Math Blaster is my new favorite boss

[KisaiTenshi]

It's a thing, but I'd wager maybe 1% of the people blaming it for their botching the mechanic actually have it.

It's doubtful anyone claiming to have it, does. Remember people will always try to deflect their errors on something or someone.

For the most part, (I recorded the my first run, but youtube's upload seemed to have stalled out, since it's been uploading for 3 days) the problem is that the math problem is presented in words instead of how people would recognize a math problem.

For example, this was the first time everyone saw it:


ALIGN CURRENT VITALS WITH SPECIFIED MULTIPLES
Take note on the left:
2
3
7
5

Ok, What does that mean? 10 seconds pass and then the message changes
CALIBRATE VITALS TO MULTIPLES OF 3

Note the HP again:
3
6
6
5
Checkmark or X
Then it resets again
CALIBRATE VITALS TO MULTIPLES OF 5
HP
2
3
6
5
Then an immediate mark down.

Following that, everyone who didn't get at least one buff, dies from the boss "INACCURACY WILL BE PUNISHED."

Then a wipe, and round two.

Multiples of 4 (6 people got it right this time), 5 (5 get it right), everyone with two X's dies again.
Second math quz "CALIBRATE VITALS WITH SPECIFIED MULTIPLES" , and then "CALIBRATE VITALS TO PRIMES" (two fails, not me this time), CALIBRATE VITALS TO MULTIPLES OF 4" (two fails, not me), "INACCURACY WILL BE PUNISHED", and the two players who got two wrong, die, including one player who got at least one right the previous round. So buff numbers are 2,4,4,4,2,4,0,0

And then most of the alliance wipes to "INITIATING SUBJECT DISMISSAL", with everyone but one tank getting nuked by the variable weapons system that spins around.

Round 3:

Multiples of 4 (3,3,6,5,0,8,6,0, two fails), Multiples of 3 (3,3,6,3,5,x,8,6,x, I die, both dps that were in the middle of being raised during the second question survive)
Second quiz (4,8,7,6,8,2,4,6), Calibrate to primes (5,11,7,7,11,3,6,7), calibrate to multiples of 3 (6,9,9,6,9,3,6,7), 3 people die to incinerate, everyone who didn't have at least 2 buffs.

Like it's a fun mechanic, but players will simply stall when they think about it.

If it says multiples of 3, do I make my HP 3, or do I make it 6 or 9? When it says primes, when my hp is 5, it's already a prime, do I stand outside or do I stand on "2" to make it 7?

Like it could have been made a little bit easier by having the UI display it as a fraction.

[Tsukino]

As usual, my only real problem is people running straight into the boss before I have a chance to explain it to everyone who's new.

Well and Disposal. I really hate the way it works.

[Dualgunner]

when did everyone become such jerks?

Ask yourself that, coming into a thread making light of a boss that has given a lot of the playerbase stress and tossing around accusations like that.

[MOZZYSTAR]

Nope. :|
In my entry exams for college, I somehow failed elementary math, but did okay with high school math.
I don't even know, to be honest. :|
I was the type of person who understood multiplication & long division long before adding/subtracting, though. Learnt pre-calc before algebra, too, but forgot at this point. I can't even. /flips Regardless, I still make "stupid/small" mistakes that can mess the whole thing up. Eugh.

Now that I know how it works, it's fine. Math/numbers stress me out in general. But at first I was like "wait, am I dividing my number? Do we as a group have to collectively make a certain number?" Et cetera. Somehow, my brain just wondered the most complicated things.

Simplifying to get the solution? Bah! I'm pretty sure simplifying is learnt in elementary, which I apparently slack at! RIP me. RIP my future comrades. xD

Regardless of what percent of people are diagnosed with dyscalcula, people obviously still struggle with this mechanic for various reasons from not being able to calculate fast enough to not understanding what is even being asked of them. I sincerely doubt people are failing this mech out of laziness or just to troll like I’ve seen some people in game imply. Even if you are not diagnosed with dyscalcula you can still struggle with this mechanic for reasons other than laziness. Also just because one person finds something to be brain dead easy doesn’t mean everyone else has the same experience. People getting all up on their high horses over this is so ridiculous. No one is better than anyone else just because they got the mech down on day 1. People will get more proficient at it over time.

^ This 100%

[Enla]

It's doubtful anyone claiming to have it, does. Remember people will always try to deflect their errors on something or someone.

A quick google search shows that the incidences of Dyscalculia in the populace are around 3-6%. While it's doubtful most people complaining have it, I have come across a few people on tumblr who very much did need someone to do callouts because they suffer from the condition. That isn't to say I want this boss changed in any way, but I don't think it's necessarily fair to assume that everyone who says they have something like this is lying or that math can't be hard for some individuals even without it. Like Tempest said however, eventually most people will get the hang of it.

