Perhaps the playerbase can't do a basic opener because the game does absolutely nothing to explain what those are and never actually encourages you to experiment through trial and error. Zurvan Normal is so laughably easy, many casual players stepped into the Extreme version thinking it wouldn't be too much harder and they can just do what they always did since it worked in all the dungeon and normal modes. Therein lies the problem: spamming Full Thrust or being an Ice mage shouldn't work yet it will in dungeons.
Are we born with said talent? Because I distinctly recall making silly mistakes back when I first started EX Primals with Nidhogg. I even thought Sophia was harder when I first stepped in. As I learned and bettered myself through harder content, I, in turn, became a better player. Why can't someone else?
Only a fool ignores valuable criticism. Now that doesn't mean you take raider's advice wholesale since, yes, there needs to exist casual content and whatnot. But only listen to the casual playerbase and you'll inevitably lose your raiders. Sure, only 7% have cleared Neo, however the trickle down effect means you lose all the guide makers, crafted gear loses value and etc.
No, it isn't.
Susano and Lahskmi are by far the two easiest EX Primals this game has ever released. The moment 320 gear became available—in the same patch cycle no less—parties were already running 5-6 DPS. They couldn't even last through 4.0 before getting rolled over. Hell, even 310 Verity gear was enough to push multiple skips. Lakshmi, you can ignore practically everything she does with properly timed Vrill. One very predictable pattern from Susano does not make him a difficult encounter. He simply asked you to have a pulse, which frankly, the normal mode should have done. That's what we're arguing against. You call them a chore yet I adored The Royal Menagerie. Shocking, isn't it? I, a raider with multiple Neo clears, liked an "easy" fight. It's almost like I can appreciate good design when it does come around. Shinryu Normal was a good fight for where it sat, Susano, Lakshmi and Alte Roite Savage (because I will never not mock that fight) aren't.
And for reference sake. Multiple casual groups streaming Susano and Lakshmi on either Twitch or later uploading it to Youtube were amazed they one-shot them. These are players who have typically taken a few hours on EXs yet one-shot the initial two in Stormblood. I wonder how. :thinking: