RNG is Back with ZODIAC Relic

[Kenji1134]

I think we may be in need of some player "re-definitions"...

In effect content appears in the following varieties:
Solo - Party - Alliance
Fixed Quest Objective (Brief) - Fixed Grinding (Long) - Time Gated (Often Long) - RNG (yeah, RNG)
Low Skill (Literally spam 1-2-3 easy) - Moderate Skill (Know how to properly play your class in a decent fight) - High Skill (Execute the mechanics flawlessly while playing your class to its potential)
Low Cost (Free Items, often Time Gated) - Moderate Cost (Not free, but not 100k+) - High Cost (HQ 3-4 star crafts, desynth items, and generic 100k+ requirements)

"Casuals" are people who tend to do Solo and maybe some Party content due to erratic play times. They prefer Fixed Quest Objectives, like kill this boss or clear this instance. Their content tends to be Low Skill or Moderate Skill, with the occasional High Skill check at the very end. And the quests are very often Low Cost, and usually minimally Time Gated.

"Hardcore Grinders" are people who tend to play in all 3 group sizes. They prefer Fixed Grinding, RNG, and occasionally Time Gated based progression as they have the ability to play and grind for hours on end. Their content often covers all skill ranges, with less personal emphasis on High Skill content due to burnout. And their quests can be of any cost, as they can simply grind up more money.

"Hardcore Players - emphasis on 'Play'" are people who tend to participate in mostly Party and Alliance content. They prefer Fixed Quest Objectives but requiring more skill and less grinding. Their content tends to be Moderate and often High Skill. Quests are preferably Low Cost Time Gated, within reason, or High Cost BUT SKILL BASED, such as knowing someone or being able to hammer out a 3-4 star HQ.

"Hardcore 'Casuals'" - Sounds odd right? These people enjoy challenging Solo and Party content, which is Objective Based, with minimal RNG, ideally no RNG. Quests should be at worth Time Gated, with items which are Free (but Time Gated) or obtained with Skill rather than coin.
^ This is the person who has under 100k gil, logs in to rampage through Coil, and occasionally pops on to do Dailies and gather/craft raid consumables. Honestly THIS is what most of the raiders in this game turn into once they clear the latest raid content.

So where am I going with this?
We have 4, really 3 groups that the vast majority of players fall into, and we understand that as a company, SE tries in some way to cater to each one.
The thing is, they kind of want opposing things.

The Hardcore Grinders will burn out if they need to farm a high end raid boss for hours and days on end. They prefer something easier which can be highly time or RNG gated, but mindlessly easy.

Hardcore Players like challenging fights, and a task-completion-reward based structure. Kill 10 of each of these 5 mobs. Now kill these 3 bosses. Now obtain 5 days worth of items from these dailies... Done. No real RNG to it, nor any point where the task was to grind out 2000 fates or 250 rounds of ST, or 500 generic dungeons... That is mind numbingly long!

Casuals are kind of like the Hardcore Players, but want a bit less of a challenge. At least something more forgiving. And no high end HQ crafting... Something from 2 tiers ago sure, but no bleeding edge crafting. Content should be objective based, with minimal RNG, and at most 4x as much time gating as for the Hardcore Players. So for instance a Hardcore Player could go some upgrade quest in 5 days, 1 3-star HQ, and 3 difficult bosses. While a Casual would get the same result in say 3 weeks, 10 single dungeon runs, 4 2-star HQ's, and 3-4 moderate bosses.