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

[ForteNightshade]

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?

You're misinterpreting. No one is faulting SE for the delay but merely using it to highlight why the current design philosophy is extremely flawed. A two month delay should not have the game crumbling under its own weight. People already complain content simply doesn't last long enough, and the staggered releases make it especially worse. For argument's sake. Say Covid never happened and 5.3 released on schedule. Almost everything in that patch can easily be done within a handful of hours; a couple days tops if you're slow. That patch is supposed to last six weeks following an already lengthily fourteen week cycle where content longevity is once again quite sparse. Releasing the relic earlier and not making such a paltry step at least gives people something to focus on should they choose. And had they done that, then this delay wouldn't have felt nearly as bad.

Look at the Heavensward relic and how much better spaced out it was. Sure, it had problems but the dev team should be working on improving the criticisms people had not cutting them out entirely.

[ItMe]

A two month delay should not have the game crumbling under its own weight.

Is it though?
Because whenever I log in there are still ques.
When I go into hunt trains there are still enough people to lag my setup like it's frying.
Everything still seems to be popping in game.

[ForteNightshade]

Is it though?
Because whenever I log in there are still ques.
When I go into hunt trains there are still enough people to lag my setup like it's frying.
Everything still seems to be popping in game.

Because it's attracted new players. I never said the game was dying just that content cycle is flawed. Of course new players will have tons to do. They're new after all. 3.1 is routinely cited as the worst patch in this game's entire history yet for me, I never felt its impact. Why? I had just started playing. That doesn't mean 3.1 wasn't a bad patch. I just wasn't far enough yet to notice the severe drought in caused.

Veteran players also want to enjoy stuff to do once they've reached endgame. Hence why people are frustrated over the relic being shifted so late into the expansion.

[ItMe]

Because it's attracted new players. I never said the game was dying just that content cycle is flawed. Of course new players will have tons to do.
[...]
Veteran players also want to enjoy stuff to do once they've reached endgame. Hence why people are frustrated over the relic being shifted so late into the expansion.

If it was something they let people start working on earlier, doesn't that just mean they'd ultimately have to give the relic weapon more steps so the content still ends at the point they want the relic to be fully relevant?
And thus, wouldn't making more content for the relic weapon mean they'd be making that instead of the other stuff we got in earlier 5.x patches?
No matter how I look at it, it doesn't shape up into more content. It's like cutting one end off of a blanket, sewing it onto the other, and saying you have a longer blanket.

[Deceptus]

If it was something they let people start working on earlier, doesn't that just mean they'd ultimately have to give the relic weapon more steps so the content still ends at the point they want the relic to be fully relevant?
And thus, wouldn't making more content for the relic weapon mean they'd be making that instead of the other stuff we got in earlier 5.x patches?
No matter how I look at it, it doesn't shape up into more content. It's like cutting one end off of a blanket, sewing it onto the other, and saying you have a longer blanket.

Honestly the first steps of this relic were pretty much a joke. I'm not complaining because it was extremely easy to get a 480 weapon (which are generally supposed to be the hardest things to get). But in doing so made so much content irrelevant.

[TheRealQuah]

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.

I'm well aware the developers can multitask. I know they can develop 4.4, 4.5 and 4.55, at the same time as developing 5.0. Do you want sub par content? Do you want quantity over quality because it seems like that's what you're advocating? Do you want the developers to crunch to give you what you want?

Being short staffed is one thing, working to a budget is another thing. Money is not unlimited. They've (COVID excluded) kept to the same strict schedule for 7+ years and that is admirable.

You haven't addressed my point that there's lots of content in this game that you could have done in the last 170 days. You can't chose to not participate in half the content in the game and also complain there's nothing to do.

Honestly the first steps of this relic were pretty much a joke. I'm not complaining because it was extremely easy to get a 480 weapon (which are generally supposed to be the hardest things to get). But in doing so made so much content irrelevant.

This quote right here just backs up my point. The first step of the relic had a lot of cutscenes, an interesting story, and a long and impressive single player instance, followed by an EX version of the final fight (yes before you say it wasn't part of the weapon quest, I know, but it was still part of the relic series). It was a lot of content, and if all of that was a "joke" to you then I don't know what else to say.

The alternative to this is a long and tedious grind, which it seems you want, but then you also complained about how bad Eureka was, so I really don't understand what kind of content you want.

[ForteNightshade]

If it was something they let people start working on earlier, doesn't that just mean they'd ultimately have to give the relic weapon more steps so the content still ends at the point they want the relic to be fully relevant?
And thus, wouldn't making more content for the relic weapon mean they'd be making that instead of the other stuff we got in earlier 5.x patches?
No matter how I look at it, it doesn't shape up into more content. It's like cutting one end off of a blanket, sewing it onto the other, and saying you have a longer blanket.

Depends how they go about it. The Anima relic essentially had us going through old content which doesn't require much in the way of development work. Instead of starting off the relic in Bozja they could build towards it. A prime example would be borrowing from say, the Wondrous Tale system to incentivize content on an evening playing field; something that was an issue with the Anima relic. If in the end, it meant we still lost something like the solo instance for Memoria. Honestly, I'd be fine with that. While it's cool and all, the problem is like so many things in this game. It's one and done. They spent a lot of time developing that instance for us to go their once and never again on the same character.

Ultimately, the excuses need to stop. FFXIV severely lacks in content longevity. There needs to be a focus on making at least a few things have a longer shelf life than a couple weeks.