Why do people avoid getting better at the game?

[Vahlnir]

Some people can get better and do. Some people can get better, but they don't really want or care to. Then there are some who simply can't. With how casual this game is, our player base is pretty diverse in this regard. The barrier for entry is incredibly low, but the skill ceiling is pretty much what players choose to make of it. For 99% of the game, there's no real worry or concern about player skill, and that is by design. This obviously has some pros and cons, but ultimately this was meant to be a super casual MMO experience for most players, making this topic largely a non-issue. Higher end content like Extremes, Savage and Ultimate allows players to sort themselves out.

[NekoMataMata]

Because they really don't have to.

The bar is so incredibly low, but at the same time there's so much overwhelming positive reinforcement in this game, that it doesn't make sense to reach for that bar. The majority of the playerbase will tell you that your "playstyle" is perfect the way it is.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

Because they really don't have to.

The bar is so incredibly low, but at the same time there's so much overwhelming positive reinforcement in this game, that it doesn't make sense to reach for that bar. The majority of the playerbase will tell you that your "playstyle" is perfect the way it is.

I don't think I ever hear this.... I mostly see people giving advice on how to improve. No one ever says someone doing almost nothing is "perfect just the way it is"

[NekoMataMata]

I don't think I ever hear this.... I mostly see people giving advice on how to improve. No one ever says someone doing almost nothing is "perfect just the way it is"

You're not going to see it because no is ever really asked that. I've seen one person ask for critique after a dungeon actually. It was a tank in expert roulette that used 0 mitigations, and everyone except me told them they were great(and I didn't say anything because it wasn't worth the fight).

Almost every time I've seen someone give accurate advice in this game, I've seen it either casually dismissed, or aggressively dismissed.

Anyways, you're free to keep nitpicking if you want.

[Toutatis]

You're not going to see it because no is ever really asked that. I've seen one person ask for critique after a dungeon actually. It was a tank in expert roulette that used 0 mitigations, and everyone except me told them they were great(and I didn't say anything because it wasn't worth the fight).

Almost every time I've seen someone give accurate advice in this game, I've seen it either casually dismissed, or aggressively dismissed.

Maybe because the advice is given aggressively? Because that ‘s not my experience. When I give advice, I do it nicely in an encouraging manner and I explain why. I usually get thanks and/or comms.

As for people not wanting to learn, no one likes being bad. Some people are naturally bad no matter how much effort they put into it (I know one such player with absolutely zero raid awareness and somewhat slow reflexes. She does put a lot of efforts trying to learn though). This game has more than just raiding and she likes that.

Some others can’t invest the time. When someone has 2-3 hours per week to play a game, they’re not going to spend the evening bashing a dummy, they want to progress the story and learn as they go. They’ll die along the way not knowing the mechanics and the markers in advance, most will end up with a decent rotation which may not be perfectly fine tuned and that’s ok.

Zepla quit the game because the Ultimates she did wore her out causing burnout. People complained mechanics were to easy, so ffxiv made them harder and this is the result. I mean why do I need to have muscle memory to complete these savages and Ulitimates? The elitist will burnout reducing there numbers reducing the elitist attitudes and toxicity.

Did the equivalent of savage raiding for years in another game and got burned out by the 2/3 times a week static group progs after work. I gave it a try in this game after a year break and the same feelings of disgust and fatigue I experienced when I got burned out came back after two weeks. I wanted to be anywhere but stuck doing the same content over and over again and feeling forced to log at specific times. I am having a lot more fun not doing that type of content any longer. I’ll join occasionally for that type of content when friends invite me for an evening but nothing else.

[NekoMataMata]

Maybe because the advice is given aggressively? Because that ‘s not my experience. When I give advice, I do it nicely in an encouraging manner and I explain why. I usually get thanks and/or comms.

As for people not wanting to learn, no one likes being bad. Some people are naturally bad no matter how much effort they put into it (I know one such player with absolutely zero raid awareness and somewhat slow reflexes. She does put a lot of efforts trying to learn though). This game has more than just raiding and she likes that.

Some others can’t invest the time. When someone has 2-3 hours per week to play a game, they’re not going to spend the evening bashing a dummy, they want to progress the story and learn as they go. They’ll die along the way not knowing the mechanics and the markers in advance, most will end up with a decent rotation which may not be perfectly fine tuned and that’s ok.

Whenever I see people giving advice it's usually given incredibly passively, almost as if it's just a tiny, tiny suggestion. They do it in a manner that suggests that they are scared. They know they're doing it at their own risk and they don't want to face any backlash from trying to help someone improve. No one wants to walk on eggshells just to deliver a solid explanation on what the other player is doing wrong and how to improve, only to potentially get reported, or get told rudely that by the other player that they don't care.

