"I don't want to think while I play, so no one should be allowed to."

[Payotz]

Just to make sure, you're agreeing with me then? Reads like a disagreement in some ways, but maybe I'm just picking up on the negative energy because you're unhappy (not saying it as an insult, saying it as you don't like the direction some things are going).

Yeah it's been a lil rough trying to point out very obvious things that subtlety doesn't work anymore. Being very "in your face" does work though, and cuts straight to the point sooner. If that was a lot of negative vibes, I apologize.

Beyond that I think you missed my point I also think it's actively wrong to any longer consider MMO is exclusively for multiplayer content, as is clearly (like massively obvious) proved by the sure amount of casuals or casual games that have soft social elements. People like to come in contact with each other but that doesn't mean those same people want to always be forced into content like a can of sardines, a common mistake from people used to older MMOs.

I think you have this mindset that "multiplayer content = hardcore content" when it's definitely not. There are lot of people who use this game as a social game, and meeting up and doing stuff together is ultimately the main goal of an MMO, and more content that focuses on the single player experience ultimately sabotages that goal. Content that's designed for multiplayer, with the option (but not the main goal) of doing it solo, whether or not it gets powercrept over time or they add options (like extra echo) to it when there's few players in the instance is acceptable to preserve the skill floor, but making MOST of the relevant content in an MMO, SINGLE PLAYER, is not the way to go.

One of my fun things to do in FF14 besides raiding is running BLU dungeons, and getting BLU spells. When I'm in the mood for it, I would jump into a PF with a BLU who needs a spell, and we would gather 6 more people and go in the instance and BLU farm and have a good time. If BLU spells are only "learnable" in Masked Carnivale (where you can ONLY go in single player), then that effectively makes that part of the game ONLY single player.

Another example would be friends not being able to queue into PvP together. Why can't they queue together? Why do people need to do this janky way of queueing together by pressing the queue button together at the same time? What's wrong with going into a casual match with a bunch of friends in voice chat and just having a good time?

Sure, I'll give you that an MMO shouldn't be exclusively multiplayer, but it should be focused more in content you play with people, rather than turning an MMO into an RPG. Monster Hunter is not a good example of MMORPG, nor is Left 4 Dead a good example of an MMORPG. An MMORPG's content should be first and foremost, designed for the multiplayer experience, not get turned into a lobby based game where nobody does content together cause "why do this with another person that I don't know and whose probably bad at the game and talk to them when I can just go ahead and afk in Trusts instead.

FF14 should encourage multiplayer, not snuff it out completely. instead of "fixing" areas of the game by making it only singleplayer(which is the easy way out), they should just use it as a band-aid fix, and go ahead and research and develop design decisions that does encourage people coming in together for content in an MMO, just like Treasure Maps, and/or Hunt Trains, or even World Bosses.

One more thing though, I'm not advocating for removal of echo or anything like that, or a return to the old days of "deleveling". I'm not advocating for a higher skill floor and the game to be less acessible. What I'm advocating for is an expansion of the other side of the spectrum, a restoration of the skill ceiling. A restoration of that side of content that's been removed alongside the lowering of skill floor. I want more options to experience the content as it was before, pre-nerfed and everything. I want more content to challenge me. I want the skill ceiling back. Not all people want handouts. If surmounting a difficult wall is not for you and you're burnt out, that's fine, but don't make the mistake of assuming that merits a removal of options for people who want that.

There's also a subset of the population who still play this game for the PvE content, just like there were people who engaged in PvP before the CC rework, just like people who craft, just like people who fish, just like people who do housing.