CBU3. Please respect your players.

[Kaliesto]

Idk. Comparing an mmo to single player games is already off. Nothing has been destroyed nor is there some sort of FF law stating things have to be a certain way. It's not our Franchise it's theirs (factually speaking).

What's challenging/fun is subjective so points like that go nowhere. Savage being rage inducing is purely a you issue and savage isn't just 1 shot hell. Don't know who told you that. You call doing savage in said expac cringe, how exactly? And you then speak of fear which is also purely a you problem.
Lastly you speak as if the games design hasn't been this way for years. Not only has it worked its increased the player base so factually you can't claim its not in good health. You can't complain about normal content not being challenging but then basically saying you wait til next expac to do what IS created for the folks wanting harder content during said expac it dropped...come on man

I like a challenge, but Savage goes overboard, getting 8 people to do a complex dance is like herding cats.

[BaconBits]

Forum trolls. They don't actually care, they just have a beef with CBU3.

I'm a forum troll because I think Hard mode should be available from the very beginning instead of being locked behind a however many hours long story?

Okay, come here I just want to talk.

[MirielleLavandre]

I believe you can beat the MSQ of FF16 in 20 hours, less if you read fast and/or skip cutscenes. Final Fantasy mode (hard mode), raises the cap from 50 to 100, scales mobs to your level (level at time of completion of the main game), places mobs in new areas and puts harder mobs in beginning areas, and allows the creation of 'super' kinda weapons.

Maybe if this were released at launch, there may have been imbalances given the power of the weapons and/or placement of really difficult mobs in starter areas when there's no way you'd have the stats or gear to beat them?

I think the entirety of Final Fantasy mode was made and designed around the idea you'd start the game with stats at least equal to those needed to beat the normal game, as well as be in possession of all the eikon skillsets and many of their skills.

[Boblawblah]

I believe you can beat the MSQ of FF16 in 20 hours, less if you read fast and/or skip cutscenes. Final Fantasy mode (hard mode), raises the cap from 50 to 100, scales mobs to your level (level at time of completion of the main game), places mobs in new areas and puts harder mobs in beginning areas, and allows the creation of 'super' kinda weapons.

Maybe if this were released at launch, there may have been imbalances given the power of the weapons and/or placement of really difficult mobs in starter areas when there's no way you'd have the stats or gear to beat them?

I think the entirety of Final Fantasy mode was made and designed around the idea you'd start the game with stats at least equal to those needed to beat the normal game, as well as be in possession of all the eikon skillsets and many of their skills.

I still think it's so strange that they designed a lot of the systems in the game around a 2nd playthrough, and this is one of the most cutscene/dialogue heavy video games ever, which seems to discourage playing through it again. There's a reason why shmups and games with arcade modes are usually quite short, or have short chunks you can play the game in. I'd be curious to see numbers on what percentage of players come back for a 2nd playthrough, or touch the arcade mode.

[IkaraGreydancer]

I still think it's so strange that they designed a lot of the systems in the game around a 2nd playthrough, and this is one of the most cutscene/dialogue heavy video games ever, which seems to discourage playing through it again. There's a reason why shmups and games with arcade modes are usually quite short, or have short chunks you can play the game in. I'd be curious to see numbers on what percentage of players come back for a 2nd playthrough, or touch the arcade mode.

I mean...thats why the concept of cutsceneskipping exists. I did that with 7Remake at some parts in hard mode. I did the same for my various replays of Lightning Returns in hard mode. Now if cutscenes weren't skippable like 10s then yeah I'd agree 100%.

[Surprised]

FF16 shows just how little respect you have for your players. Literally nothing in that game is hard outside of one or two hunts, where you have to deliberately underlevel to even make it hard. And on top of that you added those accessibility rings. To make it somehow even easier?

And what about in FF14:

1. Healer design
2. 2-minute meta
3. Unchallenging dungeons, normal raids, and alliance raids
4. Easier and easier solo instances
5. MSQ explaining the same concept 49 times so the player finally gets it
6. Crafting and gathering stripped of their complexity
7. Manderville relics
8. ...etc.

We seriously don't need to be handheld for every single little thing.

You know what game got GOTY while FF16 will assuredly not? God of War. Why? Because it respects the player and offers them a good challenge. And players loved it and it sold like hotcakes. Meanwhile to play a CBU3 game like FF14 or FF16 is to be insulted by the developers as they put baby guardrails all over the game.

