How do you like to experience group content the first time?

[Vidact]

Always blind, it's way more fun to figure out fights as you go.

[StriderShinryu]

If I can Trust it, I'll do it that way. If I can't, I usually watch a guide. I'm not too bad at executing once I know what to do, but I'm pretty bad at figuring things out/reacting in the heat of the moment so I know if I'm doing something with a group blind I'll just drag the rest of the group down.

[Ralph2449]

Blind is always far more fun and the way an mmorpg is meant to be played, you have to figure things out and think how to deal with the mechanics because sometimes the solution might be different based on your composition or even player preferences.

Especially if you got your own group of friends so you get to experience the above instead of just "lol copy what X streamer did, thinking is hard"

Now if I am doing something solo on duty finder I ll probably check vids for extreme and above since they are so very different and from my Ramuh extreme groups you definitely need a few ppl that know what is going on to explain to others, that one took me like 5 groups to get xD

[linayar]

Casuals have weird taste. I never understood how roflstomping something without any effort can be enjoyable in any way.

I don't see how you can necessarily equate personal enjoyment to putting in no effort.

Regardless, from someone who actually doesn't do Extreme/Savage/Ultimate contents, I still put in effort with dungeons and normal trials and raids and alliance raids.

People who don't put in effort, especially on "easy" contents, are what make those contents worse/harder than they need to be. LFR in WoW is a prime example of this, to the point that some people have said that LFR can be harder than Normal difficulty.

[Jeeqbit]

If it's a story dungeon or trial, you can do it completely blind. People who do it when it releases have no choice but to do it blind anyway and they are usually fine.

In fact, when you have done them on release day you start to realise that the guides over-analysed it - spending minutes explaining a mechanic that lasts a split second and can even be ignored in practice. I don't blame the guides for that, they are supposed to do this to give you a thorough understanding of that (non-threatening) mechanic, so the answer is it's up to you if you watch it, but it's not necessary.

For high-end versions like (Extreme) and (Savage), I recommend watching a guide when matching with random people. They are usually unprepared enough and struggle to get anywhere as it is, so not having watched a guide will hinder progress even further. If the party all agree it can be done blind in the description, then that's acceptable and you can find blind parties occasionally.

Personally, I do story content blind, and I watch a guide for high-end content if I feel that, based on the normal version, it will be necessary. After playing for long enough I can mostly predict what the high-end version will be like though, so sometimes I just jump in blind and figure it all out immediately from experience. I did this for a lot of Shadowbringers extremes.

Whether I watch a guide really depends on if I feel like not watching one will hold the party back much.

[Equitable_Remedy]

I hate going into content blind and avoid it whenever possible—if I can check out a guide before doing content for the first time, I will.

Not knowing what's going on just isn't particularly fun for me. Of course, there's always going to be a component of actually learning an encounter by doing it, but I at least like to have a sense of what's happening if I can.

[StriderShinryu]

Not knowing what's going on just isn't particularly fun for me. Of course, there's always going to be a component of actually learning an encounter by doing it, but I at least like to have a sense of what's happening if I can.

Yep. For me, the fun in an encounter/dungeon/etc. comes from mastering it through taking the knowledge I have and honing that over time. It's a great feeling when you get a dungeon or trial you haven't done for ages and that muscle memory kicks in. While I understand that the learning and figuring out phase is fun for some people, it's not for me, especially in group content where my mistakes punish everyone else and/or their mistakes punish me when I've done everything right.

[Jirah]

EX and Savage all but require research which is kinda why im down on it most of the time

Raids, Trials, Dungeons and NM stuff is where its most fun blind, sadly dungeons severely lack the girth they once had and the main roles done really matter besides healer. No prioritizing DPS, no Tank navigation due to so many gates and no real threat so going in blind results more often than not in a clear

Trails raids and NM are more fun due to its difficulty and chaos. Rabanastre on day 1 was the most fun ive had in the game ever and couldnt clear it until the following day due to rage quits and time outs which added more to the content, SHB lost this charm as none of the mechs in Neir arent as punishing and i got clears with no wipes with full on blind parties which confused me, even Lab wiped me more. Trials like Nidhogg, Tsuki and SoS are always a joy to get the worst ones being thordan and Cape obviously and a huge chunk of omega in a blind party is fun by chaos factor alone which few eden trials can compare, alex is a joke sadly.

[TaleraRistain]

It's no fun if you're just letting someone else hold your hand through it.

I do all the content I do on release day so there's not an option but to go blind. Is it frustrating to beat your head against something and keep failing? You betcha. But it's also fun to see the progress as you figure it out together.

I'm an old school 20 year+ MMO gamer, though. We didn't have guides when I started so I've never seen the point of relying on them now.

After the clear to find out some more details on what was holding you back, yeah. But before you even start it? Just feels like I'm cheated of the experience if I do that.

[Roda]

Depends on how old the content is and who i'm running it with.
Brand new content or will a full group of friends? Blind is preferred.
Established content with randoms? Eh read a guide first. It's hard enough adjusting for the behavior of strangers.