(11-19-2014, 08:50 AM)Warren Castille Wrote: I'll voice the unpopular opinion, then.Sure, but it's still the culmination of Alisae's and Alphinaud's collective character arc, the true ending of 1.0's story, and includes one of the most expensive CG cutscenes produced for the game.
There's not a single part of Coil that's currently pertinent to the main storyline. It's closure for 1.0. As far as the current plot is concerned, Coil's got no bearing on it whatsoever.
(11-19-2014, 08:50 AM)Warren Castille Wrote: For me, it's cost/benefit. My playtime isn't as large as it used to be and Coil's hard numbers requirement (hope you've got exactly seven friends) just isn't worth grappling with. I just find the cutscenes and write-ups elsewhere because I'm interested in them, but don't particularly care if I see my character in the scene or not. The plot's important, not my avatar in them.This is kind of irrelevant. Doesn't matter to you? Fine. Matters to a whole lot of other people.
(11-19-2014, 08:50 AM)Warren Castille Wrote: It's a slippery slope if you suddenly enable people who can't do endgame to do endgame on an Easy Mode. Does everyone realize there's story attached to the Extreme Modes? Nerf those so I can solo clear Titan EX and see the cutscenes. Crystal Tower queues are too long, I want a solo version so I can see how it turns out.False equivalency. CT is braindead easy to beat in a PUG. Any "story" content in the EX Primals is completely tangential and almost entirely irrelevant in any case (that being said, they DO have to do something about EX Primals because it is f'ing impossible to get a group to clear them nowadays). Coil is far more important in the grand scheme of things even with its status as a side story.
(11-19-2014, 08:50 AM)Warren Castille Wrote: [snip][...] If you are but others aren't, look for the people who can and make a strike team.
(11-19-2014, 08:50 AM)Warren Castille Wrote: If that takes too much time or effort, find the cutscenes on youtube or the write-ups on fansites. If it's SO IMPORTANT that you be the star in those cutscenes, well... 30 goto 10.Obviously I have already watched the cutscenes on Youtube, but it's still not even remotely the same, especially since, you know, Youtube quality kind of sucks still, but also because I want to be able to complete my collection of in-game cutscenes for the journal. Having that hole in there is a constant black mark and I want it gone. Don't even care one iota about the gear (mostly because it's fuggin' ugly aside from a few of the weapons).
As annoying as EX Primals are, Coil really stands on its own as far as difficulty goes in this game. There is literally nothing else that is as much of a pain in the ass as it is, with as much relevant (and by relevant I mean relevant TO ME) story content as it has. It's a weird outlier that stands entirely on its own in this really quite bloody huge game and its very existence is a blight that must be EXPUNG- I mean I just... I don't like it. I don't want to deal with it. It's just not fun. And I really wonder just how masochistic those who participate in this content really have to be to enjoy themselves when they could be doing so many other things and having just as much (if not more) fun.
But I get why it's there. It's for the exact same reason why the relic weapon quest is a thing, why poetics are capped every week and why 4* crafting is such a massive pain in the ass: it's a carrot on a stick to drag players through the sticky mud so they stay subscribed to the game as long as possible, period, end of story. But, you know, it's sooo much easier to swallow when it's just a thing to do to improve your numbers and NOT a thing that holds story content pretty much hostage. And Youtube it is not an answer!
At this rate I will never actually see those cutscenes in the game until like 3.0, when... Hells, I don't know, will they nerf the Coils again when they're completely irrelevant? Will they let it languish in the pit of disuse when players still have trouble getting through T5 and T9 just for the hell of it? At any rate, I can only hope they do something, because this is just dumb. Optional content or not, at some point something's got to give.