A request for some tough content.

[HiirNoivl]

Example for Roaran:

Enter fight by clicking ??? at special location. (Can only enter once every 23 hours)(so that it can be done once a day)

Cutscene of flying creature, I imagine something like phoenix but with 4 wings and much smaller.

Here are the mechanics:

Bird has 3 phases,

1st Phase:

Boss "lobs" fireballs (random locations) at places on the ground, these areas become zones that remain for the entire fight. They will prevent everyone from "tank and spank" it will also give mele an advantage because they can not be "lobbed" to within mele range. Standing in them causes fire damage over time. Players must avoid these.

2nd Phase: (66%)

In addition to the fire lobs, the boss begins fleeing from its position to a random location. Once it arrives, it "charges" for 5 seconds and emits a substantial aoe. This leaves a "ring" on the ground (hollow in the middle) that can not be stepped in. The AOE is meant to bring players into the circle. You must fight the boss inside this circle (with ever growing less space due to phase 1 skill) If someone is left outside this circle, they will need to run in to dps. (the "ring" will prevent a full archer burn pt)

3rd Phase 33%

The monster will do all previous skills.


This phase is not tanked.

Here he goes into a rage and begins to run around. (this will prevent a full mele burn party) As he runs around, he leaves a trail of fire behind him, (think a leaking gasoline tank lit on fire) so that mele can not "follow". Melee would need to anticipate his moves, spread out and hit him on the run by.

From the fire he "poops" out, comes smaller fire elementals. these are VERY easy monsters to kill, but there is a large quantity of them. (think mage aoe fest) The tank should gather these up and have the mages aoe them down.

Thats my quick thoughts on a boss fight.

I like this idea.

I was kinda worried at the initial post, because it mentioned timing skills. Due to the server/client relationship, "timing" is largely left up to luck and anticipating the fact that the mob is probably closer than it appears.

[Chiz]

I think you should re-read the OP,

I enjoy casual content as much as everyone else.

In fact I mentioned that I hope it does NOT retract from the casual content produced.

I simply want some content produced that IS a challenge because, at present, there is none.

Don't attempt to change the meaning of my words.

I haven't changed the meaning of your words in the slightest, its quite clear your post is calling for content meant for the chosen few rather than the unwashed masses. Whether you intend for it to detract from casual content or not is irrelevant as any efforts focused toward the hardcore players will inevitably take away from development time spent for casual gamers.

Like I said, SE needs to take care of the casual gamers first or it'll be you and your 7 buddies running "tough" content on an empty server dropping loot only NPCs are willing to buy. While it may be inconvenient for those of us who are hitting level cap on multiple classes and finding little to do, its still the best thing SE can do to ensure the long-term survival of this game.

[DoctorMog]

I haven't changed the meaning of your words in the slightest, its quite clear your post is calling for content meant for the chosen few rather than the unwashed masses. Whether you intend for it to detract from casual content or not is irrelevant as any efforts focused toward the hardcore players will inevitably take away from development time spent for casual gamers.

Like I said, SE needs to take care of the casual gamers first or it'll be you and your 7 buddies running "tough" content on an empty server dropping loot only NPCs are willing to buy. While it may be inconvenient for those of us who are hitting level cap on multiple classes and finding little to do, its still the best thing SE can do to ensure the long-term survival of this game.

A few things;

Difficult content is content anyone can do. Casual to hardcore. Don't assume casuals are stupid and cant complete difficult encounters.

With the number of likes my OP has, it is pretty clear that my "7 friends" is a much larger part of the population than you think looking for a challenge.

And finally, if they don't do SOMETHING that proposes a challenge, the playerbase looking for a challenge will eventually just move on to another game.

Losing the "hardcore" group is just as bad as losing the "casual" group. Without both, your game dies. Or you should have just made Hello Kitty online clones, because thats about what it becomes if there is 0 challenge.

[Reaujien]

Its more of an arbitrary % based on the usual quoted ratio of "Hardcore" to "Casual" players for any particular MMO population. Some games release the % of total population that clear content, or hit certain milestones and it usually hovers in the 5-10% range until they nerf the content for the masses.

