Humble Request: Add Story (a.k.a. Easy) Mode

[Iscah]

I could see it potentially working with a strict "story mode lockout" that means that, even if you've completed everything up to Lv70 in this mode, you can't participate in group content until you have also cleared that dungeon (and everything before it) in normal play mode as well. Perhaps it also stops you from finding gear and rare items in the dungeons.

Yes, this is an MMO, but it's also an installment in a series of usually-single-player games and has a heavy focus on story. "Just watch the scenes at the inn afterwards" is not really an option, because there may be additional story scenes after you've left the dungeon but before you can go to an inn, including non-cutscene dialogue that can't be revisited, and then you get everything out of order.

The first good example I can think of, having just cleared it with an alt charater, is Toto-Rak. Being able to go in there for the first time as a solo player would be a huge help - you could take your time, read the water-stained notes (not that they were particularly useful in the end), familiarise yourself with the complex layout, explore the side passages and take your time watching the actually quite long and important scene before the final boss battle. I skipped it this time but when I was really there as a new player, I watched it because it was clearly important, and yet I couldn't pay proper attention to it because I was worrying the whole time about making people wait. Likewise for the long scene at the start of the Bowl of Embers.


While it's currently a non-issue with the forced cutscenes, this was even moreso the issue with first-time players being rushed through the final dungeons. You couldn't simply skip through the scenes in the Praetorium and "watch them after" because it took you straight into the finale, the 'conclusion' scenes afterwards, and then into an in-game scene where everyone had something to say about what happened - and you can't replay that later. It's a one-time experience only, unless you take an alt character all the way through ARR again. (Even for the things that can be revisited, the inn cutscene book has that annoying element of only playing one scene at a time and then dumping you back out into the inn room, even when multiple scenes originally played one after the other.)



With the system as it is, the ten minutes of "free time" after beating the boss is the best opportunity for appreciating the dungeons for now, although it's not perfect. Depending on the location you might be able to complete your dungeon map and obtain additional treasure that everyone else skipped over - though this may involve 'suicide runs' into rooms full of monsters that you won't be able to beat alone - just target the treasure chest and open it before the enemies inevitably kill you. (I find that you can usually beat one monster alone with HP recovery and/or potions, maybe two if you're a healer or an arcanist/summoner using your tank pet, but a group of three is overwhelming. Tank pet can also be used as a brief decoy.) If you die at this point, you respawn at the final boss arena - so you may just be able to keep exploring, but some dungeons have one-way paths that you can't get out of again.

[Tridus]

I don't see what the harm in this is. I really don't.

That's because people don't think about unintended consequences. People already complain about pressure to skip cutscenes. It will get far, far worse if you suddenly have the option to do all those things solo. People who want to do it in a group will be told to go do it solo so they don't waste people's time on cutscenes.

The mere presence of such an option will change the game and the community.

I would have liked that too as with a slow internet connection, dungeons are very difficult towards the end of the story line with all the AOE by the ton. And what is harming you personally? Nothing. You could still continue to play just like you always have. Options are just that, options. MMO Massive Multiplayer Online..nowhere does it say MMOMAG (Massive Multiplayer Online Must Always Group) Give people options. Don't like it? Don't do it that way. It was brought up as a request for options, not a demand to change the whole game.

The budget required to do this would take away from something else... so yes, there is a cost to people who don't want it. Not to mention this is not a single player game. Demands to make everything soloable effectively turn it into a single player game until suddenly at endgame it's not, which will then lead to "biat and switch" complaints about how much the game changes at the end and requests to make the endgame soloable too.

Sorry, but at some point if you don't like what the game is, it might be time to play something else instead of trying to change the genre it's in entirely.

Because how dare you hold up the time of 3 other players. But you also can't have those parts of the MSQ be solo. Oh no, you have to group and you *will* play the way others expect you to or you should understand they'll "call you out" on having your own preferences.

I've been rallying for years that MSQ should be solo. Dungeons can be optional group content. Then those who enjoy dungeons are in there with like-minded people who want to be there, and those who don't want to be there still get to enjoy the story.

And the people who play with someone all the time are supposed to do... what, exactly? There's already too much mandatory solo content in the game. More of it is the absolute last thing the game needs.

At some point, people who want a single player game should go play a single player game. There's quite a lot of excellent ones on the market. Changing multiplayer games into single player games is taking a multiplayer game away from people who want that.

[MsQi]

I've been rallying for years that MSQ should be solo. Dungeons can be optional group content. Then those who enjoy dungeons are in there with like-minded people who want to be there, and those who don't want to be there still get to enjoy the story.

This would only get people who like the story but hate dungeon out of the dungeons. Those left would be far from like-minded. There would be the people that enjoy the story and enjoy dungeons. Then their would be those who just want their reward for running it. The in and out, wham, bam, thank you Tam types, who complain about people watching cut scenes. This would just reduce the number of people doing dungeons, and skew it towards people who don't enjoy the story.

