Difficulty format for Normal and Savage will remain in 4.0

[Bourne_Endeavor]

And where is this idea coming from that raiding is the only content in the game? 95% of this game is catered to the casual market. If raiding is the one thing that they feel they could not do, then besides that and Primal EX, every piece of content is catered towards casual for them to play. I have a hard time believing they would leave over it. It certainly wasn't an epidemic in 2.0. Raiders on the other hand will easily leave over poor raid structure like we have currently and they have. Midcore scene is in really bad shape and some notable world/server first groups have disbanded.

For Alexander? No. Nobody cares about that story for the most part. But consider if Coil and Alexander were swapped; difficulty and all. A greater number of people would be pissed off a major story element was gated behind exceptionally difficult content. This can lead to unsubs because frustration overtakes enjoyment if those people do attempt Savage, only to get crushed over and over again. You're more likely to win those players back, however if what they like is gated behind stuff they don't, it will drive them away. Otherwise, we agree. The midcore is where SE needs to find a compromise, and could actually put the storyline. Even more casual centric players can push themselves to that level a challenge. Unfortunately, Savage essentially goes from 6 to 11 with no in between. I wonder if they couldn't stack the difficulties on one another. Normal mode gets increasingly harder; with Brute Justice serving a EX Primal equivalent or thereabouts, then segue that into A5S and scale up from there.

One of the main issues with savage in my opinion is that the content is both hard and basically static locked. Meaning that the progression is close to impossible outside of the static groups, and I am talking about loot restrictions not knowledge of fights, which is one of the main reasons behind the low percentage of players even trying it.

What would you think about this:

1. The savage being free of all the weekly loot restrictions.

2. The savage floors being added to the game gradually instead of at once.

Basically something like this: 3.4 A9S and A10S added, 3.45 A11S added, and lastly 3.5 A12S added to the game.

It would be still time-gated but in more accessible way while allowing easier movement of people between the groups.

Without weekly restrictions, people will farm within a few weeks and have no reason to continue subbing. Some people even had the god awful 210 Anima step down within a few days, though that was hardly the norm. Point is, Square has to gate content, lest we all consume it far too quickly. Making the Savage floors themselves "time gated" still leaves that hole in between A11S and A12S.