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[Newmanxeno]

...so you have a problem being an older person and playing games with younger people who know nothing of your older experiences... and not being able to find other older people that share your disdain for how younger people decide to play their own video games...

ok.

That's what it sounds like, a "Well back in my day..." Isn't FFxi still going, OP? You can always go back.

[Dement]

Aramina made a very good point that many of the boutique game shops out there have tried to bring back the good old days and have so far failed to make a financial success. I actually think it's entirely valid that the gamer of yesteryear has simply gown up and despite my nostalgia I may not have the personal bandwidth to sufficiently delve in as I did 15 years ago. I 100% agree that's a possibility but I don't think it negates the fact that they're flooding the market with soft, uninspired shit.

Unfortunately, I feel like this hits the nail on the head. I get incredibly nostalgic about my years spent in FFXI and often wish that FFXIV could engage me in the same fashion that FFXI did. However, at the end of the day I have to remind myself that I can't devote 10 hours per day into a game anymore and my current play schedule would amount to very little forward progression in a game which requires grouping like FFXI did.

[RaijinSupreme]

Well back in my day...Isn't FFxi still going? You can always go back.

EXACTLY.

Instead of coming here complaining to young people about how young they are, just go back to all the old people, and have this discussion with them.

[aesteval]

That's what it sounds like, a "Well back in my day..." Isn't FFxi still going, OP? You can always go back.

Back in my day we didn't have online games. /shrug ;-)

[Vidu]

I havent played any of the old MMOs (being one of those filthy mid-20s people), so maybe I cant really understand what the OP is missing. Right now I dont understand why they're so salty about this game simply appealing to a larger group of people? (you have to keep in mind here that one target group is that of people playing Final Fantasy in general - and except for FFXI those are all solo-RPGs, so its no surprise this is targeted more towards someone playing their game solo)
A game that isnt appealing to a larger group of people just isnt the greatest idea from a buisness point of view anymore.

When it comes to challenges and building friendships though... the game still offers a challenge, if you wish to have one! (For example running content with minimum ilvl) If the majority doesnt want that, maybe it wasnt that great in old MMOs either? We all tend to clinge onto nostalgia and believe that things from years ago were far, far better than what we're having now - because we forget all the terrible stuff about them (playing certain childhood games again is just sad and painful today, because they cant live up to what we "remember" about them, sicne that memory is flawed).
While I wouldnt mind more difficult content for the sake of more difficult content/a challenge, we have to consider that a lot of people probably just want to enjoy the game for fun and fluff content aswell (looking at Savage clear rates and such) - why cant both be fine?
I for once am happy that the game isnt forcing me to always stick to the same group of people and gives me the CHOICE if I want to spend time with someone else right now or not.

Ultimatly, creating meaningful friendships is very possible within the game as it is - if you wish to have them. And not having the NEED to have those (and being practically screwed if you're more of a lone-wolf-type... or the other way round: if one of your group doesnt show up) is a good thing, at least for me... You cant force friendship after all.
Hardships can make AND break friendships - we used to raid in 2.X and at the end of T12 our static pretty much broke - even though it was a major challenge for us, we couldnt do it, people left and left the game and I havent talked to two of them since.

[Newmanxeno]

Back in my day we didn't have online games. /shrug ;-)

We played Minesweeper and we liked it! Haha

[aesteval]

We played Minesweeper and we liked it! Haha

Back in the day the console would crash if a charging cat ripped the controller out of the port! And we liked it! (Not really ^_^)

[LunaFaye]

Back in the day the console would crash if a charging cat ripped the controller out of the port! And we liked it! (Not really ^_^)

Back in the day there was C-64 & Atari, Lawn/Basement/Garage "lan" parties... AND we still loved it!

[ChandraNoctis]

The thing about video game nostalgia is that it is rarely about the actual game you are remembering but more about where you were in life, how you related to those you played with and who you were at the time you were playing it.

Unfortunately that's something that no one can ever recreate. You need to move forward and find the benefits of where you are now.

Suggesting the recreation of old features you liked that have been discarded is fine if it is really the feature that would bring added benefit to the game now but don't expect the features to recreate the same feeling or the same social context because they won't.

[RukiaFae]

Snip

Yes that's how I met people back when I first started. A friend and his static helped me get my titan ex clear. I even tried coils with no raid experience because I was helping a friend out. I randomly made friends without trying. Most of the people I played with no longer play and it has been harder to meet people. I didn't understand why it was harder to find people to do content with since Heavensward. Your post hit the nail on the head. Now that hard content is not mandatory, you can just df or PF stuff with random people to get your clear and move on. If you can't find any one to help you, then you don't do the content because it's not needed for anything. The only content where you need friends is POTD and it's just for an achievement/mount.