State of the Game prior to Liveletter

[SaberMaxwell]

AFAIK you can't move away from the Steam version, even by rebuying the game. You'd have to drop your account entirely and make another one.

I doubt a significant amount of players did that.

This is correct. I'll always be mad at my 2014 self for getting the game on Steam.

[Shougun]

My hype for the island continues :3






mentioned possibly allow NPCs to visit too, which def. could be fun. Considering the main cast ofc, but also why not the delivery NPCs that you befriend (and dress up, like Alphinaud's mom.. huehue)


If they're taking feedback:

-Please add housing like features, even if they're pre-fab. Like what inn rooms have (internal guts would be nice.. may save time by literally linking a door to actual inn rooms in game- though it would be crazy if it was all loaded seamlessly without the extra load screen)
-The island is huge so I can see some desires being hard, but please consider allowing changing the skybox, weather, lighting, and such - like if players wanted to have the surrounding space feel like it was at great Azim Steppe lake, in Amaurot, or part of an Elpis island (changing the space outside the bounds of your island). With hopefully decoration / customization choices that match each 'world space' theme when they're added (like Amaurot buildings). More difficult but use of shaders or some texture replacement to create different biomes would be extra insane (but.. sounds really hard given the size of the island)- for example you could make it a winter space, or replace the lush green grass with a Thanalan biome (but this sounds like a lot of work, given trees and other textures would need to adjust). Epic, but maybe hard given how big the island is. The skybox, outside bound idea might not be easy persay but I feel is more doable and would allow players to have an extra large helping of diversity choice (especially if they can give enough power that it looks like it is in a different area.. doing both would be insanely cool).
-Please be sure you checked out GW2 and WoW's similar systems, learning cool things that could be done (and things that were done that were not so good, like WoW has a lot of neat features but also when it was released did cause a lot of problems as it literally printed loads and loads of gold while had many mechanics that made you feel like you had to baby sit it due to timers)

-If apartment / other housing system can be empowered enough to become 1:1 like the island, allow connecting it to the Island (I get that this system wont be instanced housing at launch, though it sounds super homely and I AM excited even though I don't expect it to be housing.. but I feel if you could when the tech has been sorted out make it such.. that'd be pretty cool). Of course if you use the apartment system upgrading that system over time would be nice (like two floors or whatever). I assume it would have to be a door you load into but it would be insane if it was all loaded into the Island without load screen.

Hope this content lands strong and the community/ SE can see it through that it continues to be empowered and updated.

Excited still

[Mimilu]

For Scholar alone, not including Role Actions:
Miasma, Bane, Shadow Flare, Miasma II, Sustain, Rouse, Fey Covenant, Silent Dusk, Fey Caress, Fey Wind, and Quickened Aetherflow (trait). Energy Drain was restored in 5.05.

Yeah, just 1 or 2 each. What's accomplished in being disingenuous like this? It doesn't change what the developers removed.

For AST, lost:
Nocturnal and Diurnal Sect (in addition to changing your Aspected heals, they also provided buffs to the user), Disable, Time Dilation, Royal Road, Sleeve Draw, and Stella (Not that much of a lose, I'll give them that)

For AST, changed:
Unique Effect for each card (in SB: Crit Buff, Damage Reduction, Speed Buff, MP refresh, and TP refresh) and Celestial Opposition (Stunned nearby enemies and lengthened all buffs the user placed on nearby partymembers)

[Nizzi]

Very excited for the island and the 4 man savage dungeons. Looks like there's going to be a lot to do in 6.2. If they just addressed healer concerns I would be content and happy.

[ReynTime]

The island sanctuary frankly doesn't do crap for me.

They keep adding more and more bootleg lifesim features in the game, while the main gameplay loop is stagnant and increasingly more boring due their fear of any one player who for some reason HATES being challenged in the slightest by said gameplay loop will not want to finish the MSQ.
Everything, literally everything, is locked behind MSQ progression. Yet they will just continue adding more side content fluff to disguise the fact the pve for anyone who isn't obsessed with savage and unreal raids is really really shallow right now.

Criterion dungeons better offer something unique in their non-savage format. I'm not holding my breath.

[Nizzi]

The island sanctuary frankly doesn't do crap for me.

They keep adding more and more bootleg lifesim features in the game, while the main gameplay loop is stagnant and increasingly more boring due their fear of any one player who for some reason HATES being challenged in the slightest by said gameplay loop will not want to finish the MSQ.
Everything, literally everything, is locked behind MSQ progression. Yet they will just continue adding more side content fluff to disguise the fact the pve for anyone who isn't obsessed with savage and unreal raids is really really shallow right now.

