Please consider changing the role of normal mode Alexander in future patches

[Renault]

You're not.

Get your esoteric gear.

Sorry? Where do you get off, saying I wasn't expected/pigeon holed into grinding Alexander normal for gear? I honestly can't tell if you're trolling, or just THAT ignorant.

[Airget]

Technically you don't need the gear if you can overcome the obstacle without the additional IL otherwise suck it up buttercup. Honestly, it's your choice to do normal mode to squeeze in that extra IL and if you don't like it then maybe you don't need to push on savage as hard as you do? You are only tiring yourself out because you feel the need to obtain all the gear from the lockouts because you feel the need to complete savage as soon as possible, but honestly savage is still going to be there months from now and it's only going to be easier to gear which also means it's going to be easier to beat because you will have an easier time overcoming the IL for said content.

[Renault]

Technically you don't need the gear if you can overcome the obstacle without the additional IL otherwise suck it up buttercup.

Clearly you've never raided. Yes, you need the gear. If you do not have the gear, you are a burden to the rest of your team because you are not bringing your all to the fight. Also, you probably have not stepped foot in savage if you hold this opinion, but there are massive gear gates placed in these fights(called enrage timers) and without said gear the fight is impossible.

[KaijinRhada]

Snip.

I understand what you're saying, but any serious raid group is going to look for anything and everything that will give them an edge on new content. If that edge is farming more gear from various raids, raid difficulties and instances, then that's the way it goes. Mileage and the amount of gear will vary from one group to another as it will also depend on how long a group will spend on any given part of content, but it would be outright foolish to not milk any upper hand you have.

I can sympathize with the OP and others in that situation, but I also agree on the existence of a normal mode (if only it were harder). That said, I have come from a background of various levels of difficulty per tier, and a number of raids to do at various points (WoW). Having done that in the past, I can probably say my burnout threshold is pretty damn high considering how many times on various difficulties and roster sizes I ran during that time, but it really helped when there was more than one raid to do at a given time.

A question to keep in mind is whether normal mode would flourish without the gear incentive. If I may ask, would it be better if the layout and challenges in Savage mode were sufficiently (but then what is "sufficient?") different from Normal? Perhaps side stories, a different path, etc? Maybe if it dropped other things alongside of gear? Or, one of the things I feel as being a major suspect, what if there were two raids instead of one?

I understand you're not particularly happy with the current model, but what proposals would you have to keep the community happy where many will now expect a normal mode? I'm not being facetious or snarky mind you, I'm just bringing up some thoughts.

[Renault]

A question to keep in mind is whether normal mode would flourish without the gear incentive. If I may ask, would it be better if the layout and challenges in Savage mode were sufficiently (but then what is "sufficient?") different from Normal? Perhaps side stories, a different path, etc? Maybe if it dropped other things alongside of gear? Or, one of the things I feel as being a major suspect, what if there were two raids instead of one?

I understand you're not particularly happy with the current model, but what proposals would you have to keep the community happy where many will now expect a normal mode? I'm not being facetious or snarky mind you, I'm just bringing up some thoughts.

Good questions, which I have my opinionated answers to! First, I think normal mode should be renamed "story mode" in it's current form. I have two opinions on this, so here goes:

1: OPTIMALLY, I would see the normal mode Alexander floors added to a story mode roulette along with the research facility and singularity reactor. It's only slightly more difficult than those two, and IMO on par with the chrysalis. It rewards no gear, except maybe a ring or pet or something at the end as your "reward" for completing the story. It's released the same time as savage, but savage raiders do not have to farm it in order to get gear.

2: Alternatively: The raid rewards gear, but it is on par with gear levels already obtained (Imagine if the current tier of normal alexander rewarded i180 gear instead) Then the non-savage-raiders would still have their glamour, their story, and their content, while savage raiders would STILL not have to farm the content.

I want the main takeaway here to be (and not so much for you, for everyone reading, since you seem to understand where I'm coming from) that I don't want to deny the less-dedicated players anything at all, I just (and I feel like I've repeated myself a bunch saying this) do not want to be forced to farm it prior to savage.

[Akiza]

Good questions, which I have my opinionated answers to! First, I think normal mode should be renamed "story mode" in it's current form. I have two opinions on this, so here goes:

1: OPTIMALLY, I would see the normal mode Alexander floors added to a story mode roulette along with the research facility and singularity reactor. It's only slightly more difficult than those two, and IMO on par with the chrysalis. It rewards no gear, except maybe a ring or pet or something at the end as your "reward" for completing the story. It's released the same time as savage, but savage raiders do not have to farm it in order to get gear.

2: Alternatively: The raid rewards gear, but it is on par with gear levels already obtained (Imagine if the current tier of normal alexander rewarded i180 gear instead) Then the non-savage-raiders would still have their glamour, their story, and their content, while savage raiders would STILL not have to farm the content.

I want the main takeaway here to be (and not so much for you, for everyone reading, since you seem to understand where I'm coming from) that I don't want to deny the less-dedicated players anything at all, I just (and I feel like I've repeated myself a bunch saying this) do not want to be forced to farm it prior to savage.

Alexander Normal mode ilvl is 190 Alexander Savage ilvl is 210 so that make Alexander Normal filler gear for casuls until they get Esoric.

[Reinha]

You can get eso gear, upgraded law gear and a trial/eso weapon to get started in savage. In patch 3.1 there will be more gear options to get your item level high enough to do floors 3 and 4. Farm savage to upgrade eso gear. Alex normal isn't needed as it is to finish the raid before the next "turn" of Alexander comes out, so a change isn't needed.

For casuals, Alex normal offers a different path to gear up, so no one is shoehorned into doing only dungeons if they want to collect gear. Isn't that what the community has been asking for?

would you be okay with it coming our later than savage, or not rewarding high level gear, so that those that want a challenge are not forced to farm the normal mode first?

No I wouldn't. You aren't being forced. A question for you: what alternative method would you use to get geared up to savage if normal Alex gear wasn't available to you at this point?

[Renault]

Alex normal isn't needed as it is to finish the raid before the next "turn" of Alexander comes out, so a change isn't needed.

I started to respond, but when I re-read this part of your comment I realized you did not comprehend my OP. I'm not saying I still need to farm it, a quick check of my lodestone could tell you that. What I'm saying is, in future content patches, 3.2/3.4, I do not want to have to repeat the same process of grinding normal for 4 weeks (as was the case in 3.0)

[Reinha]

I started to respond, but when I re-read this part of your comment I realized you did not comprehend my OP. I'm not saying I still need to farm it, a quick check of my lodestone could tell you that. What I'm saying is, in future content patches, 3.2/3.4, I do not want to have to repeat the same process of grinding normal for 4 weeks (as was the case in 3.0)

I mean that the 4 weeks you spent farming it was not necessary for you to be able to beat the 4 savage floors before patch 3.2. You could have waited for esoteric gear.

[Renault]

I mean that the 4 weeks you spent farming it was not necessary for you to be able to beat the 4 savage floors before patch 3.2. You could have waited for esoteric gear.

I see this response a lot, and it's an honestly ignorant one, and I mean that in the least offensive way possible.

Quick insight: As a progression raider, you and your team take interest in maxing out the potential of your character/job. As a player, you are expected to bring all you can to the team to forward progression, so not having that 190 gear and "just waiting" is not really an option. It's kind of like saying "no need to run in that marathon, if you walk, you'll get there eventually." Not a bad mentality to have, don't get me wrong, it works for some people. But myself and hundreds of other like-minded raiders are sprinters.