second of A3S. That is until our SCH suddenly called it quits, which resulted in a chain reaction of people leaving after their closest in-game friend called it quits. It's sad, as that's not even an uncommon issue. Raiding teams that have been raiding for years together are suddenly disbanding as it's no longer fun/rewarding to keep on going.

I agree with you and OP so much. Having gone into BCoB, SCoB, and FCoB during the patch in which they originally came out, I've found Alex Savage to be much more challenging. I've been with my current raid team since T6 SCoB and playing with these people has been my absolute favorite part of FFXIV and I've met absolutely incredible people whose friendships I hope to keep for many years to come. In no way would I ever suggest shafting anyone in order to progress. Part of me really likes the added challenge of Alex Savage, but its increased difficulty, lack of freshness to its fights, and bland gear rewards really don't help it at all.

SCoB was indeed very challenging when it came out (to me, anyway), and getting our first T7 clear is something I'll always remember about this game because that turn was infamous for being the static killer. SCoB may have been a little frustrating sometimes when it was still new, but the freshness of it really kept you going. It was fun wiping to Melusine because the concept of shrieks and voices and all the other mechanics were new and it was a blast getting used to. It was fresh to see a boss you had never encountered, deal with a completely new fight, seeing the new battle arena. Those factors kept us from getting burned out whenever we moved up to the next turn, and HA armor is undoubtedly some of the coolest-looking armor in this game. The higher item levels that SCoB gave us helped us perform better and it was cool (like the OP said) being able to stand out in your DF group performance-wise. The point wasn't to look down on other players, but more of a sense of pride in wearing armor that didn't share its look with anything else in the game.

While the inclusion of Alex Normal was a nice step in adding more casual content, doing Savage feels more stale as a result. Wiping in Coils at first was fun due to seeing a completely new fight, but it doesn't feel the same when you've already fought the boss you're currently fighting. I was already tired of A1S after my first try, and a lot of players are encountering this fatigue as well. The point is that Alex Normal only achieves to convey a very mediocre story to players that don't raid. In no way does it act as a stepping stone to Savage mode, because the difference in difficulty is huge. On top this, we're getting more casual 24 man content in 3.1 that gives you better gear, so the core audience in mind for Alex Normal will most likely be lost anyway in the matter of one patch cycle.

The "porridge is extremely cold or extremely hot" analogy works wonders here, because midcore raiders are really at a standstill right now. My static is tired right now, and butting heads against much harder versions of fights we've already done, no cool cutscene at the end of a clear, and no cool-looking armor at the end of a hard-fought victory really lowers our motivation. There is considerably less fun with HW's progression raiding compared to ARR's coil, and I'm glad that a lot of players are taking note of this.

[Hito-Shura]

I entirely agree with the op of this thread and I feel the devs should read this and take it very seriously. The situation is dire and they will keep losing players if they refuse to change things.

If I may also add...

Another major flaw of Alexander Savage is the lack of exclusivity in gear and its ilvl vis a vis the increase in difficulty. I personally don't mind the current difficulty of Savage mode(though I do believe they are badly designed and very badly balanced for the game) but what really bothers me is the serious lack of incentive to go through such hard content. The story is not different, the bosses are not different aside from their difficulty increase and the gear is exactly the same as normal mode... And damn those sets are ugly and boring.

Essentially, what SE did was increasing the difficulty to a near impossible level to keep players occupied while they go on vacation and actually had to brilliant idea to actually reduce its quality by removing all exclusivity -AND- making its reward ilvl the same as future and easier content. Sure, the casual have the rights to have good gear too but when the hardcore raiders challenge themselves with the savage raid and are not properly rewarded for their achievements... That is the worst mistake one can make!

Aside from that, what other people say in this thread is very very true and I hope any authority reading this will take it seriously and not just like any other ranting thread common to this forum.