Trying to understand the negative posts I keep seeing about the Dev Team

[HyoMinPark]

but the alleged "lack of content" is a bit absurd(see competitive Smash players for example for such complaint)

Sure the pace of releasing content slowed down....but that's an eventuality for a game running for 6 years now(8 if you count 1.0) to slow down updates until a big patch or an expansion come by.Raiding isn't the end all be all "hardcore content" to enjoy and while not every quest in the game is a winner there is still so much to do and play through.

To give you my personal perspective of why I think there’s a “lack of content”, I think there’s a lack simply because there’s nothing new or innovative being introduced, there’s nothing being introduced that lasts in terms of lifetime of the content relative to new patch releases, and there’s no reason to go back and do older content short of nostalgia or vanity farming.

Eureka was supposed to be the “new and innovative” content for 4.0, but it’s just a reskinned Diadem (which flopped, not once, but twice in Heavenward) that attempts to emulate older MMO grinds, but it missed the mark by a mile by taking the things people disliked from old-school MMO grinds and forcing them into a game that just isn’t designed for it. And the Relic, of all things, is tied to it—which is something that is supposed to keep the casual playerbase occupied in the same way Savage (and Ultimate) is supposed to occupy the raiders (and even raiders participate in the Relics). If the Relic wasn’t in Eureka, people wouldn’t touch it. And I think the developers know this.

And it doesn’t stop at Eureka—HoH was a reskinned PotD; “expert” dungeons are repetitive and faceroll; 8-mans are glorified trial fights as opposed to actual raids; 24-mans are fun, but they’re every other patch, and short of getting one in Alliance Raid Roulette, there’s not much reason to go back to them other than nostalgia because they’re no longer relevant. There’s not much reason to go back and do any of the older content aside from nostalgia, or maybe glamour or mounts for some. Previous relics used to keep older content relevant by tying steps to participation, but that’s not the case now that the Relic is stuck in Eureka.

The content formula itself is predictable enough I could sit down and map out how the rest of the expansion is going to go in terms of content we’ll get. If the formula doesn’t change, I could do the same for the entirety of 5.0. And the content we’re receiving just doesn’t last the fifteen weeks between patches when more “major content” is supposed to be released.

I’m not saying the developers need to throw surprise curve-balls every patch, but they need to think of adding things people can look forward to each major patch, things that will last longer than a couple of weeks, and things that aren’t reskins and that mold well with FFXIV. And I mean this for the majority of the playerbase, because right now the only content I’ve personally found that has lasted long enough between patches is Ultimate. And that’s just for the 1% (and raiders better than me had it cleared in a couple weeks, farmed it weekly, and some did optimization runs of it because what else do you do at that point?).


The repetition of formula, combined with the way SE would rather stagger-release content to keep people subscribed and the way they’ve made running older content not at all worthwhile, has caused the game to grow incredibly stale, especially for players who have been playing for a really long time. Sidequests aren’t really a remedy for that, in my opinion—especially for those who have already completed all of the sidequests. It’s not content that lasts—it’s one and done—and I think that’s the main complaint a lot of people have. Content is just stretched too thin, and it doesn’t last long enough between patches. And there’s nothing new being introduced, just reskins that tend to be more disappointing than their original incarnation (HoH and PotD) or flop just as hard (Eureka and Diadem).


I’m sure my opinion will probably be dismissed by some because “you’re a raider”, but it’s my opinion. And I’m not one who no-lifes content to the point where I finish it all in a day or a week, because I go to school full-time and I also like to spend my free time doing other things (like reading and writing). I log in, at most, for a couple hours in the evening; rarely do I spend all day actively playing the game anymore. I spent the most time in-game when I was progging Ultimate compared to the time I spend in it now progging Alphascape. I’ve even “saved up” doing content to try and give me reasons to log in during the 4.5 draught we’re inevitably going to have. Because, if I hadn’t, why even log in?

And it does have me concerned about 5.0. Is it going to be more of the same? Are they going to listen to the constructive criticisms, or just continue to push their “vision” onto the playerbase? I can only hope that the developers actually listen to some of the reasonable feedback—I can only hope that they don’t stick the relic in a piece of content like Eureka and instead tie it to more types of content like ARR and HW was.

And one day I will not write a novel as a response to someone.

[MetalSnakeXI1]

And one day I will not write a novel as a response to someone.

Note:Sorry I couldn't quote the entire post cuz the character limitation only allows for 4000 characters.


I'm not dismissing what you say.....it's just I'm a bit of a newbie since I joined in June of this year so I don't have the broader perspective a veteran who's been playing since ARR(or 1.0 if they had the patience of a saint) so I'm a bit of a casual MMO player...........that and the type of content I dig into differs from most people so I can only speak of stuff like Eureka and what little I played of it and the raids I'm participating in alongside ex primals.

