the normal content is too easy

[Lauront]

*snip*

This. There is a marked absence of flexibility in the thinking of some here. The fact that the Trust system, as it is currently implemented, is not designed to accommodate those seeking an easier experience does not preclude it from being tweaked to achieve that, which is what is being suggested and I'd say being deliberately disregarded. Between that and dumbing down normal MSQ content, the former is my preferred option. If some people want baby level difficulty, use a system being widely deployed across older and current dungeons and eventually trials too to deliver that option. It does nothing to stop people from teaming up, and use party chat to communicate if they're apprehensive about mechanics or run it with friends... part and parcel of the 'social' experience, which does not require keeping normal content at trivial levels of difficulty.

[Xirean]

This. There is a marked absence of flexibility in the thinking of some here. The fact that the Trust system, as it is currently implemented, is not designed to accommodate those seeking an easier experience does not preclude it from being tweaked to achieve that, which is what is being suggested and I'd say being deliberately disregarded. Between that and dumbing down normal MSQ content, the former is my preferred option. If some people want baby level difficulty, use a system being widely deployed across older and current dungeons and eventually trials too to deliver that option. It does nothing to stop people from teaming up, and use party chat to communicate if they're apprehensive about mechanics or run it with friends... part and parcel of the 'social' experience, which does not require keeping normal content at trivial levels of difficulty.

Heavily disagree. If people want to use trusts then that is a choice to play solo, NOT a difficulty choice. The two are separate concepts.

[Carin-Eri]

Why are you so self-defeating? *snip*

I'll address that question, but don't feel the need to address the remainder of the post.

Is it self-defeating? Simple fact is, I'm not very good at the game. I struggled to complete the MSQ on 'Normal' and had to resort to using 'Easy' and, on occasion, 'Very Easy' to proceed through it. And, like it or not, reading through this thread makes it clear that I shouldn't have found it difficult, shouldn't have struggled and shouldn't have needed to use the easy options.

It isn't like I haven't tried improving - I've tried damn hard in fact. I read/watched guides as that was the first suggestion many made; however, watching someone else do something is one thing - putting what you just saw into practice/practical use is another, and my reflexes and ability to respond to mechanics are nothing like what I watched.
I'd say I'm probably marginally better than I was when started playing back in December, but that isn't saying much. Although I have finally finshed Endwalker I've avoided running content that involves teaming with other players as much as possible as don't wish to be a burden on anyone. I'll also note that I am neither saying nor implying that SE should change anything to suit me. This a 'me' issue.

That aside, the problem is that I absolutely loved the story. That was why, despite my poor performance, I persisted. That was why, after being KO'ed by Zenos the umpteenth time I tried one more time and eventually blundered my way to a win.

So yeah, I guess I do sound defeatist - but it's really very hard not to feel that way when there are two or three threads here full of players saying that the game is too easy, and implying that there is no excuse for being bad at the game.

[Ronduwil]

So yeah, I guess I do sound defeatist - but it's really very hard not to feel that way when there are two or three threads here full of players saying that the game is too easy, and implying that there is no excuse for being bad at the game.

It really irks me when players do that. Of course, if you've played this game every day for the past 10 years with very few breaks, it's going to seem easy, and the mechanics are going to feel dated. That doesn't necessarily mean that the game's gotten easier. It means that players have gotten better at it. I find it really sad and irritating when a player like you who readily admits their faults and their willingness to learn is met with outright hostility and dismissiveness on the forums. Thankfully, players in the game are generally much kinder. Don't let the forums bully you away from trying normal-level team content in the game. People are way nicer in the game than they are on here.

[Faafetai]

So yeah, I guess I do sound defeatist - but it's really very hard not to feel that way when there are two or three threads here full of players saying that the game is too easy, and implying that there is no excuse for being bad at the game.

I think I read prior you were having trouble with the final Zenos fight. With just a quick search of your lodestone I noticed a Manusya Ring of Aiming Lv. 81 Item Level 520 and a Augmented Crystarium Ring of Aiming level 80 Item Level 500. I am assuming the content you were doing is level 90 or close to this alone could have been what was giving you trouble. I may be off base, but just going off of my own experience just having two rings that are way out of spec could be causing issues with completing a dps check. Every bit of your gear is important especially when getting to a certain level. I mentioned in a post that older gear starts to become less helpful as you level due to how the devs implimented the power scaling of our characters so say if you had ironworks by the time you reach level 60 that gear is worthless at somepoint because as we grown in levels every stat is decreased until it finally balances out with the newer gear.

Trust me though I know playing dps through a story quest can be rough even just job quests. I remember having a particularly hard time during on sam quest with the starter gear 115 set they give you. I did learn the value of potions and using the shield ability off cooldown, but I honestly do not believe the devs intended for me to just do the level 56 I think it was quest with barely any gear upgrades. Even with all ironworks it was still a tough fight but I learned a lot from it. Though there are some fights that make me salty like the level 60 redmage fight that the npc will attempt to sit in every aoe and it is the players fault for them standing in the burning aoe, so veracure spamming the npc was a must.

