So finally people are starting to clear the newest “Ultimate” tier of high end raid “The Unending Coil of Bahamut”. This super tier raid is Square Enix’s answer to people asking for higher end difficulty raids after the current “Savage” raids are completed. In fact you have to clear all the current “Savage” tiers in Omega to even enter the “Ultimate” tier.
A group in our Free Company is currently attempting it and I watched the live stream once. It is as crazy as you could expect and they have, if not all of them already, maxed out their gear currently available after having cleared Omega Savage some time ago. Two weeks later, the first group in Japan cleared and I watched the YouTube video of it. The difficulty for me, as a casual player still stuck in tier 3 of Omega, is beyond crazy. Also with the current quietness in the Omega Savage raid (I couldn’t even get a pug group on reset nights in the last few weeks) I believe I will never be able to even experience that myself. But that’s ok.
I understood some people were annoyed because they were locked out behind the high walls of Omega Savage, but then the fact for me is that, if you are not equipped with the skill you are just going in to die two seconds into the fight, so what’s the point? Ok there are people like me who can’t even get a group to finish Omega either because of life interfering gaming or because they lost interest, but I personally do believe that the “Unending Coil of Bahamut” is a reward for those who put in time, effort and commitment to clear Omega Savage. So I am at peace with the fact that I will never be able to enter the raid. I don’t get sour grape over that.
I wish I could commit myself to raiding regularly but the fact is I cannot because of all other things I need to share my limited free time with. I still log in everyday and do things I like in the game (which is still a lot) but for me if on a reset night waiting for more than 30 minutes as a healer just trying to clear the first two level of Omega without even having the queue popping, it forces me to divert my attention to other areas of the game. Do I want to clear it? Yes. But do I care if I never got to clear it? Not really.
Static groups are required to clear these high end contents, and I don’t have one. I tried several times joining one or organising one, but unless you run into a group of people as committed as you are, like the group in our Free Company, progression in high end raid tiers will always be just a dream for me. I accept the fact that I will never be an elite player in the game so I enjoy the game in other ways. If the opportunity presents in the future, then I will attempt again.
The “Unending Coil of Bahamut” judging from the footage I saw is without a doubt a spectacular fight. But then judging from the fact that only around 10% of most servers managed to clear all tiers of Omega Savage that means there could be even a lower percentage of players clearing “Unending Coil of Bahamut”. But that’s what Square Enix trying to address, trophy fights that keep elite players in the game while casual players like me continue to enjoy other things that we can do in our limited play time.
I personally think this is a right direction for the game. Square Enix had worked very hard to provide new contents that are not just rehashing of old formulas (those exist too but they are necessities for even more casual gamers than I am) but new experiences. Over the years, they introduced seasons of PvP, Free Company exploration in the form of Diadem, Free Company Workshops, Aquapolis, Palace of the Dead etc. All these showed that Yoshi-P and his teams are happy to reinvent themselves to provide interesting or even exciting experience for their subscribers. The “Unending Coil of Bahamut” is a progression of this approach so I hope more players, casual or elite will appreciate those efforts and be as supportive as possible. In the meantime I will just carry on with my dailies in the game with a hope of moving up the ladder someday.
