Difficulty of normal content.

[FlorineC]

If this were true, someone like OP wouldn't exist. The mere fact that OP unironically doesn't even want to queue for normal m3 and m4 because it's "too had for casuals" is proof that MSQ doesn't sufficiently teach people how to play game. I'll admit where one draws their "knows how to play the game" line is subjective, I still think getting to max level and people being lost like OP, doesn't make the MSQ teaches you how to play the game, all that compelling of an argument imo

I would argue that it's not the MSQ being a poor teacher as much as some players being poor students and being unwilling to learn, as OP has basically stated that they are. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

[Bryson]

I would argue that it's not the MSQ being a poor teacher as much as some players being poor students and being unwilling to learn, as OP has basically stated that they are. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

Sure, this could be the case. I don't think the 2 are necessarily mutually exclusive either. I'd argue someone like OP shouldn't have even been able to reach max lvl.. I think the game should be more difficult early on, to force people to learn. Instead of allowing the game to be so incredibly braindead, that lvl 100's can continue to be this lost, bad, entitled etc etc

[FlorineC]

Sure, this could be the case. I don't think the 2 are necessarily mutually exclusive either. I'd argue someone like OP shouldn't have even been able to reach max lvl.. I think the game should be more difficult early on, to force people to learn. Instead of allowing the game to be so incredibly braindead, that lvl 100's can continue to be this lost, bad, entitled etc etc

That's totally fair, though I think the amount of extra dev work that'd have to be put into making earlier content difficult, and maintaining that difficulty might be too much for it to be realistic. A lot of early fights used to be relatively hard and were never nerfed, they were just outgeared to the point of triviality. I suppose a relatively easy fix would be to enforce ilvl sync on key fights like Thordan, Nidhogg, and Shinryu, and I think the game would be better for it in multiple aspects. So yea ultimately I agree, it's probably a little of column a and a little of column b here.

[Seraphii]

I agree with you on the MSQ doesn't teach that well (anymore). It used to have more difficult content and the side content used to be harder as well. Somewhere along the line a lot of things got nerfed and "easy" and "very easy" versions of solo instances got added. Those solo duties at normal difficulty provide the tools to learn, but if someone fails and auto selects very easy... they're not going to learn.

The example I used was Thornmarch EX (maybe not the best example because it is still technically an EX). It got nerfed so hard that it no longer really teaches any mechanics. It used to actually teach sprouts some easier versions of harder mechanics they'd experience later.