The difficulty of Normal Content in this game needs to increase.

[Absimiliard]

I'm glad you've ditched the attitude. It allows for a more civil discussion, and makes the sides of the argument much easier to comprehend.

I'm afraid I don't follow. My attitude and opinions are completely unchanged.

Nearly every person is capable of overcoming a challenge. That is what I feel is very important to take to heart. I don't think there is a single player who decides to participate in an EX encounter who does not think there will be challenges that will have to be overcome. That just confirms that middle ground content does exist, because in nearly all the content below the EX level, players don't have to worry about this at all. They will clear those duties one way or the other.

This, I believe, is where we disagree fundamentally. I'm not saying mid-content doesn't exist. I'm saying not every EX falls into that category. Some of them are basically MSQ level, and some of them manage to be worse than savage. Of this expansion's EX fights, most are not what your typical "midcore" player would consider approachable. One cannot, in my opinion, simply go "extreme trials are midcore" without additional commentary to this effect, if they wish to be correct. This partly stems from the fact the skill level of the player-base as a whole is quite low, with many of them simply being unwilling to learn regardless of how kindly or constructively advice is offered them.

[Gemina]

I'm afraid I don't follow. My attitude and opinions are completely unchanged.

When you are willing to express your PoV in a civil manner instead of just saying the playerbase sucks, it makes it easier to have a conversation with you. Even if you still feel that way, your restraint from continuing to express those thoughts is a change of attitude.

This, I believe, is where we disagree fundamentally. I'm not saying mid-content doesn't exist. I'm saying not every EX falls into that category. Some of them are basically MSQ level, and some of them manage to be worse than savage. Of this expansion's EX fights, most are not what your typical "midcore" player would consider approachable. One cannot, in my opinion, simply go "extreme trials are midcore" without additional commentary to this effect, if they wish to be correct. This partly stems from the fact the skill level of the player-base as a whole is quite low, with many of them simply being unwilling to learn regardless of how kindly or constructively advice is offered them.

Not a single EX encounter in EW is MSQ level of difficulty. However, they are also not the same strength either. Some are definitely easier/harder than others. However, they are still middle ground level. This goes back to where I said that skilled players can and will trivialize the content, that does not mean the difficulty all of a sudden gets lesser. The opposite is also true if you feel the overall skill level of the playerbase is low. Their unwillingness to go into the content for whatever reasons those might be does not make the difficulty of content greater. Where we fundamentally disagree is that you somehow think that player skill level and the difficulty of the content conflate with each other.

Players who might want to try EX content but are a bit anxious about it is normal. Those players understand that the game changes in this content, and they might feel like their skill level isn't up to par and don't want to hold other players back. If more players express a friendly and good demeanor, more of them will venture into it. This is how I feel the community can increase the overall skill level of the playerbase. Not increasing the difficulty of NM casual content and shoving it down their throats.