the normal content is too easy

[Jojoya]

What do you mean people entering for endwalker with only 8 days? You still have to play through 3 other expansions before you get there. That’s more than enough time for you to learn your job and the basics of your role. Unless they use a level and story skip in which case any struggling or difficulty is entirely on them and other players shouldn’t have to pay for that.

It doesn't change that some new players are buying the skip potions and so we must deal with them.

Also, going through 3 expansions worth of content does not mean someone has developed superior skill. Many players have a skill cap they cannot exceed due to physical limitations. Whether you like it or not, SE wants those players to be able to enjoy all of the MSQ and not just the portions you've decided they should be allowed to see.

If you feel that you are "suffering" when in a group with players less skilled than you are, use Party Finder so you can pick and choose who will be in a duty with you.

[Serious-Cat]

This is actually a really good example of a point that many try to make on these forums: people have different ability and experience levels.

I do not do Ultimate or Savage but I breezed through that quest because my favorite genre is stealth and I've immersed myself in the techniques and tactics that make someone successful at that sort of game. I would definitely not be in the camp who says this quest is too difficult if I just used my own experience.

However, I can empathize with those who had issues because I know not everyone else has the same experience or abilities. Same with any content in this game. People say it's easy and there's nothing wrong with someone saying something is easy for them and offering feedback on what would appeal to them more. I have a few suggestions for that particular quest to integrate stealth ideas better. But then these same people cast judgment on others who have difficulty and claim they're just not trying hard enough or they don't care enough or they don't deserve to play this game because they don't meet some random person's arbitrary standard for what is acceptable in their presence. They cry to the heavens that this is a team based game, but don't actually want to cooperate and work together like a real team does. It's just rude, gatekeepy, and isn't a mentality (not saying your post is, it was just a good example) that we should be encouraging. And frankly threads like this one do exactly that.

Amen to that! Expecting wide sweeping changes when there are so many factors to consider won't work. I wasn't even playing ff14 last December when my bro rage screaming stuck in that "Garlemald quest" but I clear it on 1st try before the nerf for him. He already clear ALL the ultimate and savage fights up to Shadowbringers btw xD

[Hanaya]

also sorry double post bc i ran out of space, but as a side note, I genuinely think one of the largest contributing factors to the average skill level of the playerbase is the complete lack of info or direction new players get. There's hall of the novice, but it's pretty easy to miss and also doesn't do a particularly good job at actually teaching people how to play. I see a large number of players in max level content who don't understand really basic things about combat in the game (like people using single target in dungeon pulls, healers who only gcd heal and ignore half of their kit, people who don't know what a stack marker is, and so on). When I started playing, I didn't really understand anything at all, and the only reason why I was able to improve was because I had friends who directed me to resources like guides on youtube and the balance. I'm pretty sure if I didn't know about those (out of the game) resources, I would end up spamming cure 1 in dungeons for the freecure proc too.

I'm not saying that they should put an entire number-crunched super uptime 100% optimized rotation guide in the game, but it would be nice if they explained the basics somehow. Even stuff that might seem intuitive isn't very obvious to people who haven't played mmos or similar games before, which is honestly a large amount of ffxiv players.

more ex/savage/ult level content would be nice, though. what with the long time between patches, it kind of feels like you burn through content really fast and then just mindlessly farm it until the next patch drops. ultimates are better for this, but they're also a big time investment and a lot more mentally draining than savage. I'd love to see more stuff like unreal trials and delubrum savage.

[Catwho]

Isn't the whole point of adding more of a single player mode to encourage those who have skipped XIV because it is an "MMO" to play it for the story?

It seems like Yoshi P and the game devs have chosen to prioritize the Plot Watchers.

Which.... I get it. Not everyone has the time or commitment for an MMO. Even my husband has said he'd consider playing through XIV in "plot watcher" only mode, and he's actively avoided this game for a decade now.

[Serious-Cat]

There’s just so many entertainment options and it’s just hard to only be entertained by one source when you can be doing that other thing rn

[KizuyaKatogami]

It doesn't change that some new players are buying the skip potions and so we must deal with them.

Also, going through 3 expansions worth of content does not mean someone has developed superior skill. Many players have a skill cap they cannot exceed due to physical limitations. Whether you like it or not, SE wants those players to be able to enjoy all of the MSQ and not just the portions you've decided they should be allowed to see.

If you feel that you are "suffering" when in a group with players less skilled than you are, use Party Finder so you can pick and choose who will be in a duty with you.

