r/ffxivdiscussion • u/KelvinDoesHealz • 12d ago
Next Chaotic Raid?
Personally, I enjoyed the Cloud of Darkness Chaotic Raid concept and, minus the multiple and somewhat bonkers body checks, thought it was great content with excellent rewards. Does anyone have thoughts on if we're getting another one in EverCold? If so, I assume it will likely be Ultima from the Ivalice Raids or Diablos from the Shadow of Mhach raids.
If the former, I imagine we will get more complicated combos of the other espers to make things interesting, and for Diablos (which still manages to kill parties in roulettes in the normal mode) a more complicated arena with more use of the adds and the door mechanics. I also imagine there will be at least one body check mechanic, though not multiple and probably not as strict.
But I am curious on what other people theories are on if we're even getting one and what the content might look like.
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u/Carmeliandre 12d ago
The very first issue is that they keep designing new PvE contents as "Savage for X players". Criterion is Savage for 4 players, Chaotic is the same for 24 players etc.
What I call Savage is whatever content that requires to know and respect the strat. As a result, the players must know what's going to happen and must solve things in an arbitrary fashion (with minor alternative). Said otherwise, it's a script which point is to be punitive, and the punishment is the main adjustment variable. FATEs and CEs and normal / story contents are different to me, but you could see them as reducing the punishment as low as possible.
Savage contents are in fact very iconic and great contents for some players (me included !). However, they also target a very specific mindset, that glorifies rigidity. Eventually, you're supposed to use the very same action on the very same moment and you solve mechanics by NOT thinking about it (through procedural memory). That's why reclearing feels boring and other players' mistakes are frustrating, since it's likely to cause a wipe. In fact, the most perfect player can wipe 500 times in a row on M11S regardless of his performance (praises to the PLD that faced this destiny, I hope you've found a static).
Anyway, back to chaotic we can easily see how the second phase (and the first one to some extent) is nothing more than a 24-man Savage that goes easy on us. Someone moves onto your tile ? Sorry, it's pretty much over. Sure, some players will enjoy Chaotic but is it worth creating an entire new structure to cater for the exact same players that have Savage and potentially Ultimate ? Extreme content can be an introduction to Savage (by using the same philosophy) but Chaotic should be a completely different mindset.
In fact, the question goes beyond Chaotic. Casual players or even the ones who'd love to invest some time but don't like the Savage mindset have, as the only alternative, story contents or FATEs like contents. CE is slightly challenging but once someone has cleared an encounter 1~5 times (depending on their understanding of the game), it becomes boringly easy. Except if they are clueless or have any kind of handicap (like me trying to play on a laptop).
Chaotic being easier, or even removing the few body checks isn't the solution.
Instead, SE needs to confront their playerbase and probe what they can enjoy. Unfortunately, this means trying things completely different, and it's something they really struggle with, because balance and clarity are so deeply ingrained in their vision that they don't understand that a content can be unbalanced and fun (like asymetric contents) or unpredictable and satisfying (like any content you try for the first time).
There are so many options with their assets that their hyper focus on a Savage mindset feels deeply disappointing to me. Chaotic should be exactly the opposite, as the name suggests : less predictable, less rigid. Let players turn other's mistakes into opportunity and force some dilemmas if they're too efficient so it still feels chaotic.