A plea to SE : make it difficult !

[Noir]

If there is one thing in this game that would make me quit, it would be the lack of difficulty. Especially in regards to the main storyline. At this moment the game is currently 99% Casual/Easy and 1% Hard. I don't want everything to be super difficult but I think it's time that those who want a challenge actually start to get something that is difficult. They already implemented spam to 50 in 3 days for all the casuals. What's next? Everyone gets an Excalibur (Relics) in 4 days because it would be unfairrrrrr ='(

Blah blah blah

[AdvancedWind]

I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TIME IN MY DAY TO PLAY AN MMORPG YET I INSIST ON DOING SO.

EVERYTHING IN MMOS SHOULD TAKE FAR MORE TIME THAN SIMILAR ACTIVITES IN OFFLINE GAMES JUST FOR THE SAKE OF TAKING LONGER!

Anyways, I agree with OP. Things can be harder without being time sinks, and I also agree that not all content should be extremely hard uber pwnzors, but at least some of the content available should be extemely hard for the "average" player, not because of some arbitrary time sink, but because the battle itself is actually very damn hard even for a well prepared group that has beaten said battle several times.

[Tango]

Blah blah blah

Quality post! /clap!

[Lucifer]

>uber pwnzors

Stopped reading right there.

[WiiSam]

It doesn't necessarily matter if its super difficult or not. I just think it needs to be very ENGAGING. I would use the word engaging instead of difficult, why you ask? Because no matter how difficult it is, a top guild will acocmplish it, publish its BEST strategy and everyone will use that to own Ifrit. I remember when Ifrit was hard. And now I remember when Ifrit was easy.

So why not ask the devs at SE: a plea to make it ENGAGING, make me do shit other than tank and spank and running out to dodge something and running back in.

(Sorry I'm bringing up WoW) but does anybody remember the fight where a priest would tank by mind controlling one of the bosses minions? In NAXX 40 ? That was sick!

In short, difficulty matters not because we will all figure it out. Let us have fun engaging content.

[Zezlar]

Blah blah blah

Nice constructive comeback. I'm shaking in my useless level 20 boots.

[MistyMew]

cant really comment on this i havent done enough in ff14 fight wise to judge the content Oo

but generally speaking , in any game i play, a challenge is fun sure...but needed the best of the best of the perfect cookie cutter only strats=fail to me.

also ppl can make things alot more challenging but they dont. they grab the perfect group, and only use the perfect strat, and wear the best of gear. well.....that says to me, you want it easy Oo
fight with half the ppl, solo a 50 dungeon...
content is designed to be beat. thats the point. it cant and never will be challenging for months on end oo

[HiirNoivl]

I just think it needs to be very ENGAGING.

I love those "Oh crap..." moments when you know you're going to get fried...

I like for fights to be a puzzle. Breaking horns, attacking from one side or another for a desired result. When the mob does one skill, hit sentinal... another skill, (Full Attack).

[AmyRae]

but generally speaking , in any game i play, a challenge is fun sure...but needed the best of the best of the perfect cookie cutter only strats=fail to me.

Name any popular game, and chances are, there's a walkthrough on the internet that tells you exactly what to do to win every time. Such is the nature of modern gaming.

[Sephrick]

There should be three grades of content:

1) Short term
2) Long term
3) Difficult

I feel like much of the current content falls into the short term category. It's a good place for people who are new to cap to get some better gear -- before they dive into materia -- and learn more advanced tactics.

Long term are things like Dynamis and Relics. XIV desperately needs something like this soon. But a lot of people need to separate duration from difficulty. Relics weren't hard to obtain, they required only dedication. I know a lot of LSs even merc'd the Dynamis portions of a relic. Meaning one could obtain a relic without ever really doing Dynamis, aside from getting clearances. Still, an MMO should have some sort of optional long term goal that benefits those who go after it greatly.

Finally, the difficult aspect really hasn't been delivered yet. I have high hopes for the Crystal Tower Yoshida has mentioned a few times. These should be the optional bosses we remember from every Final Fantasy. Something without gimmicks that requires a group to perform at their best no matter how many times we do it.

There are ways to keep everyone happy. It just feels like we need to wait another year to get there.

In short, difficulty matters not because we will all figure it out. Let us have fun engaging content.

I think this post was spot on. Someone may rock at First Person Shooters and suck at Platformers. Difficulty is a personal experience, ultimately, no matter how it's designed.

There will always be people who dump 12+ hours into new content to be the first to beat it. So as a developer, SE needs to also find a balance. Who do they make it difficult for? Es pecially in XI's case where they're trying to add content in the same patches they're adding basic systems to the game?

It's not like there's already some of those semi-casual long term goals in the game that they can justify wasting a 1.x patch on something like ground kings. They're trying their best to add just enough to keep us busy till 2.0.

But I agree that "engaging" is a clearer word than the more ambiguous "difficult."