What is going on with Square Enix and the 14 team?

[BrokentoothMarch]

Was the EW story controversial? I get not everyone would have been happy with it (Though I loved it!) but some make it sound as if it was at ‘The Last Jedi’ levels of division. I almost would not mind if that was the case, then at least poor old underrated Stormblood may not been seen in the negative light so many draw it in…

Overall I have enjoyed the 6.0+ era so far. Sure, there are things I do not like and feel the devs have failed in/continue to fail in (Summoner re-work, housing etc) but I do not really see this extreme shift in quality some have said. Voices may seem louder sure, but there are more players then ever and such negativity carries stronger on the wind then praise. A few of the common complaints are ones I have seen since 2.0, and in the end we all have our own bias which sometimes make us see things in only black and white. Not saying they should be ignored, we should always speak up for what we think works/does not (I hope that the housing curffuel gets the devs to finally do something about this thorn in the games side that will only fester if left in its current state longer, for example) but we do take it to the extremes sometimes.

Controversial? Maybe not, but I was personally a bit grossed out. It felt like fetishization of suffering and the ego stroking of a narcissistic Hydaelyn who beats us because she loves us.

I loathed it to be sure, but that hardly means other people aren't allowed to like it. I guess I'm more taken off-guard because I adored the story of ShB and HW, so I'm just whiplashed by finding something I can't have enough of as a story before being beaten over the head with the bowl.

Glad you are are having fun, don't let forums let you down, I haven't seen so much negativity since Stormblood horrible launch.
Don't pay too much attention, the game is not perfect and like you said there are spots for improvement but to be honest many recent complaints are about core features of the game which are the pillar of this game since ARR. Others are complaints that exists since forever.

For the later, just let people whine and hope SE will keep improving on baby steps like they have been for years and accept that sometimes they will make mistakes.
About other complaints, accept it that this game is not WoW and it will never be. Complaining about the style of raids, rotation, leveling experience will fall into deaf ears.

Maybe I'm cruel, but I expect more than babysteps to fix basic functions and features from a multi-billion dollar company.