“Casual players”, who are not very interested in optimized gear and boss mechanics, clash with hardcore players who have completely different demands and skills.
This is not a new problem in Final Fantasy XIV, even the quest “Steps of Faith” from the main game a few years ago posed the same issue: The trial was quite hard, was often attempted, often abandoned. Ultimately, Square Enix nerfed it.
“Git gud” or “pls nerf?”
As always, there are different attitudes towards this topic.
- Some say: “The instance is perfectly fine. The Royal Menagerie will automatically get easier when players get better gear. It’s also part of the process to struggle through such an instance. Not everything needs to be nerfed. Players need to get used to improving and enduring losses, that’s part of MMORPGs.”
- Others say: “It’s not fun to wipe because people don’t understand the boss mechanics. It’s frustrating to wipe with randoms, then one is gone and we start over again. If I wanted to do that, I would raid. Placing such a hard instance before the end of the story will cost Square Enix subscribers and it’s bad for business.”
- Square Enix currently says: “As with all our game content, we pay close attention to feedback. There are mixed reactions to the instance. We have not yet made a decision on whether we will nerf it or not. We are monitoring the situation.”
Two-class society in instances, two-class society in housing:
Final Fantasy XIV: Housing – Social divide widens
In Final Fantasy XIV , all players must get past the final boss Shinryu from the Stormblood expansion. But that’s not so easy. “Nerf or not to nerf?” that is the question in the Royal Menagerie.
The approach of Final Fantasy XIV, also relying on tricky instances in the main quest, leads to difficulties again. Should Square Enix nerf the Royal Menagerie or should players just get better?
Main quests are usually easy single-player content – Mostly so in Final Fantasy XIV, but not always
In most MMORPGs like WoW, the main quest is accessible and manageable for all players. It is only “relatively easy” single-player quest content. Things that one can comfortably accomplish alone without facing significant gameplay challenges.
It is mostly about experiencing a story, not about achieving peak gameplay performance. These achievements are reserved for raids and hard instances. They run parallel to the main quest and are not part of it.
In Final Fantasy XIV, it is largely the same, but there are some hurdles. Those wanting to experience the Stormblood main quest must repeatedly enter instances or even participate in boss fights. Normally, the players of Final Fantasy XIV are used to this and easily handle the normal 4-player instances – wipes are rare.
However, the 8-player end fight of the current Stormblood expansion is likely quite tough: In “The Royal Menagerie”, it is against the gigantic dragon god Shinryu. This leads to wipes and instance dropouts.
The problem is: Since everyone must do this quest and all 8 players need to play somewhat decently to master the instance, groups often require multiple tries. However, the groups are randomly assembled. Many do not have the tolerance for frustration and then leave the group or vote to abandon.
“Casual players”, who are not very interested in optimized gear and boss mechanics, clash with hardcore players who have completely different demands and skills.
This is not a new problem in Final Fantasy XIV, even the quest “Steps of Faith” from the main game a few years ago posed the same issue: The trial was quite hard, was often attempted, often abandoned. Ultimately, Square Enix nerfed it.
“Git gud” or “pls nerf?”
As always, there are different attitudes towards this topic.
- Some say: “The instance is perfectly fine. The Royal Menagerie will automatically get easier when players get better gear. It’s also part of the process to struggle through such an instance. Not everything needs to be nerfed. Players need to get used to improving and enduring losses, that’s part of MMORPGs.”
- Others say: “It’s not fun to wipe because people don’t understand the boss mechanics. It’s frustrating to wipe with randoms, then one is gone and we start over again. If I wanted to do that, I would raid. Placing such a hard instance before the end of the story will cost Square Enix subscribers and it’s bad for business.”
- Square Enix currently says: “As with all our game content, we pay close attention to feedback. There are mixed reactions to the instance. We have not yet made a decision on whether we will nerf it or not. We are monitoring the situation.”
Two-class society in instances, two-class society in housing:
