Difficulty of normal content.

[Sylvain]

So... I understand we're not all good at the game, I may be able to clear Ultimate but place me in a shooting game and I can miss a static target.

However there's something I do not understand. Do you dislike the difficulty because you want to engage with said content, on a daily/weekly basis, and thus are unable because it is, to you, too hard.
Or you just want to see the story and do things once.

If you just want to see the story, I hardly see how the difficulty can be a problem. You still managed to do it, (even if you were tanking the floor), so what's the problem?
If the problem is you not enjoying it because it's too hard, then how is that more valid than me falling asleep on old raid because it's too easy. (True story I actually really fell alseep while doing the weekly farm).
If this is the case, then I'm sorry but I do believe that it's better to make the content more enjoyable for those who'll do it weekly and not just once to see the story.

If on the other hand you want to do it weekly, then I can understand the frustration but now I wonder... Why do you do you engage with "raiding" on a weekly basis if you dislike difficulty and challenge. And I'm genuine I do not understand... Why bother with raiding if you dislike challenges... I dislike the island thingy because I find it utterly boring, and no matter how good it can be for materia generation and such, I just didn't do it. It's not for me. I dislike content in which I can't engage. Some people love it because they can just do it while chilling and talking with their friends on discords. In the same way I wouldn't see the point of adding challenging encounter in the harvest-moon lite minigame we got, I don't see the point of raiding with something that's just not challenging you in any way shape or form.
Why would you do it ? The gear? (beside glamour). Why would you care about the gear if you'll never engage with anything requiring said gear.

Would you find it funnier to have the difficulty so low that you don't need to engage with the content? Because that's what EW was... You could be hit by absolutely everything in most dungeon and normal raid, pile up 5 vuln and still be fine. I tried, just went as a healer and spammd 1 without moving ever (except for when the ground would instant kill me). I pretty much made it through most fight. You can be entitled to enjoy such gameplay and well... good for you I suppose, but I do not believe that most people enjoying combat content would enjoy something which litterally they can't fail. You know a bit like playing chess against an AI that will just alwyas loose to you, or Mario Kart but you can't go off the road, enemies will alwyas fuck up and manage to be behind you.

There are some content which require no skill in the game and are meant to be relaxing. However at its core, it is an rpg and combat based game. I think the dev did an amazing job at future proofing and making the story the most accessible as possible for least skilled players. I just have to look at my bf currently progressing through HW, he died something like 5 times during the fight before thordan and it's really just going in and out of red circles on the ground.

But i don't believe Trials and raid should catter to players who can't, after hundreds of hours, dodge a red marker on the ground within 5s. Those content can still be done with you being afk in them. Whenever I did them there would usually only be 1 player really struggling, I don't see why the 7 others should fall into a snooze fest just so that one player struggles less. However I admit it wouldn't hurt if they would make a "story" version of the raid with AI, even more simple but without loot. So people who really only want to see the story could do so wihtout the frustration of being dead 90% of the time. I believe this could be a good addition.

Beside, tbh if anything I'm a bit jealous. If dungeons and normal raid are a challenge to you it means you can be challenged by litterally everything in the game. Litterally everything in the game is going to keep you on your toes. EW was such a boredome to me, I literrally stoped playing beside Ultimate and Savage because the rest was just pure boredom. I even went as far as making some dps macro for the 24 man that would do 1 action every 3s while watching netflix or reading a book because those fight were so boring after the first 2 weeks.

If anything, be happy that everything entertains you.

[Infindox]

Actually, we had new content in EW, besides the old Eureka/Bozja grind. But Criterion was a failure, difficult content ? Yes. Engaging and interesting ? No. Rewards were lame, fights in themselves weren't interesting. You clear them to get the mount, and pretty never much want to see them again. They admitted themselves that the content wasn't good enough in what it tried to achieve.

Alliance raids design was also a failure (Halone was fine tho). When you enter an Alliance raids, you're expecting mechanics around team A, B and C. That was not the case in EW.

Also, half room AoE designs got boring really quickly.

Island sanctuary depends on personal preference so it's w/e.

Criterion failed for me because after I did the normal mode, there wasn't much reason to even try or do the harder modes because I could just buy the mount on the MB and the weapon skins were not that great. The "hard" mode was doable by most but the Savage version was sometimes even harder then some actual Savage fights, so most people won't bother.
Also yeah, the EW alliance raids were a bit of a face roll. I *don't* want the DT raids to be like Puppet's Bunker (too much downtime with the NPCs talking and the raid takes forever) but I would like to see some more mechanics with the ability to screw over teams if they don't do it right.

