So, I had originally posted this on a thread which seems to have since been consigned to the Land of Wind and Ghosts (along with main-stat materia and elementally-aspected combat abilities) after one poster expressed frustration that the Bozjan instances (Castrum Lacus Litore and Delubrum Reginae) were too difficult, and that 'only the best' were capable of finishing them.
And while the thread -- and the post within I was replying to -- are now gone, I tend to think this post may still be useful. Because a) I think understanding a little about how the fights in this game are set up is worthwhile, and b) while I get frustration and trepidation, especially having suffered from them myself for a long time when I was newly-returned to the game, I genuinely believe in you all.
---- Original Post Below ----
I almost guarantee you that you're capable of the content. And this is not me trying to be like "Pfft, high-end content is easy, anyone can do it." and dismissive of people genuinely feeling like it's beyond them because they've died a bunch in content like this.
It's 100% normal to have trouble and feel like a fight's beyond your abilities... but that's because content in this game is deliberately designed to make you think that.
Particularly from Stormblood on, this game has gotten very good at making flashy, complicated-looking mechanics designed to appear to be confusing... but which are actually dead simple, as long as you either spot the 'dead simple' pathway through it, or have someone tell you.
It's the equivalent of a stage magician doing something flashy with one hand to draw your attention, just so they can do something with the other hand while you aren't paying attention.
For instance, take the swords in Emerald Weapon's extreme fight; many people complain about how incredibly difficult those swords are, and how it's "seemingly random" where they are falling. But the truth is that there are only a handful of actual possible patterns, and one corner is pretty much always safe. (Illustrations!) People who look like wizards who can just skate through the sword mechanic are... mostly just watching the southeastern corner of things, at which point you only need to notice which of the two swords falls first.
There are also mechanics that will bait you into moving to the wrong spot -- again, like an illusionist tricking you into expecting one thing before showing another. Red Choctober is particularly egregious here, because it'll put a big puddle of Bad on the ground in two spots, then a big red X of bad crossing the arena; with the Puddles of Bad in two quadrants of the X, everyone is prone to going for the 'safe' quadrants... only to have the Puddles of Bad explode, rotate halfway to the next quadrant, explode, rotate again and land in the 'safe' spot where everyone gathered... and explode, killing them all right as the big red X goes off as well.
Meanwhile, the place where the rotating Puddles of Bad first appeared is the actual safe spot.
It takes no actual skill to survive that mechanic; it just takes knowing that they're trying to trick you. So all you do is wait outside the first Puddle of Bad (where it looks like it's going to be the absolute worst spot to stand) and waiting, then stepping into the safe spot where it was as soon as it explodes and moves. After that, you can just chill there through the rest of the mechanic... and potentially watch half of the Critical Engagement die in what looked like the safe spot, because the game baited them.
But to those who die when the puddle rotates into their 'safe zone' and haven't been shown that pattern, it sure can look like those who survived are some sort of gaming wizards to figure out ahead of time where was going to be safe and cheat death.
Because when you haven't seen behind the curtain for a fight, those big mechanics can seem like insurmountable obstacles -- and that's what they're designed to do. Because the tendency is to feel like you need to watch the entire arena and that's often meant to be overwhelming; there's flashy graphics everywhere, things are glowing or exploding or moving across the arena and you've never seen that particular marker before and there's a big red puddle of bad there but people seem to be standing in it deliberately and that's weird and aaaaaaaaaa what do you do?
It's no wonder so many people die during those sort of fights, and find them discouraging.
This doesn't mean you're obligated to do the content designed to look difficult, of course. Some people won't find it fun, even when they know how to do it, because it's just not what they're looking for in the game. Some people will find it stressful with that many people running around because they prefer smaller groups (whether due to chaos or genuine shyness), and the stress makes it difficult to remember what it is that's hidden behind the smoke and mirrors and easier to slip up.
Heck, some people just would prefer to fish, and that's okay too!
Nor is this to say there aren't folks who legitimately could not do the content either. I had a friend who had severe nerve damage sustained during his military service; he loved playing video games, he loved playing MMOs with his friends... and there is zero chance he would've been able to do Castrum Lacus Litore or Delubrum Reginae, because even if he could see through the smoke and mirrors he would likely not be able to react fast enough because his hands just didn't work. (Which is, yes, unfortunate; anyone who's in the position my friend was, you have my sympathy.)
But for the average player... if you want to do this content, I promise you, you probably are capable of it, even if you've already tried and had a disastrous run or two. The content's just very good at lying to you and trying to convince you that you aren't, because that's literally what it's designed to do.
