The Joy of Blind Runs

[Shuuchi]

Your eyes are wide open.
Your mind, awake and alert.
Your hands are at the ready.
With adrenaline pumping through your veins.

There is nothing more exciting than a blind run, as you can only experience something for the first time once.



Being someone who consider fight mechanics to be an integral part of the gaming experience, explaining everything before experiencing a fight for the first time is akin to spoiling the twists in a movie.

Too many have become too comfortable, choosing to rely upon the charity of others instead of our own efforts.
And if said charity is not readily dispensed, it is perceived as a slight or insult.



The following is my mentality:

Death is the best teacher.
How many times you die matters naught.
What truly matters is what you have gleamed from the mechanic that killed you.

Failure is the best crucible.
Apologizing for a failure is meaningless.
Instead, analyze why you failed so that you can improve your tactics for the future.

After the first wipe, I would discuss my findings with the rest of my party.
If we wipe a second time with similar results, then I will accept explanations.
(unless a mechanic is total bs)



I am mostly speaking of normal difficulty content.
High-end players usually have these mentalities already.

I have attempted to convert first timers to enjoy blind runs in dungeons and normal raids.
Some seem to genuinely enjoy the experience, while others remain angry throughout.

Do you agree/disagree?
What mentalities/philosophies do you carry?
I'd love to hear what you think.

[Reinhardt_Azureheim]

I salute you, more players need to adopt this mindset and be less worried about not knowing the whole fight before they even entered.

[Imora]

I dislike blind runs.

I want to get in, kill it, get out. Not be the reason we're not killing it because I refused to look at a guide.

But to each their own.

[Eien713]

I always do normal content blind. This content is easy enough to figure out if you're paying attention and your brain is not turned off. It's also not very punishing. And I agree that figuring out stuff on the fly is really fun, though I can see how a healer might find this stressful (I play DPS).

As for high-end content (Savage, Extremes, etc.), I can only go in it blind with the right group of people. Everyone needs to be on the same page when it comes to blind runs. I don't want to be a burden to anyone, so I don't feel comfortable doing high-end content blind with strangers.

[Niobee]

All new normal dungeons I run blind (most mechanics are recycled anyway or not very hard to grasp, I can't remember the last time I wiped twice to a boss in a dungeon). I don't mind people throwing in some tips though cause "go left" or "go right" are not spoilers in my opinion.

When I want to do harder content blind, I join blind practice partys in PF or host my own blind practice party. If I join a regular practice party in PF or a random party via DF I expect people to have watched or read a guide, because I consider it pretty rude to waste the time of 7 other players by wiping to simple stuff.

[Shuuchi]

When I want to do harder content blind, I join blind practice partys in PF or host my own blind practice party. If I join a regular practice party in PF or a random party via DF I expect people to have watched or read a guide, because I consider it pretty rude to waste the time of 7 other players by wiping to simple stuff.

As for high-end content (Savage, Extremes, etc.), I can only go in it blind with the right group of people. Everyone needs to be on the same page when it comes to blind runs. I don't want to be a burden to anyone, so I don't feel comfortable doing high-end content blind with strangers.

I feel you.

Being able to enjoy high-end content blind is essentially a luxury reserved for those with time to tackle new content on release day.

Looking up a guide saves so much time/headache, its simply too efficient to ignore.

[Wavaryen]

If I die it is not a big deal in this game. I got to make the red mages feel needed after all.

I also enjoy blind runs, and if I get the added bonus of someone getting upset because I did not watch a guide, my sadist little heart feels even more joy and fun.

[StriderShinryu]

It's a little different for me as I don't mind failing but hate to be the one causing the rest of the group to fail. Plus, I can be a slow learner when it comes to even obvious mechanics if I'm seeing them in action for the first time so if there's a way for me to sink either myself or the whole party, I'll probably find it.

Trusts have actually landed in a pretty good place for me because of this. I can experience the content "blind" but still have the chance to figure things out by myself without ruining things for everyone else. If something isn't available in a Trust, I do tend to still at least skim through a guide once so I at least know the stuff that should be obvious or can be the most problematic.

[Infindox]

Normal content I'm there 100% blind, I'll figure it out as I go. If I die, it's me learning the fight.
Extremes and Savage are a bit different. I have gone into some EX fights blind, but I had someone go.over stuff before we started. I usually try to watch a guide to get some what of an idea what to look for. (I still need to actually DO the fight, videos don't really help me as well as others). Savage I absolutely will at least use some sort of guide.

[Kranel_San]

This is why I dislike doing Savage/Ultimate content because I have to look on a guide instead of going blind run.
I want to experience, to see mechanics, to learn how to avoid them, to be able to share my own knowledge with others, all on my own. This is why I enjoy doing Casual content while avoiding Savage/Ultimate.
But also each has their own preferences