[caffe_macchiato]

You can literally leave earlier, or enter a bit later. Or try to discern the pattern of a mechanic before it is resolved. Or die, learn, and try again. It is that simple, and it is the "game" part of a video game. Snapshotting is an issue for high ping players, but what you're describing is just delusional.

And what will happen when Square Enix finally resolves "snapshotting"? Will people complain about the lack of difficulty? Because Yoshida just had an interview where he admitted that the delay is too long and causes limitations of mechanics like what we're seeing in raids:

That is what's so difficult about FFXIV. Every time you take an action in the game, the game will communicate with the server, check for cheating and come back afterwards. This creates a delay that an offline game doesn't have, since there's no need to check on the Internet. This limitation is something we've had to deal with for years, and it does limit us somewhat in what we can manage to implement in the game.

https://www.finaland.com/?rub=site&page=news&id=6801

I mean, I don't think people should want to defend a system that the director himself says is an issue.

My only stance is that Square Enix should not add overlapping or excessive mechanics without mitigating this issue that they know is real. The new raids push the engine to its limits and probably past that, which isn't a good thing. Square Enix should invest money in fixing the root of the issue. But people will jump over hoops to defend the current system as if it's god's gift to gaming.

Someday snapshotting won't exist. What will people do then? Will they riot?

How independable can you be for not figuring out mechanics on a game you played for hundreds or thousands of hours.

I think this expansion is going to be a turning point in FFXIV history. Only the people who've put in hundreds or thousands of hours can access the new content. Which means that the community will shift from being "toxic casual" (friendliest online community!) to being edgier and more like WoW Classic. And a lot of people will love that because it means more orange circles on the ground to dodge. But it also means there's a bottleneck for FFXIV's potential. It will not get new players from here on out. The player base will stagnate and the only people who stick around are the hardcore players who, like WoW Classic, are very negative. And a lot of people LOVE this! But their game will die. With less players, the game will receive less funding and you will have worse content. You will complain. And then FFXIV will hit "maintenance mode". No new players play FFXI. Do people love that? Of course they do--for the few hundred that remain.

To be clear: the content isn't the issue. But the community will wall off new players until they don't want to play anymore because they will see FFXIV as just another "toxic MMO" like WoW. You'll love that! And your queues will take an hour to fill. It's sad that the FFXIV community has finally gotten worse than the game that Square Enix is making. We've hit the turning point.

[Martto]

Lots of people are okay with this increase of difficulty, including myself.

- What abuse are you talking about? It is a GOOD thing that they're developing mechanics, if all you expect is a stack marker, one tankbuster per fight and one orange circle this is very stale and boring.
I saw plenty of people play the normal content while watching youtube. Is this really where we want our game to go? To become an afk simulator?
- Judging from your post, you've never touched Extremes or Savages and trust me both harder content types are a step up from normal fights. If they make the fights easier yet again, all you will do is hinder players who want to reach higher.
Why should Extreme fights be infinitely harder, just because you want a fight with ARR type of mechanics?!
- The only mechanic I saw too be resolvign very fast SPOILERS! is the mechanic at the 4th boss where she charges the cannon and you have to memorise where to go. But the pattern is really not difficult.
Second point! It is FINE to WIPE! Wiping is GOOD! You learn what happened wrong, you ASK what happened, nobody will be upset for failing the mechanics.
- The only bad side to such mechs is that snapshots can be dependant on server, but sometimes you have to respect the content and don't have to "Always Be Casting" every moment of the fight.

Thinking not wanting to be on duty might be your anxiety speaking up and not necessarily fault of the content.
You will die doing new content especially if it's not braindead easy like previous expansions have been. That is okay. Think what happened then, look what the boss does and next time you won't die.
If you really can't learn the mechanics, try playing a tank. Tanks are extremely resilient and can take mechanics even with multiple stacks of vulnerability.

Why are you gonna skip the raids? Why do you want the raids to be easy? Trials != Raids.
If you don't want to learn the fight, why do you want to ruin the experience for people who like a challenge, we're not talking about extreme levels of fights.
If you're afraid of trials, you can try doing them with trusts, from what I know all trials in this expansion are trust supported.

Duty Finder content doesn't mean it's that easy that I can watch youtube videos on the side. If you don't put any effort in the game, why should game reward that?
You're level ONE HUNDRED - 100.
All you're doing with your complaining is increasing the gap between casual and midcore players and that is a BAD thing.