And if you ask, I suspect many people will be willing to show 'how the trick is done' and ruin that stage-magic illusion.
Continue reading...
And while the thread -- and the post within I was replying to -- are now gone, I tend to think this post may still be useful. Because a) I think understanding a little about how the fights in this game are set up is worthwhile, and b) while I get frustration and trepidation, especially having suffered from them myself for a long time when I was newly-returned to the game, I genuinely believe in you all.
---- Original Post Below ----
I almost guarantee you that you're capable of the content. And this is not me trying to be like "Pfft, high-end content is easy, anyone can do it." and dismissive of people genuinely feeling like it's beyond them because they've died a bunch in content like this.
It's 100% normal to have trouble and feel like a fight's beyond your abilities... but that's because content in this game is deliberately designed to make you think that.
Particularly from Stormblood on, this game has gotten very good at making flashy, complicated-looking mechanics designed to appear to be confusing... but which are actually dead simple, as long as you either spot the 'dead simple' pathway through it, or have someone tell you.
It's the equivalent of a stage magician doing something flashy with one hand to draw your attention, just so they can do something with the other hand while you aren't paying attention.
For instance, take the swords in Emerald Weapon's extreme fight; many people complain about how incredibly difficult those swords are, and how it's "seemingly random" where they are falling. But the truth is that there are only a handful of actual possible patterns, and one corner is pretty much always safe. (Illustrations!) People who look like wizards who can just skate through the sword mechanic are... mostly just watching the southeastern corner of things, at which point you only need to notice which of the two swords falls first.
There are also mechanics that will bait you into moving to the wrong spot -- again, like an illusionist tricking you into expecting one thing before showing another. Red Choctober is particularly egregious here, because it'll put a big puddle of Bad on the ground in two spots, then a big red X of bad crossing the arena; with the Puddles of Bad in two quadrants of the X, everyone is prone to going for the 'safe' quadrants... only to have the Puddles of Bad explode, rotate halfway to the next quadrant, explode, rotate again and land in the 'safe' spot where everyone gathered... and explode, killing them all right as the big red X goes off as well.
Meanwhile, the place where the rotating Puddles of Bad first appeared is the actual safe spot.
It takes no actual skill to survive that mechanic; it just takes knowing that they're trying to trick you. So all you do is wait outside the first Puddle of Bad (where it looks like it's going to be the absolute worst spot to stand) and waiting, then stepping into the safe spot where it was as soon as it explodes and moves. After that, you can just chill there through the rest of the mechanic... and potentially watch half of the Critical Engagement die in what looked like the safe spot, because the game baited them.
But to those who die when the puddle rotates into their 'safe zone' and haven't been shown that pattern, it sure can look like those who survived are some sort of gaming wizards to figure out ahead of time where was going to be safe and cheat death.
Because when you haven't seen behind the curtain for a fight, those big mechanics can seem like insurmountable obstacles -- and that's what they're designed to do. Because the tendency is to feel like you need to watch the entire arena and that's often meant to be overwhelming; there's flashy graphics everywhere, things are glowing or exploding or moving across the arena and you've never seen that particular marker before and there's a big red puddle of bad there but people seem to be standing in it deliberately and that's weird and aaaaaaaaaa what do you do?
It's no wonder so many people die during those sort of fights, and find them discouraging.
This doesn't mean you're obligated to do the content designed to look difficult, of course. Some people won't find it fun, even when they know how to do it, because it's just not what they're looking for in the game. Some people will find it stressful with that many people running around because they prefer smaller groups (whether due to chaos or genuine shyness), and the stress makes it difficult to remember what it is that's hidden behind the smoke and mirrors and easier to slip up.
Heck, some people just would prefer to fish, and that's okay too!
Nor is this to say there aren't folks who legitimately could not do the content either. I had a friend who had severe nerve damage sustained during his military service; he loved playing video games, he loved playing MMOs with his friends... and there is zero chance he would've been able to do Castrum Lacus Litore or Delubrum Reginae, because even if he could see through the smoke and mirrors he would likely not be able to react fast enough because his hands just didn't work. (Which is, yes, unfortunate; anyone who's in the position my friend was, you have my sympathy.)
But for the average player... if you want to do this content, I promise you, you probably are capable of it, even if you've already tried and had a disastrous run or two. The content's just very good at lying to you and trying to convince you that you aren't, because that's literally what it's designed to do.
And if you ask, I suspect many people will be willing to show 'how the trick is done' and ruin that stage-magic illusion.
Continue reading...