The difficulty of Normal Content in this game needs to increase.

[Kaurhz]

And this is why FFXIV will remain as-is, probably will get worse, and OP will likely just get more and more frustrated. More people will simply defend whatever they get because FFXIV is beyond criticism. Raiders are a small minority that’s ever-shrinking thanks to the drought. The post-Endwalker decline of our gameplay-centric MMO has been met with applause and acclaim. You might not find a problem with this, and that’s okay! Raiders will find a better game to play, and you’ll still be able to pay $13 a month for…whatever this is. Rest assured, business will continue as usual, for better or for worse.

Most people simply just disagree with the criticism being made, furthermore, a person expressing a disagreement with your criticism does not preclude nor negate their own criticisms of the game. e.g., I think the current content difficulty is OK as it is. This statement does not preclude me from thinking that they need another tier, nor does it preclude me from thinking that the game has an issue with replayability.

A straight out increase in difficult doesn't necessarily solve the outlined problems and in terms of the wider scope of the game, I would argue it just creates more problems.

A suggestion that players defend whatever they get because they disagree with your outlined criticism is beyond a reductive method of thinking.

[Midareyukki]

And this is why FFXIV will remain as-is, probably will get worse, and OP will likely just get more and more frustrated. More people will simply defend whatever they get because FFXIV is beyond criticism. Raiders are a small minority that’s ever-shrinking thanks to the drought. The post-Endwalker decline of our gameplay-centric MMO has been met with applause and acclaim. You might not find a problem with this, and that’s okay! Raiders will find a better game to play, and you’ll still be able to pay $13 a month for…whatever this is. Rest assured, business will continue as usual, for better or for worse.

Honestly? Macchiato's right.

The game does release stuff for raiders who usually just clear the thing and are done with it apart from weekly reclears.
Casual content is often pretty boring and reliant on awkward gameplay mechanics (Island Sanctuary having a jank gathering system, Blue Mage having little application, Eureka/Bozja being FATE zones, Variant Dungeons having no decent incentive to be ran past the one reward...).
And even minigames are pretty niche, such as Chocobo Racing or Triple Triad. Nothing that has a larger application outside the Gold Saucer.

Meanwhile housing is pretty niche, mostly just there for decoration. And roleplaying aspects are rather limited. And in an MMO, the roleplaying scene is usually a major component for some people. Interaction with the lore and the game should be embraced... yet there's really not much outside of the chat, glamours and some emotes that provides further interactivity.

Whenever we need some form of "content" that keeps people engaged, it almost always has to be something to be worked toward rather than a feature. And that "something" is content that needs a lot of time to be developped. Meaning we have to wait for months for something new.

The only feature we do have that goes along more or less what I'm thinking? Bard Performance. That's all. And there's a lot we can do in a similar vein.

Not participating in the harder stuff of the game and enjoying oneself at clubs isn't inherently a bad thing. But other MMOs do at least complement the rest of this content with features, on top of also having a relatively robust raiding scene. Ours doesn't have that, it litters the game with side-content you need to work for rather than appreciate the stuff in the game itself, while raiding is intermittent.

Then again I myself raid very little, so what do I know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I'm just a nutjob who reeeally wanted AST to have an actual divination feature, just as much as how Bards can play instruments. We know the Deck of Sixty exists. I'd just rather not have to make it from scratch on my own to use for my friends when I could actually show them what I'm drawing.

[SomeGuy22]

I do think that the difficulty should be slightly increased, but I'd say more towards late-ARR and HW and only if the game teaches players better. The first boss of Dead Ends, for example, has a high body count less because the fight itself is hard, and more because a lot of first-timer healers never truly needed to esuna stuff before.

I'm also of the opinion that content being too easy also removes some of the MSQ's luster. Thordan's fight makes base HW's ending feel flaccid, and the Cape Westwind trial/ the old MSQ roulette (all of them now defuct, thank god) REALLY didn't do ARR's finale any favors. Here's hoping Square gives the same love to Thordan as they gave to Rhitahtyn

[SieyaM]

Everytime harder content is added outside of savage it is avoided at all costs, even by raiders. Orbonne was and even with the echo they added it's avoided in the roulette, and the criterion dungeons are a ghost town. So why would they increase difficulty of content all of the players have to do when the optional things are never run.

[CidHeiral]

Push people out of their comfort zone, Slowly increase the difficulty of content as the expansions go on.

I remember when WoW tried this at the start of Cataclysm with the hopes that players would rise to the occasion, but instead they just threw tantrums until everything got nerfed into the ground again.

Unfortunately the problem here isn't the devs, it's the players. People say they want more difficult normal content, then when it happens they complain until it gets nerfed like Orbonne.

[Kazhar]

Everytime harder content is added outside of savage it is avoided at all costs, even by raiders. Orbonne was and even with the echo they added it's avoided in the roulette, and the criterion dungeons are a ghost town. So why would they increase difficulty of content all of the players have to do when the optional things are never run.

It has nothing to do with what you say and everything to do with rewards and this is the reason SE's hands are tied.
Why would people want to bother running Orbonne in their daily roulette when CT gives the same rewards for half the time? When faced with the possibility players will often choose the path of least resistance.
Which is why SE can't significantly increase the difficulty of any content in DF or else people will just dodge or do they hardest to not unlock it.

[Kaurhz]

Snip.

