Nerfs are making the game less fun for "many" hardcore AND casual players

[MasamuneBranford]

I am a casual player. Just because I am a casual player doesn't mean I don't enjoy a challenge. To many, nerfed content is not fun. It's not fun playing the final two 2.0 storyline dungeons and seeing I-level 100 players slaughtering the end boss within seconds. It's not fun fighting boss battles with a 50% to 25% echo buff (it's also not realistic to expect others in a group to turn the buff off). However, I'm also down to earth and realize that the game does have significant road blocks that can make the game less fun for some. However, I feel that the only battles that "possibly" warrant such a nerf at this time are Twintania and possibly Titan extreme. Why is anything else being nerfed?

Patch 2.1 brought Garuda extreme, Titan Extreme, Ifrit extreme, Ultima hard, crystal tower and various hard mode dungeons. A mere 3 months later, and a 25% echo buff has been implemented to Ultima and the three extreme primal battles and the maximum I-Levels have increased by 25. Why is content being nerfed in 3 months?

As a casual player who has many real life responsibilities; i'm finding it hard to get to the challenging content before it is nerfed. Three months is not enough time. If I-levels are going to continue to raise - I think SE needs to evaluate which instances truly need the echo buff and think about implementing a stat cap for certain trials / instances. The whole buff system seems to have been just thrown at a large chunk of content without much thought.

[Foo01]

I am a casual player. Just because I am a casual player doesn't mean I don't enjoy a challenge.
....
As a casual player who has many real life responsibilities; i'm finding it hard to get to the challenging content before it is nerfed. Three months is not enough time.

There you have it. The three month time is your challenge. It is plenty challenging because you do NOT feel you have enough time. There is nothing wrong with content being more accessible. We don't need elitist lording it over all the other players.

[Cyrus-Wallace]

And they just realized that with Coil.

Greetings,

Since the introduction of the Echo bonus to the Binding Coil of Bahamut, the development team has been looking at the number of times players have been challenging it as well as the number of parties that are clearing the content each day.

We originally announced that every two weeks we would be increasing the Echo bonus; however, looking at the current rate of clears and the balance of the rewards being obtained, we’ve decided to halt increasing the bonus further.

The team will continue to look at the conditions day to day as we move forward and consider increasing the bonus further if it is deemed necessary.

If you get the Echo during ex battles, it's because you're wiping. So, the time invested to stack a nice amount of Echo means that they're not ready of that content or they make a lot of mistakes. That means that the content is somewhat challenging.

[Xystic]

Just because your a casual player does not mean your level of skill play is equivalent to it.

They are completely two different things.

You should be happy that your much more skilled at this game than most.

[Foo01]

If you do not enough time to get to the content, then what makes you think you will have enough time to form the relationships needed to build a static, practice on a regular basis and clear said content. It seems self delusional. Unless of course this is just a troll thread.

[Scott]

You know? You can always switch Echobuff off =)

[Cyrus-Wallace]

You know? You can always switch Echobuff off =)

Yeah, it's a removable regular buff. You can always do that as a personal challenge. Also, don't be afraid for Coil nerf, they won't nerf it until they release the next end-game content that will replace Coil, and that's usually after 6 months.

[MasamuneBranford]

I respect all of your responses and Xystic; maybe you're right and I am more skilled than most. However, I'll raise two more points:

1) At what point does SE decide that a stat cap for instances needs to be implemented? In a year we could have I-level 150 gear. Kind of kills the fun and makes it anti-climatic when players experience the 2.0 final mission fight for the first time and see him killed in seconds.

2) You agree that Chimera, Hydra, Ifrit HM, Garuda HM, etc. should have an echo buff AND the opportunity to have players use i-level 110 gear? Dying is part of the fun. You learn from your mistakes and try again. Most new groups are going to die to a boss they've never fought before. Shouldn't they have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes rather than have the game made easier? I agree that some sort of buff should be available for some - but not all.

[Malamasala]

As I always say.

Offer normal, hard, extreme modes, but same drops. It is a scientific fact that 99% will choose the normal mode, because they do not care about challenge, only progress. And those who enjoy dying can spend 3 hours waiting for a group to do extreme modes.

[Doo]

I don't think nerfs are making the game less fun to play, rather the lack of variety and fun content to do.