Took a break from XIV to return to XI a couple of years ago. Now I come back to XIV for patch day, or a week for the xpac, but find it hard to stay. Coming up to 4.2, am trying to get back into XIV with friends so we can play the upcoming endgame challenges, but... it's so dull.

On my PC next to me runs XI - not XI from 2004 or 2009 or 2012, but XI from 2018. It's updated monthly with content. Of course, there's been no budget for new zones or monsters since 2015, but we do get new reward systems, tougher challenges at endgame, more gear which isn't just better stats than the last (aside from upgraded gear) and can be used in the different situations presented. The game is *deep*, and that's not just because it's had 16 years compared to XIV's 8, but because of the base design and the producers' ethic.

XIV started off so well, using newer tech to create a game that XI could never be. It's story was great and it was dangerous. With ARR everything got dumbed down, your hand was held, and DF meant that you could ignore all other players if you chose to for everything except a single series of fights per patch. I accepted that because 1.0 was financial ruin and subscriptions were needed, so if we could be part of a slicker, more beautiful version of everything that was already out there, then fine (and I love XIV's UI to bits).

But then 3.0 came and it was the same again in a different skin. We got a lot of extra fluff, but gear continued to be discarded entirely each patch - a side-effect of a huge lack of character stats and gear being able to influence individual abilities. Patches spread out, and story/quest content in them was reduced to 2hrs play at most every four months (by quest, not meaning relic grind here).

4.0 was the final straw. For those two weeks, it was a fantastic ride. Loved the zones, loved the music, loved the characters, loved the story, loved the trials and the raid. But then... left with repetition. Repetition in the knowledge that it would all go up in flames come 4.1, come 4.2... etc.

I'm not going to lie; knowing I get to fight Byakko, to ride the Phantom Train, excites me a little because it feels like it's going to be fun. But then on week 2 when I have to do it again? Week 3? I'm worried Eureka will be another Palace of the Dead or PvP - a complete achievement system outside your character than lands a new piece of gear that stays relevant for one patch like everything else. And something you have to play so often that it destroys the very will to play it.

So I turn back to FFXI. I've got 22 jobs to choose from - levelling to cap only takes a few days. Gearing up solo via dozens of different types of content, a few weeks. Bringing the job to a group to work on final upgrades, whilst perhaps obtaining extra pieces for that job and others is broad and healthy progression. Helping out the new and returning players that arrive in Vana'diel every day (even on a smaller server like Shiva) is renewing and forging new bonds.

Overall FFXI *was* the best of the two, and then it wasn't. Then FFXIV was the better of the two for a long time, but it slipped a couple of years ago. FFXI has maintained integrity since its (presumably) final form in 2015, whereas FFXIV has stagnated with resources being spent on fixing a housing mess that should never have happened, mini-games requiring whole new systems with lastability measured in hours, dozens of sets of armour which the playerbase wear for a fortnight and then discard forever, (I'm not gonna say PvP...) PvP, and not enough lore, character development, exciting plots or frequent updates.

Sorry for so much rambling. I hope FFXIV gets better again soon. I'll stay subbed to both, as always^^