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

[Kazumi_Ametrine]

I have to say, the level of mediocrity here is quite astonishing. The game isn't that difficult, and while Dawntrail's increased difficulty level took me by surprise, it's honestly a good thing. It forces players to think, and there's nothing wrong with that. Complaining about having to use your brain to play a game defeats the purpose of playing, doesn't it? As a healer, it's incredibly rewarding to use my entire kit even in dungeons. It's nice to have meaningful things to do for once.

Regarding normal raids, they are optional. While some might disagree, I personally view normal raids as lower-tier midcore content, with extremes being firmly midcore (though admittedly easy for some). The MSQ, dungeons, and expert dungeons fall into casual content, though even expert dungeons are considered optional.

Let's remember that this was literally day one. No one knows how to get through new content immediately. I promise that after the first week, it will be easy as pie. Even on a second attempt, once you've seen the mechanics, it's not that difficult. The intentional jump in difficulty was designed to be more challenging, but still accessible to casual players. Honestly, I would have been majorly disappointed if the devs hadn't increased the difficulty. It gets tiresome doing the same dodging over and over again. This forces me to be quick on my feet, and I, for one, welcome these changes with open arms.

[Dinivaas]

This is a huge case of people essentially complaining about getting exactly what they asked for.

People complained about EW dungeons and casual content being too easy, so they amped up the difficulty. Now people are complaining about the game being too hard. Healers are complaining that tank self-sustain is too strong in casual content, making them unnecessary. Now we have casual content that actually makes tanks require their healers to be on their A-Game.

Which brings me to the point of the fact that most people making these complaints don't even have an A-Game to begin with. Yes, there are some valid criticisms and complaints going on with everything but if you've been playing this game across multiple expansions and reached level 100 without buying skip potions, then why should things continue to be dumbed down for you? You've clearly put the time and effort in to invest into this game, and the game and its creators will rightly assume that if you put that much time and energy into the game, then you likely have an understanding of the game's fundamental systems and don't need to be coddled. It's time to take the training wheels off.

After 300+ hours of playtime, I cannot think of reasons beyond physical or mental disability to explain why you are still struggling with mechanics that are often the same thing we've seen a million times already in shiny new wrapping paper. And even then, I've seen someone IN THIS THREAD state that they have physical disabilities and still enjoy the rise in difficulty.
Most of these complaints will end up being moot anyways when we increase gear level to points that trivialize the difficulty as we grow in power.

It hasn't even been a full week yet with the new raids and people are already complaining about how hard it is. And all I can think about in regards to this whole situation is how we wanted fights to actually give us a challenge, and now that we got that challenge, people are complaining. And the only thing I can see coming from this is Yoshi-P making the same pained face he made when we asked for housing on the moon RIGHT when the devs finished housing in Ishgard.

All the devs are gonna take away from this is that we'll never be happy even when they give us what we ask for.

So maybe stop complaining, and follow the wise words of an old sage;

Git Gud.

[Zolvolt]

After having a. Expansion of easy content its nice to get back to what we're used to from this game. I just aak players please just get better.

[TheCoker]

Do not give in YoshiP. The difficulty of Dawntrail is perfect for normal content. People need to learn, not the mechanics, but that is OK to struggle in content, not the end of the world. The content needs to be engaging. Everything we had in the past was BORING. Terribly boring. This is also level 100, at some point people need to pay attention to mechanics.
Perfect balance: Mechanics easy to execute, but have to pay attention to what the boss is doing and react accordingly. There isn't even a dps check!

[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.

[Archenn45]

R1-4 were "hard" sure but they were definitely pretty easy, casual is not "brain off clear go next", thats what you want, casual is just people that just do what they want.

[Jinglypockets]

This is a huge case of people essentially complaining about getting exactly what they asked for.

The people complaining about it being difficult are not the same people who were complaining about it being too easy before. They're different people asking for different things.

Now we have casual content that actually makes tanks require their healers to be on their A-Game.

lol no

[EdgeGilid]

Stop making excuses and just learn the damn mechanics. You're a bunch of human being that has the ability and the capacity to adapt and learn.