Why is "It's something to do" apparently a valid defense?

[TheCurls]

Have you wondered why people are upset? From what I have seen people are very vocal (albeit maybe too vocal) in the REASONS that they are upset. Saying "Don't like it, don't do it" is completely counterproductive to discussion and in a way invalidates their opinion (I have seen more people who are in defence of the game claiming to be a victim of this, even though I have seen those same people do this far more). I am just stating my observation, but, trying to be as unbiased as possible, that's the way that discussions seem to go.

And calling someone a white knight for enjoying something is invalidating the other person's opinion. That's the point I'm making. There is a right way and a wrong way to present an argument. Ad hominem attacks are the wrong way. Politely organizing your criticism and posting it without making it personal is the correct way.

The problem is that those same people were also disappointed with the 3.1 patch (to be fair, so was I), and the fact of the matter is that we were supposed to get the relic months ago, but it has been delayed again and again. The REASON that people are upset is because this was a highly anticipated patch with content that should have been in a major patch and the fact that it is lackluster, and in places insulting (if you want reasons why, see above), on top of an already controversial 3.1 patch (diadem and LoV, while fun to a few, has done more harm than good) has left a bad taste in the mouths of a noticeable chunk of the player base. The fact that you don't know this goes to show that you haven't been reading and understanding what people have been saying, and perhaps the reason that you are being so defensive is that you don't want to hear what others have to say about a product that you personally enjoy.

If you think I'm being defensive, you've clearly not read a word I've actually written. I'm barely taking a side, and that's only because I find one side more annoying than the other (and I've even previously said that I find both sides annoying).

I think both sides need to substantiate their evidence. It's easy to say Diadem and LoV has done more harm than good. Prove it. At best, I'd consider it having a neutral response. I haven't tried LoV yet because I've been too busy grinding out my crafts and leveling other jobs, but I've tried Diadem. It's okay. The amount of people I see wearing that pink i210 gear says that there are a lot of people doing that content, so I wouldn't suggest it's a failure. Now, if SE sees that nobody is doing Diadem and LoV (and I expect that far fewer people than anticipated are doing LoV), then that will affect them going forward. They'll adjust accordingly. But when they see people complaining about content on the forums but going ahead and doing it in game anyway (and don't tell me that nobody on these forums is doing this, because I'd wager that the majority of complaining people are still doing the content), they have no reason to think that the complaints are anything but little Veruca Salts (The "I want it now" girl from Willy Wonka).

They know how many people are doing things. Why should they change anything up when people -are running the content-? That's the very basis behind the "If you don't like it, don't do it" replies these people vehemently despise. You might feel obligated to keep up with others, I know I certainly do. But when things start feeling like a chore, I back off and find something else to do. Most times it's in FFXIV, sometimes I turn the game off and do something else. What happens a lot with gamers these days, however, is that there's this pervasive need to do everything. Even if they hate it. When they force themselves to do it, they hate it even more, then it turns into the vitriol you read on the forums.

If SE sees an area of the game empty, they will adjust things going forward. Look at the Beast Tribe quests. People hated waiting for fates, so they stopped requiring fates in the new quests. People hated wading through hordes of aggroing beastmen, so they made it so the mobs scaled with you and you could bypass 100% of the open world mobs. I know the argument is going to be "But they are making us do all this again for the new relic!" and that's irrelevant. The relic's sole purpose is to reward players for repopulating older content. They always adjust -new- content based upon the feedback they get about old and current content.

TL;DR- It's okay to be upset at things, but write your criticisms with a little tact and respect. Treat your fellow players with tact and respect. Otherwise you come off as petulant, entitled, and salty and easily ignored.