We Really Need To Talk About The State And Path Of FFXIV

[Edax]

With Diadem V1 en V2 and Eureka, its obvious that SE is not in sync with its players (atleast western), despite players complaining that we are sick of FATES, SE still likes to add them. We get less dungeons for another Diadem with element system. When you look at the patches since the release of Stormblood, you will notice that we get less content, less dungeons, less glamour outfits, less hairstyles. I remember seeing the 4.1 trailer and wondering why they changed the style, but it makes sense when you notice that less content = less stuff to show in the trailers. Untill we see a big decline of players, I dont think there will be any changes.

FFXIV is a cash cow, one that SE will be milking dry. I am worried for 5.0, I wont be suprised to see even less hairstyles, less glamour (more in Mog Station) and less battle content, while still asking for the same subsciption fee.

I predict for 5.0, we will see:

- New race (something that mixes hyur/miqote and a fan favourite Final Fantasy race)
- 1 new job, SE will use the new race as an excuse for only releasing 1 job.
- All patches will only include 1 dungeon, this is done so they can focus on releasing new content that will be another reskinned Diadem with fluff (after Diadem, SE should have known better.)
- Less glamour, we will see more outfits sold via the Mog Station.
- We used to get 3-4 hairstyles in Heavensward and only 2 hairstyles in Stormblood, with 5.0 we will only get 1 hairstyle for free. SE will sell more hairstyles via Mog Station. This will start with Lyse and Hien, players will be able to buy their hairstyles from the mog station after 4.5 releases.

This might sound salty, but when you compare 2.0 vs 3.0, then compare 3.0 vs 4.0 you will notice a trend when it comes to the Mog Station and content that we get released for our subscription fee.

They should get ambitious and add the Ivalice Moogles as a playable race.

[Laerune]

They should get ambitious and add the Ivalice Moogles as a playable race.

If they add Ivalice Moogles, I might forgive SE for 4.0

I dont think they will add them though, I mean Moogles are known for their wings and I do not want to see Ivalice Moogles without their wings in this game. I think SE is going to do the same thing they did with the Au Ra race, they will look at what the playerbase likes to play as (Miqote, Au Ra (females) and Hyur (Midlander) and the new race will look similiar to those races. Still having Ivalice Moogles would give the Lalafellins a run for their money.

[Ilan]

You've brought up something I've never understood and it isn't just tied to FF XIV but all the MMOs I've played. Why do people get so upset that they can't get high level gear when they don't/won't run high level content? Due to my age I stick to normal or tourist level instanced combat. I just don't have the reflexes and response time to do savage, ultimate, mythic or whatever you want to call it stuff anymore. By the time I collect all of the gear in the content I run I out level it anyway so it isn't like I need the highest ilvl BiS stuff to complete the instances or wander around the open world. Maybe its my age but I just don't get the sour grapes.

It is not your age its your mind. You understand that you don't need that gear for running expert or whatnot, they don't.

[ElazulHP]

I agree 100% with the OP. Especially with "It seems we can't have any kind of content or rewards worth something "because raids". This is something that has been bugging me personally for a while. It certainly feels like the majority of the game is become stale because of raids and SE catering 100% of the time to raiders that likely don't make up the majority of the subscribers that play the game.

[Ilan]

I agree 100% with the OP. Especially with "It seems we can't have any kind of content or rewards worth something "because raids". This is something that has been bugging me personally for a while. It certainly feels like the majority of the game is become stale because of raids and SE catering 100% of the time to raiders that likely don't make up the majority of the subscribers that play the game.

What? Raiders have Savage and Ultimate. Guess you are right its so much extra just for raiders, that it takes SE's time up completly, LOL. Well after gordias/midas not even savage was for raiders only because the difficulty went down and down to a point where even
the so called "casuals" can do it if they know how to play their class and are able to grasp the mechanics. Its also not a big time factor since there are enough groups who raid only once a week for 2-3 hours and that should be doable for most players in this game.