Though I may just have bad luck. Wonkiness aside something that I would like to see and unsure if this would assist would be allowing multiple players to go through a story. This was something I enjoyed from other games especially something like dark souls you could have the option to help someone through the story instead of it being a solo instance. If you do not feel your skills are enough it is not a bad thing to wish for help in a situation. That is a strength. Admitting defeat in something. Though I would like the option for things to be more difficult sometimes, I also would wish for things to be more polished especially older content, and for those who wish to experience the story and are having issues to be able to set a story mode feature if they really do not wish to deal with gaming aspect and physically can't or just wish to experience the story to be able to. I am feeling more jaded about the devs ever implimenting any of these things but would like it.

I also wished to be able to do content unsynced. Current content unsynced for the challenge because it would be nice to not have to get a static together or go to party finder when I inevitably get to the end game. Not everyone I play with is online all of the time, many have different work hours than I do, and it would allow for people who want the challenge to be able to test things out. People already do this to solo things they get friends to join and than they leave so that one warrior could attempt a solo attempt. I still have no clue why they force synced content in current tiers because it kind of ruins the experimentation and fun possibilities I wish mess with.

[KizuyaKatogami]

Heavily disagree. If people want to use trusts then that is a choice to play solo, NOT a difficulty choice. The two are separate concepts.

It is a difficulty choice in the end though. It does make things easier in the end. It’s two in one lol. But a friend of mine brought up how WoW’s WOTLK expansion was the peak of mmo history and it’s casual content wasn’t nearly as streamlined as 14’s currently is…so if they can do it and retain a peak number of players then 14 can too.

[Xirean]

It is a difficulty choice in the end though. It does make things easier in the end. It’s two in one lol. But a friend of mine brought up how WoW’s WOTLK expansion was the peak of mmo history and it’s casual content wasn’t nearly as streamlined as 14’s currently is…so if they can do it and retain a peak number of players then 14 can too.

Actually some things in trusts are easier while others are harder. Really it's more of a gameplay style choice.

[Ronduwil]

It is a difficulty choice in the end though. It does make things easier in the end. It’s two in one lol. But a friend of mine brought up how WoW’s WOTLK expansion was the peak of mmo history and it’s casual content wasn’t nearly as streamlined as 14’s currently is…so if they can do it and retain a peak number of players then 14 can too.

I'm trying to understand what you're saying here. Like Xirean said, some aspects of trusts are easier (the NPCs usually stand in safe spots, so if you stick with them you're generally safe), but others are more difficult (your death is an instant wipe with no second chances). What do you mean by "streamlined" in the context of WotLK? You could literally level from 1-80 without touching a single dungeon in WotLK, and it's not like their quests were super difficult. The dungeons themselves were so easy even by those days' standards that players often claim (falsely, IMO) that they caused the game's downfall by "dumbing it down." The typical rotation had about four buttons that were usually hit in a repetitive manner (hence the term, "rotation"). Specs that had to worry about timers (like shadow priest) had even simpler rotations that consisted of one cooldown, one filler skill, and a couple of dots that had to be managed. As you said, they somehow managed to retain a peak number of players despite having all the flaws that the OP is calling out: mechanics that are "telegraphed, repetitive, and predictable." So in what sense are you saying that FFXIV's content is streamlined? To be clear, I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm just trying to understand where you're coming from.

[Serious-Cat]

Count me as one of those players who played for the story above all else. And yeah, I found it hard. And that's difficult to admit in a thread full of forumites implying that bad players shouldn't be bad and don't deserve to play the game.
Partly due to my lacking performance at least, I have no intention of going anywhere near anything above 'Normal' level content.

Its okay! what's important is knowing what you can and want but a lot of people see inability in video games as an excuse. Well being good at video games isn't an essential part of life and there's no need to defend yourself against people that think being good at video games should be the norm xD

[TaleraRistain]

You can play this game when you're in the mood for casual story mode, or for the harder content you can unlock once story mode is completed. If you aren't in the mood for story mode but don't have the other content unlocked yet, there are plenty of other games to choose from that will give you the difficult content you desire and you can return here when you're back in the mood for story mode.

I think this is core to the problem. Whatever changes may have been made in job or encounter design, this has always been a theme park MMO. It's never been something that was developed in a manner to be someone's only game or something where the game gives you hard reasons to need to log in and accomplish things every single day. There's always been a bit of our needing to find our own reasons by partaking in content available. And I think a lot of arguments come from this expectation of being kept busy every minute in whatever someone's given content is. But your suggestion is the sort of thing the devs advocate. They want us to enjoy what we like about XIV and then if we're away a bit, it's still here for us to enjoy when we get back.