I don't entirely disagree with the point being made - But in oft' cases this point is often a precursor for "Develop more content lul" - I don't think the game has an issue related entirely to the content 'volume' as it were, just the incentive to replay said content, with many systems arguably being disconnected, when they could be meshed into one, or combined to create something more substantive. e.g., combining Eureka/Bozjan system with something such as Deep Dungeon, or conversely introducing the gathering and crafting concept of Island Sanctuary into Deep Dungeons, or just dungeons in general, to create something that entices players to interact with and explore their environment a little more, even if this concept is as simple as 'fish in the small river in Brayflox and obtain a key' - In this sense, incorporating dungeoneering into the players' experience.
[Edit: Substance equal to or greater than this above paragraph is scarce an opportunity because people are more concerned with whether people agree with them or not, and not really questioning why people disagree with an outlined criticism]


You can develop as many systems as you like, but if the underlying Philosophy is to just give players a 1-off experience, or a weekly experience to provide them with something irrationally streamlined, then no amount of content volume is going to scratch that itch. Hence why I find myself disagreeing with a lot of posts, and this is precisely why I also find myself seeing their reasoning as reductive. e.g., not disagreeing with the underlying point as such, just disagreeing entirely to the solution of the outlined problem - and when you have people posting garbage like "People will defend what they get" - It stifles a lot of productive debate that could come from the problem, in favour of something seemingly more 'chamberish' <- This point I don't necessarily see entirely applicable to this thread, but there are absolutely many threads where this is applicable.

[TomsYoungerBro]

P8S P1 IS the ultimate part. Deaths are pretty much not allowed most of the time because it'll result in somebody else dying. Therein lies the ultimate part. P2 is really easy in comparison and definitely my favorite fight this tier, but getting there is such a horrible slog that it isn't funny. I've had nights where even with the normal static, getting past P1 is such a pain and draining effort (only get leg first, never arm...) with no mistakes allowed that it feels like you're beating your head against an ultimate.

I think that is just normally savage final floor, not "Ultimate" level. Taking another 4th floor from this expansion, P4s phase 2 if someone died in a lot of spots the fight was basically a wash. Act 1 8 tower soaks, Act 2 Multiple Fire stacks that will kill people if not enough are in the stack. Act 3 has 2 sets of 4 towers that need to be soaked. Act 4 has towers + purple tethers that leave a magic vuln so you cant pop too soon (from death for instance), etc. etc. etc. P8s has similar pain points, but i've been apart of clears with multiple deaths in phase 1..

P8s is not ultimate level difficulty

[Hurlstone]

I think it would be nice if more difficult content is added for those who want it for sure. I doubt I would play any harder raids or dungeons then I do now, but gameplay group challenge is not really why I am here. I do not think a increase normal difficulty would be wise though. I remember when WoW did that with Cata and it did not end well. Plus, difficulty is subjective. No matter how hard you made said content, there will be some who find it too ‘easy’ in the same way that not everyone thinks that content as it is now is a walk in the park. That said I would like to actually see more solo-hard challenges added, say a New Game+ Hard Mode which rewards you with cosmetic stuff. That I would enjoy!

Most people simply just disagree with the criticism being made, furthermore, a person expressing a disagreement with your criticism does not preclude nor negate their own criticisms of the game. e.g., I think the current content difficulty is OK as it is. This statement does not preclude me from thinking that they need another tier, nor does it preclude me from thinking that the game has an issue with replayability.

A straight out increase in difficult doesn't necessarily solve the outlined problems and in terms of the wider scope of the game, I would argue it just creates more problems.

A suggestion that players defend whatever they get because they disagree with your outlined criticism is beyond a reductive method of thinking.

Well said. Its a mistake I feel to paint the community in one way just because some people disagree with a subject or two. Outside of the trolls most people here are more complex in opinion then that. Just because you may still enjoy the game inspite of whatever flaws you hold, does not mean you are a mindless ‘simp’ for either FFXIV or Square.

[RyuDragnier]

I think that is just normally savage final floor, not "Ultimate" level. Taking another 4th floor from this expansion, P4s phase 2 if someone died in a lot of spots the fight was basically a wash. Act 1 8 tower soaks, Act 2 Multiple Fire stacks that will kill people if not enough are in the stack. Act 3 has 2 sets of 4 towers that need to be soaked. Act 4 has towers + purple tethers that leave a magic vuln so you cant pop too soon (from death for instance), etc. etc. etc. P8s has similar pain points, but i've been apart of clears with multiple deaths in phase 1..

P8s is not ultimate level difficulty

Both parts of P4S were easier than P8S's 1st phase. Die because you weren't in position before the stack/spread goes off within the first minute of the fight? Somebody is dying because the mechanic is going to jump to somebody else. Get knocked back into the wall before doggo earth pillars? Somebody is getting a double dose and dying. Get clipped by somebody else before your earth pillar goes off? You're dying, and somebody else is likely dying during the stomps. Die before everybody gets the debuffs for snakes? Party wipe. Don't stone/kill all the adds? Hit the wall, you got a 90% damage down. This keeps going on and on btw. There's too many failure mechanics, too many ways to where the run is not salvageable.

P4S P1 didn't have that many. Hell, P4S P2 didn't have that many. P8S P2 may have just as many, but it also feels much shorter. High Concept 1 starts just under 2 minutes in, ending about a minute later. You reach the walls faster, you get the problems dealt with faster. Phase 2 feels a lot more chill because of it.