A plea to SE : make it difficult !

[Murugan]

I haven't even fought Ifrit yet, but from flowcharts that I've seen, he looks far more difficult than any average raid boss from any other MMO that I've played. Yoshida even stated that the developer of Ifrit wants to make Good Moogle King's fight even harder than that. You're talking about Timesinks, my friend, and that is exactly what we don't need in this game.

Ifrit is not so much a difficult fight, it is just obtrusive and that is compounded by factors like server lag. It doesn't require people to excel in their roles or as a group. It just requires them to do X when Y occurs.

The stronghold bosses are more difficult fights (not difficult, just more difficult than Ifrit). You can take a complete noob tank/healer/DD to Ifrit and do fine as long as they are able to avoid specials. That same group can wipe multiple times to a fight like Flamefist Ahlygg Roh without hope of winning.

I understand why Matsui designed Ifrit like he did (he is unhappy with the current battle system and doesn't believe it can facilitate difficult encounters) so he made a fight that is about gimmicks and not player skill.

I share the OP's concerns about their design philosophy going forward and whether we will see fights that push players', groups, and linkshells' skills like we had in XI. However, until we get the battle system and mechanics they want in place I don't think we have any evidence of their intention one way or another other than vague comments which are either reassuring or worrisome depending on how you read them.

[Isaveron]

Exactly why I say they should have built off of FFXI as a foundation (yes yes I know people will kill their first borns just because I mentioned FFXI):

That's because FFXI wasn't a "difficult" or "hardcore" one, it was just time consuming.

[Dreadnought]

That's because FFXI wasn't a "difficult" or "hardcore" one, it was just time consuming.

i have to agree with that.

there were a few things i found to be pretty difficult without just being a time sink. such as the first time i faught mammets, idk what the problem was but it took us all day with different plans and strategies.

dynamis and HNMs were not at all fun to me. myself and my LS members saw them as chores.

[Andrien]

what you guys probably want is time consuming stuff. I'll pass on that, but welcome it if it arrives.

You want an Absolute Virtue, or a Pandemonium Warden like bosses?

At one point PW was so difficult in FFXI, players kept at it for 11 hours nonestop only to scratch off 10% of its HP. It made first page on Yahoo.com

[Dreadnought]

what you guys probably want is time consuming stuff. I'll pass on that, but welcome it if it arrives.

You want an Absolute Virtue, or a Pandemonium Warden like bosses?

At one point PW was so difficult in FFXI, players kept at it for 11 hours nonestop only to scratch off 10% of its HP. It made first page on Yahoo.com

did anyone ever legitimately beat AV after the clue video was released? i played till abbyssea and at that point i dont believe it was accomplished.

[Alise]

So if people seem to deny time consuming content that much,
let's change this topic into "I want some hard stuff that is not time consuming please~" then?

Let's it be a content that with very good skill you will win the boss within 30 min, but without skill you are losing for the rest of (game) life.

Would you agree on this then? or no, because poor skill players should "win" all content too?

[Andrien]

did anyone ever legitimately beat AV after the clue video was released? i played till abbyssea and at that point i dont believe it was accomplished.

not that i know of. it is probably possible now that lvl cap is going to 99.

[TheFatHousecat]

inb4casualsQQingabouthardcontent

JK. I absolutely agree, I want content that's hard to complete (let's see a nice balance between things that are simply time-consuming, and things that are sincerely difficult) and also has relevant rewards to those who work hard enough. Of course, I'm also okay with content that isn't SUPER DUPER hard, so that people who enjoy a more casual gameplay style can have their fun too. Not trying to alienate any one group of players here, just make sure that both groups get their fair share of content.

+1 for making a thread about a touchy issue without being aggressive/a troll.

[TheFatHousecat]

So if people seem to deny time consuming content that much,
let's change this topic into "I want some hard stuff that is not time consuming please~" then?

Let's it be a content that with very good skill you will win the boss within 30 min, but without skill you are losing for the rest of (game) life.

Would you agree on this then? or no, because poor skill players should "win" all content too?

Call me a masochistic elitist, BUT, I would actually not mind Dynamis Xarcabard-type content where you have to farm for a year before getting your drop. Ofc. not EVERY NM/content has to be like that, but I would be cool with one or two of those. Time-consuming content isn't bad necessarily, just has to be used smartly.

[AmyRae]

I want content that's hard to complete (let's see a nice balance between things that are simply time-consuming, and things that are sincerely difficult) and also has relevant rewards to those who work hard enough.

The trouble I see is there's a frustration level that comes with very difficult content. There are those who want a fair shot at collecting things, especially if they're not going to appear in 2.0. If it's too hard to collect, there could be a lot resentment built over it, especially as time runs out.

You don't really want to kick off 2.0 with a forum full of tantrums from the 1.0 crowd outraged they didn't get their collectibles because it was too hard to get them in time.