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

[Litre]

If you're overwhelmed by the mechanics, get better gear or get better. That's what I do even though I know it'll take me forever because I know I suck.

Looks like you're new to this thread, please read this first if you want to have a meaningful discussion:
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...=1#post2164220

But to summarize, and why your statement shows just how completely blind you are to the real issue at hand, which the OP is trying to address:

1. FFXIV uses mechanics like 100% of every game, yes true. And like you said, they use a certain kind of mechanics, being a telegraphed AOE which you need to move out of mostly. The issue the OP is trying to bring up is that, a fight is mostly determined by this dodging mechanic, more than any other mechanic.
2. Because some fights are more mechanics heavy, gear makes less of an impact on the fight, we have been referring to these fights as ones that have insta-death mechanics, fail to dodge = instant death. This completely negates any gear advantage, so your comment of "get better gear" won't help, if you fail to dodge X mechanic, you die, iLvl 70 or 110, doesn't matter. (the example in the OP is Twintania Divebombs, Landslide is another)

3.

or get better. That's what I do even though I know it'll take me forever because I know I suck.

As for this comment, I'd say good on you, that's great that you have the dedication and time to improve your skills and knowledge (memorizing fights) to beat these fights. But you can't assume everyone has that perseverance, time or even enjoys practicing and dying again and again to beat something.

This is where opinions diverge, one type of player (hardcore/some mainstream) players say, just like you, "that's your fault, get better or get out". And "get out" is exactly what they will do, they will find another game which they enjoy, that doesn't make them headbutt a giant obstacle and fail endlessly due to no fault of their own. This is what the OP is worried about, the OP doesn't care about players that are on coil, they're happy, we are worried about casual players and less skilled mainstream players.

But more understanding players realize that if we tell them all to get out, there will not be enough subscriptions to support FFXIV and it'll eventually fail because there won't be enough development money for FFXIV to compete with other MMOs. To this we are saying, when content is old, 2-3 months+, don't just give us echo boost, properly address the fights individually. For some fights like Titan, echo boost won't help you; in this case a more creative solution needs to be implemented.


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As for:

A lot of my friends feel the same and several have already moved on to WildStar so maybe that's where I'll peek next.

I agree with Bizniztyme, you'll get a wake up call because WildStar combat is FFXIV telegraphed AOE on steroids. But WildStar also has Exploration and Settler Paths, which are catered to the more casual crowd, which you may like. This is what FFXIV needs to do, offer content for casual players OR ease current content for casual players, or we will just bleed subs till the game is nothing but the hardcore/mainstream players. But if that's what people want, so be it, but there will be consequences.


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The example I like to remind people, is to think of a friend you know who likes to play RPGs on easy mode, that friend who levels up on the world map until he's 10+ levels stronger than the boss before going in. Even if you don't have a friend like that you can relate, there are casual gamers that don't necessarily like the challenge, nor the frustration that comes with it. They play games to relax and have fun, they want progression but don't care about being the best or joining a static. We have to be more accepting of these users, because that's where the development money comes from, like Yoshi said ~5% of players are passing T5, probably more now, but most players are doing other things and we need to ensure they are not being held to the same standards that the hardcore players are.

[Bizniztyme]

snip

I understand the OP just fine. I just don't agree with it. You can doom and gloom all you want. People will leave a game for all kinds of reasons. You going to tell me if SE caters to what you're asking, another group that doesn't like the change will not leave? It doesn't matter what they do, there will be a group of people that will not like it and leave. It's part of an MMORPG. So.....I will never agree with making anything forgiving just because people don't have the skill to beat something. You want players to be accepting to the kind of players you're talking about but you certainly are not accepting to the players that don't agree with your plea.

[Litre]

I will never agree with making anything forgiving just because people don't have the skill to beat something. You want players to be accepting to the kind of players you're talking about but you certainly are not accepting to the players that don't agree with your plea.

Like I said, that's fine, you are free to hold your own opinion that the current content should remain as it is. And neither does the OP, or I care if some players don't want old content to be eased, as long as enough people agree with our plea, we can hope for change.


