Where is the "never before seen content"?

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Again, the game is designed around being able to take breaks. It's fine if that doesn't appeal to everyone, too, but as it's been said, "Go and play other games or have a social life. FFXIV will be here when you're ready to come back."

The only other game I can think of with as regular of content additions in place is WoW. Any games I've stuck with for any amount of time take far longer - the second one I can name is Warframe, and that still takes months (longer than FFXIV for less content).

We can ask for more stuff, but we'd need to also be specific about it. People asked for something like XI's deep dungeons; we got it. People asked for more XI-like content and we got.... Eureka. More skilled players asked for harder fights. We got ultimates. Everything is pretty niche because it's fulfilling requests from people while still doling out things that theoretically please everyone (dungeons?).

Never said Gordias Savage destroyed the game - considering we're currently playing it. I said it left a bad taste in MY mouth and that's why I don't particularly hold Heavensward in good regard. (Also, the bold text in specific is SE doing exactly what players asked. Again, I did not at all imply that this 'destroyed' the game, but when even those top raiders say yeah, this isn't fun, it doesn't exactly come off as the best request they fulfilled.) The proof is right there. You also lumped things together while leaving out other things. Normal raids, savage raids, story, story, story, side quests (like Hildibrand), FC stuff (airships) and stuff I don't really want to go and look up for specifics. More things were added than what is being presented. Again, just because it doesn't appeal to you, or even a large amount of people, doesn't discredit its existence or the possibility of it being enjoy by others. Niche or not.

A MMO should not all but require players to take consist breaks, especially not after major patches. Even at a gradual pace, most people will have completed all 4.3 had to offer at release long before HoH finally arrived. And while Yoshida may prattle on about breaks, SE employs systems purposely designed against taking breaks. Do you not think it suspect these staggered release schedule coincide with a month's sub? Or that should you own a house, you're locked into a renewal every 45 days. Eventually, players stop coming back. We're seeing that in the aforementioned census as Stormblood boosts an active playerbase roughly at what 3.1 had. Considering the game is supposed in a better state, with a higher budget, that isn't a good sign.

Dungeons haven't pleased people for a long time. The whole reason we lost one is because they openly acknowledged how "boring" the community perceived them. Fulfilling requests doesn't mean that should be all that's offered. If the majority of your playerbase is bored, niche content like Rival Wings or even Ultimate are not good focal points. Granted, at least Ultimate can justify itself through Twitch viewership. PvP has been on life support for the better portion of three years yet they still keep trying to keep alive the delusional of an E-Sports theme.

You specifically said Gordias was dark times—with no mention of it only referencing yourself. Be that as it may, story is not long term content because it's a "one and done" activity. Even if someone took four months to complete everything, they were greeted with very little substance at endgame. There's a reason 3.1 is considered the worst patch this game has ever released. Furthermore, I did include both raids hence why I said "Gordias." Normal mode takes less than an hour. And Hildibrand was delayed for The Scholasticate initially.