4.1:

(ahhhh, hell, I can't edit the title...though I guess it works in some artistic sense. >.>;; )

First of all, apologies to the lore forum, I think this was a better venue since this is not lore related and more a personal thing.

I spent a fair amount of time staring at an empty crafting bar yesterday.

I'm not sure why I'm playing anymore. I have social reasons, friends that play, but the game itself just isn't something that appeals to me. They aren't forcing me to play,in fact roleplaying with them is a real joy, and I do my part in duty finder when I'm there. But I don't feel for the setting of the MSQ anymore.

Why should I care what happens to Eorzea, or the WoL or the Empire? Why do I feel unattached now?

Do you just need a break? I think it helps a lot if you've overdone it to the point of being bored with everything, which is sort of what I'm getting from staring at an empty crafting bar.

If it's just the story you're cold on, do you remember when you last enjoyed it? Any characters you like? I wasn't that thrilled by Stormblood for a while until I met the Xaela tribes, which really restored my enthusiasm. So if it's been a while since the last part you liked and you feel a bit bogged down with everything since, maybe it's a matter of figuring out why and whether it's likely to improve when the patch hits?

I feel this way every few months or so. Just burnt out and what have you.

What helps me is to take a break for a few months. I always come back excited to play after that. And also, by that point, sometimes there maybe have been a patch or two I have to catch up on.

Maybe try that?

Sounds like burnout to me, yea. I was pretty zapped after leveling my first few jobs to 70 myself, took a break for a few weeks and came back to really play about a week ago. It's better now, I'm actually motivated to do stuff again.

As for the story stuff.... frankly the main story in this game has always been crap in my opinion, but Stormblood was particularly dull. I skipped almost everything after the first zone because I just couldn't be bothered anymore.

I can sympathise. Typically when it comes to Final Fantasy games I tend to enjoy the more nuanced antagonists far more than the protagonists. There's exceptions, of course, but in FFXIV most of the protagonists just come off as incredibly hypocritical and self righteous. I actually wish this game had factions that truly mattered in the grand scheme of things.

I'm so weary of characters such as Lyse standing in the spotlight and overstaying their welcome when intriguing characters such as the Warriors of Darkness and Regula are written off as soon as their sympathetic motives are revealed. Worse yet, they're immediately forgotten about and never mentioned again, even when it makes sense to. I was waiting for one of the Scions present in Azyz Lla to claim that Zenos wasn't half the man Regula was or some such. It didn't happen.

In my case, there's enough about the game and story to keep me invested. If in your case you can't find anything to cling to, though, then a break seems wise. You can always return at a later date and see if anything has changed in a way you find agreeable.

Well, ultimately the enjoyment of a story is subjectively. Heavensward was the highlight of XIV's story for me but I still liked Stormblood especially the Azim Steppe leg.

I think I remember you posting in the past you haven't been a fan of the direction the story's been going since 1.0 ended? (Apologies if that was someone else). I doubt we'll see any major changes in the storytelling now. If you aren't having fun with the game anymore I have to agree with the others who suggested taking a break for a bit and seeing if you feel refreshed on the game when you come back. It's up to you if the fun you have with your friends is worth playing a game you aren't invested in anymore.

My recommendation, if you don't do this already, is stop seeing the game as only having 9 dungeons. People get bored because they only ever do:

V1-4S
SusEX
LakEX
Ala Mhigo
Temple of the Fist
Kugane Castle

Just about everything else in the game is dead content, but that's not the fault of SQEX. It's the mindset that MMO players have: that anything that doesn't provide rewards relevent to end-game is not worth doing.

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Originally Posted by NocturniaUzuki

Just about everything else in the game is dead content, but that's not the fault of SQEX. It's the mindset that MMO players have: that anything that doesn't provide rewards relevent to end-game is not worth doing.

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It's completely the fault of SE. I'd love to see where you find all this content - everyone devours it on release.

I am not playing the game much right now since I simply dont know what to do first. I still have to level all my crafters up to 70 but cant find my motivation to do so. In the end I mostly log in on the weekends to farm birds with ingame friends. I really hope that the next patch can awake my motivation again and if I got a big house in Shirogane for my FC, I would at least have a goal again.

I am generally not that motivated or attached to the story since they decided to kill of my favorite character (and my second favorite too) in HW..just to create some bad drama and feelings. (I dislike when my character acts slow or dumb so that plot can happen) So in a way I did not enjoy the rest of HW or even SB that much. I still post a lot in the lore forum and discuss it and I still do like some characters but it feels more like watching the story unfold from the outside (without that much care anymore), instead of feeling like I am part of it. Sadly I fear that this will not change because I simply cant get over that persons death...


So I can understand the feeling of feeling not that attached to the story anymore but I at least had other things still to do ingame so I still continue to play and discuss it. I hope you will find something that will interest you (next to the story) again but maybe its truly time to take a bit of a break.

I feel the same at times, I am this now, and find myself logging on wasting time more then anything. What I have found that helps is mixing up what activities I do each day. Don't stick with a set pattern or a routine. One day work on crafting and the next level a combat class/job. Take a break from the tome grind for a day or two. Go play a different game or take the night off. Mix it up. I found playing a different job helps or because I can due to my sub I started a new character. It helps in taking a break.

