Where is the "never before seen content"?

[JunseiKei]

A MMO should not all but require players to take consist breaks, especially not after major patches.

There's no MMO that can keep up with their players.

SE employs systems purposely designed against taking breaks. Do you not think it suspect these staggered release schedule coincide with a month's sub?

I wasn't aware we got a new patch every 30 days.

Or that should you own a house, you're locked into a renewal every 45 days.

Yeah, I will agree that sucks. However, until they link that directly to the Mogstation (will probably raise pitchforks from players) and make houses instanced, I can't see a means to force open world houses to become vacant.

Or add in something like BDO's housing system (in that every house, every player can buy. By default you enter your own home, but you can click on the entrance and visit another player's home).

Considering the game is supposed in a better state, with a higher budget, that isn't a good sign.

I'd argue the game's story has only gotten better. This may, or may not, be because of a supposed increase in budget.

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..

Part of the reason. The full statement was along the lines of, 'we're dropping down to one dungeon because we know they're boring and the extra time and resources will allow us to create more content.'

Also, despite your statement, that dungeons haven't pleased people and even SE acknowledges they are boring, yet people seem to want to go on and on about losing one dungeon per patch. That's why I'm confused when people complain about dungeons - did you actually want it or are you looking for a means to complain?

Eventually, players stop coming back.

That is unavoidable, even if you sped up the content cycle or managed to create more content. People leave for reasons; some because the game can't keep up. Some for more personal reasons (families, money, you name it). There are players that literally do savage raids and ultimates, then unsub until the next batch because they have no interest in anything else. No matter what content you place in, unless it's something of similar interest to them, you won't get those players back. You can't please everyone 100% of the time; if they decide to never came back, that's their choice.

If the majority of your playerbase is bored, niche content like Rival Wings or even Ultimate are not good focal points.

People like you and I do not have access to actual numbers; SE does. We can't make any actual arguments on these grounds - we can make educated guesses at best, and even then, those are probably hideously inadequate.

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.

There are people that genuinely enjoy PvPing. Once upon a time ago, I was in such crowd. It comes with the generalist MMO - you make something for everyone. At least SE does stages and stuff to be enjoyed and on occasion, I've dropped in on the streams to watch fights.

By life support, I'm assuming you mean because it's not a massive focus, much like the Gold Saucer and all of its activities. Despite it being enjoyed by a number of people.

You specifically said Gordias was dark times—with no mention of it only referencing yourself.

Then allow me to clear that up: I was speaking strictly from my point of view.

There's a reason 3.1 is considered the worst patch this game has ever released.

By whom? Obviously, players, but what amount of players? What are your numbers? What are your sources? What is the opinion of all patches to compare against? Do you have numbers across all regions? Is there a comparison to each region showing how they felt about 3.1?

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.

Had you been another business trying to sell me a product (like a rival MMO), simply saying something like "Gordias" makes it look like one thing. In reality, it was two different things that please two different crowds of players, then tried to sell me on a hook like 'we have double the content!' while separating your own content if you had a normal and savage version. (Just saying, how it comes across to the reader or whoever else is reading our conversation, changes their perception of things. Probably me just being nitpicky, but that's why I said what I said.)

Yeah, that's details I didn't really want to delve into because I honestly didn't recall when Hildibrand started and I don't feel like digging up each 3.0 to 3.2 patch notes to see what changes were made as well as content made available. I do know you left out three primals, not counting Thordan EX since you did mention that fight. My main point here being you selectively left out information.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

There's no MMO that can keep up with their players.

I never insinuated otherwise. There shouldn't be one where a major patch releases then sits around for six weeks despite the content released being nowhere near long enough to maintain a general interest for that length of time. The whole reason why MMOs, FFXIV included, employ grinds are to combat boredom. Stormblood's relic grind has been relegated to one month before 4.4. Not only does it not exactly last long, the weapon itself is entirely meaningless for progression.

I wasn't aware we got a new patch every 30 days.