We have to deal with them yes, but it doesn’t mean content should be balanced around them. I understand there’s people with limitations, and that’s perfectly fine. Trusts exist now, they’re even making trials trust-runnable now too. So what’s the excuse at this point? People who don’t think their good at the game or people who have limitations have the options available to continue with the msq despite all that. So why can’t things be tuned up a bit more?

[Xirean]

We have to deal with them yes, but it doesn’t mean content should be balanced around them. I understand there’s people with limitations, and that’s perfectly fine. Trusts exist now, they’re even making trials trust-runnable now too. So what’s the excuse at this point? People who don’t think their good at the game or people who have limitations have the options available to continue with the msq despite all that. So why can’t things be tuned up a bit more?

Having limitations or being less skilled is not a reason to say those players don't get to play with other people. People should be able to play multiplayer or single player and enjoy the game regardless. It's not a situation of "you're not good enough for people so go play with bots."

[Carin-Eri]

Having limitations or being less skilled is not a reason to say those players don't get to play with other people. People should be able to play multiplayer or single player and enjoy the game regardless. It's not a situation of "you're not good enough for people so go play with bots."

This ^

Additionally, whilst it definitely has benefits, the downsides of playing that way are:
- takes a lot longer
- NPCs rarely use AOE attacks
- I found that I picked up aggro before the NPC tank did (since the NPC tanks tend to, as noted, focus on single-target attacks)
- you don't receive player commendations
- it's rather unforgiving if you die - none of the NPCs can revive you and you get sent back to the start, which can often mean quite a trek to reach the point you were at before being KO'ed.

Personally, I also missed the sense of 'community' that often follows - whilst it doesn't always happen, I've sometimes encountered players who wanted to offer some encouragement.

However, in contrast to the generally low opinions of poorly-performing players being expressed here on the forums, my experience of in-game teams is that they're almost always very forgiving of inexperienced or low-performing players, particularly if you take the time to tell them (in chat).

[Silver-Strider]

- takes a lot longer
- I found that I picked up aggro before the NPC tank did (since the NPC tanks tend to, as noted, focus on single-target attacks)

I will content these 2 points.
I've had runs with players that have taken much longer than some trusts either due to single pull tanks, single target rotation DPS, bad players that constantly die, etc; I've had 40 minute Holmester Switch runs with players that with trusts would have taken 20-25 minutes tops. Also, unlike players, SE can actually improve Trusts in the future so that maybe they'll actually use AoE skills to make runs even faster.

I've also never had a problem with the NPC tank, other than them being a little slow on the initial pull. Once it starts, they jump in and start AoEing pretty much instantly, I just have to stand by them for a second for them to get all the mobs but after that, it's pretty normal overall.

[ThivraK]

Additionally, whilst it definitely has benefits, the downsides of playing that way are:
- takes a lot longer
- NPCs rarely use AOE attacks
- I found that I picked up aggro before the NPC tank did (since the NPC tanks tend to, as noted, focus on single-target attacks)
- you don't receive player commendations
- it's rather unforgiving if you die - none of the NPCs can revive you and you get sent back to the start, which can often mean quite a trek to reach the point you were at before being KO'ed.

- I'll be honest; most of the recent runs in the dungeons that are able to be finished with Trusts have taken longer with human players than they would have done with bots
Trust damage also varies: If you do a lot of damage, they do less, if you half-afk, their attacks do more damage so it always ends up being around 23-25 minutes, which is preferable to dungeons that should take around 15 minutes, taking 30 or more
- Those are honestly non-issues, tbh
- Commendations mean absolutely nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing
- That is true, but that's also true if your party doesn't have someone who can rez you

Personally, I also missed the sense of 'community' that often follows - whilst it doesn't always happen, I've sometimes encountered players who wanted to offer some encouragement.

However, in contrast to the generally low opinions of poorly-performing players being expressed here on the forums, my experience of in-game teams is that they're almost always very forgiving of inexperienced or low-performing players, particularly if you take the time to tell them (in chat).

Then you are really, really lucky, as in my (and most of my friends') experiences, encouragement and advice is met with hostility and anger, even if you're telling someone they're doing good.
People are forgiving when it comes to inexperienced players, but they're rightfully not forgiving of those who have spent hundreds of hours and still play as if they're in Sastasha and especially of those who do not put in any effort whatsoever. And honestly, it'd be weird to blame them for that.