The Next Live Letter is on October 31st, which means 7.4 is likely mid December..

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Originally Posted by TaleraRistain

If they release it early, we get more bugs. That's the tradeoff.

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Then work faster/better.
They have more time to put out less content nowadays.

I am sick and tired of all those excuses for this enabling of laziness.

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Originally Posted by ViinaS

Then work faster/better.
They have more time to put out less content nowadays.

I am sick and tired of all those excuses for this enabling of laziness.

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I don't think they're lazy. I just think they're not prioritizing the correct content necessary for keeping people going in an MMO.

The content is there but it's rarely like the relic weapons where you need to invest time and energy into the content to make it spread out over the months.

Hell even the relic weapon was fun but it didn't last as long as I had hoped. And the rest of the weapon is just tome farming to get other weapons, which is a bit of a drag.

Lazy? No. But definitely having a hard time understanding what keeps us busy (and coincidentally away from this forum to complain)

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Originally Posted by TaleraRistain

If they release it early, we get more bugs. That's the tradeoff.

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Bro no one is going to notice you from square enix. Even if you make 10000 posts on forum.

Are you Square Enix "community" worker?

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Originally Posted by Veritas-Ancora

I don't think they're lazy. I just think they're not prioritizing the correct content necessary for keeping people going in an MMO.

The content is there but it's rarely like the relic weapons where you need to invest time and energy into the content to make it spread out over the months.

Hell even the relic weapon was fun but it didn't last as long as I had hoped. And the rest of the weapon is just tome farming to get other weapons, which is a bit of a drag.

Lazy? No. But definitely having a hard time understanding what keeps us busy (and coincidentally away from this forum to complain)

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Of course the relic weapon didn't last long. It was designed to be as quick and effortless as posible. Look at any of the old relics and you'd see that each of them required some heavy grinds for each weapon, baring a few exception like the first Bozja step.

This time we got 1 relic weapon and 20 tome weapons. That's not going to keep people busy.

I have yet to see evidence of the delay in patch time leading to higher quality content.

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Originally Posted by Oizen

I have yet to see evidence of the delay in patch time leading to higher quality content.

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Endwalker was delayed and was very impactful, they got rid of all the bugs.

Except for the grapes.

#TalesofLossandFireandGraaaaaaapes

Just expect late as possible theirs no such thing as early.

Though please surprise me.

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Originally Posted by TaleraRistain

If they release it early, we get more bugs. That's the tradeoff.

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if they havent finished working on it within a week of release, what are they even doing? I do genuinely think they could release 7.4 a week or two early, because we used to have a new patch every 4 months like clockwork, so we know they absolutely could push for a December 2nd release without compromising quality.

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Originally Posted by Jason_Ashford

if they havent finished working on it within a week of release, what are they even doing?

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Making other games. It seems like they don't have enough people to make more than one game at a time, so outside of the microtransaction artists, most of the staff are bouncing between projects.

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Originally Posted by TaleraRistain

It may make it difficult for some but the race is over in less than a day isn't it? Wasn't this last one like 13 or 14 hours? Or was it less? I didn't really watch the entire thing.

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That was M4S, which was pretty badly undertuned. M8S lasted a little under 29 hours.

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Originally Posted by Daralii

Making other games. It seems like they don't have enough people to make more than one game at a time, so outside of the microtransaction artists, most of the staff are bouncing between projects.

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Just drop other games. Nobody wants them, they don't bring money anyway.

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Originally Posted by Jason_Ashford

if they havent finished working on it within a week of release, what are they even doing? I do genuinely think they could release 7.4 a week or two early, because we used to have a new patch every 4 months like clockwork, so we know they absolutely could push for a December 2nd release without compromising quality.

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Possibly those final touches of QA. Possibly getting the system ready for the update. There are always going to be some bugs, but we have seen an increase in bugs and Yoshi-P acknowledged that in a Live Letter. I forget his exact words but I believe he did indicate it was a lack of proper QA. People, especially higher ups who may be setting company goals, think QA is optional and things can just be released in a partial state and then fixed later but they fail to understand the technical debt they're building into things with that mentality.

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Originally Posted by Jason_Ashford

It would be nice if they released it earlier than anticipated, but history suggests they won't, if only because they are such sticklers for a release schedule that puts them at odds with major holidays

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Endwalker was delayed and released in early December.

I'm not sure why a games release schedule should revolve around holidays. A lot of people have extra time off around holidays and thus would want to play new content.

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Originally Posted by Wasselin

I'm not sure why a games release schedule should revolve around holidays. A lot of people have extra time off around holidays and thus would want to play new content.

