Bad decision by SE

[Ronduwil]

Scheduling time off for Endwalker seemed like a no brainer for those who wanted to.

And that's the problem. They should engage their brain going forward. For software companies, and especially game companies, release date announcements reflect the hopes of the marketing and production teams. Good development teams try not to make liars of them, but even the best teams fall short of the goal from time to time. This isn't something new that suddenly came to be in 2021. It's been true even since before Blizzard delayed Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans back in 1997 only to cancel it completely months later. If you must take vacation days to play a video game, then do so once it's come out.

[Vahlnir]

They should engage their brain going forward.

Kinda thinking that a few in this thread and others on these forums should do the same if they simply fail to understand the circumstances that led to some people, namely those of the working class, being a bit frustrated about the delay.

[Artemiz]

And that's the problem. They should engage their brain going forward. For software companies, and especially game companies, release date announcements reflect the hopes of the marketing and production teams. Good development teams try not to make liars of them, but even the best teams fall short of the goal from time to time. This isn't something new that suddenly came to be in 2021. It's been true even since before Blizzard delayed Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans back in 1997 only to cancel it completely months later. If you must take vacation days to play a video game, then do so once it's come out.

Industry standard actually seems to be to release a buggy mess on time. It's why so many people are losing patience with games like Cyberpunk 2077 and CoD ships every November unfinished. I certainly don't blame people for assuming this expansion was going to ship on time, especially once it got so close to the wire. If SE could have done something better here it was to sound the alarm sooner, only they knew how close they were cutting it with this deadline.

As for only booking time off after release, a common demographic of the people who seem most frustrated by this are retail workers, they don't get to book time off in December and January due to market demands, November was their only shot and if they waited until February then all of the hype would have died down quite a bit, the whole point of booking time off for it was to enjoy that new release hype train. Even outside of the retail sector time off isn't easy to come by for many people which is why I commented before about work/life balance being the real villain here. Some countries have this much worse than others and that leads to frustrated people, and frustrated people vent.

[Hyrist]

Honestly, people over-romanticize the concept of playing the expansion on release anyways.

Let's be clear - it's a mess. Players are crowding NPCs in droves, login times are going to be a mess - you'll run into any bugs that come up due to server strain or have slipped through the cracks (few they may be) and you're never going to get away from that crowding sound that plays whenever a certain number of players are in one area.

The one advantage is for players who prefer going into content blind - but that will honestly last a good month or so given the sheer number of players we have and those showing up late. Not to mention the Trust system does change that up a bit for anything but trials.

The negative for not joining in right away is just having to curb the social media addiction for a while so as not to be spoiled (If you are one who concerns yourself with spoilers) that can be concerning for some.

But as everyone has said - the game isn't going anywhere. Yes, there deserves some sympathy for those who scheduled time or pinned their hopes too hard on the original release date. However, these things have always been a risk and if it's your first time dealing with a delay - welcome to the market. It's rough out here. My PTO no longer times up with release and I'll have to play during work days as well. Just got to shrug it off and move forward.

[Shin96]

Honestly, people over-romanticize the concept of playing the expansion on release anyways.

Consumerist society of course. Hyped to the brink but once a week passes it goes back to the usual of waiting for new content once they speedrunned everything.

I remember queing for duty back when ShB released and got kicked out immediately after 2-3 days. It was hard to enjoy anything which wasn't instanced content.

People need to remember that this is an online game thriving off servers; this is not Skyrim Anniversary Edition where it doesn't matter how many people play it collectively since it's offline.

[TheMightyMollusk]

and you're never going to get away from that crowding sound that plays whenever a certain number of players are in one area.

I could've sworn there was a way to turn that off in the game's settings, but I can't remember it right now.

[SenorPatty]

I could've sworn there was a way to turn that off in the game's settings, but I can't remember it right now.

Ambient settings? Will check once I get home

[Knot_D]

I could've sworn there was a way to turn that off in the game's settings, but I can't remember it right now.

Ambient settings? Will check once I get home

Yes it's ambiance settings

Also lowering character render is helpful as well

[Rayplicant]

There are some really crazy theories in this thread. There is absolutely no way SE changed the release date for FOMO or to fight Blizzard.

It is most definitely an issue that came up internally with the state of the game or servers. It's not something they would do unless it was absolutely necessary for the stability of the game.

It is a huge deal. Were talking millions of dollars to recertify the game with companies like Sony on the PlayStation store. It is not something they would do just to stick it to Blizzard or some other competitor.

[Reinha]

For players interested in end game, the real launch is 4 weeks later in January. We get savage, new high level crafted/tome gear and also the Gil making rush of selling gear on day 1.

Before that we have the MSQ, two trials and leveling alts. Nothing that can't be done bit by bit after work.