Thread: Difficulty format for Normal and Savage will remain in 4.0

Originally Posted by KarstenS

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I don't get Yoshi-P's logic. So, Savage difficulty has to be lowered so people don't feel left out? It would be a better accomplishment to overcome the difficult trial, not wait till it is reduced to my level. I am just a western mind however. If you are making a MMO catered to a worldwide audience, then there definitely needs to be a compromise between western and eastern ideologies. From how he explains things, it seems like he favors an eastern mindset first, which I guess is natural because that is the team.

Originally Posted by zosia

He just does not get it. Why does SE keep Yoshida on as the lead producer?

At this point it seems it's all about the money. He saved FFXIV (and possibly SE as a whole) with the release of 2.0 and people praised him as the saviour of the franchise. Unfortunately, he found that catering to the lowest common denominator is the most profitable business model, so why should they bother with another method at this point?

Originally Posted by Remus

I'm pretty sure SE doesn't even know what to do with raiding anymore even though people have given suggestions.

Definitely seems like that's the case anymore; even looking at the stats in regards to how low of the percentage per server that have cleared Alex Savage won't sway his/their decisions.

Originally Posted by bass9020

At least I have many fond memories of Coil days that I will keep with me forever. Nothing in Alexander or 3.0 has held up the standards of early 2.0 and thats a shame.

I had checked out Ethys Asher's Binding Coils of Bahamut Explained video the other day, and oh man, the feels. Coil had a fantastic story that encouraged players to press on, if only to see the conclusion of the 1.0 storyline, as well as some of the most impressive-looking gear in the game. Alex is about goblins and cheese...hurray?

Originally Posted by Lexia

They just playing it safe and will most likely always play it safe and just repeat the same formula.

With raids and so much other content across the board. Would be nice to know whether or not FATEs will again be central to leveling, relics, seasonal events, etc., but I'm fairly certain we can predict the answer to that at this point.

Its the same old "But look at the numbers!" excuse. Principle of design, Yoshi-P. Story should be a reward, not something to be handed to you on a silver platter. If you are incapable of getting a group or lacking the skills to take on a raid tier, then wait till they put a echo buff and gimp the mechanics on normal mode. I am a broken record here, but the team needs to know when to make an MMO, and when to make a Final Fantasy. Nice to see also how enthusiastic his team is about making the raiding content. Almost like it shouldn't exist.

It is simple:
Even patch Tier 1: Normal(FCoB) > Savage(SCoB Savage)

Odd patch: Alternate ways to get gear to make checks on Normal easier.

Even patch Tier 2: Normal Tier 1(add in a echo buff and nerf mechanics, no ilvl sync) > Savage Tier 1(keep the ilvl sync on so it is always challenging)


And likely I am going to get those who say they deserve to get the story for the least amount of effort. If developers say that it is hard to motivate people to raid, then they need to find ways to do so that are not in expense of the audience the content is designed for, midcore and hardcore players.

Originally Posted by Velhart

Its the same old "But look at the numbers!" excuse. Principle of design, Yoshi-P. Story should be a reward, not something to be handed to you on a silver platter. If you are incapable of getting a group or lacking the skills to take on a raid tier, then wait till they put a echo buff and gimp the mechanics on normal mode. I am a broken record here, but the team needs to know when to make an MMO, and when to make a Final Fantasy. Nice to see also how enthusiastic his team is about making the raiding content. Almost like it shouldn't exist.

Bad Principle then. Are you saying the CoP story gate in XI was perfect and anyone un-able to find a good static should have been denied to experience the story? They later nerfed the content and group requirements after realizing all that hard work was what was preventing people from advancing.

I beat it in it's vanilla, but I knew many who just could not find the people, the time, or lacked the skill to progress the story line.

Raids are the least popular endgame not only because the difficulty is hard. It requires perfect harmony in skill and forming same schedule/skill competent groups for long play sessions on a regular basis.

The point here is watching the metrics. If 4-15% of the playerbase is getting new story completing raids and the rest aren't. Something is amiss. In a sub based game, isn't the point of a dev to try and get the most players possible having a reason to log in? If it's not, then the game should go full on hardcore and then they would have a couple of hundred thousand that never quit, but everyone else not in that category would fly the coop.

Normal should be pretty difficult, but not Savage difficult, more lenient towards pugs and mistakes. Savage should have the BiS and require statics, guild type content but just marginally better or you get a cry for content from both sides. The super elite saying the rest of the game is too easy and the other side who says the game is too hard.