How Do You Feel When Old Content Is Made Easier?

[Hestzhyen]

I get a bit nostalgic sometimes, especially when I was struggling to clear Ifirt/Garuda/Titan EX before echo was added and now ilvl + echo lets you brute-force most things. But I don't really mind since the min ilvl option is there for those that want the "real deal" and, let's face it, people don't have TIME to do all the old EX/coil fights with all the stuff that's been added since. Also, if I get Mentor Roulette'd into an EX primal you better believe I'm praising the stars for Echo and ilvl inflation helping to carry us through.

My biggest problem comes in the form of the old raids- Alex NM and the ARR 24 mans in particular. The ilvl sync is so high in all of them that there's ZERO challenge. None! You can just attack everything like they're huge fancy target dummies. If the vast majority of people could clear that content when it first came out, why can't that level of difficulty be preserved? Or at least cap the ilvl within a certain range, even if it's not the max available for the expansion? I always get a little bummed when I roulette into those and remember how much fun I had when mechanics even kind of mattered. In essence I wish there was a better middle ground for that kind of old content between "hurr durr" and "first week of release".

The memories I have of struggling through Coil and getting hard-won loot are mine forever. I still have original Allagan gear I earned. I will be keeping the High Allagan BLM staff, my first drop from T9, forever and not just because it's awesome looking. If someone wants to do them now unsynced that doesn't invalidate my efforts to clear four years ago- though I will of course feel good knowing I got the clears the hard way.

[MicahZerrshia]

Old content is not made easier, its just not updated to current level and ilvl. That being said, the only reason to do it is because you want something for glamour or something like a mount or just wanna exp the story. It has no reward really once it's patch has passed, and while I loved XI's ability to keep things relevant it was only able to do so because the drops and rewards from that content still meant something 5 years later, nothing really means anything in this game so in the big picture it makes no impact on the game

[Canadane]

Old content is not made easier, its just not updated to current level and ilvl.

No there are places where it's absolutely made easier. Outgoing damage being reduced, HP of bosses being lowered, etc.
Almost always for very outdated things. LotA comes to mind, for example.

It kinda sucks because if you're looking for the original challenge, it's simply not there anymore.

[Hamada]

It's clear you have never stepped foot in savage if you think it's easy to carry people through it. This must be why people still struggle clearing Alexander savage fights, even unsynced. It's too easy.

that is not what my post is about at all, what does other people struggling to do Alexander now have to do with me? That little tibit does not show if I never done savage or not, I did some savage before, but nothing on the lines of when midas was current. It is still memorizing a SCRIPT! it does the same thing over and over again. the only difference between savage and other content is there is higher pressure to keep uptime while doing mechanics and more emphasis on being able to move before you see the moves, because the game is too slow to do it by pure reaction. Rescue and other move abilities are useless for the same reason,unless you know the script and you are using them to squeeze out higher uptime. Does not change the fact you need to know the script and predict the moves though

[MicahZerrshia]

No there are places where it's absolutely made easier. Outgoing damage being reduced, HP of bosses being lowered, etc.
Almost always for very outdated things. LotA comes to mind, for example.

It kinda sucks because if you're looking for the original challenge, it's simply not there anymore.

I always thought if you wore the ilvl gear for that content and lvl synced, like doing Bahamut at 50 in i120, it was the same. Can't say I have gone back and tried, there really isn't much need.

Learn something new everyday.

Some content gets harder over time naturally, because all the best players finish it and then never go back.

It annoyed me in FFXI how everyone simultaneously praised CoP and also completely swore off ever going back and doing any of the fights again.

I did them on 3 chars and our ls always helped people through content so we did them often multiple times. You just needed to make friends in vana'diel instead of relying on pugs

[KisaiTenshi]

I always thought if you wore the ilvl gear for that content and lvl synced, like doing Bahamut at 50 in i120, it was the same. Can't say I have gone back and tried, there really isn't much need.

Learn something new everyday.

The only place it makes any difference is if you use the Relic/Anima weapons, as you can tune those weapons a specific way. The tomes gear when level synced are basically the same save for the secondary stat arrangement.