Major issue with SB: we freed Doma AND Ala Mhigo all together during the MSQ. This was far too fast. Killing Nidhogg at the 3.3 was already fast enough, but here they've made a new record. Almost feel like it's rushed.

To be honest, if it wasn't for the people in my FC I would likely unsub 1 month on and off to save money and keep my personal house.
XIV is lucky its so beautiful and customizeable, because that is too important to me and makes even running the same content a nice experience XD

I really enjoyed the SB story (though it could have lasted longer, kind of bitter sweet) and the many side quests esp. in The Steppe. But lack of sideways progression does take its toll on motivation.

Agreed 100% with Arutan, Warriors of Dark back when could have been longer also but SB really was rushed

Thanks for the recommendations. With october coming around there are a few other things I'm gonna put my mind to do.

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Originally Posted by Arutan

Major issue with SB: we freed Doma AND Ala Mhigo all together during the MSQ. This was far too fast. Killing Nidhogg at the 3.3 was already fast enough, but here they've made a new record. Almost feel like it's rushed.

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There's no real sense of danger anymore. They're playing it way too safe. Sure, the occasional character is killed off but they're almost always fairly minor in the grand scheme of things. I never thought I'd say it, but I think WoW handles faction leaders better as it isn't afraid to shake things up and actually allows them to be replaced or killed off. Nothing suggests that the likes of Aymeric, Nanamo or Y'shtola are ever truly at risk of dying. We just get cheap cop outs instead and most of the death is reserved for the antagonists...usually after they're revealed to have sympathetic motives and are set up perfectly to be great long term rivals for the Warrior of Light.

Nidhogg was defeated in The Aery and then was later brought back as of the conclusion of 3.0. He possessed Estinien...but he ended up being saved. Nidhogg or the chaos he brought with him did not succeed at killing off any named character - even the minor ones. Vidofnr and Hraesvelgr were both injured but - once again - just like with Nanamo they both turned out to not actually be dead at all.

4.0 spoilers below:

4.0 embraced the same tricks. Sure, Meffrid and Conrad died but is anyone under the illusion that they weren't just killed off so that Lyse could continue to be shoehorned into the spotlight? Zenos denounced Garlemald and made it clear he was a threat not only to his enemies but his own people too. He handed two territories to the Warrior of Light on a silver platter. So, again, everything works out perfectly for the protagonists and I have no reason to believe it will be any different as of 4.1 and beyond. I hope I'm proven wrong, though.

It's always okay to take a break and even Yoshi-P suggests that actually.

I'm considering to take a break until 3.1 or 3.2 because I'm losing interest and my friends leaving the server doesn't help.

And to be honest I enjoyed some parts of the SB story because it has an uplifitng tone compared to Heavensward and there's (almost) no senseless deaths this time, but I agree it's really rushed and the writing really needs work. I wish they added more quality and quantity in the story in general.

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Originally Posted by Niraves

Stormblood was particularly dull. I skipped almost everything after the first zone

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"Stormblood was boring."
"I skipped everything after the first zone."

Pick one.

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Originally Posted by Niraves

frankly the main story in this game has always been crap in my opinion, but Stormblood was particularly dull. I skipped almost everything after the first zone because I just couldn't be bothered anymore.

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I don't think we're playing the same game. The story has been good since 2.4.

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Originally Posted by Arutan

Major issue with SB: we freed Doma AND Ala Mhigo all together during the MSQ. This was far too fast. Killing Nidhogg at the 3.3 was already fast enough, but here they've made a new record. Almost feel like it's rushed.

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Thats probably also one of the reason that I did not enjoy SB that much and also that they kinda just wrote Zenos so that we could even stand a chance against the empire..its like "lets have an enemy out of nowhere that can defeat the guy who solo killed Thordan and his knights. And let him be a bit strange in the head so that we can have a reason to keep the WoL alive."

I am really not looking forward to the next MSQ, so I really hope that at least the other content is fine too. (I mean taking the squadron to dungeons cant be worse than doing it with randoms right?)

I am in agreement about SB. Zenos was a huge driver for me to do the SB story. Here is someone more powerful then the WoL and is a great enemy to keep pushing us to grow and get better in order to match his power. Instead of continuing to be that driver he took his own life leaving a void. Then on top of that we freed Doma and Ala Mhigo on our way to 70. There is now even more of a void as nothing is there left to drive us forward. Will the Empire swoop in now? Most likely not. They have always seemed so busy elsewhere. Without a bad guy to drive us forward we will continue with this huge empty void and the story will feel very unsatisfying.

Take a break OP.

Step away for a few weeks or months. MMOs build this bad habit of making us feel obligated to log-in and continue the character build, but FFXIV doesn't require CONSTANT log-ins. Even the limited housing system gives us some time to step back. That just drains any sense of enjoyment right out since it starts to feel like a second job.

All of your progress is going to be there if you stop your sub now and come back in a few patches. It's no big deal.