Don't be obtuse. You know as well as I these abrupt staggered releases are an attempt to keep subscribed. I won't necessarily fault Yoshida for that though.

I'd argue the game's story has only gotten better. This may, or may not, be because of a supposed increase in budget.

And yet the general consensus is Heavenswards' story was largely superior. I will grant you side story quests have been somewhat better, but again, those are one and done.

That is unavoidable, even if you sped up the content cycle or managed to create more content. People leave for reasons; some because the game can't keep up. Some for more personal reasons (families, money, you name it). There are players that literally do savage raids and ultimates, then unsub until the next batch because they have no interest in anything else. No matter what content you place in, unless it's something of similar interest to them, you won't get those players back. You can't please everyone 100% of the time; if they decide to never came back, that's their choice.

And those same "raid loggers" existed in Heavensward yet the active player numbers did not dip nearly as aggressively as they have in Stormblood. You're dismissing virtually ever potential slight against the game as "well that just happens." It didn't in Heavenswards. Perhaps that's a sign FFXIV should follow WoW's resurgence with Legion come the next expansion and not simply sit on all these complaints. Which is why feedback and criticism is crucial. Hand-waving everything aside results in a repeat of the same mistakes—ones that won't be as easily forgiven a second time. If Stormblood's numbers are suffering now and nothing changes; just a purple coat of purple atop red. Those same numbers could decline even further.

People like you and I do not have access to actual numbers; SE does. We can't make any actual arguments on these grounds - we can make educated guesses at best, and even then, those are probably hideously inadequate.

Indeed, nor did I claim otherwise. That doesn't mean those estimations are entirely inaccurate or meaningless either. Considering complaints about lackluster content and little innovation are far more commonplace nowadays than two years prior, we can reasonably assume a decent portion of players aren't thrilled by some of the decisions made for Stormblood. It's not definitive, of course, but it shouldn't be ignored either.

There are people that genuinely enjoy PvPing. Once upon a time ago, I was in such crowd. It comes with the generalist MMO - you make something for everyone. At least SE does stages and stuff to be enjoyed and on occasion, I've dropped in on the streams to watch fights.

By life support, I'm assuming you mean because it's not a massive focus, much like the Gold Saucer and all of its activities. Despite it being enjoyed by a number of people.

No, I mean that it dies within weeks. Outside of the Garo event and Stormblood's initial launch, PvP activity has been staggeringly low. So much so the devs were embarrassed on their own Live Stream with an hour long queue. Rival Wings completely dropped off within two weeks, and how struggles to see queues despite people actively advertising on reddit. There really is no way to argue PvP has not been a failure in numerous ways. Being a generalist MMO does not mean you want content so decidedly unpopular it sees little activity.

By whom? Obviously, players, but what amount of players? What are your numbers? What are your sources? What is the opinion of all patches to compare against? Do you have numbers across all regions? Is there a comparison to each region showing how they felt about 3.1?

Virtually ever census conducted cites 3.1 as FFXIV's worst patch. Of course, it's largely subjective, but considering the overwhelming dislike of Diadem and LoV, Gordias Savage destroying the raid scene and the developers opting not to delay a patch like that again, it's not difficult to surmise 3.1 was not well received.

Had you been another business trying to sell me a product (like a rival MMO), simply saying something like "Gordias" makes it look like one thing. In reality, it was two different things that please two different crowds of players, then tried to sell me on a hook like 'we have double the content!' while separating your own content if you had a normal and savage version. (Just saying, how it comes across to the reader or whoever else is reading our conversation, changes their perception of things. Probably me just being nitpicky, but that's why I said what I said.)

Did I really need to add in brackets (Normal and Savage). I am neither a business nor am I selling you a product. I'm speaking to someone acutely aware of the terms. So yes, that is needlessly nitpicky. Regardless, I do admit to having forgotten to list Ravana and Bismarck, though the overall point remains. Given how poorly the major content releases were received outside 3.0 proper, there remained very little to do for an extended point of time as 3.1 had been delayed longer than their usual schedule.