Current State of End-Game Contents - A Blog Post from A Japanese Player

[Garlyle]

When I think of other MMO's I've played, the names of the bosses don't come to mind first, nor do the mob models (typically), but the mechanics that made them different from the last fight.

This. At the end of the day, this.

I honestly love a lot of XIV's bosses - even several of the ones in pre-50 dungeons have some rather neat stuff going on, some of which is fairly subtle. It's the mechanics that make a boss fight to me, which is why I get disappointed at content that's easily overgeared and turns into a tank & spank 'till you win - which is probably 75% of the content post-50 right now, once you're geared enough.

Remember Leviathan Hard Mode? Me neither. But you'll remember Extreme.

Yeah, there's some related issues that do generally come from it. Player frustration (with other players often). Statics falling apart because one person can't keep up (or being necessary because of gear lockouts, although that's a completely different issue. But at the end of the day I remember these fights, they're going to stay with me for a very, very long time, and they're what I'm here for. They're why this is the only MMORPG I've ever even stuck with for more than 3-ish months, nevermind paid a continuing subscription for.

90%+ of the content added to this game doesn't require that extreme level of execution. That's fine. That remaining percentage is aimed at a different crowd, and if that's not you, that's fine, because you're not expected to be in love with absolutely everything the game does. And that's not even talking about just party content either; there are players who will never touch Atmas, never touch FC housing or personal housing, never touch crafting, never touch the Golden Saucer, etc.; and that's okay. There is a portion of the playerbase to whom each of these things is really important, too. It goes the same way with this 'perfectionist' level content.