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

[Bourne_Endeavor]

a) It is perfectly fine for players to move along once content is completed. In order to make players partake in the content again, replayability must be implemented and relied upon. Granted it is hard but it is the job of the game designer to make the game interesting enough on a gameplay standpoint (it is something SE is really bad at).

You simply aren't going to get people repeating the same content without some measure of rewards for doing so, regardless of how well it's designed. They'll inevitably grow bored. In a single player game, which you keep alluding towards, this works because they have no financial motivation beyond your initial purchase. MMOs are trying to retain a monthly sub. They don't want you leaving, but can't develop content fast enough to keep up with how quickly people devour it. Hence why grind styled accomplishments exist.

b) the "best" combination must vary depending on the type of encounter. Granted, SE would have to stop making basically the same encounter each fight, merely reskinned, and actually find a way for players to interact with the monster that isn't damage. HEre again it isn't easy but SE managed to do it in their older games. They'd also have to start designing actual classes rather than endless reskins of the same role (eg classes that do actually the same thing but with different graphics and abilities).

There will still remain a "best" way to approach a given situation. If you add elemental weaknesses and make Black Mage the most consistent in dealing damage against said weakness, it immediately becomes the de facto caster teams want. If you make a boss weak to Piercing, DRG/BRD/MCH are now slotted as the best. Look at how many people bring 3-4 tanks into Rathalos. Why? They can shrug off his dives far better than DPS jobs can and laugh at the stack mechanic. In that sense, they're the best option, which vaults them into the "default" positions.

c) Please, this type of content suffer from the same design issues.Quests aren't the strong point of FFXIV on a gameplay standpoint.

Yes and no. FATEs and such do need a design overhaul, but they're typically ignored because:

1) The devs overused them to the point people became fed up.
2) They offer very little rewards, thus no incentive to bother.

d) As already stated, FFXIv must stray away from the easy hamster wheel/rat race design and come to rely more on the intrisic gameplay value of its content rather than on the artificial reward structure (see a))

And how do you accomplish that? How do you make Ridorana worth exploring outside of your first time? Twenty three people aren't going to wait around while you look at the map and check every little room. In fact, look at what happened in Rabanastre with the little notes underwater. People started getting annoyed or outright pulled the bosses because they didn't care to wait. If you force them to, well, you get the mess that has been Praetorium and Castrum, where the devs practically had to throw massive tome rewards just to get people into the MSQ roulette. While you may look at Ridorana and want to explore every little nook and cranny, a good number of people aren't going to care. They want to kill the bosses and collect their loot.

e) call it nostalgia, but it is known the final fantasy saga was at is apex during FFX.

A single player game, among my favourites of all time, actually. Nevertheless, it could do things a multiplayer game cannot because it isn't dependent on anyone else except the one person it's trying to entertain. You can take your time exploring, messing around with strange builds that are nowhere near good or any number of things because it's only your time being used. I used to spend hours upon hours playing Blitzball simply because I liked it. (No, Yoshida, that isn't an endorsement.) If you attempt an unorthodox build in a multiplayer game, well, you're likely playing something inferior which hinders group progression. Now if everyone else is cool with that, have at it. I, personally, wouldn't be too pleased because your fun is wasting my time. There's a reason people get uppity about healer DPS and tank stance, after all.

f) everything isn't all bad in FFXIV (mostly, the graphics are good) but one can only guess how long it will last. Especially when the figure shows a slow but a steady decrease over the years. Never have the players been so bored with FFXIV than they currently are, and they start to stop believing the corporate "please look forward to it" bs.

And nothing you suggested will change that. Sure, people may be excited to spec DRG a certain way at first, but the novelty will inevitably wane once superior builds are discovered. People are bored because the content hasn't been up to par and very little has changed. Presently, we have them throwing huge amounts of money towards an old school design no one really cares for nowadays. Meanwhile, people have been clamoring for Mythic+ styled content for years. WoW hasn't changed its core systems in over a decade, but has tried different ideas in addition to them. FFXIV doesn't. The main issue with the latter is they play everything safe; relying entirely on a formula. That model works... if combined with different ideas that feel fresh ala WoW. You don't have to overhaul everything.