Artificial Difficulty

[Khalithar]

• DPS checks aka performing perfect rotations
• RNG
• Twitch Mechanics
• Scripted mechanics aka memorization
• Team jump rope aka finding 8 people who know the fight
• Content gates or lockouts

DPS checks- They test whether someone actually knows their rotation or just button mashes. It's also done as a way to prevent people from overpowering content with extra healers to trivialize mechanics.

RNG- I wouldn't call RNG artificial difficulty, I will call it frustrating though. Cheap deaths where there was nothing you could do are lame. I've yet to see this in XIV though, a death where there was absolutely nothing you could have done to prevent it through better play or preparation. TERA actually did the best by largely taking RNG out of it's combat, every monster has a distinct behavior with patterns, tells, and things to watch out for. Every death in that game is legitimately your fault as pretty much every attack in that game can be avoided if you are good enough. It really empowers the player and puts control of whether you live or die in your hands.

Twitch mechanics- Feel more like a test of latency than anything else.

Memorization- That's really all raiding comes down to, scripted mechanics where you know what to expect. XIV actually moves away from this slightly as there are scripted mechanics but you can never know who it will target. Not always the case though, I am reminded of the Ravana phase where he always targets the other tank unless that tank is dead.

Getting people- That's always been part of the raiding challenge.

Content gates- Not difficult, but it can be frustrating. The worst part about content gating though is player attrition. When you have to beat one thing to get to the good stuff, what happens when a good player leaves or quits the game? Either you have to hope to find someone that's completed the first step or you have to go back and re-clear content you don't need to get a person in to the content where you do need them. Then players burn out and the cycle perpetuates itself.