Concerns about Content Finder, Drops, and Difficulty Settings for EG.

[Dragon]

No.

Cheesecake should not be accessible for easier difficulties. Anyone saying otherwise is a cheesecake-hater.

[Rau]

No.

Cheesecake should not be accessible for easier difficulties. Anyone saying otherwise is a cheesecake-hater.

A beacon of logic shines through the darkness of the Final Fantasy XIV forums.

[Platinumstorm]

I really agree with the OP. It's a great strategy and somewhat emulates the success Blizzard has had in balancing different skill levels of players. If they can avoid the "content is dead after the next patch" syndrome, then it will be a successful design.

As a side comment, I absolutely find it hilarious when people trash WoW for being too easy, and then I see how poorly they perform in battle settings in FFXIV. It blows my mind.

[Amsai]

Why do people always have to assume the worst about every little hint drop with no actual information given?

Is the game really that hard to begin with? Even if current content difficulty is used as a baseline, I don't really forsee any problems with noobs. There's only a few things in this game that are particularly challenging.

Besides, when you play easy mode in any game, the game usually laughs at and mocks you for playing on it.

Simple, becuase its SE. Every painful step of this game from Beta has been (to me) a series of 3 steps forward and 1 step back with disappointing implementations of certain content sprinkled in for fun along the way (Behest, HamDef).

As for your opinion on the current difficulty, depending on how you ellaborate, my first response would be: What game are you playing? Anyone that says the EG content in this game is not hard, are either not in touch with reality, liars, or so bad ass the content seems easy in comparison to their skill and therefore cant relate to the average player. The fact is that EG content is very hard. I am a good player (not a great player or a genius player), and me and my LS had to do AV/CC for a few weeks just to get our first wins. Now granted some of the people in my LS are more the average player, they arent bad players because they were able to learn and progess. But I think this solidifies my point. If the content wasnt so hard it would not have taken this much effort just to get a single win. On the other hand, I know quite a few people that have done CC/AV many many times since the content came out and have yet to get a single win, let alone get to the point where they can beat it on a regular basis.

Oh and Dragon, Rau thanks for not contributing anything useful. Great job guys /thumbs up!

[Reverend]

I enjoy playing the game just the way it is, of course granted I solo almost all my xp, but I do pickup groups usually seeing as how my LS usually does runs that don't jive with my schedule. I've had some success and some failures, I don't consider myself a great player and at times not even a good player but one of the reasons I play FFXIV is due to the difficulty. If it's too easy then too many ppl parading around waving their jolies in the air acting like they are the best thing ever... I left FFXI shortly after Abyssea came out b/c the lvl 30 entry level meant that every kid with the ability to setup an account could get a PL to 30 then leech to 80~90 in a matter of days. Suddenly there was a huge influx of players lvl 90 with skill in the dunes range and knowledge of the game equivelant as well.

That being said, if they do make it easier, then I don't agree that easy mode should have any drops... and before you flame me, I have only completed the easy mode of Ifrit and have yet to do the Moogle or Garuda but in regards to someone's post earlier about content no longer being relevant after a month, I think that is how content stays relevant. If everyone can get all the good gear on one or two runs first try then after a month or so nobody is doing those runs anymore.

That's just my 2 cents...

[Amsai]

I enjoy playing the game just the way it is, of course granted I solo almost all my xp, but I do pickup groups usually seeing as how my LS usually does runs that don't jive with my schedule. I've had some success and some failures, I don't consider myself a great player and at times not even a good player but one of the reasons I play FFXIV is due to the difficulty. If it's too easy then too many ppl parading around waving their jolies in the air acting like they are the best thing ever... I left FFXI shortly after Abyssea came out b/c the lvl 30 entry level meant that every kid with the ability to setup an account could get a PL to 30 then leech to 80~90 in a matter of days. Suddenly there was a huge influx of players lvl 90 with skill in the dunes range and knowledge of the game equivelant as well.

That being said, if they do make it easier, then I don't agree that easy mode should have any drops... and before you flame me, I have only completed the easy mode of Ifrit and have yet to do the Moogle or Garuda but in regards to someone's post earlier about content no longer being relevant after a month, I think that is how content stays relevant. If everyone can get all the good gear on one or two runs first try then after a month or so nobody is doing those runs anymore.

That's just my 2 cents...

