Difficulty of normal content.

[AuraflareRising]

I have disabilities (anxiety being one of them) and I don't mind the new content (barring the first boss in the Deadwalk dungeon, that one I have issues with). I still raid savage and ultimates (granted not in HC), and actually enjoy the challange. I have learned ways to make my disabilities less impactful on my play, like using controller to keep my back from seizing, adjusting rotations a little bit to keep my hands from cramping (to much weaving causes issues for me), and knowing which mechanics will cause a freeze reactions for me and thus having to use a follow the herd tactic to get through it. My numbers on the forbidden abacus ain't great, but they are decent. I have cleared 6 raid tiers on content, and 3 of the older ultimates on top of it. Almost made it through DSR before my previous ult static disbanded, so found a new one and looking forward to redoing TEA with em soon. So disabilities are not an excuse, even though it makes things more difficult.
I had a feeling that some of the more casual people out there would have problems with the new content, but it's still doable if you pay attention to the new telegraphs. Damage is survivable if you use your mitigations, which I saw a lot of low mitigation usage during previous expansions.
Also it's new mechanics not seen before, which always will cause people to take time to learn them. Just keep at it, don't be afraid, and be prepared to use your kit

[Jahara_Palazzo]

Personally the normal content is so F'n easy that I have a hard time staying engaged half the time. You can get hit by everything and not die. Even if you do die the only punishment is a 60 second debuff......oh god no! I've quit the game multiple times because it's so braindead I'm constantly trying to play other games while sleeping my way through this content. There is no REAL stress at all in normal content. The tank can 1v1 the boss 90% of the time.

You posted on a public forum that the content is too hard and the game should be easier. A commonly talked about topic. You are going to get responses and most of them will be the opposite. Because factually the normal content is too easy. If you want to play a game that you can turn your brain off and still win....this is it lol. If you need it to be easier then....i dunno lol.

The reality is nothing anyone says in here matters. It's your opinion that you defending to an absurd degree. You clearly have no intention whatsoever to have an honest discussion. You're lying to yourself and everyone in the FF14 community.

[Galahad_Whitehowl]

First off... I had enough of people like you crying about FFXIV being to hard; when its not remotely what it was before or any of its predecessor franchise. FF14 it's been dumbdown SO MUCH and mostly mashed to a pulp of what actually was for casual players to enjoy it.

STAWP IT! You do not only cry for the accurate reasons what actually bothers you the most; just complaining at facts at random.

"Abusive Telegraphs?" weren't even implemented till way later. They do not abuse anything, the monster tells you with its castbar or even wind-up animations stances to PRE-TELL YOU. WHAT TO DO! Its a fight not a picnic...

"Nasty mechanic overlaps?!" Sorry if you didn't knew basic shapes at school, but thats what they are mostly are dear.

"Mechs with no time?" THE ENEMY ALWAYS SHOWS YOU IN ADVANCE! WDYM?!

"Catch this! Mechanics?" If you can't stop for a single second and look at your surroundings... well LET ME TELL YA. Don't ever get out of your house... Life is way more chaotic than a dumb phase mechanic.

Not only you just called everyone in the West DUMB and went FULL RACIST on Japanese people. But won't you just think for a minute. "Oh HEY I dont own the mental capacity for this? WHY PLAY IT?!

I've being on the end of Heavensward meeting Stormblood. Did you ever played before all the nerfs? Before all the actual difficult dungeons back then? When the dungeons where actually a mess? or even HAVE YOU EVEN PLAYED? for starters... Cuz sounds to me you not only have skip the story one to many times... but haven't played AT ALL to get to LVL 100. Sounds to me like a 25$ Tantrum...

Difficulty does not only HELP the game developers have time and keep expanding this great world; but because this gives the incentive to grow and keep the player base doing stuff. "Poverty or silver spoons" dont have to do a thing with "Skill problems" We play cuz we want we play; cuz we can all around the world.

For people like you it's why the game is getting dull and holds no surprises like before... It sickens me that for a couple of you cry babies, I fear the game gets dumb down to another "Auto clicking game" or worst tap game at some point...
For I reply for me and all the people that actually ENJOY THE GAME, whom LIVE DIE AND KNOW.

BECOME AN ACTUAL WARRIOR OF LIGHT!

[Pyrrus]

Just my two cents but I am glad for the difficulty. I think the difficulty of the game needs to go up and people need to learn their roles. I have run into so many players at 90+ who don't use tank cooldowns/mits or a healer spamming Cure I and I blame SE for that primarily. Those players never had to learn their roles because the game lets them all skate by without consequence and without forcing them to learn how to get better or adjust in spicy situations. It may be normal content, but it should still be a challenge and fun to play. I have been saying for the past few years that FF is too easy with a lot of things in the normal content (primarily the last three alliance raids) and it is promoting an environment where players aren't being driven to learn to play their roles in the slightest since most mechanics can just be out-healed or semi-ignored. Nobody needs to be a pro or perfect, but I think if the game had gradually increased in difficulty appropriately, this wouldn't be as big of a complaint as it is being made right now since people would have been better prepared for it.

