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

[Carin-Eri]

OMG, congratulations on finally conquering that awful Zenos! I hate that guy, lol. Reading through a bunch of this thread, I was worried you had already quit or something, because this sounded really frustrating. So happy to see you prevailed in the end. Enjoy Shadowbringers!

I know it's old news now, but what item level was your gear? Did you know that in Rhalgr's Reach you can buy weapons and armor that are item level 400? I am asking because that Zenos battle is basically the last thing you ever do in Stormblood, so the game expects you've spent some significant time with that expansion's content and upgraded your equipment a lot, yet from your story it sounds like you're progressing through the game very quickly. When you identified the precise point at which you were struggling and knew what to do, but still not doing enough raw damage, I wondered if that's the issue. It's entirely possible you've been rapidly pushing yourself through the game in underpowered gear, and only at this point did the gear check catch up with you. FYI, this is a thing you'll find in each expansion: once you reach the end of the "vanilla" MSQ before patch content, there will be a vendor that sells best-in-slot gear for tomestones. Load yourself up with that gear, it will make a big difference that will last for a long time!

Thank you!

Admittedly, this issue was some weeks ago and I very recently started the early part of 'Endwalker'. I revisited this thread due the friendly replies I'd received in contrast to posts in another thread which were... well, lets just say somewhat less forgiving.

As for equipment - I've always collected the Tomestone of poetics from doing daily Routlette and other content that rewards them and buy the gear on offer from the 'Splendor Vendors' and currently have as many pieces of the Augmented Cryptlurker equipment as could purchase atop a few level-appropriate dungeon drop items.

I do think my biggest issue is my reaction time. My hand-eye co-ordination isn't great and, sadly, in fast-paced content I do sometimes fail to react as quickly as is necessary. But it is honestly not through lack of trying and I guess I'd have to concede that I have managed to blunder my way through to where I am!

[JamieRose]

"Oh, look. A nice post; you have to take advantage of it at all costs to shoot down a community that I complain about H24 while I myself participate in its toxicity by complaining and refusing to notice any good times."

And yes: there is a difference between HL content and normal content. In one, knowing how to master your character is a prerequisite. It is perfectly normal that people expect more there, and are more patient in a side content. The basic rules are simply not the same.

If I had been treated with even 1/4 the respect and helpfulness OP is getting, I wouldn't feel the need to point out how toxic these forums actually are.

But all I ever got was "GIT GUD!" "STFU!" "YOU'RE ENTITLED AND STUPID!" and then there was one jerk who looked up my parses just to tell me what a worthless person I am.

You really think I don't have a reason to be upset at the insane level of hypocrisy on display?

[Izar_Chillen]

If I had been treated with even 1/4 the respect and helpfulness OP is getting, I wouldn't feel the need to point out how toxic these forums actually are.

But all I ever got was "GIT GUD!" "STFU!" "YOU'RE ENTITLED AND STUPID!" and then there was one jerk who looked up my parses just to tell me what a worthless person I am.

You really think I don't have a reason to be upset at the insane level of hypocrisy on display?

Skiros has been banned so they wont log on to their numerous alt accounts to throw vitriol into the thread like usual


For how long we wont know but its banned atm ( the medals missing on its avatar are a give away its been hammered)

[Carin-Eri]

If I had been treated with even 1/4 the respect and helpfulness OP is getting, I wouldn't feel the need to point out how toxic these forums actually are.

But all I ever got was "GIT GUD!" "STFU!" "YOU'RE ENTITLED AND STUPID!" and then there was one jerk who looked up my parses just to tell me what a worthless person I am.

You really think I don't have a reason to be upset at the insane level of hypocrisy on display?

Really sorry to hear that you experienced that

I can see how threads might turn that way - whilst the majority of the responses I received in this thread have been supportive, helpful and encouraging (which I'll note was very much appreciated!), I will note that the same couldn't be said of other threads I've posted in, and some of the responses received in those threads were quite discouraging (which was one of the reasons I revisited this one). There does seem to be some degree of intolerance expressed by a minority of experienced players who don't seem able to find any empathy toward players who don't find the content as easy as they do and think that every player should be at a certain standard by a certain point in the game. I disagree with that mindset, but that's a topic for another discussion.

[LeonKeyh]

If I had been treated with even 1/4 the respect and helpfulness OP is getting, I wouldn't feel the need to point out how toxic these forums actually are.

But all I ever got was "GIT GUD!" "STFU!" "YOU'RE ENTITLED AND STUPID!" and then there was one jerk who looked up my parses just to tell me what a worthless person I am.

You really think I don't have a reason to be upset at the insane level of hypocrisy on display?

Do you really see this scenario as the same as your scenario that you're talking about? Really?I feel like you're being dishonest. I don't know if it's with yourself or with us, but that's what it seems.

OP basically posted "_I_ am having trouble with this mainline content that is required to progress through the game and _I_ am looking for what _I_ can do to enjoy it better or whether _I_ should just stop playing."