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The only people I see complaining are raiders who have some sort of week-1 FOMO (when these raids will be "current" for most of 2026)

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Originally Posted by Alicie

Just drop other games. Nobody wants them, they don't bring money anyway.

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Heh this made me shake my head at the way the games industry has gone.

I still remember when a few tens of thousands of sales was considered pretty decent for a game; now you can sell a million units and be considered a failure that "nobody wants."

TBH, partly, this has to do with the business environment in recent years; there was an article on Gamespot a while back with a former SE exec that was quite an eye opener. Apparently, targets are not merely based on the game being profitable, even significantly so, but also in terms of whether it would have been more profitable if they hadn't made a game at all and instead invested the same money in financial markets.

Given the era of inflation we've had lately ... we should perhaps be only half jokingly fortunate we even still have a video game industry instead of companies pivoting to just being investment firms!

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Originally Posted by FuturePastNow

The only people I see complaining are raiders who have some sort of week-1 FOMO (when these raids will be "current" for most of 2026)

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This is a player culture issue and I've hued and cried plenty about it and mostly I just manage to annoy people on it, lol.

I'm not sure it's going to abate until, perhaps, social media finally collapses like the house of cards it pretty much is and we go back to the slower team recruitment environment of eld (and that's assuming the newer generation of gamers even sticks with video games at that point and doesn't decide to just abandon them for clubbing or sports or some other quicker gratifying activity ...).

The problem isn't that the content will be gone, the problem is that players have got too efficient at getting in, clearing it, and getting out, and the game has gotten a lot less tolerant of having even one or two folks with two left feet in the DDR.

Keep in mind that mathematically, for an 8 player boss where people cannot be carried, it takes less than 10% of the player pool to not meet the skill bar for more than 50% of randomly selected PUGs to be moot from the very first, which makes PF dilution that much more of an issue than might be thought at first.

... and the only real ways to avoid PF dilution are to get a static (however, statics have declined in popularity - even in WoW with its catechism of guild as sacred for raiding this is the case - and are themselves increasingly the kind of thing where new groups rarely form for a tier after the initial honeymoon weeks) or to base your real life around the game (which is unhealthy AF and I thought we got away from that YEARS ago, remind me, why is the mentality coming back) so that you don't miss patch launch come the Void or Leviathan.

Which means we get "skip Christmas or disband" for the SECOND time this xpac, ugh.

At the moment I don't really care anymore. Meonis LL summary will be enough.
I also don't care when 7.4 releases at this point.

This game is going to die. SE missed it to bring it really up to date (better engine and code) and now it's too late.
Their playerbase is already very tiered from years of waiting and leaves for playing other games.
They can't get all the people back. They ignored player feedback too long.
They can't start 'now' to make it new and stuff. It would take too long at this point.

They killed their golden goose. Maybe I am wrong, but that's what I see. And I have no idea how this could be saved.
I am still around because I am an idiot, I guess.

FF14 for me often feels like waiting simulator. It's less boring to play Power Wash Simulator. :x

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Originally Posted by Heavenchild

At the moment I don't really care anymore. Meonis LL summary will be enough.
I also don't care when 7.4 releases at this point.

This game is going to die. SE missed it to bring it really up to date (better engine and code) and now it's too late.
Their playerbase is already very tiered from years of waiting and leaves for playing other games.
They can't get all the people back. They ignored player feedback too long.
They can't start 'now' to make it new and stuff. It would take too long at this point.

They killed their golden goose. Maybe I am wrong, but that's what I see. And I have no idea how this could be saved.
I am still around because I am an idiot, I guess.

FF14 for me often feels like waiting simulator. It's less boring to play Power Wash Simulator. :x

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I'd not be too quick to doompost. WoW was in a very similar position during Shadowlands when most people left to FFXIV. They were constantly accused of not listening to player feedback and even doubling down on the decision to make covenants non-changable, then really punishing to change, and finally after much arguing actually easy to swap. Their argument was that it was a very RPGesque decision that had consequences, but we're talking about a MMO here where players would boot you out of DF if you had the wrong covenant for the class because "muh meta". WoW was in a state of "this is it, the end of the top MMO" and somehow it was able to persist, turn around, shuffle things and now it's back to being in the race against FFXIV. Ebbs and flows. Squeanix will eventually need to shuffle things around sooner rather than later, and things will start picking back up. The MSQ design in the newer patches is already on the right track.

(Unrelated note but Power Wash Simulator is an awesome game!)

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Originally Posted by Naraku_Diabolos

Endwalker was delayed and released in early December.

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that was because of Covid, which skewed everything from Shadowbringers through Endwalker. They also said it was the last time they'd do a major release before a holiday.

