Why does S-E make it so hard for new players to clear old content the intended way?

[Takfloyd]

I see so many people who want to beat Coil and the ARR EX Primals, but can't ever find a group that isn't an unsynced faceroll. This really bugs me - if I was a new player I'd be turned off the game entirely by being unable to do some of the best content properly.

I was hoping that the new dyeable gear from Coil would make finding groups viable again for those players, but then it turns out it can also be gotten via unsynced, and to top it off they are even adding MORE echo!

I think the unsync option was one of the worst features ever to be added to this game. Stuff like the new Relic that is intended to make older dungeons active again completely fail to do so because people just farm them unsynced via Party Finder, leaving the new players who want to run them for the first time sitting in the Duty Finder for half an hour.

It would have been fine if unsynced didn't give rewards, and especially stuff like ponies, but it does. And that really hurts the game.

Do you think there will ever be steps taken to make old hardcore content relevant again synced?

[Lambdafish]

I agree, but I do kinda see why it exists (old content that is outdated has grown tiring for those that have been farming them for ages). SE wants you to do new content, not old content, so unsync is how they get old players back, though I think they have made some things far too accessible, especially with the sheet music coming in 3.2. (for the love of God SE that should only be obtainable via normal or min ilvl, I don't want to play cheese the game to get rewards)

[DeeColon]

The casual player base is where SE's money comes from so no, sadly. New players will never be able to experience pre-nerf coils especially, even clicking off the echo buff will not make it the same because the fights themselves have been modified mechanically to be easier than they used to be. What you say is true that some people may be ultra turned off by the game seeing there's so much content they won't actually get to experience and just have to rush to Heavensward to try to be included in the current patch, but not enough for SE to be hurting to do something about it.

[Zojha]

Do you think there will ever be steps taken to make old hardcore content relevant again synced?

No. And frankly, I feel that's a good thing, because if people "enjoyed" doing the content synced...they would do it synced.

It's why I did the dungeons for my Anima synced. It was more fun than going PF and doing it unsynced to me. Nothing is stopping people, except the reluctance of others.

[DeeColon]

No. And frankly, I feel that's a good thing, because if people "enjoyed" doing the content synced...they would do it synced.

It's why I did the dungeons for my Anima synced. It was more fun than going PF and doing it unsynced to me. Nothing is stopping people, except the reluctance of others.

Some of this game's hardcore content has been destroyed by genuine mechanical nerfs, running synced and clicking off your echo doesn't change it back. So there are fights people can never experience again.

[technole]

Some of this game's hardcore content has been destroyed by genuine mechanical nerfs, running synced and clicking off your echo doesn't change it back. So there are fights people can never experience again.

Minimal ilvl setting changes that, try it on fights like Titan Extreme. Those stomps hit just as hard in the day as A3S splashes today.

[Lambdafish]

Some of this game's hardcore content has been destroyed by genuine mechanical nerfs, running synced and clicking off your echo doesn't change it back. So there are fights people can never experience again.

My favourite fight in the game T7, will never be the same since they made the entire main mechanic meaningless ;-;

[Moomba33]

I love the unsync option myself. It allowed me to do content with my friends that we never would have done at all otherwise.
Honestly I suspect that if there was no unsync option many new players would simply never get to see those old fights at all. I can't imagine a new player successfully recruiting a learning party for something like t9 one or two expansions from now.

Maybe SE could add incentives to running stuff synced or at min ilevel, such as boosted drop rates?

[ExKage]

The 'bees' of the Demon Wall in Amdapor Keep will never be the same even with minimal ilvl.

[LordLucavi]

It's not an SE issue, it's a player/human nature issue. Unsynced makes things easy to steamroll. Most people don't want challenge, they want instant gratification. Instead of learning mechanics and feeling a sense of achievement, they want loot drops. I can understand this mindset when you've cleared content and are just farming it. I try to clear things unsynced for the story before I go through and steamroll the place. Sadly, I didn't clear coil before I left for a year and now I can't find a group to do so that aren't all "zomg watch cs at inn, noob".