Objectively, The Royal Managerie Will Be Nerfed

[Auteur]

I'm not saying subjectively right or wrong that The Royal Managerie (end of SB story mode trial) should be nerfed, but objectively it screams nerf. SE can't have an instance at that difficulty as a part of story mode because it's going to gate people from content (same logic behind Steps of Faith). They will lose subs otherwise and it's bad for business.

The same defensive rationales will be made, i.e. "all you need is a premade," but once it's at that point it's objectively too much for story mode. SE knows, or should know, they absolutely cannot afford to have story mode be at a high enough difficulty that it gates people from content (it's required to unlock the Verity vendor)... they should, and already are largely, saving it for the optional stuff, i.e. EX primals and savage.

[Powercow]

Once more people become better geared as time goes on, the fight will become more trivial. Even if only a handful of people know the fight well enough to not die repeatedly, people can be carried.

[Auteur]

Once more people become better geared as time goes on, the fight will become more trivial. Even if only a handful of people know the fight well enough to not die repeatedly, people can be carried.

The problem is that this is a Story Mode instance that is required to unlock the Verity vendor and 310 gear. So there is an innate gear cap and it acts as a gate. Again, subjectively it may not be right to nerf it but objectively SE will likely nerf it because the gate risk is too high. SE will literally be throwing away subs and money otherwise.

[Powercow]

The problem is that this is a Story Mode instance that is required to unlock the Verity vendor and 310 gear. So there is an innate gear cap and it acts as a gate.

That's the point of the carry. That one new player can spend the entire fight dead and still get through it easily if everyone else does the work. Their personal gear is entirely irrelevant.

The real trick is to make the rewards for helping a first timer through Menagerie worth a damn. Right now, even with the first time bonus, it's more efficient to do a single PvP match than to one-shot that fight with a decent group.

[aesteval]

That's the point of the carry. That one new player can spend the entire fight dead and still get through it easily if everyone else does the work. Their personal gear is entirely irrelevant.

The real trick is to make the rewards for helping a first timer through Menagerie worth a damn. Right now, even with the first time bonus, it's more efficient to do a single PvP match than to one-shot that fight with a decent group.

MSQ shouldn't require a carry to make it through (honestly, this fight doesn't require a carry for people to make it through, but it can only take so many mistakes before everything crashes and burns - the healer check involved might be a bit much at the moment.) Being carried doesn't help players become better.

Otherwise, I agree that there's a lack of incentive to encourage players to stick around and teach and aid in the clear.

[Powercow]

I want to be able to pug in with a group of bonus for the trial and be able to learn and clear the fight within the hour allocated.

Well I mean, you can. Most people did. The fight's entirely possible to do in 290 left / leveling right side gear. I know this because for the first week that was pretty much the way you did it.

Being carried doesn't help players become better.

Having no challenges along the way doesn't either. Sometimes bad players need a bit of encouragement to get better.

Otherwise, I agree that there's a lack of incentive to encourage players to stick around and teach and aid in the clear.

This has been a recurring problem; the first time bonus for trials is really small and piddly. If it were, say, 100 Verity and at a point when most of us are grinding out tomes like mad for our relic weapon, you betcha people would jump at the opportunity to join in.

[MomoOG]

The problem is that this is a Story Mode instance that is required to unlock the Verity vendor and 310 gear. So there is an innate gear cap and it acts as a gate. Again, subjectively it may not be right to nerf it but objectively SE will likely nerf it because the gate risk is too high. SE will literally be throwing away subs and money otherwise.

So why not just remove the need for beating this encounter to unlock Verity vendor? Let Verity vendor just be unlocked once you hit 70.

[Reinha]

So why not just remove the need for beating this encounter to unlock Verity vendor? Let Verity vendor just be unlocked once you hit 70.

This is a reasonable suggestion. The fight is doable in job gear and leveling accessories but if someone joins the game late, boosts a job to 60 and doesn't already know the mechanics from earlier in the game, then they can get a little help by farming tomestone gear first.

[Tsukino]

So why not just remove the need for beating this encounter to unlock Verity vendor? Let Verity vendor just be unlocked once you hit 70.

They really need to do this, as well as several other things like this.

I personally love the story, I head straight for it and often don't do much else patch-to-patch but come in for the story. But not everyone does, and making everyone go through it to access anything regardless of relationship to it at all should stop. Sure, don't let people go into Ala Mihgo until they get there in the story, because its existence as a dungeon is tied up in the story, but what's the story reason for not letting fresh level 70 players into Kugane Castle or The Temple of the Fist? What was it for Neverreap? They're weak at best and nonexistent at worst, and they should let people who want to go in do so without completing the unrelated main story.

Not only does it just make more sense than what we have now, it's in line with how Yoshida has said MMOs should be designed (theme parks, where everyone goes toward the attractions they're interested in), and it would allow us to have more difficult main story fights like this without people getting so frustrated that they're being stopped from continuing the game. They'd be allowed to take a break, go get some better gear, and come back when other people have done the same too.

[Jim_Berry]

So why not just remove the need for beating this encounter to unlock Verity vendor? Let Verity vendor just be unlocked once you hit 70.

Because you can/should farm the other dungeons for a bit to at the get the iLv300 gear to make it easier outside of simply understanding the mechanics.