Quote Originally Posted by Shurrikhan View Post
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.
The problem is that such a "sweeping change, by way of some large event," disturbs the leveling experience story-wise like Cataclysm in WoW. In FFXIV, 1.0 to 2.0 only works because it's a reset of the game and essentially your character (with people not remembering 1.0 characters).

So unless SE is willing to move the player starting experience forward in the story timeline, which is more doubtful now given the recent ARR revamp, another calamity would not be appropriate. Not to mention that Shadowbringers was about preventing a calamity and this overall story arc coming to its end, which should be the end of all calamities altogether, one way or another.

Sweeping change can still occur, but not with some large event that physically changes the existing world in a large scale like a calamity.