Live letters have lost their magic - Zepla

https://youtu.be/UnY7PMsV8QI?si=9MCrmXa-iwJ4Is-9

Quote:

---

I just felt real tired and it showed... and I wished I didn't feel this way. I don't care about the story anymore, I don't expect it to be good....

Who else is old enough to remember we got an exploration zone and a deep dungeon in the same patch?

---

Hearing Zepla talk about the live letter, it really reminds a lot of us just how much wonder and magic has evaporated from the live letters. We still rely on community translators to understand the live letter to this day. The live letters are such a sick joke at this point, and their stale format is a good representation of the staleness of the entire game.

They had magic when we didn't really know what to expect, when the wanderlust still existed.

But now it's just BAU (Business as Usual) type stuff, where we know what we're getting without really being told what we're getting.

Coupled with the downhill story, it's difficult to even be enthusiastic about trailers and the story.


If I am honest between the population of EU/NA, it more than warrants in-house translation. But honestly, like most things now my response is I honestly don't even care until I'm genuinely taken by surprise again.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kaurhz

If I am honest between the population of EU/NA, it more than warrants in-house translation. But honestly, like most things now my response is I honestly don't even care until I'm genuinely taken by surprise again.

---

It's actually just sad that we've all just accepted that this is the way things are when it would be totally unacceptable if it was EA or Ubisoft doing this lmao

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kazuke_Miso

It's actually just sad that we've all just accepted that this is the way things are when it would be totally unacceptable if it was EA or Ubisoft doing this lmao

---

It is. and this will be part of the problem.. Is that a lot of it is just getting lost to sheer apathy... At that point there is no second redemption arc lol

Like, how can I care when it all operates like clockwork anyway.

If you don't care about the game, you not going to care about the live letter and Zepla's long since stopped caring about the game.
I saw cosmic exploration and occult crescent stuff and was excited from a live letter for the first time in a long time, no amount of polish is going to make it exciting if you're not interested in the content it reveals.

It's about time that we started calling the constantly negative content creator or influencers what they really are, attention seekers. I suppose it does pay the bills but the cycle of negativity is super annoying. Are there areas where Square Enix could improve the game and/or communication around it? Sure, but there's also proper feedback channels to communicate through that don't involve farming ad revenue and are arguably a more respectful way to do it.

I do wish Live Letters were a little more professional, so to speak, and used proper screenshots or in-game previews rather pointing a camera at A4 pieces of paper. English translation would be great also but the pacing would fall off of a cliff if they didn't otherwise overhaul the format.

Finally, and this really is the most important part, stop playing FFXIV if you dislike it so much? Square Enix are just a business like any other in this industry and you don't owe them anything. You can take a break, play another game or, find another hobby.

The live letters feel exactly like they always were. I don't personally feel they lost their magic. The magic you feel is reflective of your personal enthusiasm for the game - which is obviously not high for Zepla right now.

When I say they feel exactly the same I mean it's the same stuff. They look passionate to me, show up freshly printed pictures of gear at the camera, etc. It's about as unchanged as every other formula they have.

The story was always a major driver of enthusiasm as well, so trailers for patches such as 4.4, 4.5 and 5.3 were hype. Whereas now they depict a story many aren't enthusiastic about. For what it's worth though, I don't know where they are going with the current trailer but they promised it would lead to the Warrior of Light "returning as the hero of this world". I get it's nostalgia bait, but the FF9 castle and the boss are pleasurable nonetheless, and Occult Crescent already had me interested being based on the Bermuda Triangle but I also like that we will talk to Ketenramm, one of the few threads of lore remaining from ARR/Heavensward for them to explore. But that's just me personally.

I think the main issue with them is they avoid mentioning the elephants in the room, such as Black Mage, cross-DC PF, the story reception, addressing common player sentiments, having the stream chat scrolling in front of them and not reading out a single question.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Johners

It's about time that we started calling the constantly negative content creator or influencers what they really are, attention seekers. I suppose it does pay the bills but the cycle of negativity is super annoying.

---

Zepla just makes the videos because she's fallen off and just semi-remembered as a once darling FFXIV content creator, knowing she can only cling to the hate train to try get any sort of views.

I am highly critical of SE, I think SE is a company that has no idea of how to run a MMORPG they just throw stuff at it and see what sticks, if it doesn't stick, they don't alter it they just throw something new at it down the line, at the same time I'll give credit where credits due. So my dislike of her approach has nothing to do with being defensive of the company, she literally wants to dislike everything about the game and thats her target audience.

I've only somewhat recently started watching the live letters, and I missed this recent one because it was early for me and I had to leave for work, but unless they are drastically different now than they were back then they seem pretty enjoyable to me

I like how excited they seem and how much they joke around
It's fun to see what's coming up, though it sucks we have to wait so long between patches for things
but I know it isn't for everyone, and it doesn't take away from the major criticisms the game is facing right now

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kaurhz

They had magic when we didn't really know what to expect, when the wanderlust still existed.

But now it's just BAU (Business as Usual) type stuff, where we know what we're getting without really being told what we're getting.

Coupled with the downhill story, it's difficult to even be enthusiastic about trailers and the story.


If I am honest between the population of EU/NA, it more than warrants in-house translation. But honestly, like most things now my response is I honestly don't even care until I'm genuinely taken by surprise again.

---

It doesn't help that there's less of it either.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NaoSen

Zepla just makes the videos because she's fallen off and just semi-remembered as a once darling FFXIV content creator, knowing she can only cling to the hate train to try get any sort of views.

I am highly critical of SE, I think SE is a company that has no idea of how to run a MMORPG they just throw stuff at it and see what sticks, if it doesn't stick, they don't alter it they just throw something new at it down the line, at the same time I'll give credit where credits due. So my dislike of her approach has nothing to do with being defensive of the company, she literally wants to dislike everything about the game and thats her target audience.

---

I'm going to be honest. I'm not quite sure why people come to this conclusion. The impression I always got was that FF14 *itself* fell off. Hype petered out. It happened to other creators to disastrous ends.

Also why is a streamer criticizing FF14 something perceived as bad? People had no problem seeing WoW take its well deserved lumps. 14's in a similar state now, like it or not.