So please don't pretend that the lack of content is the raiders fault because it is not it is SE's fault since they waste their time for content like diadem and eureka.

[Derio]

So much dev time wasted on eureka and diadem. Content that was poorly tested, poorly executed and is not fun.

[Magic-Mal]

It is not your age its your mind. You understand that you don't need that gear for running expert or whatnot, they don't.

All three of you don't seem to understand what I was trying to say. It's not about allowing players who don't even know how to use a Lv70 attack being able to have top level raider gear. It's about being able to have content that would give raid level gear or stronger without "raid", "raid", "raid", "raid". It's about having some content that actually gives something different from Lv1 versions of existing gear that and not immediately worthless that makes a difference. It's about the devs having the freedom to make content reward things without the raider world crashing.

Also, you seem to have this misguided perception that if someone doesn't like raids that they are confused for wanting stronger gear. Some players just want to feel stronger. Some players are who don't like raids right now. Some players are actually really good or even better than raiders but are casual. Don't confuse casual with being bad or lazy. I know many out there who are casual simply because they don't like raids and because of that, they are denied any sort of real progression.

As it stands now, raiders themselves don't have anything worth playing for after what 1 or 2 months? Especially not now since Ultimate is gone. Ultimate isn't a good example of extra content as a small percent of raiders even bother with it. And the clear rate for Ultimate in NA at least is like 0.1% based off the census. Ultimate is neat for the 100 people who do it but we need something broader.

[Ilan]

All three of you don't seem to understand what I was trying to say. It's not about allowing players who don't even know how to use a Lv70 attack being able to have top level raider gear. It's about being able to have content that would give raid level gear or stronger without "raid", "raid", "raid", "raid". It's about having some content that actually gives something different from Lv1 gear that and not immediately worthless that makes a difference.

Also, you seem to have this misguided perception that if someone doesn't like raids that they are confused for wanting stronger gear. Some players just want to feel stronger. Some players are who don't like raids right now. Some players are actually really good or even better than raiders but are casual. Don't confuse casual with being bad or lazy. I know many out there who are casual simply because they don't like raids and because of that, they are denied any sort of real progression.

First: Don't confuse casual with NOT raiding, thats a difference. There are enough "casuals" out there who are raiding. Which brings us to the next point: Everyone can raid and not to forget if you want that gear go and raid or wait until you can upgrade the tomb gear, not so hard isn't it?

You basically want that you get raid gear outside of raids which is not right. If you want it put in the effort. I have barely 1 class geared around 360. Do you see me complaining about not having 370? No because i know where to get it if i really want it but since i'm not interested in deltascape i just take everything besides "raid gear" and guess what its completly fine that way.

[Sigma-Astra]

I agree 100% with the OP. Especially with "It seems we can't have any kind of content or rewards worth something "because raids". This is something that has been bugging me personally for a while. It certainly feels like the majority of the game is become stale because of raids and SE catering 100% of the time to raiders that likely don't make up the majority of the subscribers that play the game.

Hi, I'm a casual midcore raider who has played this game for 5+ years and before I decided to try Savage with Delta and Sigma, I was just a casual. Let's leave the personal bias estimates out of the picture, please.

If SE was catering 100% to the extreme kinds of raiders, you guys would get harder versions of expert dungeons and then complain about that as well. Actually, you'd probably get housing, crafting, and gathering and that's it. So, let's not pretend that the game isn't entirely casual first and foremost in the sense that you can literally pick your brain at any content so long as you have the patience, willpower, and drive to do so.

[Magic-Mal]

First: Don't confuse casual with NOT raiding, that is simply not true. There are enough "casuals" out there who are raiding. Which brings us to the next point: Everyone can raid and not to forget if you want that gear go and raid or wait until you can upgrade the tomb gear, not so hard isn't it?

You basically want that you get raid gear outside of raids which is not right. If you want it put in the effort.

I don't want raid gear. Is that clear? Keep your raid gear.