(11-20-2014, 02:27 PM)Zyrusticae Wrote: The biggest and most important point is really the fact that raiding makes people management a required skill to the extent that, at least to me, it feels far more like a second job and much, much less like something I'm doing for funsies (yes, I know I've been belaboring this point a bit excessively by now but it bears repeating). I mean, we're talking management skills that would very easily serve you for anything else - that includes, you know, things that make you money IRL. Framed in that sort of way I can't help but think what a waste it all is.
I mean, okay, I get some folks find that sort of thing fun but... seriously, with the right people ANYTHING becomes fun. The game is not enabling that, it's just forcing the issue by making it a basic requirement. And I don't enjoy or appreciate that.
I think it says something that I'm more willing to bash my head against the wall of immature and incompetent teammates in League of Legends (or even Frontlines) than I am to try to break into the mountain that is the raiding scene. It's a barrier that really stands all on its own.
Remember when Ampador Keep was the single best dungeon to run for myth and loads of people couldn't grok the DPS check? I mean, that wasn't even that hard, but it was still too much for a significant proportion of the playerbase. And then it got nerfed. Pharos Sirius, likewise (though to be fair, Siren was/is kind of mechanical overload for a dungeon boss).
It's funny, actually, now that I think about it. PSO2 is constantly derided for being piss-easy for high-level, geared, and skilled players who have nothing to challenge themselves with whatsoever (aside from occasional tower defense runs). But that's only true for the most dedicated portion of the playerbase; the rest of the playerbase, the "average" players, are served quite well with such an easy difficulty level, and SEGA is rewarded for it with absolutely insane revenue. Stories like this make it far too easy to question the efficacy of putting such ridiculously hardcore content front-and-center like Squeenix does. I mean... those players are literally 0.5% of the playerbase. Maybe even less than that.
I get that having it there looks good. It appeases the e-peen players to some extent, gives them some sort of bragging rights (even if I reserve the right to sneer at them for it). It's more for the game's image than anything else. Yet I wonder if that's actually worth it? I wonder if it actually hurts the game as much as it helps, because, seriously, it's just a massive brick wall for people to band together and bash their heads against repeatedly until it crumbles under the force of their collective head-smacks (and unfortunately a lot of players lack either the strength or the endurance to just keep smacking away at it and oh wow I am really running away with this analogy *ahem*). How much value does an experience like that actually have?
Then again, maybe this is actually useful as a training tool for would-be low-level managers!
...Anyway, yeah, I'm rambling. Just needed to get this off my chest. Maybe this helps explain why I'm so adamantly against Coil and content like it from its very foundation. Maybe not. Hmm-hmm, yeah.
For some, the value of such an experience is none at all.
For others, however, it's how they choose to push themselves in their free time, and how they have fun.
There will always be a trade-off, no matter what any game does in regards to difficulty. Players who relax by seeing the content won't appreciate it when they feel like there is a barrier to entry they can't surmount. Players who relax by having to push and struggle and put in hours of efforts in order to overcome a barrier to entry won't appreciate it when they feel like their effort is being dismissed or things aren't hard enough for them. The ideal for developers is to find a balance between the two groups -- but there will always be people who want a specific, tailored experience, and if they can't get it in one place they'll look elsewhere.
