Difficulty format for Normal and Savage will remain in 4.0

[Istaru]

Not true, it's a combat design change, from memorization skills to strategy skills, which actually can be much harder.

Depending on how they do it, I agree.

[Nalien]

Not true, it's a combat design change, from memorization skills to strategy skills, which actually can be much harder.

I really wish they took Diadem that route... But no, instead we just get bullet sponge enemies with no mechanics, and "world" boss style NMs similar to Odin where the only strategy is "Throw more people at it"... Christ SE, how did you get Diadem so damn wrong? It had (still has) so much potential, and you just slapped Hunts in an instance and called it quits... All you need to do, SE, is tune down the HP and give NM a solid XI ZNM style force pop system... That's all... Then the event is good... Not great, but at this point I'm willing to settle... Why am I instead stuck waiting on 3.5 for a replacement to Diadem that'll likely just be a repeat of the first? Christ... I'd even be somewhat more OK with the absurd HP levels of things if you didn't decide to lower our time limit in Diadem for no well explained reason...

[Brian_]

The feeling I get when I read topics like this is that people don't do the content but feel some strange urge to comment about it.

Like this idea of "strategy skills" vs. "memorization skills."

Is the assumption that you only need to memorize something to clear A8S? Because you need something to memorize first and you arrive at that something through the formulation of strategies. It's about understanding what tools you have and how to apply them in relation to your group's tendencies, inefficiencies, and the content's overall structure. For early progression groups, you have to find that out yourself first hand. For slower groups, you have guides but still need to figure out what works best for your group. Often times, it's about balancing risk vs. consistency vs. reward. Before you have a solution to execute, you need to figure it out first. That's all strategy.

Or this assumption that somehow the hardest content in this game is approached in a predictive manner and that you aren't constantly reacting to what's happening. Unfortunately for this assumption, something called RNG exists. Read and react mechanics are plastered all over Midas. Preys / puddles / bombs in A5S, mines / attachments / enumeration / height / ice in A6S, jails / balls in A7S, discoid / preys / chakrams / gavel / water / etc. in A8S. You are constantly reacting to a shifting encounter and your ability to perform consistently depends on your ability to react.

But of course this is all based on the assumption that you can't recover from numerous mistakes in the hardest content -- a notion that was just false to begin with.

So really, I read these complaints and I have to wonder if we're playing the same game.

[ADVSS]

dont do or dont clear? hasnt stepped in or fill in for friends asking? Never done th imfamous SSS(hillarious high tune for roles like tanks)? I mean goodluck using tank stance in them, they should just have given us personal dps parsers instead of this convoluted system to see if you c"an: stay in CS or have no tank stance up, damage it enough. I mean come on, achievements have nothing to do with whether you entered it or not.

As for my reasons to not commit on how i play this game? I have a FC, linkshells, and friends i know irl that get on the game to play, i dont really have 3 hours to burn ignoring them to wipe incessantly, id much rather help those that arent at the top, you got a big fc of 50+ people and growing and with a static you cant really be inclusive to any of them when working full time,

[Archaell]

I wonder about one thing - does the challenge have to come from the kill itself?

Because it seems that too many players are focused on the kill.

"We want challenge so the fight needs hard enrages or soft ones that make it impossible to finish..." etc.

Why? Challenge should come from doing something difficult. But the difficulty doesn't have to be tight to the clearing or not clearing the content.


For example:

A fight in which you have to kill the boss in 10 minutes or the hard enrage happens.

Now remove the enrage.

Fight gets easier.

Add in an achievement for clearing it in 10 minutes.

The challenge has exactly the same difficulty as before, but it gives players better chance to complete the content. This keeps the challenge intact while allowing more players to do the content and increasing the odds to complete the difficult achievement based challenge.

[thegreatonemal]

snip

Yes you only need to memorize for any of these fights. You get the prey in A5s you go to point B you don't get it stand outa the way of point B that's it you either have to do the thing or your off the hook its executed in the same manner regardless of who has it memorization is all it takes to clear A8s you just need all 8 people to memorize it and execute it perfectly or you wipe there's no middle ground which what people have been trying to show you. the amount of reaction as you claim this calls for is look in the upper right hand corner of the screen for you debuff. Did you memorize what your supposed to do with said debuff. No? You wipe the raid or die which leads to a wipe because the team can't recover from the death. You do remember what to do with said debuff? Do the thing and hope the other 7 members of your group did there things they have to do as well or we're back to square one.

[LordPhantomhive]

That my alternate game I play when I'm done with weeping city today that were I'll be most likely their end game is allot more to offer in that respect.

Love ESO, my hubby and I are just starting out, but gives more challenges, open world danger and fun lately that we've been missing. We're only lvl 22ish and it gets pretty epic even at those levels haha.

[Velhart]

snip

Isn't video games ultimately about memorizing? Not only that, memorizing means nothing if you don't have the skills and efficiency in your job to pull it off.

[Thayos]

Isn't video games ultimately about memorizing?

Some more than others.

Compare XIV to XI, though, and XIV's dependence on memorizing mechanics is obvious. The battles in XIV are really only meant to be tackled a certain way -- within that narrow path, there is some room for variation, but you're pretty much on rails. In some battles, the boss literally follows a script regardless what the party does.

In XI, the fights depended less on a script and more on your balancing of jobs, subjobs and abilities. Different party setups often required completely different approaches. That's just not the case in XIV.

I'm not one of those folks who wants XIV to become XI 2.0, but it is what it is.

[Welsper59]

I really wish they took Diadem that route... But no, instead we just get bullet sponge enemies with no mechanics, and "world" boss style NMs similar to Odin where the only strategy is "Throw more people at it"... Christ SE, how did you get Diadem so damn wrong? It had (still has) so much potential, and you just slapped Hunts in an instance and called it quits... All you need to do, SE, is tune down the HP and give NM a solid XI ZNM style force pop system... That's all... Then the event is good... Not great, but at this point I'm willing to settle... Why am I instead stuck waiting on 3.5 for a replacement to Diadem that'll likely just be a repeat of the first? Christ... I'd even be somewhat more OK with the absurd HP levels of things if you didn't decide to lower our time limit in Diadem for no well explained reason...

I honestly think they need to look at the idea of mechanics and strategy differently than they have been (and differently from how we perceive it). We always think that strategy is simply figuring out a mobs abilities and how to survive it, but it can honestly go through more than that. They tried difficult mechanics and precise timing needs, which we (mostly) failed miserably to show that we could reliably do or enjoy it. I think they need to start from the beginning.

Give us a reason to focus on the group we're in, rather than just the one mob we're attacking and watching out for AoE. Let us re-learn what it means to be a part of a group (teamwork). Let us (re)learn our abilities. Give us reason to use certain things, like BLM Sleep or WHM/BRD Binds. Make it simple at first, like a zerg of mobs that will wipe the group and need to be CC'd. In a raid setting, give us reason to need certain spells/abilities (or some alternative means to handle if none present) to save our parties. To be that MVP that isn't about being #1 DPS (i.e. shift away from a focus on personal output).

Things like the Dragonkiller in Steps is a good effort, but it took us out of the action to be that man behind the scenes. Keep us in it until we've gotten used to it. Then move out from there and give us those mandatory mechanics. Maybe at that point, fights won't be all about DPS'ing down a huge HP pool. If players want that meaningful experience in an MMORPG, they're not going to get it while the focus is all about themselves being better at their DPS "role" than everyone else.