COVID showed why the Developers need to release Relic content sooner.

[Deceptus]

If Relic content was to be released in x.1 then the expansion itself would suffer with less content. Do people not understand how long things take to develop? There's not enough time between x.0 and x.1 to develop the kind of relic content we are getting.
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You act like the developers can't multitask and develop multiple pieces of content at once. Besides, lets be honest, most of the content in FFXIV is re-using the same assets just in different ways. It's not like they're re-inventing the wheel here.

Have they been short staffed over the years? Yes, and that's 100% on them at this point. Since 2.0 they haven't invested in gaining new employees much, yet when things get pushed back it's "oh, they're short staffed".

Has COVID made it worse? Yes. But having the right people power to get ahead of issues is important for any company, SE is no different.

[DrWho2010]

relic also shouldn't just be "slap a grind on it" and go either. we're getting a lot of lore involved with this expac too for it.

[wereotter]

They are weirdly dogmatic about sticking to their schedule. While it's commendable in some ways it's very limiting in others as we see here. I agree.

It seems this schedule, though, is product of Stormblood. Heavesnward relics were started in 3.15

Waiting until the .2 patch to introduce them at all is a bit of a disappointment. If you look at the progression of the post-expansion occurring in three parts (one for each gear tier of tomestones and raid gear) waiting until .2 or later means your more casual players have a full third of the post expansion without this bit of content to work on.

[Puremallace]

Only downside to this is relic weapons are effectively BIS so every single other weapon in the expansion is basically now glamour.

[JohnSpawnVFX]

Only downside to this is relic weapons are effectively BIS so every single other weapon in the expansion is basically now glamour.

No, they're only BIS when you get to choose or influence the secondary substats, and even then they're running behind other weapons on ilvl until the end of the expansion.

[StriderShinryu]

Should they have released the relic content earlier? I mean, maybe, but to tie it to the current situation is really silly. How could the developers have known there would be a global pandemic in enough time for them to plan a relic grind long enough to occupy players through (hopefully) the worst of it. Once again, the only reason this later release of the content really feels noticeable and notable is because of the delay. If it had come out on time almost nobody would be batting an eye.

I mean, what if the pandemic had struck before the release of 5.1? Does that mean they should have released the relic content in 5.0 instead as something to keep the players busy?

[yukiiyuki]

I actually rather enjoyed the lull. Could play dragon quest 11 and animal crossing without worrying about missing out on something. Was very zen.

They can stop releasing any content, this way you have even more time to play other games. That's how it works from business perspective right?

[kaynide]

They can stop releasing any content, this way you have even more time to play other games. That's how it works from business perspective right?

In case you weren’t aware, YoshiP is on record saying it was never his intent for people to be playing this game full time and that the content is not meant to encompass all your “game time”.

Also, way to go 0 to 100 whining about a full stop of content forever when we are just in a lull which, if you weren’t aware, is happening mid global crisis.

[Hasrat]

Ah yes, developers should absolutely release unfinished content just in case there might be a delay in finishing said content.

[Penthea]

It's like some people forgot what a global pandemic is, how it can turn plans upside down, and that there are other activities they can do while waiting for patch content.

I'd be so disappointed by the lack of perspective in some of the posts here if twitter had not already prepared me for...lets just say certain kinds of opinions.

I actually rather enjoyed the lull. Could play dragon quest 11 and animal crossing without worrying about missing out on something. Was very zen.

This person gets it.

Not saying no one should be disappointed that the patch got delayed but please lets not suggest SE should somehow prepare for disaster and have back-up content ready. That's ridiculous.