I'm with you on Eureka 100% tho,I was too bored with it to even bother continuing to the hell that is pagos and I kinda wish they'd just wrap it up with Logos and Pyros and move on to either improving the current content or creating better content in its place

And while yes some people may have finished everything with how long the game's been out in-between expansions,they need to improve the pace in which content is released a little bit(tho there is so much crunching one can do to a dev team to push content frequently).

You're not wrong(even if I don't agree about few points you mentioned) and Square Enix does need to listen(and they better be).........but it's at a time like this where a break from the game would be necessary

I know that's practically a forbidden thing to say with games like this cuz of the whole "You might go play the competition like WoW or something" but even Wow struggles to address all the feedback from their playerbase and all the issues marring the current expansion there.

MMOs as a genre seems to struggle the most when it comes to keeping their playerbase alive and justify the subscription fee,sure some do it better than others but they all struggle at the same points from my observations

Thats where I take a break and play something else(be it an online MMO,a competitive online game,a fighting game or heck just regular single player stuff) for a while before coming back to the game.

I'm probably the least qualified person on this entire forum to talk about the situation so take what I say with a grain of salt.Tho just know that while I don't complain much I'm far from being a fanboy or a worshipper.After all I wanna see this game flourish and improve just as much as you even if I seem a bit passive about it

I don't want what's currently my favorite Final Fantasy game to be ruined by Square the same way they did with the rest of the series from XIII onward

[Vidu]

Note:Sorry I couldn't quote the entire post cuz the character limitation only allows for 4000 characters.

Just a quick note on this: You can bypass the characterlimit by editing your post - just type your novel, quote as much as you want, copy the whole thing, post something as a placeholder and edit your novel back in - tada! More than 3.000 characters (which is the current limit - at least they increased that from 1.000... still one of those rather weird things they have...)

[HyoMinPark]

snip

Yeah, it’s probably a bit easier to understand if you had been playing probably a little bit longer. I don’t think that makes your opinion less valid, but I think it would make it easier for you to sympathize where some of the content criticisms are coming from simply from experience.

I started in Nov 2015, so I’m not an ARR veteran or 1.0 veteran, but I have friends who have played since 1.0 or ARR Beta and some of them are in the same boat as I am. One last night said that he doesn’t even know if he’ll be around in 5.0, and he’s our static’s MCH. Our SCH said that he, too, doesn’t know if he’ll continue on in 5.0. The stagnation that the game is feeling right now is having a negative effect on the playerbase, and I hope that the developers can rectify it. Sometimes I feel like they are more concerned with bringing in new money instead of retaining their veterans.

I’m not a game designer, so I’m not saying that things I would want are the things necessary to improve the game for those who feel disenchanted. And some, you may not be able to change their disenchantment. But I think that something does have to change; if 5.0 is a carbon copy of the previous expansions, I don’t know if I’ll make it through. And I would rather not lose the sole game I play, because FFXIV is the only MMO I have ever played, and the only video game I have played for extended periods of time—I’ve never been much of a gamer, and it surprised me that FFXIV hooked me the way it did.

So, hopefully something changes. And hopefully for the better.


Sidenote: I wasn’t saying that you specifically would disregard my opinion because I’m a raider; I apologize if it came off that way. But it seems to be the “cool thing to do” to disregard the opinion of a poster simply because they raid. Because “lul raiders” or...whatever.

[RhonanEastarian]

Would just like to drop in and coment on the OP`s question about why theres so much criticism. Forums are made for feedback, when people are happy they tend to give little to no feedback and just play the game having fun. Its once someone is unhappy about something they go to the forums to discuss it and to try and give feedback to change the game in a way they deem better then the current state of the game.

Thats why you on any MMO forum bords will allways see way more criticism and neggative feedback then possitive posts and praise. Its a natural thing for people who are unhappy to want to have their voice heard while those that are happy stay silent and content.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Just saw a comment on Reddit that I thought would fit this discussion, but it's full of expletives so I'm just gonna link it instead of pasting https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...zs3/?context=1

It's about how despite all the revenue from increased box sales in sb, increased subs and increased mog station income none of it is being invested in infrastructure, and we keep getting the same excuses.

Their server excuse has definitely reached a point of being equally infuriating, if only because they use it for almost everything. I get it. The servers were glued together with hope, prayer and duct tape, but that excuse can only fly for so long when you're making money hand over fist. What makes it worse is when they finally do implement something we've asked for, it tends to involve a needlessly convoluted system. Take the Glamour Dresser. How in the world did they not foresight a massive issue with items being destroyed if ever removed from it? Any average gamer, not even FFXIV player, could have predicted exactly what would happen.