Criterion dungeons better offer something unique in their non-savage format. I'm not holding my breath.

PvE job design is the biggest glaring issue with the game right now and the refusal to address it still does depress me. I've been having fun with the side content lately and I do enjoy it but I'm not going to want to continue paying for this game if this continues to be the future of it.
I want casual PvE content to be fun again. I want to think that doing random dungeons and trials sounds like fun instead of just ignoring it because I have nothing to do other than spam Broil. I really wish they would address and start working towards fixing it, because I don't think the game is bad, but the core reason I play it is now the worst part about it. I can't really say much about tanks or DPS because I don't play those and they don't appeal to me the way healers do, but man, the silence and dismissal from the developers is getting increasingly frustrating. It really seems as if "wait until 7.0" is the first chance we'll have towards anything being changed, and that's not until like 2024. How depressing.

[Mimilu]

I don't know about the Island Sanctuary... :/
With how much work they seem to have done so that the Island Sanctuaries don't effect the game outside of the islands themselves (not using the same seeds as housing gardens, a special inventory for material, selling handicrafts for at-island currency vs gil), it makes me feel like its going to be the kind of content that people usually just do for the cosmetics then abandon. >x>

[VentVanitas]

Abstaining from full blown scepticism for now until I see more footage of Criterion Dungeons. I've been wishing for hardcore 4-man content for ages so I'm relieved to see them dipping their toes into the concept. The possibility of being able to tackle difficult content with friends at our own pace without having to worry about scheduling or recruiting is a huge plus to me. Additionally, having hardcore content where I can actually use the other half of my kit will be a nice change of pace. If they stick the landing with Criterion Dungeons then we could be seeing a new form of major content running alongside Savage.

[Ryaze]

I had zero expectations for the PLL and only the tiniest glimmer of hope for another field instance this time around. I am beyond disappointed with what was announced. No engaging relic content. How do you go from a very engaging Bozja with Duels, CEs, Castrum, DRN/DRS and Zadnor/Dalriada to "quest-centric" Hildebrand relics? What is most likely a one-and-done freebie relic with poetics to purchase additional relics.

Everyone is gushing over Criterion (Savage) when literally nothing was shown on how difficult it is nor meaningful descriptors. Can't rez? O no, anyway. When was the last time anyone mildly competent died in a dungeon? If they somehow put in the difficulty of some of the Bozja Duels, harder CEs, etc into this content, cool, but only 3 Criterion dungeons over the entire expansion? Uhh, not so cool. Not cool at all. Lackluster I'd say.

Where's the gold saucer update? Where's BLU mage update? Where's more Leap of Faith tilesets? Where's more platforming sections? Where's more gold saucer mini-games/new GATEs? Why is Island Sanctuary which was billed as a major expansion content STILL not out? Why is it releasing with 6.25 and not 6.21 or 6.2?

If not for my midcore Savage/Ult group I would unsub from FFXIV and never return. Where is the actual engaging content? Why is all the content revamped content or boring upscaled fights I've already done when it was current (Unreals) which are now even easier by virtue of having a more extensive toolkit?

And looking at the blurred out Island Sanctuary picture again. Even that looks disappointing. The vast majority of the picture is just blurred out water. Unless there's verticality to the island with valleys, climbable mountains, and caverns/caves underneath the land, it looks far smaller than I would have hoped.

[aveyond-dreams]

I had zero expectations for the PLL and only the tiniest glimmer of hope for another field instance this time around. I am beyond disappointed with what was announced. No engaging relic content. How do you go from a very engaging Bozja with Duels, CEs, Castrum, DRN/DRS and Zadnor/Dalriada to "quest-centric" Hildebrand relics?

By catering to Reddit and Twitter and shutting out all other dissenting voices that offer critiques about this game's recent storytelling. They'd have one believe that Hildibrand is the greatest piece of literature ever made but when you show that questline to someone with more serious tastes you'd get a whole different picture. It had already seeped into the MSQ and now it's infected and taken over the relic content.

There is nothing to lead me to believe we will get another exploratory zone, the Reaper Kinna weapon already exists and is as good enough of a relic-looking weapon as I want for that job, and I'm waiting on the eventual crafted Hydaelyn weapons for Sage to use as my long-term weapon glam. I have various other go-to pieces for my other jobs that I've collected over the years. Unless there is something so amazingly unique about this expansion's relics then I am not going to bother with them.