Final Fantasy 14 is starting to lose appeal because...

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your suggestion isn't helpful not every one feels the need to level every class not to mention you have to gear them when people are already having inventory problems.

Heck some people only play 1 class I know a person who just plays WHM. leveling other classes is in no way to be considered content.

It also didn't help that every piece of battle related content is in duty finder instances. give us real open world content SE.

Note: I say everything here as someone who is not at all bored with the game, and has plenty to do. However, I can take a step back and see it from others' perspectives as well. So, please bear in mind, that nothing I'm saying here reflects my own current view of the game... ie. I'm not bored or burned out on anything. I can still, however, see places where it could be improved upon.

The thing is, everyone saying they want SE to introduce new content, is implicitly saying "Introduce more content that I will want to do". And, well, I hope you can see the problem there, because it's the same situation in the game now. There is lots to do in the game, but not everyone is interested in it. And there's nothing for that. SE can't make content that's going to appeal to everyone. The best they can do is think up ideas for content that they think/hope players will enjoy, and put it out there.

So, even if they did introduce some new systems and some new types of content - even open world (which I'd like, too) - you'd still have people like those in this thread saying "there isn't enough to do and I'm bored" - because that new content wouldn't necessarily appeal to them.

Also, if they did implement new systems, guess what? Because of the kind of MMO this is (casual-friendly, theme-park), (just about) any new content they introduce has to be "accessible" enough for people to jump in, learn it, and feel like they've accomplished something. The result is you have people swarming the content, burning through it as fast as possible, because any sense of achievement is short-lived before they're hungry for the next reward... and within a short while.. maybe a few weeks, tops, you have people saying "Okay. Finished that. What's next? I'm bored again".

Modern MMOs struggle to keep players engaged long-term because they are, frankly, not designed to keep players engaged long-term. FFXIV fits very neatly under this category. The difference is, a lesser developer, without the ability SE has to crank out new content as fast as they do (which is still too slow for many, apparently) would have gone F2P a long time ago, because they could not keep up with the demand for new content, and would lose too many subs to people who felt it wasn't worth it.

The trick to this, and it's something newer MMO players don't want to hear, is to implement content that has a much longer effort-to-reward cycle. People who complain about how awful and terrible XI was, will often also say how they played it for years... 10+ in many cases. Well, how horrible could it really have been? Something kept them there and playing. Something kept them engaged. The community had a big part of that (though the community grew out of the same thing I'm getting at here). In FFXI... getting something that was good, and worthwhile took time and effort - serious time and effort - and very often, no short amount of help from others.

Let's look at Artifact gear in XI compared to XIV, as I think this is a great example.

I remember sneaking through Ifrit's Cauldron trying to acquire one of my DRG pieces, knowing I was screwed if I was detected. Talk about a nail biting experience; skulking around, from one coffer position to the other 'til I found it, praying to Altana I wouldn't catch aggro. But man, the joy and gratification I felt when I finally found it, opened it, and successfully snatched that armor into my inventory. Not only had I survived a slow, and tense trek through a deadly, high level area, I'd successfully acquired what I was there for. This was at least a decade ago now, and I still remember that moment clearly. And that was just one piece. The conclusion of the DRG story arc, and the fight to acquire the final DRG piece, the helm, in Temple of Uggelipeh (Tonberry heaven, for those who haven't played XI) also stands out. Awesome stuff.

By comparison, in XIV, you do a couple short, easy quests... and voila.. You have not only your 45 AF, but your 50 AF too! They practically throw it at you in this game. Thus, AF gear - job specific gear - something that, in XI, was a significant milestone for a job - is pretty much meaningless in XIV. Level 50, job-defining gear, and it's obsolete the moment you acquire it. That's kinda sad....

People will say "Well, yeah, but that's because there's much better level 50 gear now". That's correct. And, it's because SE throws new gear around way too often in my opinion. And worse, the new gear they introduce completely obsolesces the previous gear. It's one of the most ridiculous gear overturn rates I've ever seen in a MMO, in this game. XI? Gear pieces - highly sought, even contested gear pieces could take you a long time to achieve... but they also remained relevant for a long time... across multiple jobs.

Anyway... for me, the problem with XIV (and all newer, theme-park style MMOs) is there isn't enough long-term goals to work toward. Not enough meaningful milestones to achieve. So, people burn through the content, without even really trying, and are left saying "Okay, so now what?".

This game needs rare and difficult but oh-so-worth it goals (gear and otherwise) for people to work toward. Such as gear that won't become obsolete in a couple levels (or the next update patch), and that other players will recognize when they see it. This happened a lot in XI (and not only from camping rare NMs, though that was one source of it). That gear looked awesome, was awesome, and lasted a long time.

They could also make other meaningful goals far more challenging to achieve, giving players a long-term to strive for - something they can't finish within a week. In XI, getting Rank 5, and earning your airship pass was a huge achievement. I remember hitting Rank 5 to be kind of an unofficial litmus test for the "dedication" of a player, seeing as how the Rank 4 missions could be very difficult to complete. Unlocking Sky was a major milestone. Unlocking Sea was a major milestone. Hell, reaching Jeuno for the first time was a major milestone, not because of any specific "gating" by the game, but because it was such a dangerous trip to make (a dangerous world is a whole other topic, though ).

People love to dismiss XI (because it's XI and there's this negative knee-jerk reaction to anything that references it; people often dismiss such statements, without thinking about the larger point being made). But in terms of player longevity, and keeping people engaged and playing, for months and years at a stretch (In almost 8 years in XI, I hardly ever saw people say they were leaving the game for a while 'cause they were out of things to do and were bored), it did a lot of things right. And, no... not all of them were "making people grind forever for them" (a claim that's often exaggerated anyway, usually by people who consider almost any amount of time/effort to be a "horrible grind").

So long as they keep on the development path they're on... and so long as people remain able to burn through content as fast as they do, acquire (and toss aside) new gear as quickly as they do, and there's no long-term goals that people can work toward...this is going to continue to be the case. Just like it is in every other theme-park style MMO.