I hope the XIV team feels the pressure

[Jandor]

I really hope this "big announcement" for 2021 isnt just the expansion and nothing else big along side it.

It's going to be just the expansion. I mean, there could be some surprises with what's in the expansion, an MMO expansion can cover a lot.

[tdb]

I'd be happy if they reduced the grind so I could just play a patch for 2-3 weeks and call it done without feeling like I'm falling behind in tomes and raid tokens.

[Kyuuen]

I really hope this "big announcement" for 2021 isnt just the expansion and nothing else big along side it.

After cutting out:
(SH=Shadowbringers.)

-Actual zone areas within raids, making them just a platform and a boss
-Numerous trials (16 for ARR, 7 for HW, 9 for SB, only 6 so far for SH)
-Numerous dungeons (18 for HW, 15 for SB, only 11 for SH so far)
-Reducing Map dungeons from 7 floors to 5 floors.
-Deleting/not expanding thief map dungeons for SH
-Not creating primal/trial weapons for GNB/DNC
-Not creating all headgear or hairstyles for Hrothgar/Viera
-Skipping All-Saints Wake Seasonal Event.

Going to go down the list as they appear.

- This has always been the case in their raid design, unless I missed some announcement where they said this was planned to change.. why were you expecting this to change otherwise?

- ShB will most likely end with 7 trials just like Heavensward

- ShB will most likely end with 12 dungeons, maybe 13.. though I don't expect it

- The map change is fine with me, get more maps done in a shorter amount of time

- Perhaps I'm in the minority here, but I really didn't care about Thief Maps. From my experience it was "Go in, get kicked out on the first set of doors the vast majority of time. The rest were kicked out on the second set of doors." type of scenarios

- 100% agreed on DNC/GNB weapons

- 100% agreed on Hair and head gear for Viera/Hroth's

Not only did the FFXI team not skip any seasonal events, but have already announced huge plans for 2021.

Wasn't this upcoming content update announced back in July? So it's been in known development for six months, which means it's been in development probably months prior to that. Can you imagine if XIV had major updates.. what... once a year? Unless I'm mixing announcements up here.

Also, can we stop harping on about All Saints as though there weren't some mysterious, paradigm shifting force of nature that forced businesses to adapt their work life to one most weren't prepared to shift to? Yes, they didn't update a seasonal event to what we'd usually get, but they did so to ensure 5.4 was ready to go despite already being delayed.. how dar they. I'll take actual content over a seasonal event 10/10, 24/7-365 and even 366 on those leap years.

[EgilTheStressedMage]

I'd try XI but I'm not about to jump through an old and convoluted mess trying to set up an account for some company I've never heard of and have it not work when the information I entered was correct. Refunded it instantly.

[EtherRose]

Adding content to older games is easier due to coding, etc. Also, you've yet to mention FFXVI. Yoshi-P is working on that title too. And since FFXVI looks like FFXIV, I'm sure some of the team is working on both.

[Vahlnir]

They continue to profit from this game like no other, so for better or worse they have no real incentive to change anything. We will most likely get an expansion release, and whatever comes with it. And that's that.

[Gameovers]

Mobs stop being a thing in raids because.... -wait for it- the playerbase complained about it. If you want raids to be like they were you have to go back in time and stop the many threads and videos on this and that being nerfed. Noone wanted to run though trash mobs in the raids back then. Also it's just going to be the next expac and maybe stuff about 5.5 and stuff. You can't expect them to do more then that when the same team is also working on a completely new title at the same time.. and at the same time Tom clancey's The Division is running wild on the world as we speak. People be literally getting the green flu now. Everything has slowed down.

[Shougun]

I want to hear more about their new FF game .. XD

Whole lot that could be said about companies trying to do the bare minimum and make it a whale farm, but given the pandemic and SE being still pretty consistent I'm thinking it's okay right now. OF course as we go towards more normal again and if attempt to find more reasons to do less while making more money, that'd be different.

Ideally SE's team feels joy and not pressure to produce content, they'd not be under crunch hell (which sounds like "good luck finding a dev company that doesn't do that". . . .), and yet we're still getting great content and new additions. Of course I don't want less, and want SE to always produce platinum quality (because why wouldn't I want the best? lol), but I don't "want" the team to be stressed at work each day.

I'm expecting just an expansion, hopefully something more to bite on than a Elderscrolls 6 trailer lol.

[ForteNightshade]

I'd be happy if they reduced the grind so I could just play a patch for 2-3 weeks and call it done without feeling like I'm falling behind in tomes and raid tokens.

Which is precisely why they won't change anything. They don't want you "calling it done" in 2-3 weeks because that means you're unsubbing.

[Kuroka]

Which is precisely why they won't change anything. They don't want you "calling it done" in 2-3 weeks because that means you're unsubbing.

But but we are supposed to take breaks!!!