@Casuals , do you think the message has gotten through?

[Uzephi]

DD is absolutely casual. People solo them all the time, with a group of 4 its not much more hard than a regular dungeon.

As I've said in this thread: difficulty =/= casual. And if people solo these dungeons all the time, why are the solo titles rarer than most savage titles, heck, even the VC titles are less rare meaning more people have completed savage criterion dungeons than soloing deep dungeons.

[Auro_Seldaris]

THIS ISNT THE CASE THOUGH, OC itself is very casual content even though forked is not (it's just under EX level). You got cosmic exploration. You get ocean fishing expansions and a new deep dungeon coming up. You get 12 normal raids, 3 alliance raids, like 12 dungeons, crafting and gathering activities, the hunt, fates, etc. The issue is that casual content is so unengaging sometimes that you don't consider it as content. Trust me, the game caters no more to raiders than it does to casuals, but it SUCKS at catering to either of them. Open your eyes. 7.3 is ALL casual content, literally nothing for raiders.

The problem is not necessarily that it "Caters exclusively" to raiders, so much as it "Prioritizes" them. Harvey Randall has mentioned this more than once in his articles on PC Gamer - the primary issue is that raid content is prioritized over content for casual/midcore players. He pointed out that almost all content with any teeth to it that has been released since DT launch has been raid-oriented. Specifically he criticized CSIII for delaying OC until a year into the expansion and prioritizing raid content that only a small portion of the community engages with over something that more people would interface with. (My personal opinion is that exploratory zone/relic step 1 should literally come with the expansion launch.)

I'll unironically agree with you that the game does actually suck at catering to EVERY type of player. And also that most casual-tier content is so boring and braindead that many people literally don't even consider it content. Personally, I yawn and roll my eyes at things like Beast Tribes, Limited Jobs, or Unreal, I couldn't care less. I don't consider those things to be content, they're so bland and uninteresting. We should be getting new things, not the same old same old regurgitated for the hundredth time.

[Mawlzy]

THIS ISNT THE CASE THOUGH, OC itself is very casual content even though forked is not (it's just under EX level). You got cosmic exploration. You get ocean fishing expansions and a new deep dungeon coming up. You get 12 normal raids, 3 alliance raids, like 12 dungeons, crafting and gathering activities, the hunt, fates, etc. The issue is that casual content is so unengaging sometimes that you don't consider it as content. Trust me, the game caters no more to raiders than it does to casuals, but it SUCKS at catering to either of them. Open your eyes. 7.3 is ALL casual content, literally nothing for raiders.

Maybe this is the crux of the problem. So why is this the case?

I'd suggest it's because people play the game in so many different ways that SE has painted itself into a corner. They have grafted a combat-action raid simulator onto a story-driven MMO.

They have chosen a particular design philosophy for raids and dungeons that is unappealing to many. In order to give the less-skilled players more content, SE tries to herd them into raiding.

Players like me tell them they can't do this crossover content, it's too hard.

High-skilled players explain the problem is the game doesn't teach you how to PvE, and that the solution is to ramp up the MSQ difficulty so that less-skilled, babied players learn.

This is akin to having a student who is struggling with algebra, and "helping them learn" by asking them to solve partial differential equations. They don't learn, they quit math, in the same way less-skilled players are quitting the game because MSQ PvE has become too difficult for them.

Besides, the way to facilitate learning is to make the lessons interesting and accessible, not to use the same formula only harder.

Meanwhile, all this "casual" content you describe is mostly terrible. Cosmic Explo was the least engaging, most repetitive rubbish SE has put out in the Ishgard/Doma space, riddled with design flaws and exhibiting a total lack of imagination. But at least they got to double-dip their levequest code.

As to these 12 normal raids, again they are too difficult for many players. I understand this is completely incomprehensible to some of you. That does not prevent it from being true. I'm guessing if I went through the misery of M1N 20 times I might start to clear it without dying. Am I going to slow down players who always seem to be in a rush by doing that? No, of course not, even if I could spend more than 20 minutes dealing with the awful visual glare. I might if I could run it with NPCs and customize the battle FX.

The fighting we see in this and other threads between players with different interests does indeed indicate SE is no longer adequately catering to anyone. In this sense, it is a failed game.

[Zackmag1993]

Hi, in reality, I don't think this game is dying; I'd rather say it has reached the limit of reach devs can give regarding the same content development they have provided over the years.

What do I mean? Spoilers alert incoming as well.

I don't think the problem with the game is regarding casual or raiding content or between new or old veteran players.

The company is showing to put priority on development that provides quick profit instead of meaningful content, in my opinion.

Relaying a lot in gridding and less costly and meaningful content.

They are focusing on creating content that is focused on long periods of grinding time in order to retain the player base and, in that way, solidify their subscriptions. A simple and strategic point: right, we are an MMORPG game. But with less content that is worth doing than before.

