Why are Criterion dungeons so hard?

[Panasync]

Outside of the rewards, the fights are perfect.

The real problem is XIV's regular content is so easy that even casual players seem to want more of a challenge, but just not as much as they gave in Criterion. Which is a problem with the content outside of criterion more than it is inside.

[Arohk]

Outside of the rewards, the fights are perfect.

The real problem is XIV's regular content is so easy that even casual players seem to want more of a challenge, but just not as much as they gave in Criterion. Which is a problem with the content outside of criterion more than it is inside.

I can understand that people who don't raid savage and are not used to that difficulty will struggle, a lot, with criteon dungeon. I mean, some people are so incredibly bad that they die in normal dungeons, but there is a also another factor, do you want to invest the time to learn the bosses? depending on how fast you learn, it can take 2-4 hours or more to learn just one boss, and then there is also an enrage timer.

I am not complaining, but if you don't watch a guide it is really difficult to understand what the bosses do sometimes or how to solve the puzzles.

[Ayche]

You don't even need to do it at ilvl 610, throw on some tome gear for more ilvls.
Or wait till 6.3 where now you can do it at easy 620 ilvl thanks to augmented crafted gear and 24-man raid gear.

[Colt47]

As someone who has hit their limit on what difficult content they can manage to take on while also having a full-time job like anyone else I totally get where the OP is coming from. The issue you run into with the savage content is that you can't take a break when you need it because you are obligated to several other people to show up. Savage sometimes feels like hardcore PvP vs others just because of how crazy some people get when they don't progress as quickly as they expect.

As the years roll on with FFXIV I feel that there is a big gap forming in the middle for proper mid-tier content. We have things that present some challenge at the start of each major patch, but then I look back at all the content that was challenging at one point and was then nerfed into obscurity. Now it feels like everything is just "easy stuff", or "one or two EX fights for middle tier", and then this huge time sink in savage that doesn't really get matched by anything else outside of maybe relic.

[PangTong]

Personally I would rather they tuned up Normal mode a smidge, since running roulettes is mind numbingly easy. But yes for me personally I had hoped that Criterion would fill a gap between normal and extreme. I think it's a bit off that the game's difficulty curve goes from 0 wipe content, stuff that even an actual corpse could be carried through and which typically gets 1-shot by a group of 100% blind randoms, straight to 50+ wipe content that requires dedicated practice parties and multiple hours of progression unless you are in an elite static.

There is a middle ground here somewhere. Something that a typical player could go into with a matchmade party and expect to learn comfortably within a lockout or two. You might say that DF randoms couldn't handle it but I disagree, most roulette groups I enter completely smoke the normal mode content with zero trouble at all. They can handle more and HAVE in the past. Raids like Weeping City and Orbonne and trials like Shinryu were actually reasonable challenges for a casual player on release. Even just taking normal mode mechanics and cranking up the damage to be actually threatening would go a long way to making it feel less effortless.

I was hoping Criterion would be that, but it's not, oh well. It's not like they said that's what it'd be, so I can't complain too hard.

[Flay_wind]

I think they kinda overshot the mark with Criterion.
Because the difficulty goes Normal (SS) -> Savage (ASS) -> The same exact Savage, mechanics-wise, with bigger numbers, global Enrage and you you also can't die (ASS(S).
I tried it several times with friends (and none of us do Savage) and we pretty much agreed to wait until 6.3 to get Augmented crafted and new Alliance raid gear to get at least 620 before trying again.

[Saraide]

I think the biggest problem was the naming convention they used. Savage is known term in this game, so having something below savage but still hard automatically puts expectations towards extreme level content. In reality Criterion is closer to savage however and on the risk of ruffling some feathers here criterion savage is closer to ultimate (I say this because of the amount of time you need to be concentrated for).

[rxantos]

Because Squarenix focused on wipe mechanics instead of harm mechanics.
Wipe mechanics = Someone makes a mistake you wipe.
Harm mechanics = Someone makes a mistake, the healer can save the run. `

Wipe mechanics is when you want to ARTIFICIALLY make something difficult with no experimentation allowed. It makes for boring dungeons except for people who like to bash their heads to a wall over and over. Also makes it 500% more difficult for those without a perfect ping.

[Arohk]

Because Squarenix focused on wipe mechanics instead of harm mechanics.
Wipe mechanics = Someone makes a mistake you wipe.
Harm mechanics = Someone makes a mistake, the healer can save the run. `.

you can really feel that in P8 savage.

[Vivian_Vex]

Disclaimer that we have yet to attempt these dungeons, but we will be shortly and fully intend to clear.

Hard 4 man content is appreciated, and this fills that role, no matter how difficult it is. If you quit after only 6 wipes and decide it's too hard for you, then yeah, maybe this wasn't designed with you in mind and you should look for other content to do. Which is fine, by the way, but wanting it to be nerfed just because groups of people can't do it is why some MSQ dungeons went from interesting to mind numbing.

TLDR: Either give it a real attempt at clearing it (IE: Not quitting after wiping only a few times), or accept it's not made for you and move on.