[ffxiv-future] A request for "Player-Selectable Difficulty Scaling"

[Alhanelem]

Video games don't have to cater to every type of gamer. That's why there's such a huge selection of them. If one doesn't satisfy you, then you can simply go and find another one. Why should the developers attempt to cater to every demographic?

Quoted for truth. Why do you think we have so many thousands of video games out there? Why not try to find the one that's right for you instead of forcing yourself to play one that isn't and asking that they change it to fit you?

[Warm]

this is stupid
please this game is already too easy
dont make things anymore easier

[indira]

the skill scaling should only go up

[SilvertearRen]

Well, to my surprise that this thread got necro'd, and by whom?

Trolls.

Thanks, guys. You're real jerks.

Also, On Topic:

In theory, because dev resources are limited and this would take away from other stuff that might be more important.

In practise, because haters gonna hate. (Also a legitimate in my view desire to not see people walking around with Ifrit weapons unless they've done the difficult fight, which would be solved by multiple loot pools based on chosen difficulty.)

My answer? Use the code from the GuildLeves' difficulty scaling system and tweak it to work for dungeons. Simple as that.

And as Teakwood earlier said: haters gonna hate, just 'cause they wanna hate. Hatin' because you can't accept an added level of flexibility to the game, makes you an extremely narrow-minded troglodyte. I have had my fill of narrow-mindedness, I'm about ready to go take a royal sh*t in a box and mail it to the biggest offender of them all. (And you won't even be able to guess who that is...)

P.S. To address the people providing a counterargument about time limitations on playtime, you obviously did not account for the amount of time it takes to prepare for a dungeon, instance, or raid. Therefore, your position is invalidated. Social circumstances can vary from day to day, some days you'll get lucky and land a party within a half hour, giving you time to do one raid, other days you end up spending an hour or more trying to assemble a party...

P.P.S. People who cannot read, and assume that I'm asking for the game to be altered on a world-shaking level - GET A GRIP. All I'm asking for is a system that lets you adjust the difficulty level, with variable reward pools. You're not losing the original difficulty level at all, only getting different difficulty levels added to the game. Holy f*ck, people.

English Comprehension 101, do you has it?

[Buddhsie]

This doesn't have to be solved by allowing the player to select a difficulty for a fight. The way it stands now, there are very few endgame events, one of them being quite challenging. The way that Yoshi-P envisioned endgame content throughout this string of updates is the separation of hardcore from casual gamers. I think he said something along the lines of the hardcore players will beat it first, derive a strategy and over the course of a couple months the casual gamers will catch up and beat it too. I can already see this happening on Lindblum, more and more people are running around with Ifrit weapons, and something that used to appear hard, we now beat every fight like its nothing. That is the way that Yoshi-P envisioned the game's content, and I'd say it's doing its job.

Once more content is added, say similar to the amount of content in FFXI, I'm sure that the casual players would gravitate towards the easier events to begin with, and be able to work their way up. There is no need to have a tiered difficulty system in place when there is a large range of events to participate in. If you and your linkshell can't complete something you just have to wait until either you're better or you have the time to spend practicing it. That's just the way it is in ALL games, it's why they're challenging and why they're fun. Beating something you set on easy mode would be boring as hell, I think it's a terrible idea.

Edit: Oh and anyone who disagrees with you is not a troll, fyi.

[SilvertearRen]

Here's an alternative: Instead of having these instances have scaling difficulty the minute they're implemented in a patch, why not add it a few months down the road in a later patch after the dungeon/encounter/raid's debut? That way, hardcore players can run around swinging their e-peens for those few months.

Yet another alternative: Implement an in-game method to reduce dungeons/raids difficulties by obtaining a key item that can be used only once (and you can have only one at a time). For example, let's pretend we have a raid dungeon full of Tonberries. You want to have an easier time killing the tonberries and the bosses, so you go on a long quest arc with plenty of gradually-increasing difficulties, and finally obtain the "Sacred Tonberry Lantern"! You then use that Lantern in the dungeon to reduce the difficulty of the fights in that dungeon. There are mechanics like this in FFXI, such as the Generals you recruit for the Campaign battles.

[Belial]

Here's an alternative: Instead of having these instances have scaling difficulty the minute they're implemented in a patch, why not add it a few months down the road in a later patch after the dungeon/encounter/raid's debut? That way, hardcore players can run around swinging their e-peens for those few months.

So... how it works now, minus the scaling system you're suggesting?

Edit:
Sorry, but your earlier posted asked for a smartass reply. Even if through an unfortunate turn the thread was brought back by a troll, people still posted thoughtful, valid responses without being offensive. All of which you pass off as trolls.

[Colino]

weird, I was thinking the exact same thing about people with video game stress induced anxiety nervous disorders.....

Yet you're going to be flamed to death for that comment now because you (and I) think that people with such disorders should either avoid endgame content in mmos (it's called ENDGAME for a reason) or just play something less stress inducing like Animal Crossing or Nintendogs.