To Square: Please keep going with the dungeon design!

[Lily_Winde]

I must agree, I"m having so much fun in dawntrail dungeons

[LilithKha]

Absolutely 10000% this. FFXIV has had a long standing problem with catering to the absolute lowest common demoninator and not trusting the rest of the playerbase with interesting normal mode content as a result. I am so glad that they are finally moving in the right direction on this, and I really hope that CBU3 does not get the wrong impression from certain high-engagement posts on the EN forums about this. Most people in the replies of those posts are also absolutely on board with this direction and I think we really need to make our voices heard on this to make sure that Yoshida and co. get the message. There has been some discussion about adding something like a "very easy" mode for duty support dungeons to accomodate people who want to play a visual novel instead of an MMO, and I think those ideas have merit so long as they don't affect the development of the content too much. Something like slowing down telegraphs and giving multiple "lives" would be enough, I think. But please, for the love of god, keep it up! This expansion is the first time in years that I've actually wanted to play non-raid content with my more casual friends and we've all been having a blast.

[EponaTBHSMH]

These dungeons are very good, it feels great to go from an expac to another and feel like stuff is getting harder even in normal content

[Infindox]

I absolutely loved that the dungeons were more challenging and not a face roll. Especially in the final dungeon and the post msq ones, you are actually forced to pay attention to mechanics.
I kinda also love how different the Deadwalk one is. The first one is annoying but kinda fun; I've noticed the only truly irritating thing is getting headed during the aoe that follows you, though the fight seems to be designed that you can survive with a few vuln stacks and the only real penalty is the fight takes longer. Second one requires to pay attention to the cups. The pulls between the first and second boss and the second and last are hilarious: former has you getting hit with a giant AOE unless you sprint past and the latter has the two dolls having a tantrum that makes the healers actually have to group heal. Then the final boss uses a good example of the new text on screen (though admittedly it's the easiest of the three bosses in there).
Tender Valley too has some really cool mechanics like the second boss's arena and the last boss's different sort of markers (having to see what each scree is doing and run to a safe area). The arrow puzzle is daunting at first but if you trace the path from the safe zone it's not bad, and they give you plenty of time.

[S__th_rn_fl_am_]

YES! These bosses are amazing! Dungeons are finally fun again!

[S__th_rn_fl_am_]

I play a game to be entertained, not to be challenged. A little bit is fine, too much and I won't do that content or quit the game altogether. For me, playing a game is purely for entertainment and fun, to relax and free my head from work related things. Final Fantasy is such a great game for me, because the story dungeons (and even the high level ones up to EW) were absolutely doable for me, even though I'm certainly not a very good player. I had fun. So I was in a good place, I enjoed a good story (up to EW anyways, Dawntrail is not really a good story), could do the "normal" dungeons which were not very challenging, and others who wanted a more difficult challenge could do savage, extreme trials, ultimates and whatnot. All good.

Now we have the situation that the difficulty level is being increased because for some people (maybe most of them) it's more fun. Fine, for me its not, so I'm happy not to do those dungeons if they're optional. You guys can knock yourself out. However, if the dungeons I am forced to do (story dungeons) get the same difficulty level as the current expert-dungeons, I might have a problem progressing in the MSQ. And that would be sad, because I love the game and the people here.

I'm playing this game because it's accessible and fun for everyone, even for someone like me, who does not want to become extremely good in playing a certain job or to die eight times in a dungeon before I get the mechanics of the bosses right enough to maybe not die. I just want to have fun like everyone else. Just that for me the fun lies not in a higher difficulty of dungeons.

Please don't take this response as mean, but you have an easy option for the dungeons: trusts. you can literally stop all focus on your rotation and just move when mechanics are happening, following one of the NPCs to safe areas.

[VOMEGAM]

I’m loving the difficulty and mechanics of the Dawntrail dungeons. It’s great actually wanting to run the dungeons for loots AND fun :-)

[SoftCarryBoy]

I disagree. This made the game very uninviting and overly difficult for someone who has not played in years.

And with that I say what I always say in these situations. Why not both.

Why not an easy mode with 1/2 the mechanics and less punishment for failure for those of us still getting the hang of things. Also some of us learn differently and find different things rewarding and frustrating.

I do not feel accomplishment or joy completing these dungeons. I feel anger that I had to deal with them at this level so soon. And fear the next dungeon or encounter will be a wall that ends my ability to progress at all.

I do not want to take away from other's enjoyment of the game at all. So I see no reason why a different mode can't exist for both MSQ progression and learning. Give me less XP, less rewards, whatever. Maybe also add something so I can see future mechanics and some sort of feedback about how I would have done IF I was in a more difficult mode.

Again it feels like a win win. Story focused players get easy mode. And those of use who learn differently and find enjoyment different from other players win as well.

Why not practice the old easier dungeons when you haven't played the game in years instead of suggesting the devs double their workload to appease people who hate a challenge?

[Laerune]

Let the developers cook.

[Yascaret]

Yeah, I also like the new dungeon design too! I like how the last mob before the final boss usually have their own mini mechanics in expert. The twin dolls had managed to wipe my friend team because they didn't know their enrage would hurt so much, but it's easy to handle just by killing one of the dolls for example.

I love that they made the mechanics engaging enough, but easy to understand. People might got turned off because they keep dying when they just entered for the first time, but after a couple of runs people will just steam rolled it as usual... though not as boring as EW since you need to actually pay attention to some of the mechanics rather than just to follow your party members