[DreadRabbit]

As much as I'm all for players to remember those of all skill levels...my personal opinion is a big no on this one. Mainly for the same reasons other have stated. This is an MMORPG that requires constant internet connection. If you can't handle playing with other people or don't have the equipment to play the game, then you shouldn't be playing this game (or any MMO).

That's not an insult towards anyone. That's just a fact. I played primarily single player console games for the bulk of my life precisely because of having slow internet and ancient PC rigs for that time span.

Also: stop asking for companies to cater towards anxiety. Trust me: I have severe anxiety issues inherited through my family. Constantly asking the world to help you avoid your anxiety-related issues will not help you. That's partly what Duty Finder is there for: you don't have to go asking people for a party, you can just be matched for it. If anything this game is a great place to practice socializing with people:

1. You're safe behind a screen
2. This community is far and away the most friendly of any MMO I've come across, so there's bound to be people who are sympathetic towards you.
3. You can blacklist the outright jerks.

And while I have a sneaking suspicion this is a troll post, I'll say this just in case: introverted does not mean what you think it means. Introverted means you get your energy/relax by being alone. Is your energy replenished or drained when you're out with other people? If drained -> you're probably an introvert. Being an introvert is not an excuse to be avoid socializing with other people.

[KisaiTenshi]

There are group stack markers in several msq dungeons. In the Great Gubul Library you need to have several people stand on the circles to prevent adds from spawning on the last boss. In Haukke Manor on the last boss you can't deactivate all the lanterns on your own before they cause considerable damage. You can't tank the second boss in Stone Vigil and interact with the canon at the same time because damage from the boss interrupts you. On the last boss of the Anti-Tower you get turned into a doll and you can't get turned back unless you're dpsed down by other players. Both Titan and Susano trap players in a rock that need to be dpsed down by other players.

All the above are in the msq.

For the msq to be able to be soloed in its entirety, boss mechanics would either have to be tweaked to not require groups or they would have to be nerfed so much for them to be meaningless.

And none of those would kill you in a "easy mode" because they don't in solo undersized party mode. The only things I've run into to date that prevent progress are fetters, and the fetters all time out except the one in Shiva Extreme. Given I've not tried every single thing because you can't presently solo everything as all jobs. My best guess is that Susano probably would be a blocker because the tank is tied up at a certain phase of the fight.

In fact here's proof that the Antitower Calca mechanics are irrelevant
https://youtu.be/6XKnTe1_8nI?t=1889

It times out after 25 seconds.

That player has a whole bunch of other content Solo'd as PLD.

[Kewitt]

Easy mode is pay for story skip and watch in the Inn.
If 60 to 70 is to hard wait till next expansion repeat.

[SannaR]

Xpholtol (sp?) and a few other dungeons have stack mechanics. Then there's keeper of the lake where you would have to be lucky to activate the shield in between hits from which ever dragon you are fighting. Sohm Al's last boss drops meteors and sure you probably can brush them off if you were over geared. Then as many have witnessed if you do command missions is things like the bubble from Brayflox's 2nd boss. Yes you can attack it and break yourself out of it but at what point if you truly could do it solo at the level it's intended at would some mechanics become just annoying to only have people ask for them to be nerfed? If this was ever implimented of course. Then there are the two most famous nerf bat beatings that happened because knowing your job and or interacting with 7 other people was too much strain on some and that's AK and Steps.

[Ayer2015]

The general game is already "easy mode"

[Iscah]

Easy mode is pay for story skip and watch in the Inn.
If 60 to 70 is to hard wait till next expansion repeat.

Watching cutscenes at the inn doesn't get you anywhere near the entire story. There's so much extra dialogue and plot that unfolds purely "in-game" - every time you speak to someone and get the dialogue pop-up box on your normal screen, that's not a cutscene - you can't go back to any of it. Only the few selected scenes that take you out of the shared game world and into a special animation are accessible from the inn. You'd get the highlights of the story, but miss a huge amount of context and interaction.

[Vhailor]

I think story mode is easy enough as-is. My SO has cleared every storyline-related dungeon and non-EX Primal battle, and this is about the only real video game she's ever played for any length of time. She had some stress early on, sure, and she still gets nervous about new fights, but within a run or two she's mastered everything and is venting to me when others mess up mechanics. Certain fights take longer - Hashmal in Rabanastre gave us both a bit of trouble for awhile - but I've never heard her complain about the game's difficulty, despite being in all respects a neophyte, introverted, anxiety-prone gamer.

The only change I'd like to see to story missions at the moment - and dungeons in general - is an absolute, iron-clad guarantee that there will either be a solo option, or there will not be any component of the dungeon that conflicts meaningfully with the speed-run meta that has existed ever since ARR was released. I'm still frustrated, for instance, that I can't enjoy the random little notes and such in Fractal Continuum (Hard) without setting up a pre-formed party. Obviously this applies even more to the atrocious handling of the two MSQ 8-person dungeons at the end of ARR.

The difficulty, though, is already easy enough, IMO.