When you Love the Story, but are Really Bad at the Gameplay

[Jeeqbit]

I have to confess, I was hesitant to submit this thread considering that I'd initally looked on Reddit for threads about this particular duty and found anyone who submitted threads pertaining to struggling with it received discouraging replies, with comments such as (quote) "your gear is bad and you are bad at your job".

At the time, there was debate over that battle - some people had trouble beating it while others found the DPS check "easy" and couldn't understand why it was being failed. I failed it on a tank the first time and I think it was partially because I was a tank with lower damage, but as I explained, on my second attempt I killed them one at a time instead of spreading the damage and the gauge built slower.

[Carin-Eri]

Congratulations!
I missed all the cool people offering useful fight-specific device, but I wanted to say that if you're enjoying the story I really hope you stick it out. Not only are you about to head off to the parts that many of us consider the best, I really don't think anyone needs to master the game to have fun and witness the story. There are many, many single-player games out there where I've had to fight a boss 20 times over before I just barely eke out a victory, and I think that should be totally fine for FFXIV too if that's what it takes you.

The story is incredible – have now moved to the early parts of Shadowbringers- have just reached the point where we meet Vauthry (the Hutt ) and witness his massive temper tantrum. As said in my OP, this game really does leave one with a “just one more cutscene/quest” mindset and almost made myself late for work because of it!

Hey, OP! Obviously I'm a little late as you resolved your fight - however! I just wanted to say how you took ownership of your problem was heartwarming (as were the lovely responses you got). This is a strength and something to be proud of. I think, give yourself enough time and practice, and you're going to be asset to any team you might be on. They'll be lucky to have you barding for them! You go, Glen Coco!

Thank you so much – really kind thing to say! Another thing I find I love about this game is the community. The advice I received here was great, and very encouraging – certainly made me more willing to persist, as well as put the advice to use! And in-game, the team’s have been very forgiving of my sub-par performance. I think I’m getting there though, albeit very slowly

[Illmaeran]

Thank you so much – really kind thing to say! Another thing I find I love about this game is the community. The advice I received here was great, and very encouraging – certainly made me more willing to persist, as well as put the advice to use! And in-game, the team’s have been very forgiving of my sub-par performance. I think I’m getting there though, albeit very slowly

Even though there's a boatload of negativity and aggressive commentary here on the forums, the "Great Community By the Way" people are here and will come out of the woodwork when given the opportunity. I understand your hesitancy in putting up your original post, but am grateful you did as it's given people the opportunity to show how how we actually do have an awesome and supportive community. Thank you for your courage! I hope you continue enjoying the game; slow, fast, difficult, easy, as long as you're enjoying the journey, that's all that matters.

If you're looking for a close community, there's a big Femroe linkshell on Sargatanas, She Hulk Smash (I believe). While I don't know if they let non-Femroes in, if they do, I'd suggest joining it as they're a fabulous bunch of people.

[Carin-Eri]

Well, I guess with every positive there is a negative.

Was just playing Holminster Switch with a team (which prefer over the NPC option) and said team silently voted to "dismiss from party and duty" when we got to Lightwarden: Philia

[TaleraRistain]

Finally! Granted, had to do it on Easy, which is a little humiliating, but finally finished that tiresome Duty! As was advised, focused on the Swords when they were cast, particularly throwing DoT attacks at them, and managed to finish them, and the obnoxious Zenos, off.

I have to confess, I was hesitant to submit this thread considering that I'd initally looked on Reddit for threads about this particular duty and found anyone who submitted threads pertaining to struggling with it received discouraging replies, with comments such as (quote) "your gear is bad and you are bad at your job".

Anyway, am glad I posted here - such a friendly community, and the advice everyone offerred was invaluable; whilst I may have had to resort to completeting it on 'Easy', I can at least progress to the next step!

Thank you

Nothing wrong with getting through on Easy. It's an option for those times that need it. Congrats on clearing it!

[TaleraRistain]

Well, I guess with every positive there is a negative.

Was just playing Holminster Switch with a team (which prefer over the NPC option) and said team silently voted to "dismiss from party and duty" when we got to Lightwarden: Philia

Don't take that too much to heart. It's entirely possible they were getting a friend in for the credit or they were parsing and anyone lame enough to parse Holminster Switch just isn't worth worrying about.

[Lunalepsy]

Okay, to start at the beginning, I started playing FFXIV mid-December (last year), on a Free Trial account (I registered several months before but hadn't actually played the game) and was instantly hooked - the story the game is telling is amazing and really does leave you with a 'just one more quest/cutscene' feeling at almost every step. I've subscribed and played through to the post-Stormblood/pre Shadowbringers quests so far.

