4.25 and beyond

[Dzian]

You mean more content were I gather the mats for an entire project all by myself and then ask 3 other people to stand in the workshop while I build it all because the game won't let me if I'm not in a party? Gonna pass

I think he means more FC content orientated in general. a very big complaint this game has had since 2.0 is that FCS are nothing more than glorified chat channels. there is absolutely nothing designed for free companies to do or work on together really. hell back in 1.0 one of the old concepts was freee companies working together and obtaining primals that the fc could then summon.

the other issue is everything is designed to be soloable. and I mean everything. even group content. by and large you queue a roulette or something and the 3-23 other people in the group may just as well be bots... this is why so many of the connections players make with each other at on such a superficial level level. it's almost like facebook when someone says they have 1000 friends. or the big fcs that have 500 members ask any of those memebers how many members they can name without looking at the list or if 100 of the members suddenly left how many of there neames would you remember....... that's how meaningful those connections are.

I joined a farm last night and with exception to one friend I couldn't tell you the names of anyone that was in it. or even there jobs to be honest. there's just no connection between players or community.

the game has been in terrible need of some actual group building content for ages. the best we got was potd 101-200. which 4 of you could do together.
but even then people were trying to marathon 51-200 in a single session because the connections between friends were so superficial there's no way you'd do 30 floors today and then rely on those 3 people to turn up tomorrow or next week to do 30 more.... so then all you saw was pf groups saying 51-200 and then endless complaints that it was impossible to do because no one joined those groups because t hey didn't want to do 150 floors in the same session..

I would kill for some real FC content that actually REQUIRED free companies working together as a team and building bonds between members. but also allowed everyone to be included. not this 4-8 man stuff where if you got 5 6 7 9 10 11 people online that want to go you're screwed.

[Zojha]

I think we can do some of the things that weren't perfect better today.

Like what exactly and how?

From your previous post, I'd have wagered the complaint goes into the direction of duty finder and the "group but solo" playstyle it allows. "Allows", because all the ways and means to socialize and build a community people used back in the days are still fully intact. They have just become optional for most content (Aside maybe Savage) and people choose not to utilize them, but rather rely on the convenience tools because they are, well... more convenient.

As such, MMOs have become "single player games with online play" largely because that's what people predominantly choose if given the choice. And that means trying to change it back requires to cut some of the convenience back as well. The result is things taking longer again. And it's not just duty finder - if you need something crafted, you gotta find a crafter (which can take time) or you go the convenient but anonymous way over the MB/AH. Same thing goes for anything else that might require another player, you either invest the time to search/organize them manually or you let a tool do it for you. Plus, socializing needs downtime where you can actually chat with each other and downtime is downtime.

Gear is a different story, but that, too, has become largely throwaway stuff simply because it takes less time to get. Gear is used as incentive for content and once you have it, the incentive is gone. The sooner you have it, the sooner the incentive is gone. And once the incentive is gone, you need a new incentive, unless players play for the heck of it. So you need a new incentive sooner as well.

FFXIV is somewhat on the extreme side here, because it really doesn't ask for much of your time. But that comes at a cost.

I mean, I might get you entirely wrong here and that's not even related to your personal gripes. But the way I see it, there's simply a tradeoff between certain wishes and games can't really deliver both, they can only offer a different mix and different mixes suit different people.

[Pomelo]

Honestly, I am not surprised more and more people feel this way. Sadly the forums mean nothing, and everyone will try and defend the game they love (and why not)
The one way you can show SE that this never ending treadmill needs to be changed is to not sub.

[AlexanderThorolund]

I love the game, been playing for 3 years now and continue to enjoy new and current content. Thank you for the devotion to the game Square.

[Vexander]

Honestly, I am not surprised more and more people feel this way. Sadly the forums mean nothing, and everyone will try and defend the game they love (and why not)
The one way you can show SE that this never ending treadmill needs to be changed is to not sub.

I think when it comes to people defending the game they love, it's more a result of an unspoken concern that changing the formula would mean removing what currently exists and works. Plenty of players enjoy the raid/primal/dungeon/msq setup that comes with the new patches and such. The idea of shaking it up and doing something new seems to hold this... vibe that all those things would have to be torn down or drastically changed.

It's one thing to add something new to the game to try and expand on the formula, and another to throw out the formula and make an entirely new one.

[kyomaZZ]

did i ever tell you the definition of insanity?, Insanity is doing the same ****** thing over and over again

[Dzian]

Honestly, I am not surprised more and more people feel this way. Sadly the forums mean nothing, and everyone will try and defend the game they love (and why not)
The one way you can show SE that this never ending treadmill needs to be changed is to not sub.

entirely personal opinion here. but I tend to think that's what players are doing anyway. heavensward and stormblood both apparently bought millions of new players to the game but the active playerbase seems to be exactly the same it was in 2.0.... or is the impression I get from lodestone sweep things..

and if the player base was that much bigger they'd have had to add a lot more new servers so kinda suggests its not really grown much there either...

so sure new expansions brings players in but they seem to be leaving just as quickly..

but again just my take

[Darrcyphfeid]

From your previous post, I'd have wagered the complaint goes into the direction of duty finder and the "group but solo" playstyle it allows. "Allows", because all the ways and means to socialize and build a community people used back in the days are still fully intact. They have just become optional for most content (Aside maybe Savage) and people choose not to utilize them, but rather rely on the convenience tools because they are, well... more convenient.

I'd like to point out that this wasn't actually the case until 3.2. Prior to then, if you wanted to do your roulettes, you had to queue solo. For all of them.

ARR and early HW were exceptionally hostile towards the idea of building and creating a community, and delved head-first into the realm of "just playing with faceless people I'll never see again." ARR was especially bad, since Levequests were doable in a party but the NPCs would give every person a random list to choose from which made it a hassle to coordinate. And there are things that still persist, such as having to drop party to enter solo instances or needing the entire party to be in the same zone to initiate Leves or Treasure Maps.

[Marcellus_Cassius]

Like what exactly and how?

There are some discussions on how and what can be added to the game, too much for me to elaborate on right now. Essentially, more varied content that will engage FCs and provide longer lasting goals. DF is fine for some things..

[Voldemort]

Just know that if you want to go the route of "I'll only sub during an expansion drop", know that the option is there.
Use the Free Log In Campaigns that the game does every couple months (usually after major patches or big content... like this Eureka coming out).

You'll be able to play the MSQ and enjoy the game for a couple days for free. No hassle with gear or throwing yourself at the boredom wall.