What does Heavensward actually bring to the table as an expansion?

[Kosmos992k]

Sorry, I have to vehemently disagree with this. Right now ALL we have are mandatory upgrades. How is that any different? It's no longer a case of picking out one benefit over another, it's just "Is this a higher ilvl than my last piece?".

You may prove correct in assuming that some people will choose one bonus over another, but I'll say this much for having unique benefits - it's a lot less boring. And right now, vanilla is about the only flavour this game has offered when it comes to equipment. It's already gotten stupid with item level 200 being bandied around, and who knows where it will end. Are we all going to end up with item level 999 when 5.0 arrives?

Unless you're actually a hardcore raider, there is nothing mandatory there, the relic quest brought sidegrades. People created a BiS meta around that too, but unless you raid or do EX primals, it really doesn't matter and you can implement whatever sidegrades you want in your relic.

I personally think the big issue was how they went about Alex - Normal.

* There was little to no challenge once people understood the base mechanics;
* The developing story had nothing to do with the encounters;
* The gear there was obsoleted three weeks into its existence by both AS and Eso gear simultaneously;
* and They didn't even give it anything rare or exciting to chase.

The only thing I've head that's really worth doing it is if you're gearing up an alt. Otherwise, if you're not and/or just want to do something relevant with your main, your options are Eso, AS, or bust.

What makes it obsolete? Unless you are a raider, the gear in Alex Normal is pretty much as good as you're gonna need until the next drop of content comes along.

If you look at the game exclusively from a raiding stand point, then some of what you say could be considered true (but not absolute). But from the point of view of players who are not raiders, your criticisms are kind of baseless.

No offense, but this game is not targeted at hard core raiders, nor will it ever be targeted at that specific community. It's targeted at a broad range of players. You need to consider those other points of view when forming your criticisms. In all honesty unless a game focuses almost exclusively on raiders, I don't see how it can ever satisfy raiders because there will always be compromises made for non-raiders. FFXIV focuses on the broader base of what is commonly called casual players, it's inevitable that thre will be compromises made in the game that raiders see and feel are problems. That is simply the nature of the beast.