So what would a midcore player like me have? Savages require quite a commitment, Ultimates even more. Extremes are a nice mix, but I'm not playing extremes every day.
You have to step out of your closet and make an effort. Normal raids are still much easier than extremes, extremely easier and non-comitting (aka casual like) than Savages not to mention Ultimates.

"Can casual players have something easy-ish to play?"
No. It's called normal content.

[Jayyarravina]

A video game with optional social aspects should not have you this scared. The fact you’re struggling with even using trusts in dungeons and trials probably means this isn’t the game for you. The content and job structure was watered down so heavily in the past few years, but if even the developer is saying he’s falling asleep in dungeons, things are gonna just pick up more. There’s also no harm in just watching streamers or sticking to casual content like island sanctuary and beast tribes. There’s even crafting and gathering. It’s a pretty game, but if you’re just gonna pay almost $20 to talk to npc’s and not do the content with the tools and options provided, it’s better to save your money and play something else.

[DharmaFishBiscuit]

Sometimes I wish a lot of players would just realise that the 'difficulty' standard has always been around the level we now experience in Dawntrail.

For me, I started in Stormblood, and I witnessed Shinryu Week 1. To hear they had to nerf the fight made me sad, because I personally LOVED the chaos I LOVED the challenge. (Lmfao and now I get replies it didn't get nerfed at all? All those years I believed my old FC leader lmfao xD! THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW <3. Validates more the pint of: getting better MATTERS)
That fight alone, as a new player, as the highest level content I was able to do, tempered me into the player I am today.
Looking at cast bars, looking at boss tells, looking around the arena, etc. etc.

A lot of players seemed to just leave the trial as soon as they got that one, which made me confused. And ever since then, I have seen the game go down in 'difficulty' till the moment it became a snoozefest and all you had to do is resolve one mechanic at a time. (This being 'casual' content.)
To have been in the last lvl 90 trial, it made me so happy to see the constant threats of AOEs again, which made me relive what I felt during Shinryu before nerf. This is the game I longed to play since I started. So I am personally happy to see it back again.

So overall, I am just happy we're back to this, and many players who missed a challenge or missed the 'difficulty' range of mechanics can now rejoice and practice again. To temper themselves with this new content on what's to come. To give themselves a chance to grow and it'll be easier for them to cross the bridge towards savages and even Ultimates (If these players want to eventually take that up)

It's not bad to wipe, it's not bad to die. The fact that the game allows you to learn mechanics and that nothing is punishable, should be reason enough for you to be happy about the fact that dying isn't bad?
Who are you disappointing?
So far the only thing I see is that you're disappointing yourself, when there is no reason to. Keep trying, keep practicing. It's either that, or hanging in the towel. Games should take effort, not everything handed to you on a silver platter. Learn that mindset and you'll get there.

[Sacae]

Is it new people who are saying it is too hard? I thought it was older players who've been playing for years that "can't keep up anymore?"

Could someone catch me up on what the narrative is now, I've lost track.

[Sacae]

Sometimes I wish a lot of players would just realise that the 'difficulty' standard has always been around the level we now experience in Dawntrail.

For me, I started in Stormblood, and I witnessed Shinryu Week 1. To hear they had to nerf the fight made me sad, because I personally LOVED the chaos I LOVED the challenge. That fight alone, as a new player, as the highest level content I was able to do, tempered me into the player I am today.
Looking at cast bars, looking at boss tells, looking around the arena, etc. etc.

A lot of players seemed to just leave the trial as soon as they got that one, which made me confused. And ever since then, I have seen the game go down in 'difficulty' till the moment it became a snoozefest and all you had to do is resolve one mechanic at a time. (This being 'casual' content.)
To have been in the last lvl 90 trial, it made me so happy to see the constant threats of AOEs again, which made me relive what I felt during Shinryu before nerf. This is the game I longed to play since I started. So I am personally happy to see it back again.

So overall, I am just happy we're back to this, and many players who missed a challenge or missed the 'difficulty' range of mechanics can now rejoice and practice again. To temper themselves with this new content on what's to come. To give themselves a chance to grow and it'll be easier for them to cross the bridge towards savages and even Ultimates (If these players want to eventually take that up)

It's not bad to wipe, it's not bad to die. The fact that the game allows you to learn mechanics and that nothing is punishable, should be reason enough for you to be happy about the fact that dying isn't bad?
Who are you disappointing?
So far the only thing I see is that you're disappointing yourself, when there is no reason to. Keep trying, keep practicing. It's either that, or hanging in the towel. Games should take effort, not everything handed to you on a silver platter. Learn that mindset and you'll get there.