Why should SE make significant design changes based on arbitrary information though - especially when the basis of this arbitrary information is 100% subjective? The whole notion of "casual" vs. "hardcore" has the same definitions as "hot" vs. "cold". To some native Minnesotan's "hot" may be 85 degrees, and "cold" may be -45 degrees; however, to some Texans, perhaps, "hot" may be 115 degrees and "cold" may be 60 degrees. The same can be applied to any MMO - "casual" could mean playing only 5 hours per week, or it could mean playing only 3 days per week and still participating in "tough" or "easy" content. Conversely, "hardcore" could mean playing 7 days per week without regards to which specific activities such player is participating in, or it could mean being a part of a guild/LS/group/etc that requires a player to be more readily available and adhering to more stricter rules than the US Army. "Casual" vs. "hardcore" - 100% subjective; and I see no correlation between the two when considering what "level" of difficulty content should be.

While you can certainly have more content that is "tough", if you've read the OP and some of his/her other posts you'd certainly understand he's lobbying for content aimed squarely at this top 10% or so of total population (with Mog it might be closer to 1%). My viewpoint is that you might never see the kind of content aimed at that 10% if you don't make that other 90% happy first.

Your premise contradicts what you are proposing SE should do. You suggest that SE needs to first satisfy the "other-than-hardcore" 90% of the player population by implementing content that is "other-and-less-than-difficult", but you assert (arbitrarily, I would assume) that the range of difficulty of any given content should be measured by a function of how much of such content has been completed from the "hardcore" (sic) 5%-10% of the entire active player base. So how, then, should SE measure "toughness" of any content if they do not consider this arbitrary 10% which you suggest? Further, how does SE cater to this arbitrary 90% if they, in fact, don't first consider this arbitrary 10% "hardcore" player base?

This game certainly lacks enough content to make anyone....hardcore or casual.....happy atm.

Sorry, heh, that's 100% subjective... again.

[HokSeven]

The problem with challenging is designing it. If it's like the dungeons now, like many said, it's a trial and error and then it becomes easy. Mainly because the mobs (the challenge) never adapt to the player. So it's just a matter of figuring out the set up and go do it. Some people create their own challenge by going with unusual setup, but thats not what we want (i assume).

The other problem is level cap. No matter how challenging your boss is, when the level cap is raised, it'll become a joke. Case in point? the lvl25 dungeon, Sky from FFXI and pretty much every other content after the cap raise to 99. Yes some challenges might require timing and instant change of tactics, but in a game with this much lag, I dont see it coming soon sorry.

Otherwise, I'm all up for it, sure.

[leomax]

In support of this, I've been growing tired lately of everything becoming easier and simplified while core things are being left out.

[Nel_Celestine]

I don't understand this Casual vs. Hardcore arguing back and forth. If the content is in the middle road Hardcore players tend to call it casual anyways. Oft times Hardcore and Elitists are one and the same, but not always. Casuals don't always end up being people that only play weekends or 2~3 hours a night. I consider myself casual but I'm online a good 7 hours a night and even more on my days off. Tough content is fine. It makes you feel rewarded for completing it. Yes I haven't completed Darkhold but my friends and I are getting better with practice. Since we don't run the dungeon 'optimized' 10+ hours a day our learning curve is a bit longer unlike "hardcore" players that are doing the run "10+ hours a day" and "only go optimized". Give tough content, but don't think that middle ground content is 'Casual suck ass easy mode' because that's a load of Chocobo droppings.

[Thanos]

Hardcore pretty much means ppl who put more time into it and wants to be rewarded.

Casual are the players that just want everything to be dumbed down cause they themselves dont have time to put in as much as other players so they scream for things to be super easy and just wants to get it done with no effort at all and wants to feel accomplishment.

Its retarded the players who dont have time cry about things being too hard when in reality its not.. they just need to put more time into it.

[options]

I haven't changed the meaning of your words in the slightest, its quite clear your post is calling for content meant for the chosen few rather than the unwashed masses. Whether you intend for it to detract from casual content or not is irrelevant as any efforts focused toward the hardcore players will inevitably take away from development time spent for casual gamers.

Like I said, SE needs to take care of the casual gamers first or it'll be you and your 7 buddies running "tough" content on an empty server dropping loot only NPCs are willing to buy. While it may be inconvenient for those of us who are hitting level cap on multiple classes and finding little to do, its still the best thing SE can do to ensure the long-term survival of this game.

I'm a casual player in my gamestyle, and i want what Doctormog wants. Why do these sort of strategies have to be for end game challenges? Throw them in lvl 20, 30, 40 dungs and this would make me squeal with delight. 45 minute fights tho, leave that for end game.

[ydp002]

I really think, there should be content for everyone. Right now its more casual than anything else, but also we know that the game it's on a beta stage. As soon as the Dev team feel that their changes are good enough to lead for better content they will introduce it. It's then when we should judge all the content and balancing for different type of players. Patience is a virtue which many people lack..^_^