The game internally scales things two ways. There is a straight up chart of base stats that all characters have at a set level. Then there is a second one for gear. When you are level synced that first chart changes your character stats, and the level sync also changes the primary and secondary stats based on the gear chart. So there is an effective cap on secondary stats when levelsynced, but it's not ilevelsync. This is why you can be levelsynced to 60, and wear a mixture of 50/60/70 gear The level 70 gear will be synced as if the gear was level 60 independently of what your characters stats are and from other gear being worn.

So if you penta-melded gear, those melds are useless if the gear is level synced. ilevel sync scales the stats of the gear to a specific cap inclusive of the melds. So it's technically possible to meld an additional stat that the gear doesn't have and keep it even when ilevel synced. This is still trivial however, if you're playing anything with an ilevel sync, it's you don't need any melds at all.

When they removed the bonus stats and race stats, those stats used to be put on top. But they are no longer there. Hence every player gets exactly the same experience when synced. The result however is that this results in a net buff for all jobs since players could no longer put points in "the wrong stat" but it finally removed the problem caused by ACN/SCH/SMN having INT/MND bonus stats applied to only favor one job. Actions without potency like Lucid Dreaming/Refresh (formerly Shroud of Saints) are based off the level of the character only, and are not affected by gear and were never affected by bonus stats.

Realistically, the game needs to have the ilevel sync set to cap at the end game content for that expansion at the minimum. Ideally they would be synced to the ilevel of gear dropped in that duty +10, so that you can get past that content using gear dropped in that content.

[Ameela]

It is kinda sad that SE completely overhauling the combat system gave way to some big power creep at level 60 and below, even if you do minimum iL runs it's now effectively impossible to get the original experience as a result.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

It is kinda sad that SE completely overhauling the combat system gave way to some big power creep at level 60 and below, even if you do minimum iL runs it's now effectively impossible to get the original experience as a result.

It has nothing to do with power creep. They outright nerfed all dungeons level 60 and below. That's why they feel so incredibly easy. They are.

[Ameela]

It has nothing to do with power creep. They outright nerfed all dungeons level 60 and below. That's why they feel so incredibly easy. They are.

While that's true (although correct me if I'm wrong but I think that was only for the ARR and HW leveling dungeons?) there's also things like the Accuracy and Parry stats, which had no impact on damage previously turning into Direct Hit and Tenacity which DO impact your damage output.
Plus now tanks have strength on their accessories (assuming you're level 61+ and syncing down) and Samurai and Red Mage just outclass every other job at 50 and 60 due to only being designed with level 70 in mind.

[HyoMinPark]

While that's true (although correct me if I'm wrong but I think that was only for the ARR and HW leveling dungeons?) there's also things like the Accuracy and Parry stats, which had no impact on damage previously turning into Direct Hit and Tenacity which DO impact your damage output.

Fairly certain the level 50 and 60 dungeons were included in the blanket nerfs. Some level 50 dungeons were nerfed when they were current (Amdapor Keep, Pharos Sirius). And while Dorect Hit and Tenacity do affect damage, the latter's contribution is fairly insignificant at low levels, if I recall correctly. D.Hit would be more influential, but less so the lower thr Value of the substat is.

Plus now tanks have strength on their accessories (assuming you're level 61+ and syncing down) and Samurai and Red Mage just outclass every other job at 50 and 60 due to only being designed with level 70 in mind.

To be fair, in HW most tanks already wore STR accessories anyways (up until they scaled tank damage to VIT), so having STR in leveling dungeons isn't that big of a difference if you recall how things were in HW. And RDM and SAM are OP at level 50 also because so many other jobs lost core skills they would have had before (MCH's oGCDs, BRD lost oGCDs, removal of older cross-class skills from some jobs, etc.), or because their revolving mechanic shifted to level 70 play (like MCH and Overheating).


The dungeons are also naturally nerfed because of the way item level syncing works - you get synced to such a high maximum that everything just rolls over; more so than it may have at release for some of the more easier dungeons. I'd honestly like to see lower item level syncs, or older dungeons be restored to their original difficulty if the ilvl sync is going to remain so high.