A weary player sees hope in the new update

[Rokien]

And hardcores need to learn that their reward for that sort of obsessive gameplay should not be one that allows them to hold their playstyles over other people's heads.

That's the sort of thing they're asking for, and it's flat out wrong.

Hardcore players are schizoid sometimes.

First they'll complain that 'casuals' are going through the game too fast and that the rewards are too easy.
But when they're forced to deal with RNG for rewards to challenging game-play, they equally upset.

What needs to be struck is this medium in which Hardcore players realize that, hey, because they're hardcore, they're going to get things faster on a consistent reward system, and then THEY'RE Going to be the one's complaining about how fast they're blowing through content. (And then suddenly it's not 'hard enough'.) Eventually they're just going to have to acknowledge that they're more skilled than the bell of the curve and instead of requesting to lengthening the time it takes to get rewards for those who have less time - to instead ask for enjoyable, repayable content that is rewarding in and of itself (Or has consumable rewards.)

Because that request is what SE is going to (and is already in the process of) respond to.

Challenging fights with consumables? Summon-able Primals that you have to reclaim after use.
Re-playable content based on just the content for enjoyment? PvP.



There are many definitions of challenge. Anything that requires a modicum of effort can be listed as a challenge.

Example: "It's a challenge for me to get out of bed in the morning." (Well, today it was because I was sick, but you get the idea.)

The point the Casuals are trying to explain to the hard headed hardcores is that Challenges should be in the gameplay itself, not in the progression pacing.

IE - Garuda (Once the exploit is fixed) is a hard fight. That fight, is the direct sort of challenge players want to experience, both Casuals and Hardcores. But the progress isn't tedious because you get guarenteed drops. Lucky or not, 20 wins gets you a weapon. That takes the tedium out of it without taking out the challenge.

Granted, this sort of thing is a lot harder to apply to Crafting. But a crafter who works consistently on their one chosen craft should not get penalized for not taking every craft up.

In the end, the hardcore players are asking for the wrong things, as usual. Working on Crafts shouldn't be additionally tedious - it should just have greater depth to it for the players who want to explore to do so. (This fixes itself overall when auction comes out.)

Progressing through the story should not be about hard fights that REQUIRE you to get a party for. It should be about going through the story and revisiting those fights at harder challenges for the fun of it (and perhaps unique but optional rewards)

You guys can't have it both ways by forcing timesinks on the casuals and having steady progress for yourselves. Somewhere it will turn around and bite you in the rear like with the old Primal drop system. Instead, focus on the reasons why you're asking for what you're asking for, and find true solutions instead of nosediving into nostalgia-ville with those rose tinted goggles of yours.

You know, I remember when games were games, made by gamers for gamers. Till the mass was like "OH I DO LIKE PLAYIING GAMES, BUT DON'T REALLY WANT IT TO BE THAT HARD, JUST MAKE IT SIMPLE SO I CAN FIGURE IT OUT" Now that everyone plays games, they over shadow the real gamers, so who is holding their head above others? Ya, the casuals, go do something outside, thanks!~

Ps; I'm a casual gamer that loves hardcore things, I like things that I will never get EVER, I like them there. I hate things that I can get with short amount of time, I wont buy a video game if it has only 6 hours of story. I only buy games with at least 20+ hours worth of game time(story), whether or not I finish the game, well, that's fine. Though, everytime I play I know I have something to work towards even though I won't get to the end.