What has gotten into the community these days?

[Raoabolic]

I discard anyone's opinion that has an argument that boils down "Yikes." You want more civil people? Enforce civility in society. Have fun with that, lol.

[Jirah]

finally someone said it. no matter how much you put into it, it is just a game and im so sick of all the hate

Jesus when did the community become as blind sighted as the Pokémon fan base? Just consume the product haters!

[Darthgummibear]

Because the toxic positivity put the devs into the god-like pedestal and now they think they can get away doing half assed jobs, so people snaped.

Based on what I've seen during my time here over the past year I'd say that pretty much sums it up. When you censor dissenting opinions and all you end up left with is a giant echo chamber, it should be no surprise to anyone that those who feel as if their voices aren't being heard get a little rowdy.

[Raoabolic]

Jesus when did the community become as blind sighted as the Pokémon fan base? Just consume the product haters!

That's just most people now a days. I remember hearing something that rang really true a year ago, some guy was talking about the quality dip of most "geek" entertainment and how it has to cater to the average person that has no interest in the IP and how "people don't want to think about what they are watching/playing, they just want the big explosion and show off how deep they are. Did you want the actual story of "Marvel: The end"? Too bad, Disney says we need to rewrite the actual story, here's a golden gauntlet, f**k you. You want to play your single player game? Too bad, you can't log on. Here's a queue, you will wait for it, f**k you." He honestly sounded like the George Carlin of video games looking back on it, lol.

[Ronduwil]

Interesting to see people taking criticism of the game as a personal attack.

It goes both ways, though. If we dare to say that we're fine with the status quo, or if we even suggest that maybe we should be considerate of others in our random groups, we're somehow guilty of toxic positivity, whatever that means. I've even been called smug and stupid on these forums for saying that I'm bad at the game and appreciate that the current difficulty level doesn't shut me out of content.

[Jirah]

It goes both ways, though. If we dare to say that we're fine with the status quo, or if we even suggest that maybe we should be considerate of others in our random groups, we're somehow guilty of toxic positivity, whatever that means. I've even been called smug and stupid on these forums for saying that I'm bad at the game and appreciate that the current difficulty level doesn't shut me out of content.

Yes it does go both ways, but what’s more harmful: shutting down opinions because people’s irrational attachment or shutting down people simple pleasures because irrational desires? It does go both ways but if you already 100% satisfied with the game, why are you in the forums to begin with?

[Ronduwil]

Yes it does go both ways, but what’s more harmful: shutting down opinions because people’s irrational attachment or shutting down people simple pleasures because irrational desires?

It doesn't matter which is more harmful. Both are harmful. You can disagree without "shutting down people." Just because I think that normal mode is fine how it is because I and many others like me have no intention of progressing beyond normal doesn't mean that I don't respect other players' preferences for harder content. I just think that they're better off in Savage and Ultimate, where they are right now.

It does go both ways but if you already 100% satisfied with the game, why are you in the forums to begin with?

Because I know from my WoW experience that when we don't speak up, stuff changes out from under us. Look at where Blizzard is now. They're not even putting dungeon finder into WotLK Classic because I was laughing back when a vocal minority insisted that it was destroying the community. They took out flying in WoD because some ground pounders insisted that flight ruined the entire game. Once the genie leaves the bottle, there's no putting it back. I've learned that if we want the genie to stay right where it is, we need to speak up in support of it.

[Lium]

Population increase is the likeliest culprit. This game saw a surge of popularity last year. Becoming the #1 MMO in the world brings extra scrutiny, higher expectations, and more hate. Lots and lots of hate. Primarily from its own playerbase.

They will say things like, "We have a right to express our opinions." And while that's true, the vitriol on the forums has been over-the-top and hilarious. Fortunately, this game also has a large Japanese playerbase, and that's where I go to gauge the actual state of the game. Certainly not these forums, which outside of the Lore section, suck pretty badly.

[Atelier-Bagur]

Yes it does go both ways, but what’s more harmful: shutting down opinions because people’s irrational attachment or shutting down people simple pleasures because irrational desires? It does go both ways but if you already 100% satisfied with the game, why are you in the forums to begin with?

Because their opinions should still be heard? What kind of backwards logic are you pulling here. The entire point is that everything goes both ways. People whom are too positive to shutdown criticism and not take feedback seriously as well as people whom are too negative and over-exaggerate aspects of this game that they find bad. And frankly I'm seeing more of the latter in the forums these days.

[StriderShinryu]

It goes both ways, though. If we dare to say that we're fine with the status quo, or if we even suggest that maybe we should be considerate of others in our random groups, we're somehow guilty of toxic positivity, whatever that means. I've even been called smug and stupid on these forums for saying that I'm bad at the game and appreciate that the current difficulty level doesn't shut me out of content.

Very much this.

Almost no one is saying the game is perfect, and intelligent criticism is always warranted. But the way it is here, if you just say that you don't mind a decision that was made, that you're *gasp* okay with the developers, and/or are actually happy with the way the game is, you're instantly slammed for being a white knight or some blind fanboy of the game. I don't have much experience with other places where FF14 is discussed but there's no question that the general tenor on these forums is overly negative, and I can't help but feel it's because any topic that actually shows positivity is either scrolled off the front page by repetitive "The Game Sucks" topics or is bombarded by the usual crowd of naysayers who just can't seem to stand anyone having positive feelings about the game.