I have never seen anyone give aggressive advice, mostly because most people that get aggressive just don't bother. They just insult, they're not constructive.

[Nestama]

Maybe because the advice is given aggressively? Because that ‘s not my experience. When I give advice, I do it nicely in an encouraging manner and I explain why. I usually get thanks and/or comms.

Depending on the person, it doesn't matter how you give advice. There are some people who just will not listen and/or get hostile towards you for daring to give them "unsolicited" advice. You could be giving it in the nicest, most encouraging way possible, yet they'll still read it as condescending/patronising/insulting.

[Gember]

All I can say from a healer POV:

Savage content forces you to play completely different from normal content.
Like healers want to avoid their GCDs like its the plague in savage so they can do the most dps in their position.
We try to utilize this style of playing for current dungeons and extremes too, but at times that mixes up with the casual playerbase and yeah... sometimes it feels like a carry run as a healer.
I am sure its the same for other roles too, but I can't speak much for them.

All I am saying is that once a player gets efficient with savage or even some extremes; everything else in the game (aside from ultimate) is a cakewalk. Then we have people complaining on the forums asking why players are not doing so well in normal content. The answer is simple; you are a player that has leveled up on higher end content. Regardless if you are good or bad at the higher end content; its only natural to think the rest of the content is easy, and it baffles you why players aren't doing well in that. And its because they haven't tapped into the harder content.

Its too hard to mentor people in the game because they are too sensitive to advice.
Its why I suggest the game itself throw out some tutorials sprinkled across the MSQ. I know they are already trying to do that, but I think it needs to be more straight forward at times. Like send the main character through a training session in order to progress to the next expansion or something. I don't know a smooth way to put it in so its not a huge chore; but it would be good. (honestly, the best way to get good at your job is to simply play it a lot. Like... a lot a lot.)

Though I do have to give them props for putting in tank buster signals, and other mechanic tellings in the new revamped ARR dungeons. That is a great step to learning about game mechanics.

[Shinkuno]

All I can say from a healer POV:

Savage content forces you to play completely different from normal content.
Like healers want to avoid their GCDs like its the plague in savage so they can do the most dps in their position.
We try to utilize this style of playing for current dungeons and extremes too, but at times that mixes up with the casual playerbase and yeah... sometimes it feels like a carry run as a healer.
I am sure its the same for other roles too, but I can't speak much for them.

All I am saying is that once a player gets efficient with savage or even some extremes; everything else in the game (aside from ultimate) is a cakewalk. Then we have people complaining on the forums asking why players are not doing so well in normal content. The answer is simple; you are a player that has leveled up on higher end content. Regardless if you are good or bad at the higher end content; its only natural to think the rest of the content is easy, and it baffles you why players aren't doing well in that. And its because they haven't tapped into the harder content.

Its too hard to mentor people in the game because they are too sensitive to advice.
Its why I suggest the game itself throw out some tutorials sprinkled across the MSQ. I know they are already trying to do that, but I think it needs to be more straight forward at times. Like send the main character through a training session in order to progress to the next expansion or something. I don't know a smooth way to put it in so its not a huge chore; but it would be good.

Though I do have to give them props for putting in tank buster signals, and other mechanic tellings in the new revamped ARR dungeons. That is a great step to learning about game mechanics.

For that they have to remove the difficulty selection. Currently you can fail all the mechanics on any solo instance cause once you fail and select the easy difficulty you just burn through in a minute anyway

[MaxCarnage]

I don't think I ever hear this.... I mostly see people giving advice on how to improve. No one ever says someone doing almost nothing is "perfect just the way it is"

Oh, I have. I've had a handful of times where someone has given advice in a duty (in a friendly manner, mind you) and other people will jump in and say "You're doing fine, don't listen to them". It hasn't been as common now that a lot people are afraid to give advice, but when ShB was current, I saw it in at least one duty a day.

But to add my own two cents, I feel like when the game does add something that challenges players (take In From The Cold, for example), people were complaining left and right that they were struggling with it and couldn't beat it within the first few tries, so the devs nerfed it.

I'm not saying the game has to be horrendously hard, but when pushed to challenge themselves, people just get frustrated, give up, and complain until it gets nerfed. I personally just find that at least in the current generation, Gen Z, and even younger millennials, people give up if they don't get instant gratification. But yet they are made to believe thatthey have the skills and aptitude to beat a challenge so the content at hand must be the problem.