Please fix scaling, fights are dying so fast now

[Mawlzy]

snip.

It's admirable that you went to such lengths. And of course people improve in certain areas, simply through getting used to the oddities of 14 such as snapshotting. But you'll appreciate that the fact you were able to do this does not mean most people can.

Let me give a recent example. I did M1N. I died a lot. It was apparent I was "wasting the time" of those players who are more skilled than me. When I looked at a guide for M2N it was clearly much harder. I've chosen not to attempt it, and that is absolutely fine. It's not required content. But there isn't a magic wand I can wave that will allow me to participate in such duties without being a drain on the rest of the party. One cannot put a "challenge" earlier in the game that will alter my neurobiology.

Similarly, Duty Support/Trusts gets a lot of flak here because it allegedly simplifies dungeons, much to the annoyance of many players. But here people like me can actually practice and learn fights without inconveniencing players. And I can tell you what is learned is like ballroom dancing. My reaction speed and ability to read tells in general doesn't improve. They are capped. I can however learn how to negotiate that particular fight.

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.

[Supersnow845]

It's admirable that you went to such lengths. And of course people improve in certain areas, simply through getting used to the oddities of 14 such as snapshotting. But you'll appreciate that the fact you were able to do this does not mean most people can.

Let me give a recent example. I did M1N. I died a lot. It was apparent I was "wasting the time" of those players who are more skilled than me. When I looked at a guide for M2N it was clearly much harder. I've chosen not to attempt it, and that is absolutely fine. It's not required content. But there isn't a magic wand I can wave that will allow me to participate in such duties without being a drain on the rest of the party. One cannot put a "challenge" earlier in the game that will alter my neurobiology.

Similarly, Duty Support/Trusts gets a lot of flak here because it allegedly simplifies dungeons, much to the annoyance of many players. But here people like me can actually practice and learn fights without inconveniencing players. And I can tell you what is learned is like ballroom dancing. My reaction speed and ability to read tells in general doesn't improve. They are capped. I can however learn how to negotiate that particular fight.

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.

If you are worried about multiple deaths in your first attempt of a relatively on patch normal raid you are already blowing the average feedback of problems with difficulty and the general community sentiment out of the water

It is really really easy to see when someone is trying. That’s all anyone ever asks for

It’s people who spam cure 1 and go “shut up it’s not savage” that people actually have problems with

14 is supposed to be learnt by doing

[Mawlzy]

If you are worried about multiple deaths in your first attempt of a relatively on patch normal raid you are already blowing the average feedback of problems with difficulty and the general community sentiment out of the water

It is really really easy to see when someone is trying. That’s all anyone ever asks for

It’s people who spam cure 1 and go “shut up it’s not savage” that people actually have problems with

14 is supposed to be learnt by doing

Yeah, I'd have a problem with that too. And despite having all jobs leveled to 100, I've never seen either happen.

That said, I'm sure there are such players who don't put in sufficient effort and who are consequently essentially griefing party members. But I'm pushing back against the often-seen sentiment on these boards that there's this vast section of the "casual" base that is lazy and dragging the game down. The reality is a lot more nuanced than that.

[Jeeqbit]

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.

[Mawlzy]

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

I take that point. The flipside is it feels pretty ridiculous when you spend half of a trial dead, then when you come out the Scions tell you how amazing you are.

But my favorite WoD run was during a DDoS attack when half the players DC'd and that mean ol' Cloud put up a struggle.

[Roehann]

I would like to add to this. I think if someone is in a cut scene, the fight should be able to be started.. If everyone is running it for a second of third time, more than likely the cut scenes would be skipped, but I have seen SO MANY new people miss out on part of the fight because they wanted to enjoy the cut scene and others just jumped into the fight without waiting..

We KNOW they can do it, so it should be set that if ANYONE is in a cut scene, then the fight CAN'T start... this will help the new people get to enjoy the story. It wouldn't hurt anyone just grinding for glams or whatnots because those people would all skip the cut scenes anyways... it would only apply if there was a cut scene.

Simple things like this makes me wonder about SW sometimes.. they want the new players to enjoy the story but don't offer a way to prevent this from happening when you get an itching tank that just wants to go stand and model in Limsa as quick as they can..

[LibitIncarne]

We KNOW they can do it, so it should be set that if ANYONE is in a cut scene, then the fight CAN'T start... this will help the new people get to enjoy the story. It wouldn't hurt anyone just grinding for glams or whatnots because those people would all skip the cut scenes anyways... it would only apply if there was a cut scene.

This is LITERALLY what DUTY SUPPORT is for. Unless you're talking about Alliance Raids, in which case you're holding 23 people hostage because you really, really want to see the first raidwide happen.

[AmiableApkallu]

This is LITERALLY what DUTY SUPPORT is for. Unless you're talking about Alliance Raids, in which case you're holding 23 people hostage because you really, really want to see the first raidwide happen.

Here's what Duty Support is literally for:

The Duty Support system allows you to bring certain NPCs with you into instanced dungeons required to progress through the main quest without queuing with other players.

Nothing to do with watching cutscenes.

If someone cannot be arsed to wait a moment or two for other party members to watch a cutscene, I'd suggest that they form a static of like-minded and similarly-capable individuals for speed running content. Anything less runs the risk of partying up with low performers who will waste seconds upon seconds not doing top-notch DPS while falling prey to mechanics, to say nothing of watching cutscenes.

[Mawlzy]

Here's what Duty Support is literally for:

The Duty Support system allows you to bring certain NPCs with you into instanced dungeons required to progress through the main quest without queuing with other players.

Nothing to do with watching cutscenes.

If someone cannot be arsed to wait a moment or two for other party members to watch a cutscene, I'd suggest that they form a static of like-minded and similarly-capable individuals for speed running content. Anything less runs the risk of partying up with low performers who will waste seconds upon seconds not doing top-notch DPS while falling prey to mechanics, to say nothing of watching cutscenes.

Well said. The idea that Duty Support was created to allow one to avoid impatient, rude players is peak absurdity.

[Menriq]

Maybe there is a middle ground. Perhaps they can add the "Duty Complete" to the Duty Finder Settings. That way, those people who generally want to skip cutscenes can just enable that setting and they won't be grouped with any new players. They'll potentially miss out on the bonuses, but that is their tradeoff for no cutscenes. If you don't have that setting enabled, and you get a new person, then cutscenes can't be skipped.