Maybe we need a Cataclysm

[Anarnee]

If I wanted a game with a different way of progression, I would just play a different game.

[Divinemights]

As someone who played WoW back then, Cataclysm was the first step in the wrong direction but it did not "kill" the game. The zone reworks for example were a net gain.
What did ultimately "kill" the game for me and the majority of my circle was the disappointment that was Warlords of Draenor after years of the game developing in a direction we did not like.

I still did not grow tired of telling anyone who will listen that Wrath of the Lich King was the best expansion that game ever had, though.

As for FFXIV? We'll have to see where things go when the Ascian arc is wrapped up.
They'll have to consider an alternative starting point for new players sometime in the not too distant future because the required number of MSQs for people to go through is already daunting enough without heaping another three Expansions worth of Quests onto it. The start of a new saga seems like a decent enough opportunity to do so.

I can’t agree as I am seeing Catalysm killed raiding and guilds. It also destroyed the original player base and the community established. I am pretty sure I am not only one who only raid because of friends we knew before Catalysm and don’t gives a horse crap on people we pick up to full the gap after Catalysm

[NessaWyvern]

We've already had more than one "Cataclysm".
The first one was the end of 1.0/start of 2.0

And the other is what happened to the first. We explore the aftermath of their Cataclysm.

[Stepjam]

If you mean like the change from 1.0 to 2.0, we'll never get that again. That was a big hail mary to save a floundering game that was costing the company a lot of money. It was like a Spirits Within level disaster for Squeenix, and it's kinda nuts that they didn't just cut their losses and shutter the project. But now the game is one of their most successful ongoing projects, so they have no financial reason to rebuild the game a second time. Sure, it would be nice to have a game not built on spaghetti code that could reach greater heights, but from a business perspective, there's zero reason to risk what they currently have as long as the game's numbers are continuing to climb. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush and all that.

If you mean like a WoW esque cataclysm, that likely won't happen either unless they are able to only destroy stuff just enough that the general landscape stays the same. Something like the mountain exploding next to Komra where they can instance it between players who are far enough in the raid to see it and those who aren't. It's visually different but doesn't affect what people can do movement wise. Since unlike WoW, XIV is sticking really hard to the idea that you play the story from start to finish instead of just jumping into whatever is current, they aren't going to do anything to the landscape that would make the early game not work. And they likely also aren't going to have two versions of every zone since that would split the playerbase between those who are at X point in the story and those who aren't, which would make certain areas suddenly a lot less populated.

That said, I wouldn't mind if they left the time bubble. NPCs at least can be changed without affecting instances too much.

[MintnHoney]

I don't know about a cataclysm, but I feel like FFXIV would benefit from a PSO2: New Genesis type of update.

[Gemina]

Um..
Last time I checked we had... like eight?
And wasn't the Thundering also a cataclysmic event?

Honestly, I would like another cataclysm if it meant we get a real BLU, a glamour dresser or classes that are more than just differently coloured DPS just to name a few.

It really shouldn't have to be pointed out that we are witness to only one of the cataclysmic events that lead to the rejoining of one of Hydaelyn's shards. These things don't happen like weather change patterns. The 6th calamity iirc was 1500 summers past. Even if I'm off, it was a long arse time ago.

I still can't deny that there are players whom for some odd reason want this to happen. It's not going to happen again for XIV though. However, a possibility is to launch a XIV-2 single player game wherein the events take place after the 8th. This might not bode well for some players though as the premise for this would likely be the aftermath of the death of the WoL/WoD. That actually sounds kind of interesting to be honest.

Anywho, I find that players who want Yoshi to drop another bomb on XIV seem to be generally unhappy with it, and are pretty ripe to start up a new game. I strongly suggest they do so if this is the case.

[Gameovers]

What the game needs is what they did with 1.0 to 2.0 but without sacrificing the current service. This means the company itself would have to hire more people, you know, invest in your own product and service for the betterment of it, and do this over a 2-4 year period (or however long it takes).
That, or just invest on a new FF mmo that isn't held back.

Edit: Thinking about it, how about they get Sony to invest in this kind of upgrade just like Microsoft invested in Sega for Phantasy Star online 2's substantial upgrade coming next year.

It'll never appear on Xbox if Sony put any kind of money towards it. I mean if you don't care about them thats fine. I play on Playstation so if they did do that it wouldn't effect me. Now that I think about I almost agree...

[Shurrikhan]

I can’t agree as I am seeing Catalysm killed raiding and guilds. It also destroyed the original player base and the community established. I am pretty sure I am not only one who only raid because of friends we knew before Catalysm and don’t gives a horse crap on people we pick up to full the gap after Catalysm

Its poor class balance and, therein, difficulty killed raiding guilds, not a change to the world from 2 expansions prior that would only affect new alt classes and better flesh out their leveling experience.

It did not destroy the original player base.

It did not destroy the community, outside of the aforementioned raid guilds getting tired of being forced to reroll to a handful of jobs to clear cutting edge content because they were so contextually overpowered and the checks were so tight.

Sure, you probably weren't the only person to care only about the friends you had up to a given expansion, and care not at all for all the other people who continued playing the game after your friends' departure, but... what does that have to with Cataclysm™? The same can be said for every expansion.

_________________________________________

On (the broader) topic:

The OP is referring to only one thing: a sweeping change, by way of some large event, by which to reinvigorate the open world and various systems (e.g. of progression). All other parts of a "cataclysm", in reference to WoW or otherwise, are besides the point. Let's not conflate them.

[Iscah]

I don't see how the two things are linked.

You can redesign the game systems without altering the story setting.

You can alter the story setting without making any updates to the surrounding game systems.

You're asking specifically for one of these things when really you want the other.

[Payadopa]

It really shouldn't have to be pointed out that we are witness to only one of the cataclysmic events that lead to the rejoining of one of Hydaelyn's shards. These things don't happen like weather change patterns. The 6th calamity iirc was 1500 summers past. Even if I'm off, it was a long arse time ago.

Yeah. The writers' hands are really tied. I mean, it's not like it's a fantasy setting or anything... or that we go up against Zody who's part of the reason why we have shards?
But, that really shouldn't have to be pointed out.

On a more serious note, I don't really mind what the end up calling it if it were to happen, but I'm starting to like PSO's approach to it.