Here we go again

[ViinaS]

I can prove that level 100 means nothing. I have a level 100 Reaper, but because I haven't played in months, I couldn't even tell you the name of a single skill. Sure, it won't take me long to get back to a basic rotation, but if I had to do the new dungeons right now, I'd be pressing random buttons and hoping for the best.

Also, no need to be nasty, try being kind for a change.

I went on a hiatus for almost 5 months due to how awfully empty 7.2 was, OC not being interesting enough to make me resub and resubbed the day the 7.3 patch dropped.
I played the dungeon on a job that wasn't one of my main dps jobs and cleared the boss on the second try.

And no, I am done being kind to someone who makes asinine comparisons, uses strawman tactics to ignore my points and thinks lack of basic knowledge about the game at level cap is acceptable and demands compassion for that.

[Raim]

If someone posted a thread on a restaurant forum talking about how the decision to add carolina reaper sauce to every dish was making the food more difficult for the majority to digest, and was taking away from the enjoyment of the product, neither the few reaper fans claiming it wasn't even spicy and people just had to "practice suppressing their gag reflex" nor some of the unsatisfied customers managing to eventually choke it down would change the fact that the general sentiment is indicative of a real problem the company would be foolish to ignore.

This is level 100 content. Its assumed by this point you've built up some spice tolerance to normal difficulty dungeons.

[Cygnia]

As a longtime lurker I second Valence (sorry if mispelt) on desiring difficulty in more traditional RPG lanes - this 'speed up stuff' with the addition of our epic flash moves is painful. It's not like I'm a complete stranger either to hauling arse i.e. Dragon's Dogma (the first) but that game has a handful of moves with the engine to support the playstyle. Square isn't only speeding things up but on a game engine fundamentally not well designed for it.
I want more of a challenge for certain. Just not this way.

[Pyshiro]

The second boss was pretty fun imo. It was different, I only had to focus on one little circle instead of an entire arena or whatever my party members were doing, and it was mainly just dodge the incoming slow bars and stay away from chain balls... that's it. There's some accountability involved but hardly difficult. I'm pretty casual too since I stay away from Extremes/Savages/etc until they can be synced down years later. These DT battles have felt so good as a lvl 100 player that I don't have to play with brain off as I did before now (And even then, some DT dungeons I go in with brain off because they're still plenty easy)

[thrntnja]

I consider myself to be a fairly average player at this game. I don't run EX+ content, but I do roulettes enough to not inconvenience my team most of the time. But I will say that in Dawntrail, the constant AoE spam with stacks of mechanics in dungeon and trials has caused me to increasingly struggle. Some of this is probably a skill problem - I frequently play at night after work, I'm tired, etc. I'll freely admit that. Yes, I will keep playing until I eventually manage it and learn what I'm supposed to do. The issue is less that the content is too hard and it is more that it can be quite unforgiving in the sense that inherent game limitations are unable to embrace these sorts of duties as opposed to the actual encounter design itself. Yes, there are tells there to tell you what is coming, but you still have to negotiate increasingly stacked and/or timed AoEs and flash animations, which when taking ping/latency issues, the slight disconnect between the screenshotting of your character/telegraphs/visual cues of the associated AoEs, the increasing number of flashy animations present, etc. can really add up and make the experience frustrating. When duties were overall slower and with less mechanics, these issues were not as evident for a lot of people, I think. I also think some jobs are at a disadvantage compared to others. Some jobs have very little in comparison, and with the direction of the game, if this is where they plan to go, I really do think some jobs need more movement utility. I get some jobs can and should be harder than others, and that is fine. But I do not think there is a good balance right now either.

Those in this thread complaining about people that don't know that the visual cues aren't what to follow for AoEs - you are probably right. However, to me, that is on SE to rectify that issue, whether it be fixing the issue or explaining it to players in the game itself. We just got additional rounds of Hall of the Novice to explain raid mechanics, which I thought was a great addition - we need more of that. Yes, I know experienced players know that the cast timer and the visual AoE cues are offset by a second or so and will adjust or will look up a guide, but I don’t think this is necessarily the norm. Having visual cues that you can actually trust would go a long way here. My point is not to make excuses but with how Dawntrail's duties are designed, these issues add up quite quickly, and I think these issues are the core of a lot of player's frustrations, not just that it is too hard. I don't think the content needs to be easier, but I do think SE could and should make strides to make the experience smoother for players. The game was not designed for this sort of combat, and I think some upgrades are needed on SE’s end for a better overall experience. The adding of the cast bar on top of some enemies in 7.3 is a great QoL feature that should help with stuff like this, imo, and we need more of this.