U can make the game as difficult as you want in ffxvi but it isn’t dark souls game .you have to keep that in mind

[Reimmi]

I think you completely missed the joke there. I'd say it's delusional to pretend folks don't come here on alts to complain. The evidence is clear as day. OP may not be one but it does happen. Can't say I've seen the so called "shills" make alts to praise the game though

I'd say it's as likely as someone making alts to complain on a forum the devs don't read

[Knot_D]

Oh I saw the "Cinder Surprise and Ealad Skaan is a bad example for worst big fish" comment but get deleted because of my T word on reply. While it is true, I just gave some example that has been annoys me for months, although Ruby Dragon is way worse...

[DiaDeem]

I'm a forum troll because I think Hard mode should be available from the very beginning instead of being locked behind a however many hours long story

Apologies for calling you a troll, but here's the thing about unlockable difficulties:

Do you care about it in Doom 2016 where Ultra-Nightmare difficulty requires you to beat the game in Nightmare mode?
Do you care about it in Resident Evil 4 (both) where Professional difficulty required you to beat the game in Normal mode?
Do you care about it in Metal Gear Solid 2 where Extreme difficulty required you to beat the game in Normal mode?
Do you care about it in Soul Calibur 6 where where Legendary difficulty required you to beat the game in Very Hard with a Gold Rating?
Do you care about it in Cuphead where Expert Difficulty required you to beat the game in its Normal mode?
Do you care about it in Dead Space where Impossible difficulty requires you to beat the game in its Normal mode?
Do you care about it in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption where Hypernode requires you to beat the game in the Normal setting?
Do you care about it in Diddy Kong Racing where Adventure 2 requires you to beat the Adventure mode?
Do you care about it in StarFox 64 where Expert difficulty required you to beat all stages of the normal mode with a medal?
Do you care about it in Megaman Zero where all of them require you to find collectibles to unlock Ultimate difficulty?
Do you care about it in Diablo 3 where Master Difficulty requires you to beat the game once, and then Torment difficulty which requires one of your characters to reach level 60?
Do you care about it in Pokemon Black 2 where Challenge mode requires you to beat the game once?
Do you care about it in Mass Effect where Hardcore Difficulty requires you yo beat the game once, and then Insanity difficulty requires you to beat Hardcore mode?
Do you care about it in KH 3D Dream Drop Distance where Critical mode requires you to beat the game once?
Do you care about it in Bayonetta where Hard difficulty requires you to beat the game once?
Do you care about it in GoldenEye 64 where 007 difficulty requires you to beat every mission in 00 difficulty to?

Difficulty modes being locked behind completing a game for the first time is a feature that has been part of gaming for decades. It encourages replayability and in many cases changes how the whole game feels. I believe you're trolling because anyone that has been gaming for the last 10 - 30 years understands the value behind unlockable difficulties. If you're not trolling and you're serious, then I'm a bit baffled about such a closed mind about game design, but if that's the case, then you're entitled to your opinion, and I then hope you mean all games and not just XVI because CBU3 made it and you're angry at them for whatever reason.

*Edit: Making Normal Mode more challenging is reasonable. I can get behind that, but it has nothing to do with unlockable difficulties.

[R041]

Very well, answer the following questions:

Difficulty modes being locked behind completing a game for the first time is a feature that has been part of gaming for decades. It encourages replayability and in many cases changes how the whole game feels. I believe you're trolling because anyone that has been gaming for the last 10 - 30 years understands the value behind unlockable difficulties. If you're not trolling and you're serious, then I'm a bit baffled about such a closed mind about game design, but if that's the case, then you're entitled to your opinion, and I then hope you mean all games and not just XVI because CBU3 made it and you're angry at them for whatever reason.

I don't think that's the problem actually. I think the problem is the Normal Mode is basically the Easy Mode, while they also gave us an Easier Mode AND play-the-game-for-you rings. So it's all pretty crazy easy at that point. Don't really need to have the Hard Mode unlocked, but it sure would be nice if I didn't 1-shot everything on Normal Mode.

Like when I was 20 hours in, I legitimately had to check my settings because I thought I accidentally switched it to Story Mode. The balance is that whack. lol