This new direction is fantastic and I wanted to express my joy over it.
I don't believe the high-end content needs much change, raiders have always had content to do throughout the expansion and with notorious raids such as P8S or Dragonsong and Omega Ultimate, there was plenty of challenge at that level already. However, genuine casual gameplay was mind-numbingly boring. Dungeons had zero danger, raids allowed infinite mistakes, even relics asked you to do nothing but buy items at the vendor. You either had to be a hardcore raider or use this game as a chatroom to find any enjoyment, now you can actually play the game casually and have a sense of progression/success. A bunch of my casual friends are elated at not falling asleep anymore in Expert dungeons and even hardcore players get caught out by some mechanics. MSQ is still easy enough while providing some refreshing mechanics and novel experiences, and the few hard parts can be overcome by cooperation and helping each other through the content. I can't even remember the last time anything went wrong in Endwalker, but in Dawntrail I've seen wipes in a couple dungeons and normal raids and we all laughed at being caught out and went and tried again, and if someone struggled, the rest of the group just explained it or helped as necessary.
I've not felt the need to be social in a long time and it is wonderful. It really feels like an MMO again, and more importantly, like a game again. With a mostly accessible story, and optional content that provides some challenge, such as the normal raids and the Expert duties, this is a perfect balance.
Whatever you're doing right now, development team, you're making an exceptionally good game right now and I hope you know that people who like to actually play games are grateful.
Continue reading...
I don't believe the high-end content needs much change, raiders have always had content to do throughout the expansion and with notorious raids such as P8S or Dragonsong and Omega Ultimate, there was plenty of challenge at that level already. However, genuine casual gameplay was mind-numbingly boring. Dungeons had zero danger, raids allowed infinite mistakes, even relics asked you to do nothing but buy items at the vendor. You either had to be a hardcore raider or use this game as a chatroom to find any enjoyment, now you can actually play the game casually and have a sense of progression/success. A bunch of my casual friends are elated at not falling asleep anymore in Expert dungeons and even hardcore players get caught out by some mechanics. MSQ is still easy enough while providing some refreshing mechanics and novel experiences, and the few hard parts can be overcome by cooperation and helping each other through the content. I can't even remember the last time anything went wrong in Endwalker, but in Dawntrail I've seen wipes in a couple dungeons and normal raids and we all laughed at being caught out and went and tried again, and if someone struggled, the rest of the group just explained it or helped as necessary.
I've not felt the need to be social in a long time and it is wonderful. It really feels like an MMO again, and more importantly, like a game again. With a mostly accessible story, and optional content that provides some challenge, such as the normal raids and the Expert duties, this is a perfect balance.
Whatever you're doing right now, development team, you're making an exceptionally good game right now and I hope you know that people who like to actually play games are grateful.
Continue reading...