The Ifrit Fight is Dangerous to the Community.

[Betelgeuzah]

this is so far from the truth its almost funny. ok its late so i really can't think of all that many off hand but
emerald weapeon ruby weapon FF 7. ultima FF5. (or 4 i forget lol) the dark aeons FF10. anyway the point is really really very hard battles have always been a part of FF. but you have always been able to by-pass em. and you don't need to do ifrit

No, I meant hard battles, not easy pushover "lose? grind more/figure out the easy gimmick" battles.

[grandm]

No, I meant hard battles, not easy pushover "lose? grind more/figure out the easy gimmick" battles.

again one mans hard is anothers easy :P, i think it took me close to an hour to beat emerald weapon. and that was with 2 master knights of the round and a master mimic and taking off 9999. i needed phoenix with my final move materia. this was no an easy battle. although i had the deck stacked heavily in my favour. but to your point this is an rpg. stats and grind are what this game are based on, there what any rpg be that MMO or single player are based on

[Betelgeuzah]

again one mans hard is anothers easy :P

Of course. But we can also look at the situation objectively (which I did), as from an actual player skill requirement wise Final Fantasy encounters are on the side of easy to mundane. It's either a cake or you grind and then it's a cake.

And the genre it belongs to is really not an excuse. Just because it's an RPG doesn't mean it should get away by being easy and stat grind-focused.

All that aside, Parley should be the obvious answer here.

[SilvertearRen]

Of course. But we can also look at the situation objectively (which I did), as from an actual player skill requirement wise Final Fantasy encounters are on the side of easy to mundane. It's either a cake or you grind and then it's a cake.

And the genre it belongs to is really not an excuse. Just because it's an RPG doesn't mean it should get away by being easy and stat grind-focused.

All that aside, Parley should be the obvious answer here.

Personally, if they implement Parley, it's just a cheap cop-out. I'd rather have to go through a quest that would take me some time that I can do in installments. Like...I start the quest, I spend a few hours a week working on that quest for maybe a month or more, and at the conclusion, I gain an item that lets me make the Ifrit fight easier. (while, naturally, PENALIZING the drop chance for ifrit equipment, or nerfing it entirely)

It would also offer more content for side story quests, and it isn't an easy one-push button for winning. Maybe a harder version of the first Ifrit quest where you have to go kill those NMs, but those NMs end up being MUCH more difficult, like, rank 45ish.

That would be an acceptable solution that doesn't feel like a complete and total cop-out.