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

[Colorful]

So, hypothetically speaking, if the developers came here to defend the design choices they made, they're just crazy and need to leave?

I'm not defending them, mind, just asking a question.

The developers don't believe it's impossible for them to do wrong unlike some of their fans, they value feedback greatly and Yoshida and the team have made that very clear. They rarely ever post on the forums to begin with, and the chances of them in posting in this thread or one similar (the actual devs, not community managers) would be slim to none. But regardless, they wouldn't mindlessly defend their choices and attempt to silence people like players have been doing. They'd listen to the feedback and see how they could improve their choices going forward.

I really don't understand those telling people to quit. Okay, you're fine to enjoy the game as most of us to, you're allowed to not be bored, no one's going to take that away from you, but to come in and pretty much say "Your feedback is invalid because you're burnt out, go take a break, or quit a find another game" is silly. How do you think game has reached this point from 1.0, how do you think it will keep improving? That's right, the feedback. To say the forum and the subreddit is a minority is correct, but the people who post on these sites are people who likely care a lot for the game to improve and want to see it reach new heights, not just stagnate... you can't just dismiss them because they're the minority, if not for this minority who'd be voicing their suggestions? The people playing the game who don't care? The people who've only played for a month and may not even know about the forums (meaning they can't express them to begin with)? That's right, they'll get close to no feedback, and as I said earlier, the team values feedback and it's incredibly important that the dev team knows what the players want.

This is why people people provide feedback, they want the game to improve and last a long time because, believe it or not, they enjoy it. They just don't want it to be left behind. The standard MMORPG is a dying genre, new players just aren't common enough to keep constantly replacing people who get tired of the same formula. The same thing happened to WoW and FFXI, they could no longer attract newer players at the rate they needed to, but they have a dedicated and loyal fanbase. That's what kept those game's alive, and still keeping WoW in its place as the most popular MMORPG, but even the devs stated that they're now losing players significantly faster than new ones join in. Yoshida and the team need to build that loyalty, and get people to love the game for years to come, not just abandon them in hopes new players will join. They had a boost of initial popularity because of the positive media surrounding a "reborn" MMO of an incredible failure (1.0), and of couse the Final Fantasy name. They need to build on that, not throw it all away.

That's what I believe anyway, I hope I got my point across clearly.

[Warlyx]

i would kill for some random generated dungeon , random floors , random objetives , fun times! , it could be boring after a while? yeah everything gets boring , but content can last more time than static dungeons with same mechanics.... every day.

it doesnt help that we have 2 Expert dungeons only ....why The Aetherochemical Research Facility isnt on expert is beyond me , because the dungeon art is cool , 2nd boss is a Coil boss mix ! , and the last boss has ultima theme

[Stanelis]

So, hypothetically speaking, if the developers came here to defend the design choices they made, they're just crazy and need to leave?

I'm not defending them, mind, just asking a question.

They almost never talk about their game design philosophy, which is quite understandable because it really doesn't seem to be the focus of FFXIV, as it stands.

It should tell you something when during live letters they mostly show off gear, mounts and/or pets rather than focusing on the game design of the new content.

[Spellbinder]

snippy

Of course, feedback is essential. And I'd like to think deep down, as rude and obscene as some users seem to be on this forum (not pointing at anyone in particular), it's because they care for the game and want to see it thrive rather than abandon it.

The only problem I see is how feedback is provided, at least in the EN forums.

I'm sure many will hate me for drawing the comparison, but humor me in a small look at the JP DPS forum.

Only 15 pages.

On the first page I see:
Suggestion thread for DPS meters - 520 pages
Rogue / Ninja suggestion thread - 64 pages
Machinist suggestion thread - 35 pages
Monk suggestion thread - 80 pages
Summoner suggestion thread - 115 pages

Someone actually tried to make a separate summoner related thread on 9/12. It was closed, and they were redirected to the larger one. Some of these threads date back as far as November of last year, and they're still on the front page. They tend to stick to one spot, and throw everything in for the developers to peruse through.

Providing feedback in other languages, however, provides a number of obstacles. The primary being that we are not their primary language. I imagine it's up to the community team to compile our thoughts and relay them, but woe unto he who must wade through... whatever you want to call the English forums... for constructive, thoughtful criticism and feedback, translate it, and relay it to them for consideration.

