ARR Extreme Trials, Mentors, and Duty Finder

[Eldion]

So, I started playing a few months ago, currently working my way through 2.x content.

One of the most frustrating things I've encountered is how difficult it is to get a group together to run the ARR Extreme trials synced.

Established thought on this subject is that DF should never be used for Extreme Trials and new players should just resign to being carried through the content unsynced through PF, because "no one wants to do it".

Making it worse, is the mentor system. There are actually plenty of newer players who attempt the ARR Extreme Trials through DF. I've even managed to run and complete Garuda EX and Titan EX successfully this way. However, way too often, after 1-2 hours of queuing you end up getting an immediate withdrawal from a so-called "mentor" who joined via roulette and doesn't want to deal with an extreme fight. So, instead of doing their job, they screw over an entire party. To be fair, I've run into a few good mentors that actually are wiling to teach these fights, but they appear to be a rare breed. I actually think that Extreme battles should be removed from the Mentor roulette, they appear to do more harm than good.

This type of experience is incredibly frustrating and disheartening to newer players, and I'm willing to bet is a key reason why so many people give up the game around 2.x.

My next step is to attempt to set up synced trials via PF. My hopes aren't high, though it would be awesome to be proved wrong.

[Dirwen]

They should just add a separate EX roulette with a big reward for doing it. It is the only way I can see it being somewhat viable.

[RokkuEkkusu]

They should just add a separate EX roulette with a big reward for doing it. It is the only way I can see it being somewhat viable.

And that is where another issue will arise should an EX primal roulette should happen. People will fish for Garuda, Bismarck, Ravana, Lakshmi, or Susano EX. If it ain't one of them, chances are that people will leave left and right.

[Vnolan]

Removing ARR EX trials (HW and SB never pop as most find out about PF use by then) from the roulette would do more harm than good. Queue times would increase even further and you'd have almost no chance of replacing someone that left or was removed.

While doing the fights synced is better than unsynced, you're still not getting anything close to the original experience or difficulty. Ilvl increases, echo use and combat changes make them much easier.

DF is fine for the ARR EX trials provided the new players check out a guide before queueing and have some familiarity with how basic gameplay works.

Separating them into a roulette would open it up to queue manipulation during low-pop hours by groups only interested in getting the rewards with as little effort as possible.

[Frizze]

My next step is to attempt to set up synced trials via PF. My hopes aren't high, though it would be awesome to be proved wrong.

There are 2 solutions to this, and this one right here is the easy one to implement. Specify and be clear that youre doing synced runs, you should find some takers given enough time. Some people like the fights, some like helping, and im sure you arent the only person interested in this sort of thing. The other solution is to join or create an active linkshell(or CWLS) dedicated to syncd runs of old content(finding an FC interested in this sort of content would work too i guess). Finding such a shell(they do exist on some servers) wouldnt be the easiest thing, and starting a new one would be a lot of leg work. But if you managed it, youd have a dedicated network of players to help you run these.

[QooEr]

DF is fine for the ARR EX trials provided the new players check out a guide before queueing and have some familiarity with how basic gameplay works.

which literally never happens.some of these people cant even bother to read party chat. out of all the times i get an ex primal for mentor roulette, half of them end up being a whole hour of wiping to the exact same mechanic and vote abandoning

if people want to do outdated content synced, they can just make a pf. ive seen several pfs lately for synced arr and hw ex primals and even min iLvl coil

[Samsta]

Where do you get your information of "so many people give up the game around 2.x."? Old extremes are old and irrelevant, this isn't a problem that can really be solved nor is it anything new for MMOs. You best bet is going to pf and try getting a party, but if people don't wanna do it then what can you do. There isn't even any reason to really do them other than completion itself, I would advice that you simply skip them for now and go back to them at a later time if you are still interested.

[JowyAtreides]

Where do you get your information of "so many people give up the game around 2.x."? Old extremes are old and irrelevant, this isn't a problem that can really be solved nor is it anything new for MMOs. You best bet is going to pf and try getting a party, but if people don't wanna do it then what can you do. There isn't even any reason to really do them other than completion itself, I would advice that you simply skip them for now and go back to them at a later time if you are still interested.

There was a statistic page somewhere that shows whether people had progressed beyond a certain MSQ point and it was found that an alarmingly high number stop at post-ARR. Presumably due to the stupid number of pointless quests at level 50, of which they are addressing soon.

[yofiffy]

As a new player, I take offense at this. Ex Primals aren't irrelevant when they're the most challenging content you've unlocked so far. I run them synced, repeatedly, to master the fights and become a better player, and because they're fun.

I use DF to queue for them, and the wait times are usually just a few minutes. I get grouped with other new players who are stoked about the content, and we clear 75% of the time. Yes, it's annoying when people come in blind, but most are willing to learn and have a great attitude. The only friends I have in game, I've met through these trials.

Never tried PF. Why would I go through the trouble? Mentors who have lost patience with roulettes should either stop queuing for them, or, ask SE to change the system. Don't hate the players, hate the game. And stop telling my that the content I've proudly run and cleared is irrelevant and I should skip it.

[Frizze]

Never tried PF. Why would I go through the trouble?

Since you were the one to necro this thread, i guess someone may as well address your post. And this felt like the part that needed answering. Why would you "go through the trouble" of using PF for this type of content(or really, ANY type of content)? For three reasons. First: You yourself said you like to "run them synced, repeatedly, to master the fights and become a better player". If you have a PF group, you can easily do that because you still have the party after the fight is won. Que fight, beat fight, que fight immediately again. As many times as everyone wants. Or if you dont win right away, people can switch classes and discuss strategy and you can coordinate tactics in ways that are just not possible with a random group found via DF. Second: You can activate the options that the duty system has built in to increase the challenge of the fight. If the idea is to become a better player, using the harder settings can only help with that right? The settings to make the fights harder are "Minimum Item Level"(your skill must win the day, being over-geared is no advantage) "Silence Echo"(failing doesnt get you a buff, it just gets you information and the experience of having made it however far you did into the fight) and if you really want to get spicy "Undersized Party" + "Level Sync" - the last combo lets you try the fight with less then a full party while still being level synced down to the content level. Third: By using the PF you are pre-filtering your group to only have people who want to be there. I dont think i need to explain why having a party of only people who want to be there is beneficial.