Quote Originally Posted by LauraAdalena View Post
I don't get this thing that people have been doing where they say "If Yoshi-P steps down it'll improve." God no. Changing out major roles is far more likely to lead to catastrophic failure. Only reason it was successful with FFXIV was because Yoshi-P generally had a vague idea of what players wanted and was able to rally the team and get them all to see his vision. Doing that again right now from one person to an unknown is far more likely to start causing miscommunications between departments like there was during 1.0 pre-Yoshi. The FFXIV change of head was a miraculous recovery, one that is rare to replicate or even come close to the stability afterward. Especially given how rigorous they want their release schedule to be.

If anything, they need to slow down or take a break from developing the game. They need to stop right now and give more time between SB and the next expansion. Only reason I say this is because they're working themselves into a corner with the rigorous patch cycle they want.
From my perspective, the pace they've set is also Yoshi-P's responsibility. He's the director, after all - it's his call whether or not they slow down the pace of content releases.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't know the full picture. All I do know is that the game is no longer grabbing at me, personally, nor is it appealing really to most of my friends. I and my friends are all hungry for something fresh, but nothing has been delivered - for years now. While it's certainly possible that Yoshi-P is not at fault here, all available evidence - and his position as both Director of the game and an Executive Officer at SE - suggests he's at the root of what I feel is bland, unambitious development.

As to the risk of things getting worse... well, yeah, it's certainly possible. But again, speaking personally, I don't feel I have much to lose. I'm not planning on continuing into 5.0 unless I see major changes, and once my house gets demolished, I'll have precious little reason to ever return again down the road.

I can't speak for others on the forums, but that's why I'd welcome a change at the top. I'd happily suffer through a period of chaos if it meant I had hope for the game to meaningfully evolve.