Does 14 Promote a Culture of Mediocrity?

[Saidosha]

After MMOing for nearly 20 years, I think the only stat I trust at this point is that only 5-15% of players complete endgame content when it's current pretty much regardless the game.

[VelKallor]

After MMOing for nearly 20 years, I think the only stat I trust at this point is that only 5-15% of players complete endgame content when it's current pretty much regardless the game.

And your source is.....?

[Jeeqbit]

In Heavensward, DRK was impossibly difficult for a casual player to get into compared to now and a handful to take into savage. The tanks were full of pointless abilities like standalone dots, Reprisal requiring parry procs which don't happen much when bosses do magic damage, cross-class skills like Cure and Fracture. You had to level PLD to get Provoke and you had to level Conjurer to get PLD. Trying to explain what an enmity combo is, was enough to convince DPS that tanking seemed complicated and to keep away from the tank role.

The developers want the tanks and healers to be able to be played by a new player at a decent level. That's been made pretty clear in live letters. The 5.0 balance got a lot more people into tanking and they want to keep it in that direction.

This does not mean there is "no skill ceiling and skill floor". If you have tanked for years like I have, the difference between a new or casual tank and an experienced tank is still night and day. I can spot it immediately.

These issues, however, are nothing compared to how the community and general attitude have shifted toward shielding the bad from valid criticism, and a general apathy towards self improvement. Even the devs have admitted to designing content in this manner. It's all quite disheartening, given 14 was at in time one of the most mechanically engaging MMOs.

What you call "bad" is usually new or casual players who are either still learning the game or never intend to learn it properly because they are just enjoying the story, roleplaying or normal mode content. It's important for them to have a good experience and not find classes overly complicated.

[VelKallor]

yet you proceed to mald endlessly in literally every single thread that's even tangentially related to player performance or slightly harder content

Not quite. Maybe you need to reread my comments and their context.

[ErryK]

This thread is not the vibe.

it is the vibe. i see so many dps not doing proper damage after reaching level cap. you had 90 levels to figure out the bare minimum of your job, so 90 levels to just do less damage than a healer. it really does not take that much effort to figure out x skill does more than y yet you'll keep spamming y because "it's what i'm comfortable with", this is why mentors are revered as a joke even when they offer to help. they're met with hostility and it comes to a point where there is a limit as to what can be tolerated.

everyone is saying op is a troll but he is correct, even if the game is a safe haven for casuals, no one is telling you to clear savage or ultimate week one, they're asking you to perform your jobs basic skills properly. it's not difficult to know one is followed by two, yet people are perfectly fine using just one. and the reason for that is 'it's just a game', ok so it's just seven people i'm inconveniencing, but i'm having fun. if you want to be like that, go play a single player game because those other seven players are certainly not having fun carrying you.

bottom line is, yes, ffxiv has a history of coddling less-then-average players, and i agree with the previous poster stating mediocre is too generous for the vast majority of this game. but alas, this is the state of the game now, and there isn't anything we can do about it. call me elitist, call me whatever you'd like but this is the truth of the matter as many jobs have been dumbed down to accommodate this new normal.

[Kolaina]

And your source is.....?

That’s your whole bit isn’t it

And your source is…?
I’ve never seen it…

No real content, just a vague questioning of a post. Routine got old fast

[VelKallor]

That’s your whole bit isn’t it

And your source is…?
I’ve never seen it…

No real content, just a vague questioning of a post. Routine got old fast

Comment

I think the only stat I trust at this point is that only 5-15% of players complete endgame content when it's current

My asking where the source of this "stat" comes from is quite relevant.

[AlyaNimfa]

That’s your whole bit isn’t it

And your source is…?
I’ve never seen it…

No real content, just a vague questioning of a post. Routine got old fast

Why did you feed it?

People who post replies like that are lazy and/or trolling. Never feed trolls.

[LisSquid]

snip

That's a lot of words to say you failed the vibe check.

[ErryK]

That's a lot of words to say you failed the vibe check.

there was no vibe check, babe.