the normal content is too easy

[Illmaeran]

MMOs that make the base content too difficult die because they can't sustain a large enough player base to cover development costs and make players feel like there's a thriving community. ("OMG this game only has 100,000 active players it must be trash I quit!")

With MSQ essentially required to progress and unlock all side content (hard or easy), the MSQ itself must remain easy.

You can't keep incrementally raising skill cap as the story progresses because not every player has the same skill potential (especially if there are physical limitations). Players tend to quit when they reach a roadblock to their skill level that prevents them from progressing farther.

There also has to be the desire to improve when those obstacles are met. Someone without that desire isn't going to rise to a challenge.

In the end, this is a game for entertainment purposes and not a self-improvement course. Look for it to be designed for those who want entertainment, not those who want self-improvement. If you're looking for a constant flow of increasingly harder challenges to overcome, this may not be the game for you.

Quoting for emphasis.

I'm one of those people who have a limitation and actually did leave the game because I couldn't get past an MSQ point no matter what I did. It wasn't until more than a year later with some recovery and PT that I was able to regain enough processing and reflex speed to get past that point. Even now I find myself having issues at times with mental processing speed and routinely eat mechanics for an amount of time that would horrify "git gud" players. The MSQ and Normal content need to remain easy enough to be challenging, but not painfully so, for the general public; including those with limitations.

I don't begrudge peoples' desires for a challenge. That's why they made EX, Savage, and Ultimate.



Considering duty boss difficulty/ease; yeah, the story builds them up to be very powerful, but it also builds the WoL up to be even more so. We're supposed to be this almighty hero that can defeat all challenges eventually. Don't forget, for a number of those, it's canon that we have help - the fights against the Big Bads in ShB come to mind.