Quote Originally Posted by Mawlzy View Post
Ironically, I think a significant alteration in ilvl synch would provide a sort of solution to this more general problem, simply because it would gate 14 at a much earlier part of the MSQ and people would simply quit, thereby allowing the game to be harder for the survivors. But that is not an approach SE will ever take, hence my interest in solutions that are not fiscal suicide.

I bring all this up because these discussions have been going on for years, with independent camps demanding incompatible changes from the devs, then blaming each other when nothing improves. We need to find a different path.
The thing is that this content used to be better, in the past. Syncing it better would just make it feel the way it was, when it was actually fun to do it.

You mentioned how it's a story-driven game. How is the story good if, when you fight the boss, they are a joke - you melt them and kill them really fast and skip all their mechanics, or the mechanics don't hurt? Cape Westwind, prior to being changed to a solo duty, was a good example of the lack of item level sync (watch if you want a really good laugh at this "guide"): https://youtu.be/sakHlfsV0eY?t=31

(The mechanics in Cape Westwind did genuinely wipe half the party if the boss lasted long enough, it just didn't last long enough due to item level)

The issues with a lot of other content are similar to Cape Westwind though.

While there are a lot of players that struggle with basic content (as I explained my experience with it), they usually get better at it. Some people may find they reach their limits with it, but a lot of people just didn't get good at it yet, or would find bosses that melt like that to not make logical sense in a game that is about overcoming powerful bosses and foes, and that very thing puts some players off as well.

Regardless, there are options to solve this such as the Unrestricted setting in PF, getting friends to help (as you mentioned you have an FC), or Duty Support.