Raids vs. Immersion

[Chi-Z]

So I'm a complete noob when it comes to late-game mmos, and I just hit the crystal tower raids. The problem I'm having is that I appreciate being immersed in the stories of games I play, but other players are getting annoyed by my blind runs. Should I just throw my immersion away and watch guides? There's just so much to see and I don't feel like I get the full experience of these quests by just following a step by step tutorial of a place I've never been to. I totally understand wanting everyone to be ready, but having to throw away first timer experiences are killing my soul. Am I just being naive?

[IckeDerTyp]

Always first try something blind! If you do keep wiping, feel free to look stuff up!

From what I can tell, only a tiny margin of players will take offense to you going in blind and those people will survive~

Enjoy your journey!

[AmiableApkallu]

The problem I'm having is that I appreciate being immersed in the stories of games I play, but other players are getting annoyed by my blind runs. Should I just throw my immersion away and watch guides?

For anything required by the MSQ and other normal-mode content: You should absolutely feel free to go in blind.

For Extremes and harder content: People typically organize parties for these in Party Finder, so read the descriptions before joining a group. Some will say "blind." Many will expect you to have watched a video and/or at least heard of the strats being used.

That said, Crystal Tower shows up so much in the Alliance Raid roulette that some of the more experienced folk sometimes forget that there are still folks out there running it for the first time and thus can be a bit... rude if the run doesn't go perfectly.

[Jeeqbit]

So I'm a complete noob when it comes to late-game mmos, and I just hit the crystal tower raids. The problem I'm having is that I appreciate being immersed in the stories of games I play, but other players are getting annoyed by my blind runs. Should I just throw my immersion away and watch guides?

Many people do that because of anxiety and not wanting to be a burden, but as someone that has done well over 10,000 duties I can promise it is not necessary for story content. You may die to a mechanic occasionally as a result of doing it blind, but the other players will resurrect you and in the unlikely scenario everyone dies, they will just restart the fight again and you'll know how to avoid it next time.

If any player is rude to you, you can go to the system menu and use the support desk to report harrasment. They can't tell you if they did anything, but they usually do if the person was rude.

It's very common that someone is new and doesn't know what to do (in fact, you are rarely get into a duty where someone isn't new). The reason it doesn't matter is story content is designed to be easy. If some people don't know what to do, they'll still beat it or they'll beat it on the second try.

The only content where people expect you to be prepared and watch guides is high-end content, which is optional. You will know if it is this sort of content if it has in the name (Extreme), Minstrel's Ballad, (Savage) or Coil.

If you do watch guides, MTQcapture usually has a video for it on youtube.

[Rongway]

You never owe it to anyone to spoil things for yourself before a story fight. It's a story driven game. If they have a problem with you wanting to experience the story with fresh eyes, that's a them problem not a you problem. No story fight is so difficult that people need to insist that newbies come having watched a guide. It's okay to be surprised and die to the things the first time.

Parties doing harder settings (Extreme/Ballad, Savage, and Ultimate) will typically expect new people to come more prepared because those fights have tighter choreography and less forgiving mechanics that will wipe the party if not handled, but in story mode it's just not necessary. A couple deaths here and there in a story fight won't stop the party from completing the fight in one or two pulls.

[SeiyaSoiya]

blind runs work for normal difficulty content such as alliance raids
please for the love of god do not attempt blind prog of high end duties, it's a waste of everyone's time