And let's not even begin about the supposed inventory limitation that magically wasn't an issue if you purchased premium service for the community app.

[Marxam]

For me personally, it's a communication and foresight issue that I have with the development team. I understand that it's not easy dealing with multiple bosses despite being a boss of team yourself, speaking from experience. I also understand that they are a Japanese team dealing with a global community. What I don't understand is the constant copy-paste PR statements that they provide to players seeking answers on things like RMT, bots, PvP cheating, blacklists, unwarranted bans, trolling, ToS loopholes and the list goes on.

Their lack of foresight is astonishing at times too. Example: they release a favorites list for mounts but no favorite mount roulette button and more recently the whale mount, while spectacular, comes with the generic music. They have these great ideas but the execution is always mediocre most times. They have gotten things right but it always feels like they take two steps forward and one step back.

[MatthiasS]

So, I've been playing since 2014.

According to Steam I have 5056 hours logged in the game, probably 2/3 of which are "Active play" as opposed to things like opening the launcher and not logging in, which seems to tick up the Steam clock either way.
I have played pretty much every aspect of the game. I actively raided in Coils, crafted often in Heavensward, and in Stormblood I ended up becoming an FC leader. I've forged an ARR Relic and most of a HW one, till I couldn't be bothered to do another light grind.

Stormblood, especially where we are now, has nothing to keep me coming back, nothing to keep me playing. I only log in most of the time to update FC buffs, and do ventures. Most of my FC is the same. Even previously active members are logging in once a week. An issue is I've had this level of burnout on the game since the end of Heavensward on and off. Sometimes I log in to socialize, but I can realistically do that in any number of ways, particularly with Discord at my disposal.

The problem is, the content. There is just nothing here, to be frank. Every dungeon feels like every other. I actively look for the good in every patch, I TRY to get hyped up, only to find whatever new thing they are offering is just more of the same. I tried Eureka, and found it to be pretty awful.

The two dungeons that came out most recently aren't BAD, but they aren't engaging enough for me to run several times a week. I can't say I haven't gotten my money's worth out of the game. Even Stormblood was worth the price just for the expansion story alone.

I do not feel, though, that there is a compelling reason for me to be paying 15.00 a month right now, other then to keep my house. World PvP, true World Bosses (not 3 minute Faceroll hunts), more in-depth dungeons, random or Rougelike dungeons out in the world, things to really explore, not just VISIT. These all could be reasons to keep the Veteran player engaged.

There are lots of other ideas I have that could keep me coming back, and I am sure there are many others that could be suggest. What WON'T keep my interest is "2 Dungeons, a "raid" (either 8 or 24 man) and a Primal"" every patch.

I have healer, tank, and DPS jobs leveled to 70, and nothing is below 60 except Fisher, and I can't abide fishing. I try to do my part to find the fun in the game. The Devs need to do theirs to earn my continued payments.

[MicahZerrshia]

I'm not dismissing what you say.....it's just I'm a bit of a newbie since I joined in June of this year

There in lies why you do not see the problems. This game is great and fantastic for new players. Its veteran retention that is the problem. Once you are around for awhile you will begin to see the pattern and realize you are just doing the same thing now you've done for every patch, just with a different skin.

SE needs to innovate and stop letting content fall by the wayside. Their lack of communication is one thing, but their lack of creativity and how they design nothing to last more than 3 months is a whole other. They need to start designing for the long term player instead of the new ones. They are always bragging about how hard core of gamers they are but I personally do not believe them in the slightest since they are making mistakes no actual gamer would make in game design. And it all goes back to Yoshida, which is why I place everything on his shoulders and why I think they should find someone new to take over. Because unless his hands are tied by someone higher up, he is not making choices that are good for the life of this game in the long run. He did a phenomenal job rebooting the game. But it's been a series of bad choices since.

Also lets have an expansion that is its own thing. I have said it before and I will say it again, we have literally been dealing with Ascians and Garlemald since v1 and its getting sooo boring. No matter whats going on we know that is somehow leads back to Ascians and the Empire. /snore I am so ready to move on.

[SerLuke]

Just saw a comment on Reddit that I thought would fit this discussion, but it's full of expletives so I'm just gonna link it instead of pasting https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...zs3/?context=1

It's about how despite all the revenue from increased box sales in sb, increased subs and increased mog station income none of it is being invested in infrastructure, and we keep getting the same excuses.

If that money isn't being reinvested into the game, isn't that on SE higher-ups rather than Yoshi P and the Dev Team? I mean I doubt Yoshi P is there going "oh yeah make sure all that Mogstation revenue is going to the FFVII Remake and FFXV DLC"