For context: I am not a savage raider. Have never done on-release or on-content savage. Only maybe 3-4 of on-content extremes. I click half my buttons and I have aphantasia which makes some fights with rotating mechanics/danger zones incredibly difficult for me due to the inability to visualize. So I am not coming from a place of a heavy raider, just a mid player who would like more engaging content and is enjoying M1-M4 as it is, finally feels like a step up for normal content which is much needed since I do believe there is a big gap between normal and more difficult content pre-DT.

[Looma]

Two points to make on this subject that I think can prove everyone's argument...

1. You're playing OPTIONAL content that is made to bridge the gap between normal and extreme/savage.

2. Your character of choice is summoner so no wonder this is hard for you.

[Saiion]

Regret putting anything in the forums, should have known it wouldn't go well so plz forget i was ever here

Hello
In a couple of your previous posts, which, for some reason you edited out the original content and replaced it with the same message, you stated that you struggled in EW and that have very bad anxiety and only do content with trusts. I am going to assume that the character on your profile is an alt since you only have a lvl 6 arcanist on it and you are not able to run any kind of instanced content at said lvl.
So unless you are just a troll, trying to stir shit up, trying to gain sympathy and you are actually being truthful, I am genuinely curious as to what content, dungeon, specific mechanics etc in EW that you struggled with?

[Divine-Fist]

Okay so here's my take. For starters, I'm 45 and I was born with epilepsy (not photosensitive), but I have loved games since my mom brought home an Atari console when I was a kid. Fast forward and I have now had brain surgery and suffered a stroke, but I still love playing games. I have worked hard to not let my disability get in the way of my love for games and my love for FFXIV. However, the increase in difficulty for DT has made the side effects of my disability clear. I have maxed every job in every new content release for FFXIV and mastered their rotations but no matter how good I am at the jobs I play my ability to react to certain mechanics before taking a hit or remember the order in which certain boss skills will activate has been greatly diminished with DT. I've made mistakes and I've taking plenty of debuffs from not reacting fast enough in the past. I'm not a perfect player but it's disheartening that the difficulty increase in DT has pushed me to a level of difficulty I fear I may not be able to surpass. I know with every new expansion there comes new challenges and eventually you learn what you need to do, and it becomes to new norm. I really want to continue enjoying FFXIV but I feel like those of us with disabilities are not even a consideration when developing new content. I don't even participate in extremes, savages, or ultimates because I know my limits and that I will never be able to do anything beyond casual content. I worry now that even casual content will be beyond my ability to play and the thought of it makes me feel despair because FFXIV has helped me so much with my depression and now I feel like I'm falling back into that pit.

[Banggugyangu]

Okay so here's my take. For starters, I'm 45 and I was born with epilepsy (not photosensitive), but I have loved games since my mom brought home an Atari console when I was a kid. Fast forward and I have now had brain surgery and suffered a stroke, but I still love playing games. I have worked hard to not let my disability get in the way of my love for games and my love for FFXIV. However, the increase in difficulty for DT has made the side effects of my disability clear. I have maxed every job in every new content release for FFXIV and mastered their rotations but no matter how good I am at the jobs I play my ability to react to certain mechanics before taking a hit or remember the order in which certain boss skills will activate has been greatly diminished with DT. I've made mistakes and I've taking plenty of debuffs from not reacting fast enough in the past. I'm not a perfect player but it's disheartening that the difficulty increase in DT has pushed me to a level of difficulty I fear I may not be able to surpass. I know with every new expansion there comes new challenges and eventually you learn what you need to do, and it becomes to new norm. I really want to continue enjoying FFXIV but I feel like those of us with disabilities are not even a consideration when developing new content. I don't even participate in extremes, savages, or ultimates because I know my limits and that I will never be able to do anything beyond casual content. I worry now that even casual content will be beyond my ability to play and the thought of it makes me feel despair because FFXIV has helped me so much with my depression and now I feel like I'm falling back into that pit.

First off, my condolences for your condition. One thing I've learned from watching many people with various disabilities is that they're true testaments to the human ability to adapt and overcome. None of the mechanics in the new content have a timeline of telegraph to action that is faster than previous expansions. I would argue that the biggest hang-up most people are seeing is that the new telegraphs require a much more focused observation of the boss and/or the arena to properly discern the mechanic. This is why I suggested in prior responses to stop worrying about rotations and dealing damage, and instead focus on the boss and arenas during certain mechanics. If you were able to overcome mechanics in previous expansions despite your disability, then you can still in these new fights. Yes, the difficulty is ramped up a bit, but it's not so much that it becomes impossible. Remember, all of these fights in normal have no enrage mechanics, and it's ok to stop doing damage and focus on learning/surviving. The fights are also not random. Learning the mechanics leads to easier pattern recognition, which leads to faster/more natural response to those patterns.