Who Thought Adding Difficulty Levels To Instanced Quests Was A Good Idea?

[ADarklore]

People seem to think SE did this on a whim... but the devs KNOW the hard data behind it. They know how many people attempt various instanced battles, they know how many fail, how many times people re-attempted, and how many of those players just walked away and never finished it. SE wants 'player retention' that is how they make money... and if they can see that many people are simply walking away, or are spending too much time trying and failing, they obviously are going to make changes- and they did. Also, what some people find 'easy' are not so easy for many other people- obviously, once again- SE KNOWS how many people are impacted... YOU DO NOT! So people acting like failing instanced battles doesn't or shouldn't be a problem for people clearly don't know what SE does.

[Verlyn]

A bit of a fallacy there. The devs do not necessarily have All The Data or make fully informed decisions just because they are behind the curtain (you might be surprised how many are simply winging it in software dev). I don't think there's an epidemic of players constantly failing story instances here. I think this is just one of many items on the current dartboard to make the MSQ less of a timesink for new players. Given they aim to have ARR revamped on 5.3, it would make sense that they'd make all sorts of QOL and misc changes to things like story instances in preparation for that.

[Mahoukenshi]

There's nothing like a "walk of shame". People can play at whatever difficulty setting they want for whatever reasons they want. This is no Soulsblood fapping competiton.

[RyuDragnier]

There's nothing like a "walk of shame". People can play at whatever difficulty setting they want for whatever reasons they want. This is no Soulsblood fapping competiton.

I meant for the roleplay fights (except for the 5.0 one, that one is actually difficult). The solo instances...there are a number of them that I can see as pretty difficult, and there's no shame in making those easier if you're having a hard time...such as the 4.4 solo instance, that one can get pretty ridiculous.

[SerLuke]

That actually shocked me too. It's the easiest one so far, and by far the coolest. Though the ones failing do tell us exactly why SE put those difficulty modes there...they're practically a "walk of shame" to players who don't have any physical disabilities or horrible ping.

Can we not do this? I have a learning disability and I cleared it the first time but I don’t see the need to shame others that didn’t.

[PondHollow]

I'm so happy my crafter-main friend can have a more enjoyable experience on accord of this. Indeed, I might consider it at times, considering how utterly boring the healer offense kit is. Better to be over with it quickly.

[Icaras]

basically gives a free pass

And? Games are meant to be fun, more options for more people. Don't want easy, don't choose easy. Difficulty levels in games are kind of a well established thing. It's more normal to have them than to not.

[Aelin_Ashryver]

What does it matter? Maybe some people like in any RPG are playing for story and they don't wanna worry about getting stuck on something so they can keep chugging along. Or maybe some players who have disability that alrdy use a special set up or jus in general have a difficulty to play can find some use in this? So what if they appear in pf? They won't be appearing in any farm parties only clear parties if they struggle that much. Get yourself thru the hell that is clear pf OR get a grp of ur friends to do it. I don't like a lot of changes they made making jobs more simple but an individual having an easier time getting thru story content they have paid for? Not an issue for me.

[Tlamila]

tl;dr for this topic (and the other twin one): "Oh my, people are now allowed to play their solo game in a different way than i want them too!!!! And they're even allowed to have more fun and less frustration now!! THIS IS THE END OF THE WORLD!!"

[MeowingKittens]

tl;dr for this topic (and the other twin one): "Oh my, people are now allowed to play their solo game in a different way than i want them too!!!! And they're even allowed to have more fun and less frustration now!! THIS IS THE END OF THE WORLD!!"

But it's not a solo game. It's an MMO. There are MSQ duties where you need to play with others. You want to only experience the story? Go watch it on youtube.

You can get around some with Squadrons. You can get around current ones with trusts. But there is no way to get around 61-70, nor can you take either into 8 man trials. And if you're gated by story (which is the basis of this concern), what do you do then, since undersizing is likely not going to be a viable option either? Breeze through the parts that require some thought, and then potentially be a burden to the players whom are stuck with you. They could kick you if you underperform too much, and you're right back where you started.

Every single solo duty in this game tells you what to do, either in leading quest dialog, or in the duty itself. All they ask you to do is push a few buttons. Like the rest of the game does. It's a game, not a minimal interative cutscene. You need to do stuff. You need to pay attention.

Buying a game does not entitle ANYONE to be able to finish it only by virtue of being a customer (provided the game is completable by normal means, obviously). There comes a time where appropriate effort on the part of the individual needs to be applied.

There is no single player duty in this game that is difficult. If you fail, it's important to look upon what happened and ask WHY. People should be asking "what can I do better" or "what did I miss that I should have done". Not continue to do the same thing over and over and give up and ask/get a nerf. Because that kind of thinking DOES affect your ability to perform and pull your weight with a group.

If you you don't have the ability or inclination to play at a basic competency level that the majority of other players are already doing, then MMOs might not be the right type of game. No one wants the lazy co-worker in their party getting the rewards off the effort of someone else's back, who acts like they've earned a paycheck simply by showing up.

The lack of accoutability for poor play has been an issue in this game for a while, and the people who've been reasonably requesting and presenting ideas on how we address that issue feel like they've been slapped in the face with this change.