Do You Want Revisions or a New Game?

[Talraen]

I am biased. Why wouldn't I be when a game I loved playing is no longer enjoyable to play? It doesn't change that subs were lost when it came out. I didn't say it killed the game, as it is still played today. However, it changed the way the game was known in previous expansions RoTZ and CoP. That is what I'm talking about. That is what several people are talking about in this thread. When you change things up drastically, it can potentially be very harmful the playerbase, even if it isn't necessarily harmful to the game itself.

Older content devalues all on its own. It's the nature of an mmo. It is next to impossible to say that an expansion does not devalue older content. But that isn't really either here or there.

So, given that you were turned off by major changes in FFXI, how do you think they should handle FFXIV? I don't think the game can remain the same forever (though hey, I could be wrong). But I don't think FFXI would have lasted much longer than it did if they had stopped innovating. There needs to be change at some point, doesn't there? And I'm not saying the time is now or even soon for FFXIV, just that it will eventually come.

[Gemina]

So, given that you were turned off by major changes in FFXI, how do you think they should handle FFXIV? I don't think the game can remain the same forever (though hey, I could be wrong). But I don't think FFXI would have lasted much longer than it did if they had stopped innovating. There needs to be change at some point, doesn't there? And I'm not saying the time is now or even soon for FFXIV, just that it will eventually come.

Like I was saying before, it is a single installment into the franchise. Similar to RPG board games, when an expansion comes out, it is fresh content that uses the same concepts, engines, and fundamentals. There's new weapons and gear, new dungeons, abilities, monsters, bosses etc. However, the way you play the game does not change. This seems to be the formula FFXIV is following, and it does not need to change so long as it is working. But this formula doesn't work for everyone, and for those that it does not who play FFXIV, they need something new, something fresh, something different. I totally understand this.

Is it fair to tell these players to just simply play another game if that is what they seek? I can't say for sure, but I do know that if they feel the same way about their time and investment into the game as I do, then it is equally fair to want the game to remain enjoyable. But I will continue to say that if you can't find enjoyment in the game anymore, then it might be time to leave or take a break; it would be the same for me should major changes come to FFXIV, and I would have to decide whether or not to keep playing if that enjoyment had left the game, as I did with XI.

I never did Diadem, and have yet to do Eureka. I also just recently started getting into PoTD, and loved doing Aquapolis runs prior to 4.0. I believe these were XIV's attempts to do something new and fresh, while keeping other content intact. I don't know why these were ill-received by some players, but if SEs attempts at trying to satisfy the side of the community that wants new and different things are constantly met that way, then my sympathy is quickly lost and will say, just go and play another game.