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

[Deusteele]

The problem with random mechanics is they have to be deadly enough to threaten the group, without being complete random one hit kills. If they err on the safe side or as group gears up, the solution becomes stack and heal through. Err the other way and you'll see the forums explode with hate threads. It's fine line to walk for any developer.

As for the then and now comparisons for player skill. You're wrong, simple as that. Players now are so much more skilled then they used to be. 10 years ago forums and databases didn't exist the way they do now. Sites like Wowhead, Gamerescape, and these very forums were non-existent. The sphere of plat that exists for MMO has changed radically and a lot of players in this very thread refuse to see or accept that.

[Teirshin]

As for the then and now comparisons for player skill. You're wrong, simple as that. Players now are so much more skilled then they used to be. 10 years ago forums and databases didn't exist the way they do now. Sites like Wowhead, Gamerescape, and these very forums were non-existent. The sphere of plat that exists for MMO has changed radically and a lot of players in this very thread refuse to see or accept that.

Sorry but moving from point A to point B because the video tells you that now is the time to do it is not skill.

In the old days, players learned and adapted on the fly, thats more skill than someone nowadays who just looks up a video of a pre-scripted fight and just follows the same movements everyone else does.

There's no skill in following a pre-scripted movement pattern. Adapting on the fly takes skill.

The only thing the modern player is skilled at is looking up strategies so they dont have to exert 1 ounce of mental effort to learn it on their own, and looking up what drops there are in the dungeon that they want to roll on. Google-Fu is strong with this generation, but "on the spur of the moment thinking"... not so much.

[Clavaat]

Sorry but moving from point A to point B because the video tells you that now is the time to do it is not skill.

Except that doesn't work. When was the last time you went into a group where everyone watched the same video and beat it in 1 go, and NEVER had to adapt? In order for that to happen, everyone would have to be the exact same job as the video, do the exact same positioning as the video, and hope that the boss' RNG (yes, they have some) selects the right people.

You are greatly over-generalizing everything. You also act like people didn't look up guides/videos forever. I remember watching Kirin fights in FFXI and reading guides to figure out what we were supposed to do WAY ahead of time, back in '06. As a matter of fact, I always had FFXIclopedia open for all quests all the time...because it was nearly impossible to figure out what you were supposed to do otherwise.

It's the same as it's always been.

[Velhart]

Sorry but moving from point A to point B because the video tells you that now is the time to do it is not skill.

In the old days, players learned and adapted on the fly, thats more skill than someone nowadays who just looks up a video of a pre-scripted fight and just follows the same movements everyone else does.

There's no skill in following a pre-scripted movement pattern. Adapting on the fly takes skill.

The only thing the modern player is skilled at is looking up strategies so they dont have to exert 1 ounce of mental effort to learn it on their own, and looking up what drops there are in the dungeon that they want to roll on. Google-Fu is strong with this generation, but "on the spur of the moment thinking"... not so much.

Yea this isn't true. People used guides just as much back then as they do now. The only difference is YouTube was not a thing. With how much was usually in stake (like a BCNM/KSNM orb from FFXI), people would look up every detail of the fight to make sure all their efforts don't go to waste. Actually if anything, people used guides even more back then. MMO's today at least give you a peace of mind to experiment before deciding to use a guide.

To the 2nd point 1st since it leads into the 1st.

These events are tuned to sub ilvl 100 at optimal play. So sorry but tanks being amazing at cooldowns and DPS being awesome is not a requirement with ilvl 110 which is achievable without ever stepping foot in raids which brings me to the 1st point....

Why aren't there more people clearing T9? The better question is Why would you clear T9 at all? There is next to no motivation for anyone beyond hardcore raiders to do it. It is childs play and tuned for the SUPER casuals. But why would the super casuals bother to learn the DDR moves when they can just afk in town until a hunt spawns > port out > and be handed raid loot.

I thought the current discussion was pattern in fights, not the motivation to do them. Sounds a tad off topic.