This is all why I wonder if SE may be pushing towards a new MMO in the Final Fantasy series. The mobile remake team has made Crystal Tower function with a team of 8. FFXIV is actually still doing very well financially and is healthy, but the people of the WoW exodus ran back to WoW as soon as Blizzard got their act together and many quit thanks to the lockdowns ending, while SE fell into the trap many large gaming conglomerates did in fully expecting the numbers to stay very high and not return to exactly where they had been pre-Covid.

I don't think FFXIV is in any danger, but I fully expect this "part two" of the main story to end much, much sooner than the original 14 year long epic we had with 1.0 to 6.0, and that possibly be the conclusion in general.

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Originally Posted by XtremePrime

I'd not be too quick to doompost. WoW was in a very similar position during Shadowlands when most people left to FFXIV. They were constantly accused of not listening to player feedback and even doubling down on the decision to make covenants non-changable, then really punishing to change, and finally after much arguing actually easy to swap. Their argument was that it was a very RPGesque decision that had consequences, but we're talking about a MMO here where players would boot you out of DF if you had the wrong covenant for the class because "muh meta". WoW was in a state of "this is it, the end of the top MMO" and somehow it was able to persist, turn around, shuffle things and now it's back to being in the race against FFXIV. Ebbs and flows. Squeanix will eventually need to shuffle things around sooner rather than later, and things will start picking back up. The MSQ design in the newer patches is already on the right track.

(Unrelated note but Power Wash Simulator is an awesome game!)

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I really hope you’re right, but honestly I just can’t see it anymore. Sadly, SE isn’t exactly known for making good decisions. :’)
The biggest issue is still the game’s engine and underlying code. This game just isn’t future-proof anymore. It's far too limited.
They missed the chance to rework it at the right time, and now it would take far too long.

Many veterans are already fed up and leaving, while younger players seem to have less and less interest in MMOs like FF14 in general.

That’s why I just don’t see it anymore. Dawntrail was the perfect moment to bring out something truly new and big. But they missed it.
Instead, it’s a huge disappointment after the 2–3 years of Endwalker content drought. Ruining even many character faces (and with them
the personalities players were attached to).
Add to that a terrible MSQ and a downright stupid release schedule that leaves most players bored. In my eyes it’s cooked.
But I hope you're right. I want FF14 to success.

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Originally Posted by DynnDiablos

We either stick to the schedule or it is delayed into January which will then delay everything and you\\'re looking at mid-2027 or summer 2027 for 8.0. HELL NO. The no content gap between 7.55 and 8.0 would longer than it has ever been and no one wants that just to appease the very loud vocal minority of savage raiders.

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How do you get to mid 2027? With the timing of the fanfests next expansion will probably release in december next year. Even with the 19 week scheldule they follow (114 weeks for a full expac) there is still a 3 month period to fill. So no, even with one more month of delay per patch, it would not lead us to mid 2027 but late 2026.

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Originally Posted by CNitsah

How do you get to mid 2027? With the timing of the fanfests next expansion will probably release in december next year. Even with the 19 week scheldule they follow (114 weeks for a full expac) there is still a 3 month period to fill. So no, even with one more month of delay per patch, it would not lead us to mid 2027 but late 2026.

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The next VII remake installment is supposed to come out next year, and they've been coinciding those with the original's birthday in January/February, so some people think that they'll save the next XIV expansion to pad the first quarter of the next fiscal year.

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Originally Posted by CNitsah

How do you get to mid 2027? With the timing of the fanfests next expansion will probably release in december next year. Even with the 19 week scheldule they follow (114 weeks for a full expac) there is still a 3 month period to fill. So no, even with one more month of delay per patch, it would not lead us to mid 2027 but late 2026.

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The JP Fan Fest is October 31st and November 1st. It is highly unlikely they're going to release that soon after the JP Fan Fest. There's usually a few months after the final Fan Fest.

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Originally Posted by TaleraRistain

The JP Fan Fest is October 31st and November 1st. It is highly unlikely they're going to release that soon after the JP Fan Fest. There's usually a few months after the final Fan Fest.

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Yoshi implied that it could be as early as December as we wouldn’t have to wait long after the final fan fest.

On a side note, I find it amusing that almost everybody is complaining about savage scheduling and not the potential content outside of raiding in this thread.

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Originally Posted by Hyperia

On a side note, I find it amusing that almost everybody is complaining about savage scheduling and not the potential content outside of raiding in this thread.

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Most likely because (well, except for maximum gil making off of new crafted gear) Savage and EX are where you feel it the most if you don't get in on content when it drops (and don't want to wait for it to be utterly trivialized by later expansions). Everything else is going to be there forever, and is going to be current for at least a year (with the Fanfest schedule, we're looking at Heavyweight being XIV's Siege of Orgimmar moment, lol).

