Why I have no interest in Coils more specifically, T9.

[Ramzal]

I didn't find the second coil fun in the least. The first coil was fun as it added this new element to the game and even when I go back to it, I still enjoy each turn (Even 5). I'd cleared up to 5 a good time before the echo. Second was just tedious--not difficult but tedious. I've yet to enter final coil due to college and research being a priority and honestly I'm not very motivated because I don't have fun memories of second coil.

[ziddyt]

Square Enix clearly thinks it's a milestone since you get an achievement upon first clear.

You also get an achievement for getting a consolation prize on a randomized jumbo cactpot drawing
Quite the effort, right?

[Wournsfeik_Untawhasyn]

*snipping for length* *About old MMOs*

Thing is, most old MMO encounters, the really difficult stuff, gave you a lot of time to react to it. This game is faster paced than that. If for instance Absolute Virtue in all it's glory were in this game, it would be giving us better indications of how to beat it than it ever did in FFXI. It took word of god to figure it out because of how... different it was. Nobody thought 'Hey let me use Benediction after it does and it never can again!' or 'Turns out if I hit it with Stone I it's weaker to Stone II and then Stone III and then Stone IV, etc.' mechanics that were unique and nowhere else in the game prior to that.

This game at least gives the player data they can use and learn, rather than letting a full Alliance fight something for nearly 60+ hours and then wipe because the boss has infinite access to 2 hours and undid all of their work without giving them any indications to build up a strategy. In a game where you gathered Key Items to fight a fight a specific way to ensure victory, and if you screwed up, you'd need to spend weeks getting those Key Items back as you fought with bots and other guilds to claim the specific monsters that had a chance at dropping them.

But at the end of the day the 'random' nature of those fights boiled down to figuring out how to reduce the number of times a target had a chance to say, cast spells, or use any of their skills. Or having someone on standby to stun that one horrible skill nobody wanted to deal with the consequences of. Those games favored either massive zergfests or having preventative measures on hand, and were in fact more strategy oriented for that reason. They were also built in a way to force you to be part of the community to even get to see things like our T5, T9, and/or T13. Whether that's for better or worse is up to you.

[Welsper59]

In the past MMORPGs used to test reflexes and end-game content, but as accessibility becomes a top priority, these kind of encounters have taken a back seat with strictly scripted encounters being the norm. That's just what will attract more people: encounters with a guarantee of success as long as you learn the fight beforehand.

The difficulty of fights in FFXIV:ARR are based on execution only, that's just the direction the game has taken. Scripted fights also allow more freedom in designing gimmicks that make it possible for fights to be more than just dodging things and doing your rotation. It provides a uniform experience across all players and all instances of the fight.

It's hard to say which is better if it means anything at all. The two types of fights require different types of abilities. And execution abilities happen to be the type more people are comfortable with. If you have ever enjoyed a movie, there's no reason you can't enjoy scripted fights. It just requires taking a fresh look at things and embracing it.

Honestly, it's the scripted fights that tend to be the better of the two. Dynamic isn't always good, afterall. Would it be difficult if T9 randomized everything about it? Meteor drops during Golems, Golems again immediately after first set spawns, 3rd drop version Heavensfall during divebombs, etc. Most definitely it'd be difficult, if not impossible. WoD is a very good example of scripted fights at the right pace, when it comes to accessible content, in particular Cerberus and Cloud of Darkness... heck, even the first boss. Keep players busy with a good amount of mechanics that require attention away from simply targeting the boss as you move to DPS it.

The older MMORPGs requirement of reflexes is not much different than what it is now. In most cases, those reflexes simply centered around being sure to stun/silence/etc some raid killer mechanic that could happen at any moment. They were designed, as such, that you would often have players dedicated to this mechanic and NOT to dps/heal/tank something. It really didn't do much besides that that would be unique, in and of itself. If anything, it just re-solidified the idea of the Support role, which is something I really do miss from old MMORPGs. Not a dedicated DPS, not a dedicated healer, most likely not even remotely a tank, but rather someone that made everyone else better at what they do (your output was reflected through others, and thus was greatly appreciated by everyone around). Support roles helped ease learning mechanics because of the fact it was a role dedicated to paying attention. But that's another topic entirely.

[siverstorm]

You also get an achievement for getting a consolation prize on a randomized jumbo cactpot drawing
Quite the effort, right?

Some games also give you an achievement for putting the CD in the tray...and The Stanley Parable exists...lmao

[Zohar_Lahar]

I didn't find the second coil fun in the least. The first coil was fun as it added this new element to the game and even when I go back to it, I still enjoy each turn (Even 5). I'd cleared up to 5 a good time before the echo. Second was just tedious--not difficult but tedious. I've yet to enter final coil due to college and research being a priority and honestly I'm not very motivated because I don't have fun memories of second coil.

You described it far better than I have.

[Wournsfeik_Untawhasyn]

Square Enix clearly thinks it's a milestone since you get an achievement upon first clear.

SE also thinks it's a Milestone to hit level 10. Are you saying all accomplishments must be measured in scale and not actually build up in difficulty proving that you're building upon a learning curve? I mean they don't give you an achievement every time you clear the towers, just that first time. On the other hand, they give you additional achievements for your 5th and 10th clears of T5 and T9 and even T13. They consider those hard enough that it's not only impressive that you finish it once, but that you manage it multiple times as well.

[SpookyGhost]

I feel that no matter how hard a boss is, you should be able to defeat it on your first blind run through skill alone. T9 doesnt allow that.

Have you played an FF before this one?

[Eight]

T9 is an extremely hard fight but I think it's ok. I've been stuck on it now for well over 4 months of nightly runs and it can be very frustrating. I find sometimes the DF is getting better but due to not having time for a static I don't expect to clear it before the expansion although I'm pretty consistent up to dive bombs now.

I'd say T9 is the first real major roadblock/challenge for many people and I'd also say that T9 will be where most people give up on coil it's certainly not for everyone.The phases change so fast now and give very little time to react I find when most people hit a new phase they are instantly dead because there is so much going on in this fight.

[zcrash970]

Square Enix clearly thinks it's a milestone since you get an achievement upon first clear.

Really....
There's like an achievement for everything even mapping T3. I think that easily nullify this statement.