[Kaoru_Nagisa]

It's doubtful anyone claiming to have it, does. Remember people will always try to deflect their errors on something or someone.

That isn't to say I want this boss changed in any way, but I don't think it's necessarily fair to assume that everyone who says they have something like this is lying or that math can't be hard for some individuals even without it.

It isn't fair to assume it. I was honestly a nervous wreck even before getting to the boss, specifically because I have Dyscalculia and knew I would likely fail it - regardless of whether it's "basic math". I have trouble doing math as is without the use of a calculator... even when I'm having to figure out something as simple as how many materials I need to buy to make my alloted six items for Custom Delivery, I need to use a calculator. Otherwise, I'd be stuck trying to figure it out all day and likely end up buying more or less than I needed.

All the way going up to the boss, I kept apologizing profusely to my group because I knew I would be terrible at the fight before even going in - and I was. Though admittedly, Disposal was worse than the math portion, but that's a story I'd save for Tales from the Duty Finder. Suffice to say, though, because of my consistent failing at the math portion (no one was with me who could do call-outs) and then a whole lot of deaths to Disposal regardless of how much I was sprinting or hugging his butt during the rotation, I was almost in tears by the time we killed Construct 7.

To my good fortune, my group was either really kind or simply took pity on me for how distraught I was and how much I'd been apologizing for screwing up - no one rolled on the healer pants I needed when they dropped from the final boss, not even my co-healer. I also got most of the commendations, somehow...

But I am honestly never going to go back in there as a healer. Not between my inability to do basic math like that under pressure whilst in a vital role, and the All-Greed decision implemented for 24-mans now.

[KisaValkyrie]

I got the Math on the second go- what I hated about this boss and honestly makes me not want to do this raid- is the disposal move. Because your going round in a circle fast- I got sick by the end of the fight. Like motion sickness sick- headache, nausea, etc. This doesn't happen often with games (usually only first person it happens) but it did for that boss.

So luckily I was going to log afterward- but if I wanted to do something else, that was not going to happen after this raid.

[Amaya-Asha]

I had trouble understanding what exactly he wanted me to do ._. I thought I needed to mutiply/divide my health by the dots rather than add them together... But that was probably my dyslexia making it difficult lol

I was having the same issue totally panicked. Felt like great now my dyslexiia going be a mini boss in this game><. once i looked up prime numbers helped. I Ran that 24man all week like it was homework I feel better about IT. still mess up but I'm getting better. What really helped was on like tenth run a party member explained in a way i could understand.

[Hamada]

I just accept death because I cannot math that quickly. I failed math all through high school and only graduated because grade 11 was "remedial" math. I can't add double digit numbers without writing them down. I can't subtract double digits. I can't divide most numbers. I never understood integers or fractions either. I can't tell if 2/3 is bigger than 1/4 and have to always Google it if I'm baking and need to know. Not officially diagnosed with dyscalculia, but the fact that I have trouble telling time, have trouble counting backwards, have difficulty estimating (every morning I have to use my phone's calculator to tell me how much change I should get back at the coffee shop and then I have to spend time counting it out three or four times to ensure that it was correct. Example: coffee and bagel came to $3.87 and I gave them a $20, I have to pull up my calculator to find out I need $16.13 back because I cannot do the subtraction in my head), spend an inordinate amount of time learning any type math concepts, have difficulty remembering place value (I have to write it out and then individually count 'ones, tens, hundreds' and even then I often get it confused), has pretty much convinced all educators I've been in contact with that I very likely have the disorder.
I know I will never be able to successfully handle that mechanic with Construct 7. I've accepted that. I'm good at other things, just not this thing.

Well for the prime number thing it is just remembering to make your hp 2,3,5,7 or step out of a circle if it is one of those numbers. For "divide by 4" make your hp 4,8,12 for "divide by 3" make your hp 3,6,9 There no math involved just memorization like remembering the scripts in the fight because you have to move a head of time because lag.

[Kayiko]

Most people forget that some just don't calculate things that fast. Even if it is simple math or memorizing a pattern of numbers it isn't some can do quickly on the fly as without more then 5 seconds of thought.
I've passed every math class I've ever had with no lower then a b. But that never requires you to spew out a number in less then 10 seconds, even if they are memorized. Most of the time people are given more then enough time to work on a problem to figure out the solution.

Some just might panic. not have the ability to recall or memorize. or cannot calculate the solution in a moment.
Probably the best solution to this 'problem' is to over heal afterwards.