Also new formula is 3 years before the expansion, so it’s even more bleak
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I've wondered if they saw the increase in their playerbase during ShB and decided the current direction with the battle system was what attracted the new players, where it was actually just covid giving them an excuse to try it. That's how me and my friends started playing, at least. There was also that exodus from WoW when Blizzard made a mess of itself a few years later in early EW.
You're reading a lot that I didn't write in my post. I said they used foundations pre-stablished prior to Yoshida taking the helm, not that they were continuing a fleshed out story. 1.0 had its story very unfinished, and nobody at the staff really knew where it was heading, making 2.0 onwards essentially retcons, yes. But my point is Yoshida and co. didn't create Eorzea and its city-states. A lot of what they did still connected to lore created in 1.0. They worked around and on top of the little that was preserved from it. Little or not, the fact remains they borrowed someone else's concepts then toyed with it, rathre than make literally something from scratch.
Venat is a thing because Hydaelin was a thing, because the Hear... Feel... Think... calling was a thing. Ul'dahn, Gridanian and Lominsan lore in 2.0~5.3 is very much founded in what was already in 1.0. That didn't change much. Ala Mhigo and the entirety of Stormblood only happened because Ala Mhigo under Garlean domain and the fervor of resistants who wanted to rally Eorzea and the path of the twelve was a thing in 1.0. Etc.
Literally the entirety of the MSQ from 2.0 to 4.55 couldn't happen if it wasn't for what was already being built in 1.0 lore.
Even the Ascians, even though they're portrayed very differently, only exist because 1.0 lore said so.
this thread really sums up my feelings as well. This image calls to mind the game I wanted to play - the game I fell in love with. After playing 7.0 I don't feel like I recognize FF14 anymore.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/K_ecO61Ixro/maxresdefault.jpg