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

[Mahrze]

The main issue with FFXIV is that it is lacking so much in term of depths that it relies too much on the "rewards" to make the players do anything. Except that more often than not the rewards are also underwhelming and replaced too quickly.

There seems to be this mindset that "content without rewards" is a functional thing: Why would anyone do it, even in old SE rpgs as you reminisce below did you find something to grind.

FFXIV really needs to become a RPG, as Square used to know how to design a decade ago (and that doesn't imply anything would need hours of waiting/grind to get things done). First a relevant battle system must be designed, one in which players must make choices amongst different abilities rather than one relying merely on a predetermined cycle that never changes between encounter.

Then, the community would obviously find the "best" combination of abilities or chain of abilities and we're back to square 1.

Then, the structure of the content must be changed in order not to really that heavily on the duty finder (I have no issues with the duty finder, but it is currently literally the whole game, and it is wrong because that way the content isn't well tied to the open world, it kills immersion).

Hunts, FATEs and Beast-tribes say hi and we know how at least how Hunts are their own cesspool.

Furthermore, the games really needs to get rid of that dungeon corridor and monster in a box that must be completed hundreds of times for "rewards" structure and provide more open environments, where the omega isn't merely to fight a mob and get a token as fast as one can possibly can. Stuff like the ridorana lighthouse is particularly depressing in that regard. You have a massive structure that literally beg the developers to build explorable environments inside. But no, SE chooses to make a corridor with like 4 bosses. I honestly don't know how they manage to do something so boring out of such an interesting setting. By itself it is an impressive feat.

People will just work on the path that's easiest/more rewarding and we'd basically have a surplus of roads.

I mean, there is so much that could be done, that wouldn't cost much and that were actually implemented in the old square RPGs, to improve the game.

Good old nostalgia.

No need to make runescape but lets face it : FF popularity is quickly decreasing :

https://trends.google.com/trends/exp...q=%2Fm%2F02ywx

That may have something to do with how SE tries very hard to reinvent the wheel to cater to a playerbase who doesn't like RPGs, that wasn't originally the one who bought FF games. Making RPGs for people who don't like RPGs must be very hard, yet that's something SE is trying to do. Even blizzard came to understand that it was stupid, and WoW's playerbase started to rise again as soon as they corrected the changes they made to make the game cater to anyone.

https://trends.google.com/trends/exp...%2Fm%2F064ln09

Seems FFXIV is having the same predictable traffic every 2 years, when interest rises towards the expac, due to adverts and all. Not saying the game is great but you're breaking off a tangent of "old school" RPGs and for SE to "go back to their roots". And tbf, it won't work.

Edit: Here's a link comparing WoW with FFXIV https://trends.google.com/trends/exp...,%2Fm%2F021dvx

Seems that WoW also has the same spikes when new expacs come. Additionally, seems that WoW is favorite everywhere but JPN, which tbh surprises nobody.