The difficulty curve in the game has... problems...

[game_enjoyer]

for me the issue wasn't (and still isn't) the difficulity involved in clearing ex/savage/ultimate fights. i'm confident if i had the desire to clear them i could. however, the requirements for me clearing them are gated behind terminology i have not/had not heard before, and also the patience of 7 other players. it takes me a lot longer to pick up mechanics than other players, i admit that. but as a result, i have been unable to find a group to clear with that has left me with the feeling that i should continue to clear. even with BiS as a reward, i have no desire to attempt savage or ultimate. it's far beyond what i want out of the game, simply because there is no middle ground. it feels like it's either dungeon running or raiding and let me tell u i have progressed past the point where dungeon running is enough to keep my attention. perhaps this is a personal problem, but i have also encountered many other people that say the same thing: the game is too difficult to parse when it comes to MMO terminology insofar as new players to the genre are concerned. it feels like if you are new to raiding you are at a disadvantage simply because things are unfamiliar to you.

[Issaella]

*snip*

I feel almost exactly the same way. I can faceroll Expert in 15min, maybe 20 with a first timer, there has been zero challenge since January. Same basically goes for the current Unreal, I cleared week 1 and had it on farm since then every week on two characters. But the level of knowledge expected to move into Savage for the first time is so far beyond that as to be completely inadequate or even know where to start. I can barely parse half the abbreviations in most PF groups and then the rest just say "usual PF strats" assuming everyone knows what those are. It's not just the terminology, but the sheer number of mechanics you have to learn to have even a chance at clearing a Savage when it's current without any previous knowledge or any stepping-stone difficulty is beyond daunting.