[Mawlzy]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the last few pages.

We have a steady procession of players using an awful lot of words to convey something they seem to think is profound:

"This is easy for me, thus it is easy for you."

What a delightful intersection of ignorance and arrogance.

Would anyone else like to repeat this point and embarrass themselves?

[eloralora]

I'm fairly certain Yoshi-P has outright stated that Duty Support was implemented specifically so that people could play through the MSQ without needing to run content with other players, because single-player games have become so popular lately and they wanted FFXIV to offer a single-player experience for those who want one. They have already decided that they want their game to be accessible and enjoyable to people who just want to enjoy the story. I doubt Square would agree with the idea that "maybe the game's just not for" people who have trouble with this newer content. I don't really understand why it would be an issue to give Duty Support NPCs the ability to raise, for example. I did the newest trial with Duty Support, and I'm pretty sure I "died" twice but got spared by the story buff. Shockingly, this affected literally nobody else who plays the game.

I'm sure there are some people who are just averse to dying in dungeons because it's inconvenient and frustrating, or who give up too quickly when they'd just need a few reps to get it, but when someone says the content is genuinely too difficult or fast for them, why is it so hard to understand that they could be telling the truth? Is it really so hard to fathom experiences that aren't your own? It's not like people are asking for free Savage and Ultimate clears. They're voicing concerns about the battle content associated with the story. I primarily enjoy the story, Ex, Savage, and Ultimate content in this game, and I can't think of a single negative impact it would have on me for someone's solo MSQ dungeon run to be as easy as they want (or need) it to be.

[sylphlands]

after reading the abhorrent replies in this thread in which people willfully misinterpret the points being made by people requesting simple accessibility options, i never want to hear a single one of you complain about this game's population being in decline ever again.

[Mawlzy]

after reading the abhorrent replies in this thread in which people willfully misinterpret the points being made by people requesting simple accessibility options, i never want to hear a single one of you complain about this game's population being in decline ever again.

Unfortunately, some people feel empowered through cruelty.

While they are bad for the game and player numbers, I am far more concerned about their impact IRL. We don't need any more individuals who regard empathy as "a fundamental weakness of Western civilization."

At the end of the day, I think it's important to realize that in pretty much any case
your preferred difficulty and enjoyment is directly coming at the cost of another player's enjoyment, and to recognize that sometimes a middle ground that's outside of your comfort zone is necessary for the health of the game.

Solutions have been presented in this and other threads that overcome this problem. In fact, I'd argue, based on the responses from "both sides" of this discussion, that a middle ground leaves a greater number of people dissatisfied.

[FlorineC]

Unfortunately, some people feel empowered through cruelty.
In fact, I'd argue, based on the responses from "both sides" of this discussion, that a middle ground leaves a greater number of people dissatisfied.

I'd be curious to see what data you have to support that argument that's more than the anecdotal evidence in this thread or others like it.

Are we serious with this? are you people like 70 yo so you cannot do these simple mechs we have done since ARR? "the dodge mechanics are firing too fast" what are you talking about? the boss spawns the blades like 10 seconds before they actually go off, same with the hanging chain balls, they are there for like 8 seconds before they even go off, if your reaction time is that bad i don't think you should go outside ever or atleast please dont use car.

To be fair, for the Serial Torture attack there are four individual telegraphs and hits (blades, spike ball, blades, dynamo) that happen over the course of about 11 seconds. First there are the blade and spike ball telegraphs where the second set of blades and spike balls appear at the same time, 4 seconds after the initial blades telegraph. One second later (5 seconds after the first telegraph) the first hit goes off, then two seconds after that the spike balls drop (3 seconds after their telegraph), and another two seconds after that the second set of blades go off (five seconds after their telegraph). One second before the second blades go off (8 seconds after the first telegraph appeared) the dynamo telegraph appears, and then 3seconds later the dynamo goes off. So for two hits of the attack you have five seconds to react, and the other two you have three seconds. I personally think that's still ample time considering how small the distances you and considering you can safely take one hit without shields or healing even at minimum ilvl, but I don't think it helps the conversation to exaggerate how much time you actually have to react.

Edit: Used the duty timer to measure so +/-1 second margin of error on all time estimates.