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Originally Posted by RedLolly

This is all why I wonder if SE may be pushing towards a new MMO in the Final Fantasy series. The mobile remake team has made Crystal Tower function with a team of 8. FFXIV is actually still doing very well financially and is healthy, but the people of the WoW exodus ran back to WoW as soon as Blizzard got their act together and many quit thanks to the lockdowns ending, while SE fell into the trap many large gaming conglomerates did in fully expecting the numbers to stay very high and not return to exactly where they had been pre-Covid.

I don't think FFXIV is in any danger, but I fully expect this "part two" of the main story to end much, much sooner than the original 14 year long epic we had with 1.0 to 6.0, and that possibly be the conclusion in general.

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You can not just expect FFXIV's players to just that easily abandon their characters, houses, gil, items, achievements, purchased mog station items and have them move to another MMO. No, if SE will dwindle FFXIV down, FFXIV players - most of them - will not move to new MMO at all. SE will have to attract brand new audience and they will have to offer something as revolutionary as no other MMO offered in order to succeed. Can they pull it off? I'm not quite sure about that.

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Originally Posted by Alicie

You can not just expect FFXIV's players to just that easily abandon their characters, houses, gil, items, achievements, purchased mog station items and have them move to another MMO. No, if SE will dwindle FFXIV down, FFXIV players - most of them - will not move to new MMO at all. SE will have to attract brand new audience and they will have to offer something as revolutionary as no other MMO offered in order to succeed. Can they pull it off? I'm not quite sure about that.

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There is a possibility that (if for some nonsensical reason) they wanted to kill their flagship MMO and replace it with a new one (again, why??) they could do something ala Legacy player rewards and make it possible to port character data such as appearance and some of our items to the new game if they were to be compatible. XIV is doing well according to them for now, so they have no reason to do anything about it... as annoying as that is to the playerbase.

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Originally Posted by Aidorouge

Aside from Beastmaster launch and new Blue Mage levels, I don't remember what other content they have left to release for the expansion.

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North Horn and Forked Tower: Magic, at least one variant dungeon, and I think the second ultimate was soft confirmed for 7.5X.

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Originally Posted by Hyperia

Yoshi implied that it could be as early as December as we wouldn’t have to wait long after the final fan fest.

On a side note, I find it amusing that almost everybody is complaining about savage scheduling and not the potential content outside of raiding in this thread.

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Yoshida implies a lot of things. Not having to wait long could be February, March or even April as that is technically not as long as Dawntrail releasing in July. I suspect the earliest we'll see 8.0 is end of January, but I'm leaning more towards February or March now.

As for raiders complaining about the schedule, that's because the other content isn't really impacted by holidays. Nobody is World Racing or Week 1-ing the MSQ. At least not in the context of it being a challenge to complete.

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Originally Posted by Jason_Ashford

Doesn't this put Savage on the week of the 23rd? Are Devs really going to release a major piece of end game content on the holidays, again?

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MMOs were always for us asocial creatures. I'll be toasting for christmas and quickly running back to my room to continue gaming.

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Originally Posted by Jason_Ashford

Doesn't this put Savage on the week of the 23rd? Are Devs really going to release a major piece of end game content on the holidays, again? This is definitely something that will cause some backlash because of how busy that time of year is. I am a fairly casual savage raider and even I can see how many people could potentially be unhappy with this in the World Race crowd.

If I were Yoshi-P I would push 7.4 to either release 1-2 weeks prior, or delay savage by 1 week so that it falls on the week of New Year's. it's still kind of crappy to have it drop mid holiday, but better New Year's than two days before Christmas.

Does anyone else feel the same way?

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I'll be praying to baby jesus for christmas savage. I'll only have to use 8 hours pto sense I have the rest of the week off by default. A savage delay will cost me 32 hours pto instead sadge.

January 6th for Savage

now watch people cry about having too much tomestone gear in week one lol

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Originally Posted by melbye

January 6th for Savage

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so it turns out that contrary to popular belief, everything doesn't follow a super strict rigid schedule of "X always happens Y weeks after Z"

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Originally Posted by YumieYumiki

so it turns out that contrary to popular belief, everything doesn't follow a super strict rigid schedule of "X always happens Y weeks after Z"

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Devs wanted to enjoy the holidays without having to worry about emergency patches on the holidays.

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Originally Posted by YumieYumiki

so it turns out that contrary to popular belief, everything doesn't follow a super strict rigid schedule of "X always happens Y weeks after Z"

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This is the first time they've had this long on the Savage delay.

It's a good compromise. Means the normal patch schedule isn't delayed but also avoids Savage release over a major holiday. It's late enough the devs can enjoy New Year's. And we get a few more weeks to obtain tome gear and run the new EX for weapons and such.