Bozja is extremely disappointing (especially the 5.45 update)

[Lium]

Haven't read through all the comments and have yet to run the new content, but I will. All I'm gonna say for now is that I haven't spent too much time in Bozja up to this point because it was way easier grinding Fates in HW zones to get my relic weapons. And a 24-person raid does not sound appealing to me, personally. Raids are not my cup of tea. I do them once for the story and that's it.

I'll post later once I've done the new duty, etc.

PS. I will say that there seems to be some serious revisionist history going on with Eureka. During SB this forum was ABSOLUTELY FILLED with Eureka hate. Non-stop. Several threads. Going on for pages.

Now all of a sudden it's this great content that people miss? Um...yeah, okay.

[Dogempire]

Haven't read through all the comments and have yet to run the new content, but I will. All I'm gonna say for now is that I haven't spent too much time in Bozja up to this point because it was way easier grinding Fates in HW zones to get my relic weapons. And a 24-person raid does not sound appealing to me, personally. Raids are not my cup of tea. I do them once for the story and that's it.

I'll post later once I've done the new duty, etc.

PS. I will say that there seems to be some serious revisionist history going on with Eureka. During SB this forum was ABSOLUTELY FILLED with Eureka hate. Non-stop. Several threads. Going on for pages.

Now all of a sudden it's this great content that people miss? Um...yeah, okay.

To be fair, Bozja has very few redeeming qualities, I've personally never bothered with Eureka either but Bozja just feels like they didn't even try to make it enjoyable, they just stuck a bunch of fates and new bosses in an ugly instanced zone, split it into 3 with arbitrary level gates separating the 3, and then randomly decided to take the major bosses and hide them behind an ugly barrier with an arbitrary player limit because god forbid too many people at a time have fun.

I really wish it was enjoyable, and I can see the parts where effort was put in, but they really dropped the ball with Bozja, and once the community pretty much realized that Bozja is utter garbage SE decided that the best course of action is to make it required to wade through the garbage that is Bozja or else we'll never see another relic step again.

[TheGrimace]

sup

I hated Eureka until Hydatos and yet I love Bozja. My only complaints are that, yes, the Southern Front is pretty drab, and it sucked until now how few people wanted to do Castrum Lacus Litore on a regular basis.

Everything is so fun. I have had Lost Cure in my second duty action for months and can solo literally everything and get max points if I want. Bosses are very fun with their mechanics and, provided you have a way to cure yourself for unavoidable damage or if you're tanking, the game gives plenty of notice to dodge attacks and stay alive.

I don't constantly feel like I'm in agony when traversing the map, constantly trying to avoid sleeping dragons or narrowly going through passages while having to walk to avoid aggro. While enemies do have a large leash range, unless you're purposely running blindly, there are no issues dodging any enemies in the zone at all. The closest thing may be the Bozjan Coblyns just north of the second staging point, and they're rank one and die with ease.

The gradual opening of the map works pretty well. I was introducing my girlfriend to the zone earlier today, and counting cutscenes from the in-instance quests, she got to rank 7 within 3 hours. You don't have to bend over backwards to level up in this place like in Eureka.

Watching players duel and cheering them on is a blast as well. I have yet to try since the first week, but I am learning a lot from watching others, and I plan to take on Gabriel, Sartauvoir, and Lyon when I have the opportunity.

I did Delubrum this morning and had fun as well. My entire party, all 8 people were damage dealers. I subbed Cure IV to make sure we had more healing, and we had one or two Red Mages providing raises for our own party. There were many deaths and yet I still left the instance only down roughly 50,000 mettle. We finished in something like 60-70 minutes, and we wiped against one of the bosses once. My experience is going to be unique, I'm sure, but two points:

1. This is day one and people are learning the content and how the bosses use attacks, and these bosses have some very unique and cool mechanics that take some time to understand the further you get into the zone.
2. You can and will have experiences like me where you end up in a party full of damage dealers, so you need to pull your weight. They let you choose lost actions and adjust your holster at the start, and you can do that any time you wipe as well. No healers? Use an essence and pop on Cure III or Cure IV- congrats, you're a healer now! No tanks? Platebearer + Lost Incense, have fun. Worst case scenario, you can still play the jobs you love, just with a twist.

