WoW and FFXIV are vastly different games, though they share some similarities. WoW caters to raiders and competitive gaming. PvP, arenas, progression. Zero story and stock characters. And it’s worked fine for them.

FFXIV caters to gamers who like story and RP. The devs here go out of their way to minimize competition as much as possible. They won’t even officially allow third party parsers for this reason. They think it adds to toxicity. And having played WoW for 12 years, I can tell you, they are right. It has or had one of the worst communities in all of gaming.

In my experience, people that complain games are too easy or casual have never themselves actually played any of said game’s harder content. They are also distinctly absent from the few hardcore games that are out there right now. They would rather be here on the forums complaining about “casuals.” Which...is EXACTLY what people in WoW are doing. Probably right now.

Here’s the thing. Casual games are what sells. Hardcore games like WildStar don’t survive these days. But there are some still alive. Eve Online, The Secret World, Rust. That latter game is absolutely brutal.

I just know you’ve played those games since you’re hardcore. I mean, I’m SURE of it. Right?