Lack of End Game Content

[Kaylessa]

As someone who plays both FFXIV and WoW, I think the term "endgame" is deceptively subjective.

I have different views on where the endgame lies in both games. For WoW, I see raiding as the endgame. It's literally "the thing you do at the end of the game". It wraps up whatever storyline is going on (sort of), and gives a challenge for max-leveled, high ilevel players. World quests and things like Island Expeditions and M+ are what I refer to as my "WoW chores". They're things I feel compelled to do, not because I enjoy them, but because if I don't do them, then I'll fall behind my raid team.

In FFXIV, however, I don't really see the game as having an "end", therefore I have trouble defining an "endgame" for it. The reason for this is simple: hitting max level/max gear isn't the end. Because I can subsequently go back and level every other job on the same character, that means I can leave low level sidequests alone, and they'll still have value after my main job is at the max. Similarly, there is the fact that I can go back and level other jobs on the same character. I don't have to start over and do the same quests I did to level my first job if I want to give a different role a try. I can have an entirely different adventure or (if I'm feeling lazy) I can just do my daily roulettes for a couple of months (total of maybe 6 hours a day if you include time spent just sitting around in queues for dps jobs) and have a new job geared up and ready to roll by the time I finish leveling it. No waiting around on RNG for gear to drop. And I never feel like the game is "ended".

Considering WoW is a game that "begins at the endgame", hitting the endgame or max level in WoW also "isn't the end", rather just the beginning. You're applying two different standards to the two games.

You nor I are the guardians of the English language, the community is the guardians of the language, and the community has defined endgame in MMOs to be "max level content". Can we stop trying to redefine the term to suit our prejudices and biases?