If I was a developer, a single 300 page thread of player feedback and criticism that's well thought out would make me more concerned than 100 smaller threads that all got pushed back 5th, 10th, and 20th pages of the forum because everyone wants to be heard as an individual.

[StrejdaTom]

Extremely valuable post.

Anyone planning to write "take a break, this game isn't for you" or other things should read quoted post.
Taking a break isn't a solution. Solution is to provide people with more variability of stuff to do when there are too many burned out peeps.
I had only a small break about a year ago and I am still having lots of fun, but I can completely understand that people can get bored and saying "please give us more variety content + suggestions" is really reasonable feedback.

In my opinion constructive negative feedback is probably even more valuable to developers than positive feedback, if not, then it is atleast on par with it.

[Dimitrias]

I believe things feel repetitive in ffxiv because everything ends so fast. Back in ffxi a lot of stuff you did took hours, but in ffxiv everything is like around 40 minutes or less to complete. So you end up doing It over and over a lot more frequently instead of finishing something in ffxi, and not going back to that for a very long time.

Also in ffxi it seemed to have a much more veritety to the stuff you did like the questing. In 14 however, all the quest's are just talk to npc, deliver an item from one to another, kill 3 or 5 of something report back, or walk to a circle kill mobs that spawn then report back. That's basically all there is with questing in this game.

Wasn't like that at all back in ffxi days.

[TyrErlieden]

I keep trying to explain to you guys the chances of a developer messaging in a forum thread is akin to the dishwasher serving your food at a Swiss chalet. In the IT industry devs code what they're told to and that's it. They have no say in what or in most cases even how its coded.

[adn]

I really don't understand those telling people to quit. Okay, you're fine to enjoy the game as most of us to, you're allowed to not be bored, no one's going to take that away from you, but to come in and pretty much say "Your feedback is invalid because you're burnt out, go take a break, or quit a find another game" is silly.

I am one of the people telling people to take breaks, and your quoted comment is a misunderstanding of what I am saying.

It is FAR preferable for people to take a break, refresh themselves, and then potentially come back to the game. Forcing yourself to play a game you're not enjoying because you feel obligated to is the fastest way to burn yourself out and ensure that you NEVER return to that game.

Of course your feedback is valuable. Think of it like a restaurant: If a restaurant you enjoy suddenly comes under new management and you don't like their service now, what do you do? You leave a negative review on Yelp and you don't come back until things change. You don't keep subjecting yourself to a restaurant that you don't like.

So no, please don't misconstrue "take a break" as "LOL W/E DIDN'T READ JUST QUIT IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT!!!" I'm saying if you are genuinely upset with the game's direction, leave your feedback and consider voting with your wallet, because frankly there is no form of voting more powerful.

[Dererk]

People don't want to take a break because of tome caps.

I think and I'm very sure about this. The main problem is the lack of content at level 60. And no people please stop using the then level another class excuse because yes its not end game content which is what people are complaining about.

Back on topic. Its the fact that we had a level cap raise this expansion they had to put stuff in to get you from 50-60 there for level 60 content took a hit if the cap was never raised in the expansion in very sure that people wouldn't be complaining because then pretty much everything would be end game.


Maybe next expansion they will not raise the level cap but instead (and I hate suggesting this cause I really hate the idea but probly the only way to fix things.) Have a skill raise system put in no level cap increase maybe like the merit system FFXI had this would mean all classes at level 60 would instead get exp that you convert into stat raises and at lest 2 new traits and ability's.

[adn]

People don't want to take a break because of tome caps.

I think and I'm very sure about this. The main problem is the lack of content at level 60.

Capping tomes means nothing at this point unless you are pushing Savage. BisEX/RavEX/Alex Normal can all be done easily in 170 gear. 3.1 will likely contain gear that is of a higher ilvl and is easier to get than Eso gear right now, Void Ark is likely to have only an ilvl requirement of 180 or something (Labyrinth of the Ancients was only ilvl 50 which was VERY easy to get back when it was released.)

Sure you will be ahead of the curve, but they constantly implement catch-up mechanics and you really aren't harshly punished for taking a break. I quit at the end of 2.1, came back shortly after World of Darkness was released and was upgrading my ilvl70 pieces to ilvl120 pieces in no time.

And yes you are correct, the main problem is lack of meaningful endgame PVE content.