The Will of the Moon

[hydralus]

It's not uncommon when you decide to pull people out of their comfort zone without their consent. They don't perform as efficiently, especially when it's something they're completely unfamiliar with. They feel pressured because there's a timer in their face (even if generous) and they haven't been given the luxury of learning what they need to do at their own pace. Being mocked or seeing others mocked for any failure makes them hate the content even more so they stop giving a damn.

The fight doesn't actually start until you engage the enemy. Plenty of time to read the 4 skills you've been handed and apply the knowledge you've (in theory) gained through 70 levels of gameplay. In this particular instance Hien even outright asks for healing when he needs it so confusion over what needs to be done seems very diminished. It can't even be about lack of knowledge that you can target NPCs because everyone does that all the time.

My own two cents is, yeah, I don't find them enjoyable in the slightest. Mostly BECAUSE they are so braindead easy. It's just a chore that's not compelling at all. But as far as competency required goes I think the developers imagined "Well if they can install the game they should be able to handle this fight."

[Shibi]

The fight doesn't actually start until you engage the enemy...

With the MSQ - which should be the lowest possible bar - A good game and good devs will account for a spectrum of skill levels and capabilities. From age, through capability, through to even being able to read EN/DE/FR/日本語 or not.

The biggest trouble I see my friend having is that this is a long fight in two parts without a savepoint. After a few tries to get through the first half, he is thrown into Yifftola's body (which was jarring even for me, she feels weird and was off-putting, something about how tall she is and how slow she moves).

I do think that if the fight was split into two it wouldn't engender such feelings of helplessness. Take 2 or 10 tries on the first, then 2 or 10 times on the second, and not 100 tries (ten times ten) trying to get through both parts without a fail.

The Devs have changed tack recently, they have been toning down MSQ content and trying to make the MSQ game more acceptable to MMO virgins. Hopefully they can split this.

[Jojoya]

Well, it is rated "T for Teens," after all.
So it should surprise no one if, say, a seven-year-old gets stuck on a story mission ...
... although I've known some that probably wouldn't.

Yet people get old and/or have disabilities that can impair their reaction times or think their way through an encounter that requires a rapid series of movements. They, too, play the game. They, too, should be able to advance through the MSQ.

The fight doesn't actually start until you engage the enemy. Plenty of time to read the 4 skills you've been handed and apply the knowledge you've (in theory) gained through 70 levels of gameplay.

Right, except new players aren't likely to realize that since it will only be the second time they've done an RP encounter. Unless a friend has been giving them information, they don't have the experience to know the pattern.

70 levels of game experience aren't going to be much help to someone who has only played melee DPS as they tunneled the boss and ignored what everyone around them was doing. Hien can say he needs healing but that's not useful if the player is staring at their feet trying to get out of an AoE when the dislog flashes on the screen.

That's a small gripe I have with the HUD - there are still parts of the HUD that can't be moved like NPC dialog messages during combat. I hate having important information displayed in the top third of the screen where my eyes usually aren't looking. That's where I put information that doesn't require constant attention or rapid response. On the flip side, I hate having unimportant information displayed on the bottom half of the screen (no, i don't need to know that the FC airship was just sent out on a new voyage while I'm in the middle of dodging hunt AoE).