WHY does SE insist on making this game so unforgiving?

[Hippo]

I think the part of the problem may be we have two very different types of adventurers here... Those who enjoyed the traditional pre-sea ways of FFXI and are looking for similiar expereinces. And those who are WoWy people and are looking for the same experiences.

And both of those are diametrically opposed approaches.

Coupled with the instant-gratification-world we now live in, its very hard to come up with a solution that makes everyone happy. Except perhaps having two games. FFXIV-Wow and FFXIV-XI-2 ^.^;

Personally I would hope they would have two types of worlds:
World A -- FFXIV in hard Mode
World B -- FFXIV in easy Mode

You choose which you want to go, and all content is scaled accordingly. In easy mode, you can get 7/7 Iffy weapons after 20 fights. In hard mode, same as it is now ^.^;

if hard mode just means an abyssmally low drop rate, then nobody will choose hard mode

[Duelle]

if hard mode just means an abyssmally low drop rate, then nobody will choose hard mode

Correct. Drop rates and difficulty don't have anything to do with each other.

[Asiaine]

if hard mode just means an abyssmally low drop rate, then nobody will choose hard mode

I'll be in Hard Mode.

Quieter and no false expectations.

I'll also have cookiees.