I have no problem with what you said. There are plenty of us that enjoy the challenge. Truth be told I am more interested in beating content then getting shinies. But my thread isnt about what the hardcore crowd and those who want to be challenged. Its about making the game more inviting to new players to pull in subs, and to save this game. Also realize I said they need to have a easy, moderate and hard mode with appropriate rewards. So you still have to be a badass to beat the truly hard content and to get the best gear. So I dont really see how what I want effects your stance really, right? The difference with what I am saying and with Abyssea in XI is that Abyssea is all easy mode. There arent set difficulty levels for each bit of content to challenge yourself. As far as easy mode having no drops, thats a debatable point and not the real focus of my point. So maybe easymode should just be a "token win". My 3 most important points are allowing dificulty modes to account for all skill levels so that everyone can expericne this wonderful game that we are ALL paying for, and making sure that there are rewards appropriate to the effort/challenge, and making sure that the difference in rewards between normal and hard modes in content isnt like day and night. This is all very reasonable I think. It would be different if I was asking for everything to be super easy mode and 100% drop rates on uber gear. Then the devs would be in jeopardy of going to the opposite extreme and catering far too much to the casuals. There is a fine line that can be made where we can achieve a reasonable ballance. ^^

[Alhanelem]

Simple, becuase its SE. Every painful step of this game from Beta has been (to me) a series of 3 steps forward and 1 step back

I don't really see this. There's only been 1 real step back and that's "low drop rates." It's been all giant leaps forward aside from them. THey've demonstrated that their desire to revamp and revive this game is genuine, so I don't really see such cynicism as valid.

[indira]

problem with skill levels no matter what people will do the hard one just because it drops the best stuff regardless if they win.

[Amsai]

problem with skill levels no matter what people will do the hard one just because it drops the best stuff regardless if they win.

This isnt necessarily the case. Not everyone playes for shinies. Some just want to have fun and experience the dungeons and quests/storylines that go with them. Its one thing that SE is very good at, its making great lore and story. Hell, I am enjoying the hell out of the "end O the world" GC quests, and its not like its hard nor does it give me fat loot (no I dont own a single piece of GC gear, its mostly garbage anyways compared to Darklight and Crafted/melded gear). And that, like the easy mode for Primals is exactly what a lot of people will like. Not everyone plays videogames for hardcore challenge and loot. MMOs can offer a good fun experience with a social aspect and engauging story/events.

Aside from that you might want to go back and read my example of a good difference in stats between normal and hard mode gear. The point is not to make it like night and day. Another point Id like to make is that FFXI had relics, but very few players had relics. Because most people didnt bother with it. They were able to get plenty of fairly badass weapons from other sources which they were happy with. So if they make hard mode, hard enough and the loot from hadrmode is not vastly superior to normal mode.

[Fadigre]

You mostly get what I am saying. However I just want a clear distinction that there actually WILL be an easy mode for are casual/terrible FFXIV players and hopeful furture players once 2.0 goes live. I also want to specify that the difference between normal mode gear and hardmode gear should be a bit better, not night and day. In my example I say Darklight and Darklight +1. Here is a very very simplified example:
Normal mode gear = +10 str
Hard mode gear = +13 str

The Hardcore players get bragging rights, a challenge, and better stats. But not grossly differnent from Normal mode gear. As I said before, people dont like to feel like they are being punished for not being hardcore enough. And honestly i think this is quite fair, and would be inviting to casual players. I myself would be happy to go after the Hardmode gear, but I have friends and family that would say "screw that". And rightfully so, hardcore isnt for everyone, in fact it isnt for most players.

Oh and I do agree that larger-scale content could help this issue a bit. The less players their are the less room for error, but with 24 man raids it should be able to accomodate a couple of casual/avg players. I just dont agree that it has to mean that everything is exclusive to just the better players. Its about choice and options, its not about taking away anything from the hardcore players that really want to persue that type of content.

Yeah, I can see where you're coming from there. I think I perhaps misunderstood by thinking too hard about what the items are to us right now rather then you using them as examples.
Again, distance yourself from what the gear is and just think of the hard reward as medium +1.
This may not necessarily mean an physical +1 of that piece of gear but an a better piece of gear.

This doesn't have to incorporate that +3, either. This could be anything

It's a solid idea and makes the game more accessible without harming anybody provided it's done correctly, surely!