(By the way, sorry for my English. I am actually from LATAM trying to play this game the right way when it is only supported for EU, USA, Japanese, and Australian audiences.) I don't know why LATAM is so forgotten by all game companies. Need a LATAM server as well (for we count).


I am a Final Fantasy fan. I am 32 years old. And it is obvious SE is focusing on doing more gacha-like mechanics inside their games these days than developing them better than before. An example of this is FFXIV Mobile, which, by the way, is looking better than the main game. Which is a problem for us definitively.

The FFXIV store received more development in this expansion than the game itself. I don't know if others have noticed that. First bad sign.

[Zackmag1993]

Hi, in reality, I don't think this game is dying; I'd rather say it has reached the limit of reach devs can give regarding the same content development they have provided over the years.

What do I mean? Spoilers alert incoming as well.

[Zackmag1993]

I don't think the problem with the game is regarding casual or raiding content or between new or old veteran players.

The company is showing to put priority on development that provides quick profit instead of meaningful content, in my opinion.

Relaying a lot in gridding and less costly and meaningful content.

They are focusing on creating content that is focused on long periods of grinding time in order to retain the player base and, in that way, solidify their subscriptions. A simple and strategic point: right, we are an MMORPG game. But with less content that is worth doing than before.

[Zackmag1993]

Secondly, Dawntrail Story is bad. Or at least very poorly written. WUK LAMAT is obviously a WOKE character. The dev team of this expansion made that clear by making everything revolve around here. She was a very badly written character; she could have been a better character. She was written as an ignorant princess that never left her castle. And then, suddenly, she knew how to communicate, how to act, and how to understand her people's culture as if out of thin air. I get it; they wanted to use the power of LOVE as a DISNEY WOKE CHARACTER. And it is obvious she was the main character for that. They created a bad character who had the chance to be better in concept. Look, DION from FFXVI was the woke character of this adult game. And he worked out because he was not defined by his preference or bad writing. He was one of the best-written characters with these characteristics that gave depth to his storyline. Exactly what WUK LAMAT needed. She could have been serious and fun at the same time. by learning her people's ways and showing leadership traits. The main expansion song is a DISNEY WOKE REFERENCE. The team that work on this was definitively with an agenda.

[Zackmag1993]

Third Krile Story. It was a bait for players to expect her to be the deep character in this expansion. Which again was not because of WUK LAMAT. She could have a second main story that intertwines with the rite of succession storyline as well. This could have opened a storyline with archaeology, cave exploring, and a trail reexploration regarding her parents footsteps. More dialogues with Gulool Ja Ja and an opportunity to have a better connection with her instead of summarizing everything by saying she is from the 9th and her parents left her to save her. And that is it. She could have a "Hey Arnold"-like story with her parents, as Arnold, the main character of this 90s series, had with his. (Only using this as a reference for better story writing). The scions should have more depth helping Krile, Wuk Lamat, and Koana. Estinien as a mercenary opening secondary quest options, trials, or hunts with him in Tural.

[Zackmag1993]

The fourth Sphene storyline should have been the second part of the Dawntrail story, and I have a very strong reason for it. First of all, as a follow-up to the Krile story.
And second, because in this storyline I can tell you here is the secret to help Garlemald be restored. (We haven't seen anything about it yet; maybe it was forgotten by the depths that were part of the story as well). Dawntrail had great content releases, great new in-game mechanics, and great things that were new to the game and greatly welcome. (UP Today there is no denying that). But the story of this expansion almost killed all this effort. Sorry, but it is the truth. This is not about killing Wuk Lamat. They can rewrite the story and make it better. The game already has all it needs to work again, and after that is fixed, the game can have new things added to it. Now this regarding the Dawntrail story and its failure through it.

[Mawlzy]

Secondly, Dawntrail Story is bad. Or at least very poorly written. WUK LAMAT is obviously a WOKE character. The dev team of this expansion made that clear by making everything revolve around here. She was a very badly written character; she could have been a better character. She was written as an ignorant princess that never left her castle. And then, suddenly, she knew how to communicate, how to act, and how to understand her people's culture as if out of thin air. I get it; they wanted to use the power of LOVE as a DISNEY WOKE CHARACTER. And it is obvious she was the main character for that. They created a bad character who had the chance to be better in concept. Look, DION from FFXVI was the woke character of this adult game. And he worked out because he was not defined by his preference or bad writing. He was one of the best-written characters with these characteristics that gave depth to his storyline. Exactly what WUK LAMAT needed. She could have been serious and fun at the same time. by learning her people's ways and showing leadership traits. The main expansion song is a DISNEY WOKE REFERENCE. The team that work on this was definitively with an agenda.

This is where half of forum members will quit reading, and the other half will like your post.