We are missing Content between Normal and Extreme. Wrong Audience for Chaotic

[Mawlzy]

I really don't know why people are complaining then, because the rest of the fight other than that seemed like it could be managed because I got through to tile phase, sometimes pretty smoothly in the first few hours of release... before guides, before anything.
Unfortunately true.

Blaming players for finding the game lacking is the last stage before MMOs sunset.

[Jeeqbit]

Blaming players for finding the game lacking is the last stage before MMOs sunset.

I wasn't blaming players for finding the game lacking, but rather for wanting all content to be unreasonably easy. If people spend the same amount of effort trying to clear the fight as they do complaining about it, they might clear it.

And yes, I understand that some people can't do certain content in the game due to limitations. And maybe the content isn't for them if that's the case. I'm talking about people who don't have such limits but just immediately come to the forums and say it's clique content without really giving it a good try.

It happened with Eureka where, just because it took NMs a little bit of time to spawn, they wanted them to spawn instantly resulting in Bozja's Skirmishes which spawn instantly one after the other. People just have no patience for things taking time and want everything instantly (then subsequently complain there's no content and they are bored). Can't have it both ways.

I think we just have a fundamental disagreement on how big the gap between current normal raids and extremes is.

I don't think Extreme difficulty is the issue. I think the issue is the culture of using Party Finder for it instead of a direct queue makes it feel more difficult than it is, which has only been a problem in western regions, because they queue in the JP region.

When I get Extremes in Mentor Roulette for example - and this is with loads of sprouts - I usually teach the fight and we clear it. 99% of Extremes I've got in Mentor Roulette have been a clear, including Tsukuyomi, Thordan, Ultima's Bane, Ramuh, and countless Great Hunt Ex. Granted this is with gear growth and occasionally Echo stacks, but the same thing can happen with current extremes (gear growth) and it's not that long before they add Echo stacks anyway.

Like everything, Chaotic will probably feel a lot easier as time goes on.

Going off of pure difficulty I would absolutely put it on par with normal raids, it was incredibly easy.

BA was ridiculously easy when I did it. All the fights before Ozma felt easier than Sastasha. And Ozma's mechanics are mostly wholesale taken from the version in Weeping City which was also never that hard but sometimes took a few pulls. Except of course it's more punishing (more likely to kill, harder to get a rez and can eject you from the instance).

But the rez and eject gimmicks, and "get enough people" gimmicks, make it useful to have a discord for it. But the bigger reason discords had to pick it up was deciding portals. Ironically, coordinating portal entry is the main "coordination" needed.

[Mawlzy]

And yes, I understand that some people can't do certain content in the game due to limitations. And maybe the content isn't for them if that's the case. I'm talking about people who don't have such limits but just immediately come to the forums and say it's clique content without really giving it a good try.

I don't even think it's a question of can't do certain content, although that doubtless comes into play. The issue is that there are many different ways to play FF14, and basically only one niche way involving significant time planning and commitment, which most people simply choose not to do, is being addressed by the bulk of material released in 7.x.

I'm starting to get the feeling SQEX would happily jettison 80% of their players, scale back the cost of producing 14, and turn it into a raiding game. Like the DT story doesn't exactly suggest commitment to a "story-driven MMO," we know VAs and animation are expensive, and the content release makes it pretty clear which portion of the customer base is valued.

Their decision. Maybe it makes financial sense.