I can tell you already, as much as I enjoy Bozja in its current state, I don't know how Lacus Litore and Delubrum will continue after the content ages. Castrum practically requires 24+ people in its current iteration, and with Delubrum not being a part of Alliace Roulette, the group content will begin to stagger. Square-Enix will definitely have to adjust this over time to prevent anymore issues from happening like with Hydatos, but that's not on my mind in the immediate future.

What is on my mind right now, is it feels fucking great to be able to solo content like this and continually excel while playing alongside 71 other people. Eureka didn't make me feel this accomplished, despite spending far longer in there than I have in Bozja, yet I still am hungry for more. I am looking forward to getting hopped up on tons of +Haste gear to feel even more powerful. I've never felt so thirsty for that kind of progression in this game, while also feeling like it's attainable. I'm along for the ride.

[Hausti]

Things i dont like about Bozja:
1. NO BUNNY FATES
2. The whole zone looks kinda ugly (even though i understand its meant to be a war zone).
3. Not beeing able to explore the entire zone at level 1 (my friends and i really loved that in eureka).
4. While i really liked the fact that SE gave us 2 options at the beginning to get our relics (one long/grindy and the other one fast/easy), it is NOT OKAY to come back months later with the next step telling people:
"Oh btw everyone who did the fast/easy option... you're screwed."

EDIT:
5. Also the one question i have since eureka: why is there a punishment (formerly EXP and now mettle loss) for when you die and return? Is this some FFXI sh*t that people wished for?
Like seriously if i want to be punished through death, i would rather play Darksouls or Nioh.

[Halivel]

Bozja isn't perfect but I honestly like it so far.

Delubrum is fun and I can go there just for the sake of having fun. To be fair, its rewards are bit bad for this dungeon. It's unforgiving - not to the point of being unplayable with randoms, but I still lost about 5k mettle in one run because we wiped - and yet the reward for 1hour+ instance with pretty complicated fights is... 15 coins? Really?

I personally will do the dungeon for enjoyment anyway, but they really should update rewards for it, because right now there's barely any reason for people who has their clear to go there again.

[van_arn]

Haven't read through all the comments and have yet to run the new content, but I will. All I'm gonna say for now is that I haven't spent too much time in Bozja up to this point because it was way easier grinding Fates in HW zones to get my relic weapons. And a 24-person raid does not sound appealing to me, personally. Raids are not my cup of tea. I do them once for the story and that's it.

I'll post later once I've done the new duty, etc.

PS. I will say that there seems to be some serious revisionist history going on with Eureka. During SB this forum was ABSOLUTELY FILLED with Eureka hate. Non-stop. Several threads. Going on for pages.

Now all of a sudden it's this great content that people miss? Um...yeah, okay.

Yeah, no matter how bad Bozja becomes I've had a heck of a lot more fun doing it than I ever did in Eureka.

Heck, I've loved Bozja so far because of the new bosses and storyline. I like the fate lockout idea and the way it's implemented. I like the idea of the duels as well, but feel additional requirements need to be met to queue for them.

The place looks ugly, but that's expected given the setting.

I could see why some would find the place miserable if they grind for hours at a time, but I mean-- that's what I hated about Eureka in the first place.

[Ryaz]

The biggest issue with Bozja is that it should be the fastest way to level your relic, but it isn't. There should be alternatives outside of Bozja, which is fine, but the actual new content should be the most rewarding and it just isn't. Heck, for the new relic, you can't even do the second step in Bozja- you have to grind fates outside or do old raids.

I believe that's where SE dropped the ball the most. Bozja always should have been the main go to for relics with grindier, more relaxed alternatives for people who didn't want to deal with Bozja itself. You even get punished for failure in Bozja so having it be worse for the relic grind makes zero sense. Of course it would drive people to the easier, non punishing alternatives.

[Iscah]

Heck, for the new relic, you can't even do the second step in Bozja- you have to grind fates outside or do old raids.

I thought every step has an inside-or-outside alternative?

[Ryaz]

I thought every step has an inside-or-outside alternative?

Nope. Step 1 you can grind CE for 15 memories, but the 36 you need for step 2 have to be done in HW and SB FATES (low drop chance) or raids- 18 each. No Bozja alternate.

[spf1200]

I like it and had fun doing the new 24 man. Only problem I see is the rng on party set ups. But even that can be helped with the lost actions. Not sure why so many are acting like this is the worst thing ever. If you don't enjoy it don't do it, not really a hard concept, boone is forcing you