They never nerfed Shinryu. People just got better. Kinda puts this whole whining about Dawntrail into perspective, doesn't it?

Same with Nidhogg, Tsukoyomi, Warrior of Light, etc. The only final boss that ever got nerfed was Steps of Faith, which had other issues not really related to difficulty.

[SoftCarryBoy]

And what will happen when Square Enix finally resolves "snapshotting"? Will people complain about the lack of difficulty? Because Yoshida just had an interview where he admitted that the delay is too long and causes limitations of mechanics like what we're seeing in raids:

https://www.finaland.com/?rub=site&page=news&id=6801

I mean, I don't think people should want to defend a system that the director himself says is an issue.

My only stance is that Square Enix should not add overlapping or excessive mechanics without mitigating this issue that they know is real. The new raids push the engine to its limits and probably past that, which isn't a good thing. Square Enix should invest money in fixing the root of the issue. But people will jump over hoops to defend the current system as if it's god's gift to gaming.

Someday snapshotting won't exist. What will people do then? Will they riot?





I think this expansion is going to be a turning point in FFXIV history. Only the people who've put in hundreds or thousands of hours can access the new content. Which means that the community will shift from being "toxic casual" (friendliest online community!) to being edgier and more like WoW Classic. And a lot of people will love that because it means more orange circles on the ground to dodge. But it also means there's a bottleneck for FFXIV's potential. It will not get new players from here on out. The player base will stagnate and the only people who stick around are the hardcore players who, like WoW Classic, are very negative. And a lot of people LOVE this! But their game will die. With less players, the game will receive less funding and you will have worse content. You will complain. And then FFXIV will hit "maintenance mode". No new players play FFXI. Do people love that? Of course they do--for the few hundred that remain.

To be clear: the content isn't the issue. But the community will wall off new players until they don't want to play anymore because they will see FFXIV as just another "toxic MMO" like WoW. You'll love that! And your queues will take an hour to fill. It's sad that the FFXIV community has finally gotten worse than the game that Square Enix is making. We've hit the turning point.

It's going to be just fine. It would be toxic if people refused to hate newcomers, but they don't. Most players are quite open to being helpful, that's evident even in this thread with people trying to help OP by suggesting things. But if they don't want to take any constructive criticism, or want to stay stuck in their "I'm a casual player and I only press one button every 3 seconds and break combos while standing in AoEs" bubble, then there's no helping them.

[Kiurt]

Sometimes I wish a lot of players would just realise that the 'difficulty' standard has always been around the level we now experience in Dawntrail.

For me, I started in Stormblood, and I witnessed Shinryu Week 1. To hear they had to nerf the fight made me sad, because I personally LOVED the chaos I LOVED the challenge. That fight alone, as a new player, as the highest level content I was able to do, tempered me into the player I am today.
Looking at cast bars, looking at boss tells, looking around the arena, etc. etc.

A lot of players seemed to just leave the trial as soon as they got that one, which made me confused. And ever since then, I have seen the game go down in 'difficulty' till the moment it became a snoozefest and all you had to do is resolve one mechanic at a time. (This being 'casual' content.)
To have been in the last lvl 90 trial, it made me so happy to see the constant threats of AOEs again, which made me relive what I felt during Shinryu before nerf. This is the game I longed to play since I started. So I am personally happy to see it back again.

So overall, I am just happy we're back to this, and many players who missed a challenge or missed the 'difficulty' range of mechanics can now rejoice and practice again. To temper themselves with this new content on what's to come. To give themselves a chance to grow and it'll be easier for them to cross the bridge towards savages and even Ultimates (If these players want to eventually take that up)

It's not bad to wipe, it's not bad to die. The fact that the game allows you to learn mechanics and that nothing is punishable, should be reason enough for you to be happy about the fact that dying isn't bad?
Who are you disappointing?
So far the only thing I see is that you're disappointing yourself, when there is no reason to. Keep trying, keep practicing. It's either that, or hanging in the towel. Games should take effort, not everything handed to you on a silver platter. Learn that mindset and you'll get there.

I don't think Shinryu got nerfed. Back when SB released, a lot of people was trying to do Shinryu without getting their class gear, which helped a lot at the time of release.