Do FF XIV Players Keep Up With AAA Releases?

[Gameovers]

I am a sonic fan. :c

Serious answer... I buy about like 20 games a year or something to that effect. I play video games. It's literally my life. Tho I do return to games thats currently in my fav list. Like All of the mass effects. Its great cause the Legendary edition is out and I have it. Plus and yes, andromeda. I'm currently playing scarlet nexus and am on the last part, replaying remake cause why not and replaying Persona 5. I have too many games I played tho. It's hard NOT too tho when you finish games in a week at longest.

[CKNovel]

I recently took a 3 weeks break after being done with Zadnor.
I went into DQ XI and its new edition and it's not the first time.
Played Sekiro before Shadowbringers release.
Got disappointed with Pokemon during 5.2.

And so on, FFVIIR, Bravely Default. I keep following games but I gotta admit most game are trash or too short these days. A good game that can attracts me is rare or I just finish it in mere hours.

Did we had many good games this year? Covid? Then what about the last 5 years? There was good games but I don't see a lot and I follow things like E3.
There day I mostly play games from my childhood I never finished or coming back to older games I simply couldn't get.

Currently I'm wondering if I should go back to shiny hunting in Pokemon or make a new run of Battlechasers.

[Enjuden]

I have an obsession with Guilty Gear Strive if that counts as AAA. Just clear the content at your own pace in XIV or quickly in preparation for upcoming games you want to focus on. Otherwise, eh, I've mostly gone indie since I found more interesting titles there.

[Kozh]

Disagree with "gaming is all about technology", and AAA game. But anyway..

I have other hobby aside from gaming, so for now I haven't been burn out yet by ffxiv. But I do have several other games that I played during content lull. I played ffxv, death stranding, ac unity, and probably going to buy ghost of tsushima in the near future.

Sure there's a lot of new games being released now, but very few interest me.

[Jin-]

Barely, I boycott most big Western game companies. 10 years ago we got golden games and now we get tripe.

[Sotaris]

I'm a FC leader and have both fc and personal house, I feel "obligated" to keep subbing and be around. I do play other games though as I also am a streamer but I play this more than any newer titles unless there is something really specific I been looking forward to.

Only titles I recently wanted to play was Demon's Souls remake and Nier Replicant. Most other newer games released in 2020 and 2021 been pretty meh to me.

[Dzian]

I do, but most of what’s coming out is trash

It's either trash or the same old junk you've already played.
If you've played one FPS, you've played them all at this point..
if you've played one racing game you've played them all at this point.
If you've played one adventure game you've played them all...

And then there's a huge disconnect between the industry and the gamers... So much press, hype and PR and suprise surprise another game that's a total dissapointment on release and flops hard.. Then there's the monetixation issues, online passes, lootboxes, pay to win elements all that other questionable stuff trying to milk the consumers for every cent.

It's like just a few years ago the industry said free to play was the future of all gaming, and the gamers said nope, and these days so many gamers wont even touch a free to play title because of the notorious monetization and pay to win and all of that stuff.. basically seen a not even worth the time it takes to download..

What gamers want and what the industry tries to tell gamers they want are totally different.. The industry has this big push on buzz words like accessibility in a big drive to lure in more players and increase sales. but at this point it back fires so frequently that entire franchises that were once super fun and popular are now dead and buried because that push for accessibility comes at the cost of a games identity. and destroys everything gamers loved about the franchise.

The games industry is bigger than its ever been but at the same time consumers are spending less and less on games each year because there's no depth no complexity to games which makes them unrewarding unoriginal and unfun to play. theres no depth or creativity. Which goes back to the if you've played one first person shooter you've played them all.

And where the average consumer was buying 12-15 new games each year.. now theyre only buying 3-4.. and a big part of that is how everything is basically the same as everything else.

and more and more gamers areessentially ingoring the hype and the media because it's been wrong so many times.. Cyber punk probably being the biggest example in recent months...

Consumers have lot alot of confidence in AAA publishers recently and thats lead to a growing t rend of people being reluctant to cough up $60-70 on a new game only to be dissapointed so what they're doing is just adding that game to there wishlist instead and grabbing it when it goes on sale for $20 in a few months time.. which is another reason so many new games fail to meet there sales targets and are considered flops... Look at EA. once renowned fr quality games that players would happily go out and buy on release, then decided to milk it customers for every penny with online passes, lootboxes and other stuff. and it got them the reputation of worst company in the USA several years running. it's no wonder gamers are currently so hesitant to throw $70 on that shiny new game.. and it's not just EA. as Cyberpunk and many other recent games have proven over recent years..

XIV in many ways is making the exact same mistakes.. hyper focus on accessibility is back firing hard... there plan to simplify healers and make them simpler and more accissible to more players. has essentially killed the role off. combined with how all tanks feel the same to play because they essentially are which makes even more players bored stiff.. and its why when you look at thinkgs like census data the population is in decline.. even though everywhere you turn people are going about a huge influx in new players recently... all these new players cming in and the population is shrinking....

The other issue with many AAA games is how dead and bland many are... they go on about these bigger and bigger and bigger game worlds.. but all you literally do in them is run around collecting a set of collectible trinkets that might ding you some small trohy or achievement... its not exactly engaging content. more often than not it feels like a chore...

In contrast when you look at some of the best games of recent years. many of them are actually remakes or ramasters of older games or they've come from smaller developers you'd probably never heard of before playing the game...

[Puremallace]

When I played WoW the answer was without a doubt yes I keep up with them. Now that I have been at end game for FF14 for awhile and we are in a content lul I am looking at other MMO's but literally nothing is catching my attention. Ashes of Creation is looking like a grade A hype train disaster waiting to happen and New World even with Amazon backing it looks like the cheapest MMO I have seen in a VERY VERY long time.

You also need to remember I am spoiled by Final Fantasy so now I know what it is like to have everything effectively be account wide like achievements, crafting and jobs. I also now know how I want quest presented to me. New World and Ashes are not even remotely attempting to have interesting leveling experiences and are OBSESSED with end game progression systems.

If anything outside of FF14 I played stuff like Age of Empire or Civilization.

[SaberMaxwell]

I usually play games I want when they release. I've played through XV, VIIR, Cold steel 1-4, trails in the sky 1-3, R&C, some of Replicant, need to get around to that, a few other games, and also play Elite: Dangerous.

Its EASY to find time to play other games and still put a ton of time into XIV.

Also work full time and am back in school for a BAS.

Just picked up Cold Steel myself and good God I'm in love.

[AnPo]

It's interesting to read how most of players in this topic saying how games are trash today, meanwhile consume only anime/jrpg etc... and those games always mediocre.

is it hard to say - "There is no games currently for my preference" instead of cosplaying pseudo elitist with high taste?