FF14 has abandoned their mid core players and thats why its failing.

[Raikai]

The problem of the debate midcore x harcore also has to do with the kind of mechanics the encounter offers.

Positional puzzle like mechs that you solve by looking at pre-casting/boss animations (basically most of the stuff we get) can't have the middle ground between too easy and too hard.

It is hard until you solve it. Then it becomes too easy because you know where you should be - at best the mechanic has a variation (in/out, donut/circle, etc), but they are static variations and often just two of them. Now all you do is waiting or expecting others to get it right, so it's no longer on your hands anymore.

On the other hand, I feel that true potential midcore mechanics are the reactivity ones and we need more of that. Like Barbariccia's chaotic phase, where you need to be on your toes and react to stuff as it happens instead of deciphering a puzzle of where stuff will explode, or where and with whom you should soak something based on what the boss is casting and saying/emoting.

[Asari5]

but i have to say though. there are several overlapping points in the peoples definition of midcore content no matter which scale they use.... square would know that if they listened hard enough... or asked questions.

[SyferU]

but that just means you define the player. not the content. most people wanna define the content though. in one wqy or another

i did hardcore content in a casual static... if you wanna look at savage as hardcore, which i do

But thats why defining the difficulty of content has so little meaning. The difficulty of content always drops with time.
You can't really say you are doing Hardcore content when you solo unsync Alexander savage raids.

[Remolia]

just watch ur msq cutscenes and unsub, until next patch.

[Dastan]

This is an mmo. At some point you will have to talk to people and make friends if you want to do the harder content in the game. Can you imagine the absolute suffering there would be if they made an extreme trial roulette or a savage raid roulette? Mentors already go through this sometimes.

[Ephremjlm]

Idk if anyone uses your term for what casusal/midcore/hardcore is. What people consider 'hardcore' doesn't even exist in your system, because the difference between someone who engages in savage content like 3hr a week and takes 18 weeks to clear, and someone who does 12hr a day and clears in the first week is pretty huge. But as for content type, savage would count as midcore, as it's not even close to the same kind of investment as an ultimate (not UWU) is. Savage is pretty much the midcore content of this game, comparable to raids in WoW. Makes more sense to lump up anything that requires no significant enough amount of effort (only time) would be casual content, midcore is anything that requires some effort and organizing, and hardcore is peak difficulty content in the game.

Listen, as I said prior midcore is a content type. it just has to have conditions. Could we consider savage as midcore, yeah probably on the upper end. But thats honestly because if you know how the game mechanics work there are people who come prepared (as much as this game lets you) and can just get it done relatively quickly.

But id argue that you are also labeling casual/midcore/hardcore as a difficulty of a single fight alone when your comparison is ultimate to savage. it is not just a difficulty slider on a fight, it is a content type grouping. And I would probably veer on the side that you are right in that savage is a type of midcore content in the midcore spectrum, just like how crafting/gathering and dungeons are casual. They are grouped in a spectrum based on the types of activity required, not JUST difficulty. Actually as a good example, if the devs really wanted to they could probably design some kind of ultimate style crafting and gathering making the steps insanely long with timers and everything needing to be perfect, perfect gear required, and even special mats needed to be gathered or even pulled from certain drops via battle content, with other sweaty elements that they could think of going into it (im not a crafter or gatherer so im not the guy to ask). Would the audience like it? idk, but the possibility is there if they really wanted to. And actually funny enough, you could argue that there already is a type of midcore when it comes to crafting given people don't use plugins or macros. Wasn't the argument that people were mad when cosmic launched because all the sudden they couldn't use macros and they actually had to engage with each craft and know how to craft each item using the systems? I'd say that's an instance of "casual" type players getting rug pulled into a different type of interaction that requires more preparation and understanding of what is going on. Maybe not a mastery but a higher competency on your feet.

[Kaurhz]

I wouldn't say specifically because they've abandoned midcore.

But more specifically because they have abandoned a lot of systems, some of them were clunky, or expensive, sure... But they gave a lot of players A LOT to do.. The amount I find myself needing to invest my time now, versus how much I needed to invest back then... It just isn't the same.

I don't even want to make my comment about harder content, but content more broadly speaking... Whether that's combat, crafting, desynthesis, grand company, gathering.

[SushiDog]

FF14 now just focus on Hardcore and Lowcore. It abandoned its midcore. Which are the majority of players.

This just isn't true though? "The majority of players" in NA/EU don't even clear normal mode raids when they're current (see: achievement data tracking), let alone touch anything above it.

They are levels made FOR BOTS, as well as rotation made for bots. Not people. And the hardcore. All cheat with ACT. And far worse. Is not a game but a get high by openly cheating. Is it everyone? No. But certainly the majority.

If you think "the majority" of players care enough about their fellow party members enough to find something like ACT and improve on themselves, let alone utilize the less ethical aspects of ACT, you're genuinely delusional.

You have no idea what you're talking about. Given how easy it is to find how long you've been playing, this is just the lashing out of an EW-baby who burned themselves out on a theme-park MMO.

Take a break. See you again (regrettably) in 7.4.

[Raoabolic]

The 2 min meta and fights that are nothing but a giant dance choreography in which one person's mistake can cost a fight means that there is going to be a HUGE gap between player skill because you need to make mistakes to learn (or watch/read and guide and pray you understand it) but a mistake will cost 7 other players time. Combine that with people caring more about W2W pulls, clear time, and parses over just clearing the content and you have a perfect storm of casuals vs sweats. It's sad but it's just another game in a sea of games at the end of the day.

[Turtledeluxe]

am kinda over the midcore discourse, but I can sympathize with what you are saying otherwise.

Many of the complaints regarding content and difficulty since post EW have been fully or somewhat resolved. So your issues would then become the execution of those things. Like OC for example.

The 2 min meta and fights that are nothing but a giant dance choreography in which one person's mistake can cost a fight means that there is going to be a HUGE gap between player skill because you need to make mistakes to learn (or watch/read and guide and pray you understand it) but a mistake will cost 7 other players time. Combine that with people caring more about W2W pulls, clear time, and parses over just clearing the content and you have a perfect storm of casuals vs sweats. It's sad but it's just another game in a sea of games at the end of the day.

This is where the remaining issues are happening. 2 minute meta in particular shapes player behavior and expectation, which I think could be an underlying reason their attempts at new combat still aren't really bringing people back. Its not a balance between casual and hardcore, its a balance between people who want more agency in the job and people who want all the agency in mechanics. Battles are increasingly relying on a strict adherence to mechanics and alignment at the cost of agency/flexibility.

Given that job design and encounter design are so closely related (inversely really) its going to be tough to decouple the meta if they even try. Could be painful but necessary.