Why do casuals act as if it's the end of the world when suggesting?

[Lauront]

The problem is that it all boils down to: Too Easy or Too Hard

As someone who is somewhat casual in this MMO (usually do some EXs but I wasn't too impressed with EW so not motivated to really), but enjoyed midcore raiding (and other content) in a prior MMO that shall not be named, agree with all this. People keep saying harder stuff in this is a song and dance memorisation routine, so not sure how much I'd enjoy devoting time to that.

My hope had been, regarding MSQ content, that they'd use the trusts to allow for an optional "ez mode", so that the normal/DF version can show more variety in difficulty and be less braindead, as some of these fights represent very powerful bosses, and the mechanical ease can be jarring - the EX modes are too camped up to be taken seriously often in that sense, being deliberate fabrications of the Minstrel. But instead they seem to be smoothing over content to make it Trust-compatible. I could not take Endsinger seriously for what she's meant to represent, although that fight was altogether too cheesy for me, and Zodiark really would've been better accommodated by a harder difficulty... and you could throw in a Trust easy mode for those who just want to play the game in a more "chilled" way. At the end of the day this is a game and I don't like things meant to be powerful just rolling over.

I'd also appreciate more "midcore" content, which is mechanically somewhat challenging and repeatable, but not a huge timesink. The new PVP mode sort of works for me that way but variety is great. And I second healer sentiments - even doing it at Alliance raid level, unless you're dealing with really bad runs, it's not difficult and the 1 button dps spam very quickly grows monotonous and boring, and on a healer like SGE I am barely even using half my kit without much struggle. Not sure who this is meant to appeal to.

To me, it's less a casual/hardcore divide, as being a casual does not stop me from appreciating challenge in the content and I part ways with any self-proclaimed casuals who don't. It is solely down to how much time I am willing/able to put in. People who actively want the content to be where it is now/easier are a separate category.

Because the word casual has lost its meaning and generally now just means lazy players..

[...]

I have virtually always considered myself a casual gamer. yet i play games on high difficulties , enjoy tough games like sekiro and bloodborne, and generally use games to suplement and add more challenges to life. where many people view games as escapism to escape there failing lives.

Meanwhile, high end players can get no significant joy of challenge out of:

• Any light party content.
• Any open world content.
• Alliance raids.
• Any large-zone side-content.

Anyone who wants some sort of challenge is offered only those three flavors of 8-man beat-a-cylinder-to-death-while-moving-to-the-right-places-at-the-right-time fights in perfectly circular or rectangular rooms. That's literally all they get.

If the devs need to cater to all play styles, why the heck is there no real midcore experience? Why is there only barrel's-bottom difficulty available to light party play? Why do all hard modes (Extremes, Savage, Ultimate, etc.) have an easy mode, but none of the other types have any hard mode?

Exactly.

[Rilifane]

As someone who is somewhat casual in this MMO (usually do some EXs but I wasn't too impressed with EW so not motivated to really), but enjoyed midcore raiding (and other content) in a prior MMO that shall not be named, agree with all this.
[...]

My hope had been, regarding MSQ content, that they'd use the trusts to allow for an optional "ez mode", so that the normal/DF version can show more variety in difficulty and be less braindead, as some of these fights represent very powerful bosses, and the mechanical ease can be jarring - the EX modes are too camped up to be taken seriously often in that sense, being deliberate fabrications of the Minstrel. [...]At the end of the day this is a game and I don't like things meant to be powerful just rolling over.

I'd also appreciate more "midcore" content, which is mechanically somewhat challenging and repeatable, but not a huge timesink.
[...]

I have virtually always considered myself a casual gamer. yet i play games on high difficulties , enjoy tough games like sekiro and bloodborne, and generally use games to suplement and add more challenges to life.

I'm in the same camp.

Despite what some people may think from my posts alone, I'm firmly in the casual camp but I enjoy challenging myself in games; whenever I start a new single-player I crank up the difficulty to max and see if I can still get away with RP/ flavour builds (got steamrolled in Pathfinder... when they say "Unfair", they MEAN "Unfair").
Casual doesn't mean that I have to avoid anything challenging or can't aim to play well nor does it mean I can't enjoy a bit of friendly performance competition or mull over mappings. I can be casual and still have very solid knowledge and experience and put it to use every time I do content.
But overall I don't play FFXIV all that much - sometimes entire months pass with me only logging in for raiding, some housing, crafting raid consumables and that's it.

I was hoping that expanding the Trust/ Duty Support system would add more options for everyone.
I'd even be 100% fine if a spectator mode existed for every single duty in this game - as long as it is only an option. The problem for me is that only one side has been given an option.
The only "option" for mildly challenging 4man content is getting a full premade and queue with min ilvl or stripping and preferably also no jobstone. That's about as much as an option as saying I could just try to play with my feet instead of hands or randomize my keybinds.
The only "option" for mildly challenging 8man outside of savage/ ultimate is hoping you get a clownfiesta party that fails everything they possibly can.

I feel like many changes lately pander to one crowd getting everything at once: easy content so you don't have to "play it like a second job" or be "super duper elitist hardcore" while also having the MMO aspect and getting the same reward as everyone else.

The other crowd has Savage and Ultimate which is 8man premade only on EU/ NA.
Ex is in a good spot for midcore difficulty but suffers from the same restrictions as Savage/ Ultimate.

I'm not holding my breath for Criterion dungeons but I'd love to see more midcore 4man content that you can pug through DF, preferably with several difficulty levels and you can work your way up. And it would be okay if not every party can clear it without problems - the chance to fail is part of midcore and above difficulty.
I would also like to see more difficult 8man DF content and open-world things but for now I'd be happy with just giving midcore difficulty for 4man as an option.