But the truth is, they already added Echo, so despite your disagreements, much to our relief Yoshi has is already trying to make things more forgiving.

And so the thing is, "we are not asking to make content more forgiving or not". We are saying, "if you're going to do it, do it properly!" They gave a blanket, one size fits all stats boost across the board for all these fights, when really what they need to do is address each fight and balance the dodge mechanics, or least make them survivable for 1 hit or something. And that's why I think you're not on the same topic as the rest of us.

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Actually all this could have been avoided if they didn't put the main scenario on the same path as these tougher fights, this funnels casual players who would rather not face these fights, into them! If coil was simply a side-story, was optional and was for players who wanted a challenge, that'd be all fine.
But it's too late to go back on that, all they can do is nerf the fights, which they have, and to that we're saying, you're nerfing the wrong way! The problem is the mechanics, not the stats, people don't need a stat boost, they need an "absorb one landslide" buff or knockback resistance buff or something to deal with the mechanics. 7000HP or 30000HP, you will die when you get knocked off, and face it lots of players can't multi-task and play consistently enough to dodge them all, neither do they have the time or are willing to put in the time to practice until they can.

So if you're going to force some casual players into mechanics heavy battles as part of the main storyline then you better eventually make them beatable by casual players, for now they are doing it wrong.

[Bizniztyme]

And so the thing is, "we are not asking to make content more forgiving or not". We are saying, "if you're going to do it, do it properly!" They gave a blanket, one size fits all stats boost across the board for all these fights, when really what they need to do is address each fight and balance the dodge mechanics, or least make them survivable for 1 hit or something. And that's why I think you're not on the same topic as the rest of us.

Again, I UNDERSTAND it just fine. I just will not agree with it because I think 1 shot mechanics are great for difficulty as you can see with all the complaining you guys are doing.

[OSUBuckeye4]

Again, I UNDERSTAND it just fine. I just will not agree with it because I think 1 shot mechanics are great for difficulty as you can see with all the complaining you guys are doing.

I have nothing against one shot mechanics.

Just don't make them scripted to occur at the exact same point in every fight. Or, if you're going to make the one shot mechanic scripted, that's fine... but, don't have all of the other mechanics on a script as well.

Let us demonstrate true skill and adaptability, not just run on a treadmill for 8-14 minutes and then get our little reward when we're done.


I hate the fact that I basically sleepwalk through Brayflox HM every night... I get to the boss and it's like, "okay, here we go again..." and it's the exact same pattern every night.

It's not rewarding, it's incredibly boring.

[Bizniztyme]

I have nothing against one shot mechanics.
Just don't make them scripted to occur at the exact same point in every fight. Or, if you're going to make the one shot mechanic scripted, that's fine... but, don't have all of the other mechanics on a script as well.
Let us demonstrate true skill and adaptability, not just run on a treadmill for 8-14 minutes and then get our little reward when we're done.

Dude, This would never fly in ffxiv. the amount of people that can't get past scripted fights and get stuck on fights where there are no surprises and very detailed walk throughs would have no chance beating some of theses bosses that could use all their moves when ever they wanted. Then they will be back here complaining even more. lol

[OSUBuckeye4]

Dude, This would never fly in ffxiv. the amount of people that can't get past scripted fights and get stuck on fights where there are no surprises and very detailed walk throughs would have no chance beating some of theses bosses that could use all their moves when ever they wanted. Then they will be back here complaining even more. lol

Obviously things would need to be tuned to adjust for this.

I'm not suggesting that SE put in the possiblity of Titan EX having the ability to use 5 mountain busters in a row, with the same tuning that the fight currently has. That would be impossible.

I'm just saying... maybe create additional possible scripts for Titan where Titan has a different pattern. Mix things up a bit. Ditto for the other hard bosses. I mean, they are suppose to be hard.

Just make it so that every darn time I go into that instance, it's not the exact same thing. It's boring. It's the opposite of challenging. The only challenge after you've run it 20 times, is finding 7 other people who have put in the work to memorize the pattern as well.