The posts you're talking about are you saying "_I_ am having trouble with this optional content that is designed for people who want more difficult content and _the content_ should change to fit what I want it to be."

[Teno]

That's because you had problems with something they don't care about. Bring up an issue about how hard Ex/Savage content is or something similar and you will be bullied into submission here. These forums are horrible and just because you had one good experience, doesn't mean they'll go easy on you next time. Do yourself a favor and get as far away from this hellhole forum as you can.

Hellhole of a forum you must be joking surely ? It's actually one of the most constructive gaming forum out there, especially in the role forums. Making abstraction of OP and the subject of this thread, many of the posters here read like the very definition of casual toxicity.

[ForteNightshade]

If I had been treated with even 1/4 the respect and helpfulness OP is getting, I wouldn't feel the need to point out how toxic these forums actually are.

But all I ever got was "GIT GUD!" "STFU!" "YOU'RE ENTITLED AND STUPID!" and then there was one jerk who looked up my parses just to tell me what a worthless person I am.

You really think I don't have a reason to be upset at the insane level of hypocrisy on display?

Nearly every single thread you've ever made has been nothing but complaining. Savage is too hard; loot is unfair; Mogstation shouldn't exist, and etc. You also don't engage but rather make up your decision beforehand and insist upon it regardless of the arguments made. It's no small wonder people aren't as receptive.

[kaynide]

If I had been treated with even 1/4 the respect and helpfulness OP is getting, I wouldn't feel the need to point out how toxic these forums actually are.

But all I ever got was "GIT GUD!" "STFU!" "YOU'RE ENTITLED AND STUPID!" and then there was one jerk who looked up my parses just to tell me what a worthless person I am.

You really think I don't have a reason to be upset at the insane level of hypocrisy on display?

This complaining attitude seen in every single post of yours is exactly why you get the responses you do. You rarely ask "What am I doing wrong and how can I fix my behavior?" it's always "The game is wrong and needs to fix for me!"

Carin has been an great example of how to ask for and take advise.

To Carin: Congrats on your clear. If and when a next roadblock comes, just remember the bosses almost always operate in a set pattern..so you can anticipate what will come next.

Also, if Bard isn't working in that case, try Paladin, even if it's just for solo play. It's a surviving machine!

[Carin-Eri]

Okay - opinions may clash but I do agree that this forum is more friendly than most I've experienced.

Anyway, away from the direction the discussion was taking....

Managed to pass the most recent obstacle that was causing me trouble (although heaven knows how - part following advice with a dose of sheer dumb luck I suspect!) and can now continue on with the story. I still hate the 'body swap' scenario though!
Have to say, if it weren't for the quality of the story content, and advice received here, I probably would've burnt my bow a long time ago!

[Rilifane]

If I had been treated with even 1/4 the respect and helpfulness OP is getting, I wouldn't feel the need to point out how toxic these forums actually are.

But all I ever got was "GIT GUD!" "STFU!" "YOU'RE ENTITLED AND STUPID!" and then there was one jerk who looked up my parses just to tell me what a worthless person I am.

You really think I don't have a reason to be upset at the insane level of hypocrisy on display?

You're being incredibly dishonest, some things are outright lies.
You made multiple threads complaining about something like Unreal supposedly impossible to clear unless you have a "twitch/ YT uber star static" when people cleared it in PF or by queueing directly over and over or the game not doing enough to help people to get their Savage clears because you weren't satisfied with the performance of clear parties, let alone working your way up through practice parties as everyone does in PF.
You went in with a set opinion and no matter how many times someone made sensible suggestions like trying linkshells, discords, friend list etc. for getting help or simply making your own party, you brushed it off because it wasn't what you wanted to hear.
Any reminder that it is well within the party leader's right to set [Duty Complete] as a requirement for a reclear party was called toxic, elitist and gate-keeping.
You wanted to get into reclear parties because they are more likely to perform well without meeting the requirements and that "jerk" didn't call you a worthless person, they simply pointed out that you want other players to perform far better than you are able to perform because you were dead last with a huge gap in both healing and dps on several Normal runs of the bosses you wanted to kill on Savage difficulty.
You acted as if people should help you getting you your first clear when they are strangers that don't own you anything and called them gate-keepers and elitists.
There is one word for that: entitled.

On the other hand, OP said right from the start that it is a them-problem and asked for tips and help on how to get through the story, was open to suggestions and took a lot of advice to heart and interacted in a friendly manner with the people offering suggestions. They tried to learn and get at least to a level where they can make it through the story, setting the level to "Easy" was a last resort. They never asked for nerfs or changes to explicitely please them and them alone.
And you really wonder why people react positively to the OP and less understanding towards you?
Just the fact that you barge in here and try to destroy an overall positive thread with your salt over not hearing what you wanted to hear speaks volumes.