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

[LauraAdalena]

WARNING! EXTRA EXTRA LONG POST

Cool, this ought to be fun. I won't quote you on everything, but just a few things.

After reading a Reddit thread about the state of FFXIV(https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...hy_squareenix/), it made me think about a bunch of things in FFXIV and it just made me want to talk about it more in-depth.

Oh. That post. The one that doesn't really say much about what it opens with and tries to rile Reddit to rally against the game and claim that Yoshi P and crew aren't managing funds properly without evidence and just assumes things. Cool to see you're inspired by LACK of evidence over evidence. Plus, 90% of the post is about the Companion App which is not what your thread is about so I don't see why you were inspired by it or why it was at all worth mentioning.

It's cool that you've been playing the game as long as I have been, but I don't see your sentiment of Stormblood being bad. You seem to have hyperbolized to the extreme and exaggerating in such a way that it's like you've never played a bad game in your life. It's good to be worried, but Stormblood isn't inherently BAD. It's FLAWED and some people can't get over the flaws.

The Open World:
---TL;DR: HW and SB maps are filled with nothing. No exploration. No incentive. No danger.

Name an open world game today that isn't this and I'll get back to you on if I should care about this long hidden point.

Flying:
---TL;DR: Can I just say that imo, flying ruined everything that FFXIV was? I had to make a section just for flight.. it has ruined so many things now that I don't think I'll ever get the feelings back unless it's removed.

Yes. Yes you can. But this TL;DR does not TL;DR your points. It doesn't explain what's ahead or behind it. It's just a summary of your feelings without the points you say after. Which, I must say are probably the most solid points in the entire post. I can see what you mean. However, I disagree that it takes away the beauty. I actually far prefer looking at Coerthas Western Highlands from high above, or the hinterlands from up above where I can take in all the splendor and small things they put into it. I can say the same about SB maps, the higher perspective gives a whole new angle to look at that's breathtaking at times (or at least, to the degree that the engine can handle). However, I'd like to use your last point here for something

• ... I kinda hate flying's existence now and would very much like it for it to NOT be in future expansions. I don't think it's compatible with the way XIV is. It just ruins the world, exploration, and the maps. Sorry.

This is your TL;DR not the "TL;DR"

Glamours and Customization:
---TLDR: We get less and less, more restrictions, and more boring

Completely disagree in many ways. First off, the new glamour plates system allows me to tie glams to the gearsets I use meaning I can just switch classes in a city (yes, I will admit that restriction is completely dumb) and change my DRK glam to my PLD glam which are now completely separate and it makes me so happy.

Also, you said "Why are the non artifact gathering gear now restricted to class?" have you ever had a blackmage below ilvl join your party then switch out to inferior gear just to cheat the ilvl? You have no right to complain, I saw that shit several times in HW and it was annoying to see tanks, DPS, and healers try to cheat the ilvl restriction using that. I don't care if it limits glamour, it was a godsend to not have people doing that thinking gear didn't matter.

Dungeons, Trials, and Raids:
---TL;DR: SE, you cut corners and I see it but you don't give us anything in return. You're just giving us less and less here.

Ah, this is where the inspiration from that Reddit post comes from. While I agree we need variety, as one post I saw above put it, people do the efficient way to do it and others get upset when it's not done the efficient way. If you want your multiple rooms, that's nice and all, but let's be honest here and just say: We need variety in HOW we get there or what we're doing between bosses (and also the bosses themselves) and not what there is to see between there because that leads to frustrated players when one decides to go exploring and the other three don't want to and just want to get it over with.

Trials do need more variety. I agree. However, Rathalos didn't. Rathalos had several intricacies that broke from the pack. The adds actually helped you damage Rathalos and was essential to keep them alive as long as possible before they started aggroing the healer, and the Garula's corpse being used to block against the fire was actually kinda clever. That being said, it was also a really big change in how the second phase went without healing.

idgaf about your opinion on raids tbh. Coils weren't that amazing, and people forgot that. There were several parts of Coils that were absolutely abhorrent design, the pad puzzle in Second coils and T3. Coils had a good story and the final bosses of each tier were top notch, but nothing else was. And I know because I just reran them recently. Whether the raids of Omega should be just fights or not I don't know, but after Alexander almost killed raiding I really don't care.

Gear Rewards, Progression, and Raiders:
---TL;DR: This might spark negativity but here's my opinion.. Raiders and raids are restricting the game and causing all gear progression to go stale.

Oh god, this topic. So many people keep mentioning the gear thing. I don't know about how to fix the gear system. However, the biggest thing I know right now is that changing it this late into the MMO's cycle would be like uprooting EVERYTHING THE ENTIRE GAME IS BUILT ON AND WOULD BREAK IT. They might have some ideas they can implement it from older MMO styles, but please keep that in mind before saying that again. I'm all for a new system, but not one that completely uproots and causes fatal balancing systems.

Also, as for "this can't happen because of raiders" it's more nuanced than that. I don't want to go into that in a forum post.

I said I played for 4 years and when I think of it, that's not even a long time lol. It's really bad imo, that many players players(not all, let me clarify) feel this way in about the same amount of time each time. I think of all the FFXI players saying stuff like "I played XI for 13 years" etc etc.. and the first thing I think of now is "XIV is not something I can play for 6 years let alone 13". It hurts.

I'm glad to know you've stayed so long. But here's the fact, if you truly think the game is so boring I suggest you break up the game with something else or take a break. MMO burnout is a real thing, and it can happen if you truly are bored of a game. Taking a break is a great way of keeping yourself from burning out in the long run and it sounds like you're close to that point. I've had this happen with other games, I suggest you take a break from it much like I've taken a break from those games.