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

[Atelier-Bagur]

This thread makes me feel a bit out of place seeing as I'm genuinely the happiest I've been with this game in years currently.

I have a few issues and complaints (mostly jobs getting way too easy, and character appearance-related things) but I'm also having fun again. So I was pretty surprised to come onto the forums and see so many issues everyone was having, personally.

Same, really I feel the only big issues 6.1 had are:
1. Terrible Hrothgar hairstyles
2. Housing Lottery Crisis

Those 2 are the real big issues with 6.1 imo. I suppose job adjustments could be a big 3rd but this has been debated on for years between people it seems. Some people like the changes, Some people dont but this is how I see it normally.

There needs to be improvements with those two and people are very much in their right to be angry. I want this game to be better and its sad that stuff like this isnt being delivered properly. I feel for the devs because from what Ive seen, I do genuinely believe that they care for this game. Its just they're lacking a lot of focus right now and I really do think the fact that Yoshida having to juggle between managing an MMO and SE's next big FF game is taking a hit on the level of quality. And I know a lot of these changes are things that people have been shouting for years too so there's also that and whatever managing system they got going on isnt working well.

My point is, we shouldnt be encouraging people to calm down. Trying to ask random strangers on the internet to not be mad over screw ups isnt going to help anyone. Proper feedback for these issues need to be listened and addressed most importantly.

[Oglaf]

This thread makes me feel a bit out of place seeing as I'm genuinely the happiest I've been with this game in years currently.

I have a few issues and complaints (mostly jobs getting way too easy, and character appearance-related things) but I'm also having fun again. So I was pretty surprised to come onto the forums and see so many issues everyone was having, personally.

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.

[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.

[Atelier-Bagur]

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.

Honestly, I also feel that people over-praise Heavensward and Shadowbringers for being the best jrpg story in the genre. I'm sorry, those two expansions still had issues with its story and pacing, especially Shadowbringers and saying either of those two are better than the plots of lets say FFVI or FFIX is just extremely delusional. Now are they still good? Oh Absolutely, but with me at the very least the reason I very much enjoy FFXIV's story is because I see the whole pie, not the little slices here and there.

[Theodric]

I'm really not sure where some people are getting the impression that the desire is to have the game become more like WoW when the most common criticism within this thread and various others is that many of us are former WoW players who witnessed the slow and steady decline of WoW for ourselves and are now seeing the exact same trajectory with this game. Complete with posters insisting that everything is fine, that the complaints are just 'overdramatic', that they don't see any issues and so on and so forth.

Equally, it's a balancing act in that people who have invested time and effort into a hobby they enjoy don't really want to just roll over and leave without at least having their say - which is precisely what many people are doing by coming to the forum to put forward their takes.

[BrokentoothMarch]

Honestly, I also feel that people over-praise Heavensward and Shadowbringers for being the best jrpg story in the genre. I'm sorry, those two expansions still had issues with its story and pacing, especially Shadowbringers and saying either of those two are better than the plots of lets say FFVI or FFIX is just extremely delusional. Now are they still good? Oh Absolutely, but with me at the very least the reason I very much enjoy FFXIV's story is because I see the whole pie, not the little slices here and there.

ShB is the best expansion in FFXIV.
I still maintain FFVI is the best story in the series.

I will admit I disagree with you on a lot of points, but I'm whole-heartedly with you here.

[Vahlnir]

I'm really not sure where some people are getting the impression that the desire is to have the game become more like WoW when the most common criticism within this thread and various others is that many of us are former WoW players who witnessed the slow and steady decline of WoW for ourselves and are now seeing the exact same trajectory with this game. Complete with posters insisting that everything is fine, that the complaints are just 'overdramatic', that they don't see any issues and so on and so forth.

Equally, it's a balancing act in that people who have invested time and effort into a hobby they enjoy don't really want to just roll over and leave without at least having their say - which is precisely what many people are doing by coming to the forum to put forward their takes.

Yep. It's not about making this game like WoW. It's about trying to get people to realize that this game is slowly becoming the very thing we/they don't want it to be. It's not blind rage that drives us. It is a desire to see this game avoid the mistakes that WoW made. I realize that some may not understand what we're trying to do and just assume we're being salty just because we can, but it's not true. Everything we're saying comes from a place of caring.

[Ranhansha]

This started back in Stormblood and intensified in ShB.
Glad to see patience is running low on Yoshi-P and the team. Not because I hate the man, quite the opposite, but because we've seen some of their shameless lies and when some of us have told everyone, we've been treated like the worst blasphemous sinners. I want this game to thrive and to shine above the rest and it's so sad to see they just refuse to fix their mistakes and treat people as if they were stupid. My only hope is to think that they can't do anything about it because S-E is keeping the resources from them, but I guess that is just copium. After all, this is the team that managed to pull the end of 1.0 and ARR at the same time, only larger and more experienced.

And, oh God, I absolutely despise the cash shop! There, had to say it. Every new cool mount goes there while we get absolute garbage for events. Could we get those from... idk ingame events??? So they are not the absurd content they are now? I don't want a reskinned egg emote which is already 4 times in the game. Or dog earrings which are barely noticeable that are supposed to be the highlight of the event designed for content drought yet we somehow got between patches? Nah, 16 euros for a cool mount after 4 months of content drought and dead cities is the way to go. No problem here!

[Juyira]

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.

Yeah, like I'm not gonna sugar coat some issues like housing in particular. I lucked out this time, but it sucks knowing there's plenty of things in the game such as gardening, airships, submarines, other workshop projects, and the housing decoration in general that the majority of the player base will have difficulty ever using or may not get to use in general. It's worse with MSQ, fates, and such giving you furnishings as guaranteed rewards.

IMO, no systems should exist that cause a minority of the player base to ever access it, especially when it's not even by player choice. Even things like Savages and Ultimates or Eureka and Bozja, despite being a thing not everyone utilizes, are always going to be doable with the proper work or preparation or forming/joining a static or whatnot. Housing is a different entity because most players simply don't get a choice in the matter as it is now.

As for the whole multi-billion dollar company thing, I've always been convinced that despite how successful this game is, Square Enix is probably allocating its profits to every other project under the sun (FF7R, KH3, etc.) and not putting most of it back into the game. The game could really benefit from a larger budget, expanding the teams, etc. and it'd hopefully lessen the already crazy workload the devs undergo consistently.

[Oglaf]

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

But that's the point that many refugees doesn't understand, Square Enix is a multi-billion dollar company, but each project operates like a company itself and has a budget based on their expected profit.
It might be mind blowing but SE treated FFXIV like an underdog until ShB release. The team has grown since then but in development there is a saying "3 women can't birth in 3 months", it will take time to show results which I believe we might see in next expansion.