Quote Originally Posted by NaoSen View Post
From my POV there is the plan (Be it video or written), that plan has step by step instructions of what to do (Follow the instructions, do not panic, do your job.), if the group is a static as they become familiar with each step of the plan they progress further and further until clear and then faster and faster until its just farmable.
This is exactly how it is, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but it is still quite fun if you enjoy that kind of thing. The higher the tier of difficulty you go up, the more you and your team have to work to win. It's the same reason why some people love the Souls games and some people hate the Souls games. At its core, the game just presents you with attack patterns you have to learn how to navigate while doing as much damage as possible. Some people even decide they want to speed run those games, which would be akin to farming a fight in FFXIV. Everyone knows that, say, waterfowl dance is just a series of attack patterns you have to memorize and dodge, but that doesn't make it easy. And the sense of joy you get when you finally succeed is still every bit as real even though it's always the same.

Unlike the Souls games, though, FFXIV gives the opportunity to share that experience with others. Again, this is not everyone's cup of tea, but if you have a static or a group of pals you can improve together with, that can add something that single player games can't, which is the sense of teamwork you get from playing and improving together with others. If you are only interested in your own improvement, it can be a huge source of frustration to know how to clear a fight and have to wait for someone else to get it together.

The harder the raids you do, the more aspects of the game you are asked to be better at simultaneously, and the bigger the sense of accomplishment you get when you beat them.