Goodbye Garuda Hard?

[Seif]

I know that power creep is a thing that to a certain level just has to be dealt with in the landscape of MMO gaming.

However I feel kind of bad for newer players who are just now reaching content like Garuda Hard mode.

Out of all the trials I thin especially Garuda has 3 modes that play completely differently in their original intended form.

The fight used to have all this in it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGPVGdsNMO0

Anyone in Gar EX knows there's know way to faceroll that fight especially if you're a tank. (btw if you are facerolling then you're the reason tank grabs fail!)
Garuda Hard used to be a merry go-around of death and chaotic pulls to changing locations.

Now it's just a brainless smack fest from beginning to end of battle.
The players who weren't there will never get to experience how fun this fight used to be and I can't help but think the current form of that fight is broken.

If I were to recommend this fight to a non XIV playing friend I'm sure the current way this fight happens has nothing of interest to anyone.

If every single complex mechanic can just be powered through then isn't that broken game design?

Please take a look at what's happening in the current 3 minute speedruns and make some adjustments.

Full Disclosure: I'm saying this even as I'm in the light grind phase myself. Rewards shouldn't be more important than the actual content.

[Lyrinn]

Imposing a ilvl sync would fix it easily. The problem then is you would see a huge drop in numbers of people running that content. Striking that balance is difficult.

[Canadane]

Imposing a ilvl sync would fix it easily. The problem then is you would see a huge drop in numbers of people running that content. Striking that balance is difficult.

If anything, the numbers would return to a normal, expected amount.
People farm Garuda HM over and over because she's the quickest primal to down, and people farm their lights, achievements, or whatever on her. A huge drop when there's currently a huge surge is not exactly a bad thing.

[Gyson]

Imposing a ilvl sync would fix it easily. The problem then is you would see a huge drop in numbers of people running that content. Striking that balance is difficult.

A drop, but when people say that I feel like they're implying nobody would run it any longer. Meanwhile, more than enough people are running level-synced pre-50 dungeon content all the time. Garuda HM would be no different.

I think the developers made a mistake in choosing not to level sync level 50 content. It works well for the first ~45 levels and then suddenly you have new tanks who are vastly outgeared by their party members (and thus completely useless), as well as dungeons like Praetorium where the disparity between ilevel and content allows the party to abandon players watching cutscenes while the run is continued without them.

These issues would lessen considerably had the practice of level syncing been kept intact at 50.

[Gralna]

Don't see what the big issue is with implementing a lvl sync for post 50 content. I wouldn't call it so much making veteran players weaker in the duties/trials, but making the content relevant for people coming up to the content.

It's already bad enough for duties like CM/Prae when you get two fresh 50 tanks who can't hold aggro against 4 ilvl130 dps, or even worse two fresh lvl 50 healers that not only don't know mechanics of fight, but aren't geared enough to heal for speed run pulls or Burn strategies. What are you going to do then? Kick them for being new? Hardly sounds fair.

Maybe to compensate they could slightly increase rewards for content the duties/trials are run for? (more light/higher zodiac drop rates). Also make it so any cutscene in a duty runs automatically?

Don't really hear any complaints about lvl sync for pre-50 content, how would this be any different?

[Kosmos992k]

Imposing a ilvl sync would fix it easily. The problem then is you would see a huge drop in numbers of people running that content. Striking that balance is difficult.

Careful, there have been discussions about making ilvl sync stronger as you suggest. I agree that ilvl sync should be made stricter to preserve the original mechanics, and have posted that before. Unfortunately there is a group of very vocal end game players who would just die if they could not faceroll older content in a tiny fraction of the intended time, they tend to shout the idea down.

I also agree with the poster that pointed out that the situation with Garuda HM could contribute to many players ignoring mechanics in other content.

[sayafrost]

I remember the time, when I first came doing Garuda HM, and we wiped because of failed mechanics. I haven't done for some time Garuda HM and then I come back, and it's this thing that I got confused and didn't know what to do, because it was just: HIT GARUDA IGNORE EVERYTHING ELSE! - this is also leading to the thing that now people think they can ignore mechanics for everything and just win, because: HEY OVERGEARED! I can smack it alone!

[Ooshima]

What adjustment do you suggest? Forced ilvl sync for every old content?

And btw 3 mins is slow. When I did my Zeta we run it under 2mins.

[Aldora]

Garuda Hard Mode was designed for people wearing their original AF, so it's no surprise that people will obliterate Garuda if they are wearing their Zeta with Upgraded Poetics/Dreadwyrm gear. But, that doesn't mean that SE should adjust Garuda to make it more interesting for everyone (even the End Game geared players).

Garuda Hard Mode can still be a challenge if people would put on their AF/Darklight gear and iLvl 70 Weapon and take her on that way. But, let's be honest... Would you do that? And what about the other people who would just want to kill her in 3 minutes and queue up again to farm the Nexus or Zeta lights? People would make it more challenging for themselves, but in the meantime they are prolonging the battles of someone else.

If you really want to promote a battle like Garuda as it was intended, try creating a PF party with 8 people, put on your AF and try it like that. (^_~ )

The only thing i can imagine SE would do is putting a level sync on the Trails so that their gear won't go higher then... Um... Let's say... iLvl 90 for the Hard Mode Garuda Trail. But i don't think SE would want to change older content from patches like 2.0 to make them more challenging when we're getting this close to the expansion. (^_^ )

[Satia]

If you really want to promote a battle like Garuda as it was intended, try creating a PF party with 8 people, put on your AF and try it like that. (^_~ )

^ This... Absolutely this.