As much as I love the game and it's story... I'm really, really bad at the gameplay element. My character is at level 73 now although I'm not sure how I scraped my way to said level. I feel like I should have enough experience to play my favored job (Bard) at least fairly competently by now but that isn't the case - I don't think a single MSQ duty finder goes by where I don't spend a great deal of time being resurrected by healers, or just completely failing at a mechanic (repeatedly). Anything involving waiting for visual cues ends poorly because I'm usually either too slow on the uptake or staring at my hotbar and trying to figure out what I should press. None of this is coming naturally to me and I feel like I'm a burden to the teams I join when teaming is necessary. I did try reading guides/watching videos and such but haven't been able to put what I learnt to good use.

Point in fact - I hit a proverbial brick wall a few days ago. Try as I may (and I've tried repeatedly) I cannot complete the 'A Requiem for Heroes' duty - I can just about scrape past he first stage (playing as Hien) but when it swaps to my character Ascian Zenos just keeps wiping me out no matter what I do or try. To my utter humiliation I can't even defeat him when have tried setting the difficulty level to 'Very Easy'.

I've seen threads/posts on this forum referering how many feel the the game is too easy and tried talking to a friend who dismissed my comments as me being defeatist - so I have to ask - since I don't feel as if I am really competent enough to play the game at this point, should I continue?

Gameplay who? This game loves holding your hand at all times!

[Carin-Eri]

Was posting in another thread pertaining to the Endwalker MSQ's being too difficult, but thought I'd revisit this one since I don't want to say that the difficulty I've been experiencing is all about the game, rather that it's a 'me' problem.

I'm still absolutely terrible at the gameplay - I've somehow blundered my way through to Endwalker, mostly via pure dumb luck, but don't really feel like I've improved much at all and my enthusiasm toward the game has dropped to 'don't want to log in anymore' levels now, as reached "A Frosty Reception", died very early on (playing as Thancred) and realised that I'm not motivated to go through the whole 'try and try again' process. And lets say that, for arguments sake, I do somehow blunder my way through 'Frosty Reception'... then what? I mean, it seems pretty obvious that another Zenos fight will occur at some point, and I really don't want to repeat the utterly miserable experience of fighting him again.
And, according to the other thread I mentioned, I apparently shouldn't be struggling at this point in the game.

I'll also note that Google/guides are not necessarily the answer - I can't put those lessons into practical use.

Anyway, I'm not really enjoying the game anymore. And with that being the case, what's the point?

[Illmaeran]

Anyway, I'm not really enjoying the game anymore. And with that being the case, what's the point?

I want to encourage you to stay, it does get better overall even though there are still PITA solo duties sprinkled here and there. I had some difficulty with the Thancred duty at first until I realized it's primarily a stealth check, not a fight check. There are going to be fights, but you're meant to stealth you way through it as much as possible. I had to take my time, watch the mobs, and learn the patrol patterns. Once I figured those out for each area it got a lot easier. Take your time, hide as much as possible, move when the NPCs back is to you, and only fight when you're forced to. Regarding the inevitable Zenos fight

there's a mechanic that essentially keeps you from dying/gives you multiple resurrections. He doesn't have a difficult rotation, so once you figure it out it's just a matter of repeating the motions. Given the resurrect mechanic, this one is actually hard to fail so it's not one to worry about.

.

You can do it!

That being said, this is a hobby and hobbies are meant to be enjoyed. If you're not enjoying it, there's nothing wrong with taking a break or finding some non-progression activity to do in the game until you're ready to give it another go. No blame, no shame.

[Teno]

Was posting in another thread pertaining to the Endwalker MSQ's being too difficult, but thought I'd revisit this one since I don't want to say that the difficulty I've been experiencing is all about the game, rather that it's a 'me' problem.

I'm still absolutely terrible at the gameplay - I've somehow blundered my way through to Endwalker, mostly via pure dumb luck, but don't really feel like I've improved much at all and my enthusiasm toward the game has dropped to 'don't want to log in anymore' levels now, as reached "A Frosty Reception", died very early on (playing as Thancred) and realised that I'm not motivated to go through the whole 'try and try again' process. And lets say that, for arguments sake, I do somehow blunder my way through 'Frosty Reception'... then what? I mean, it seems pretty obvious that another Zenos fight will occur at some point, and I really don't want to repeat the utterly miserable experience of fighting him again.
And, according to the other thread I mentioned, I apparently shouldn't be struggling at this point in the game.

I'll also note that Google/guides are not necessarily the answer - I can't put those lessons into practical use.

Anyway, I'm not really enjoying the game anymore. And with that being the case, what's the point?

You indeed shouldn't be struggling at that point, or at any point in the story for that matter, and I'd say it's not the game but you dealing with failure here. And it's understandable since it's clearly not the most engaging and entertaining content. No point trying to improve over failure if you don't enjoy the journey.
And FF14's story doesn't teach you how to play the game, it's one mind numbing gameplay experience where things are handed to you at key points and fights, so you still don't know what you're doing until you tackle max level hard content.