What’s so casual about Frontline?

[Hiruke]

For reference:

http://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/wiki/patch_23qa

Q1: Will it be easy to participate in Frontline even if you've never played PvP content before?
A1: Frontline is content that a lot of people enjoy at once and it was made with the idea of being extremely easy to get into PvP content. You’ll be able to enjoy this easily.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/12/f...rs-and-post-f/

Frontline is developed with the intent of being a fair and more casual PvP[..]

Especially with the addition of Slaughter, I just don’t see how Frontline is intended to be easy PvP content to get into, enjoy, etc. for casuals players to “just hop in and HAVE FUN”.

SLAUGHTER

For Slaughter, there is a huge need for good communication. If your team attacks at random, it is unlikely they will accomplish much, as their targets get healed, run out of range, etc. It is usually only when multiple members of your team focus on a single target in order to defeat them quickly that anyone is KO’d by your team.

For example, if you are a BLM, and you just attack at random, your target is likely to run away out of range of your spells, or start attacking you in order to interrupt you constantly. Now, if you and 5 other members of your team all attack a specific target all together and quickly, it is very possible you will defeat the target before their team can intervene.

A large number of casual players matched together are unlikely to reach a high level of coordination, and yet this is what is needed to succeed. A lack of good coordination will lead to consecutive frustrating losses where you don’t feel like you are making an impact, you just feel like you are being defeated repeatedly and that nothing you do really matters.

It becomes even more frustrating when two GCs gang up on the third, which happens frequently. It’s honestly just not that much fun if you’re not really hardcore into PvP, and maybe not even then.

SECURE

Because the objective is more focused and requires spreading out across the map, rather than having 72 folks in a grand melee in the center, Secure is a little more casual-friendly. The underlying problems with PvP are still evident here, but aren’t under the spotlight as harshly as they are in Slaughter. Good coordination is definitely an asset here, but it’s much more manageable to deal with what typically end up being 8v8 skirmishes, where you can more or less focus on the basic “keep their healers occupied while you defeat their healers or their dps, whichever turns out to be the easiest to KO” instead of trying to convince most of 23 of your team members to rapidly focus down 1 target in particular out of the 48 available (or layers Cometeors, or make sure one person is binding/sleeping everyone just before the Cometeors come down, which is a hugely effective tactic in Slaughter but is certainly not anything that will happen with just casual players).

I would argue that Secure is at least more casual-friendly, but it’s certainly never going to be much fun for your average healer or caster, since you are going to have an extremely difficult time casting any spells, and you will be target #1 for pretty much everyone. This would be better discussed separately, however.

Too bad that now that Slaughter is out, it’s increasingly difficult to get into Secure matches, so even though Secure is certainly more geared for casual players and is relatively easy to get into and maybe even succeed at, most casuals experience with Secure will either be dropping out of the ridiculously long queue or getting matched into Slaughter instead because they picked the Roulette.

[zeopower6]

It's a much different experience to be in a group with 8/24 other people over Wolves' Den which is a whole different beast. I think when they mention this, it's in comparison to the "OTHER" PvP in the game, which is Wolves' Den and is much harder on newer players who could get obliterated in seconds (literally) and never pick it up again.

[Buff_Archer]

Q1: Will it be easy to participate in Frontline even if you've never played PvP content before?
A1: Frontline is content that a lot of people enjoy at once and it was made with the idea of being extremely easy to get into PvP content. You’ll be able to enjoy this easily.

Oh, the irony.... they should have clarified that to say 'easy to get into, following an unnecessarily long waste of your time in queue.'

[zeopower6]

Queues were pretty fast when it was first introduced though... and near back to back matches are happening today! 72 man too!

[CeveArthu]

I would say that secure was less casual than slaughter, but more casual then wolves den

The onus is far less on individual player skill in frontlines than den, plus it has zero balancing mechanics like den has

[Yumi_umi]

Wolves den chewed new players up as if u were throwing pieces of juicy meat ( hence fresh meat titles ) to hungry battle hardened wolves den vets.
It took massive amount of individual skill as the opponents can smell the weak links -> thus zerging them down if
-kill healer 1st tactic wont work
Or
-kill range/ squishy dps 1st while CCing healer

FL is so casual compared to WD as it allows more mistakes and difuses responsibility rather than all on the healer.
Cuz in WD ur team is only as good as ur healer ( post smn cross class raise nerf ).

[Butcherboy]

Wolves den chewed new players up as if u were throwing pieces of juicy meat ( hence fresh meat titles ) to hungry battle hardened wolves den vets.
It took massive amount of individual skill as the opponents can smell the weak links -> thus zerging them down if
-kill healer 1st tactic wont work
Or
-kill range/ squishy dps 1st while CCing healer

FL is so casual compared to WD as it allows more mistakes and difuses responsibility rather than all on the healer.
Cuz in WD ur team is only as good as ur healer ( post smn cross class raise nerf ).

pretty much this. specially if u get into unsycnh pvp WD. so pretty much WD for hardcore pvp vets and frontline for casuals. man i miss the days of Qs in seconds for frontline.

[Zensho]

One simply does not walk into Front Lines.

[Evangela]

similar to CT ST WoD, they think that making it a 3 alliances content, it will be hard to notice people who can't do their job right.

I don't agree with them, in Frontlines, having too many casual players are annoying as hell. I don't mind newbie PvPers who actually want to learn about PvP but those Light farmers are way worse. they have no passion, they don't want to learn anything, and they don't care about win or lose.