Alexander Normal difficulty...

[Tyrn]

but since it's on a loot lockout instead of the usual one then that guess could actually hold some weight.

The CT style loot lockout has me really worried. Coil was the only story in 2.x that I cared about completing because the fights required effort which got me engaged, on the other hand I couldn't bring myself to give a shit about the main story or the Crystal Tower series. When they've said we're going to have to farm the easy mode to have the gear to even have a chance at the difficult fights I don't see myself getting excited about fighting a "new" boss when I've already killed it countless times.

[HaiHai]

They have clearly stated in interviews that, in a nutshell:

Alexander (Hard) = Coil Savage

Alexander (normal) = Coil with echo buff

So at this point we all already know what to expect and what the difficulty levels will feel like. If you have run any of the coils with the echo buff on, then you know what normal Alexander will be like. If you have run savage Coil 2, then you know what Hard Alexander will be like, and if you have run any of the coils without echo, than you can expect Hard Alex to be slightly harder than that.

[Zfz]

When they've said we're going to have to farm the easy mode to have the gear to even have a chance at the difficult fights I don't see myself getting excited about fighting a "new" boss when I've already killed it countless times.

I don't think it will just be the same encounter with more health, higher damage etc. I think it'd be something like hard versus extreme primals. Well, I hope.

[Whocareswhatmynameis]

Alex normal will be "story mode", you get one piece of gear each week. It will probably be puggable in duty finder.

Alex hard will be "progression mode". you will only be able to complete each encounter once a week and need a premade group.

[KarstenS]

they were pretty clear that Alexander Hard mode is going to be as hard as FCoB Savage

At the announcement of the expansion he said, Alexander hard will be like "current endgame raid, but a little bit harder".

Current andgame raid was FCoB at the time of the announcement.

He never said, it will be like SCoB savage.

[Daranion]

Well Karsten, theres been new info coming out so what was said at the announcement doesn't apply anymore. Also, did I imagine it or did I read somewhere that Alex Normal had the idea of once a week loot removed?

[Tannlore]

At the announcement of the expansion he said, Alexander hard will be like "current endgame raid, but a little bit harder".

Current andgame raid was FCoB at the time of the announcement.

He never said, it will be like SCoB savage.

Today he expanded on this and yes, hard more is the equivalent of SCoB savage:

http://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/commen...d_other_stuff/

[Chibilidawg]

Am I to understand that they're eradicating the midcore from raids now too?

This game severely lacks midcore content, it's painfully annoying.

So long as we get EX-Difficulty Dungeons & Savage 24-Man's, I'll be fine.

If not, gosh this game probably has no place for me any more then.

4/24-Man's too easy, Non-Echo Coils just right, & Savage Coils too much.

[Whocareswhatmynameis]

Am I to understand that they're eradicating the midcore from raids now too?

This game severely lacks midcore content, it's painfully annoying.

So long as we get EX-Difficulty Dungeons & Savage 24-Man's, I'll be fine.

If not, gosh this game probably has no place for me any more then.

4/24-Man's too easy, Non-Echo Coils just right, & Savage Coils too much.

The primal HM should be in between, other than that you may have to be patient till alex hardmode gets echo/outgeared to meet your specific favorite level of difficulty. The only reason there is 2 modes is to squash the "i want the cutscenes" crowd. Now the whole server will see all the cutscenes 2 days after alex launches. And no1 will care about them 2 weeks after that.

[Zumi]

The CT style loot lockout has me really worried. Coil was the only story in 2.x that I cared about completing because the fights required effort which got me engaged, on the other hand I couldn't bring myself to give a shit about the main story or the Crystal Tower series. When they've said we're going to have to farm the easy mode to have the gear to even have a chance at the difficult fights I don't see myself getting excited about fighting a "new" boss when I've already killed it countless times.

The boss will be the same model but will use different tactics and abilities.