Live Letter Thoughts

[AwesomeJr44]

It's mostly having unrealistic expectations for something that's just supposed to be a simple content patch. We're not talking about getting full on expansions every couple of months. For what we normally get, this is a lot for a patch.

A simple content patch? It's been 4 months since the last patch, which was an absolutely tiny patch if you don't play a lot of pvp or do ultimate. I'm not looking for an entire expansion's worth of content in one patch, but there's been nothing to do except unbalanced pvp that you can't even play with your friends, the same boring dungeons we've all played a thousand times, an insultingly easy extreme that loops half way through, and an ultimate which by design doesn't appeal to most people. And this has been true for the past 7 months since savage dropped. There NEEDS to be new quality content and enough of it to last at LEAST part of the way to 6.25/6.3. This is an MMO, we're not meant to play it a few times for a couple hours when a patch drops. If Yoshi P doesn't have enough people to make quality patches that aren't just weekly chores to do, he needs to hire more people or replace the ones he has.

So no, this is not a lot of content for what a patch should be. As is very obvious from the 'from what we normally get', you're just used to getting barely anything and then calling a 'good patch'. Good lord you people have such low expectations for a multi-billion dollar company. Stop accepting the scraps that fall off the table and calling it a king's feast. If not for my sake, then for your own. Wouldn't it be better for everyone if we could get more content?

Still better than what WoW gives to their players

I've always found the "this is fine because it's better than ___" argument to be very foolish.

[Atelier-Bagur]

A simple content patch? It's been 4 months since the last patch, which was an absolutely tiny patch if you don't play a lot of pvp or do ultimate. I'm not looking for an entire expansion's worth of content in one patch, but there's been nothing to do except unbalanced pvp that you can't even play with your friends, the same boring dungeons we've all played a thousand times, an insultingly easy extreme that loops half way through, and an ultimate which by design doesn't appeal to most people. And this has been true for the past 7 months since savage dropped. There NEEDS to be new quality content and enough of it to last at LEAST part of the way to 6.25/6.3. This is an MMO, we're not meant to play it a few times for a couple hours when a patch drops. If Yoshi P doesn't have enough people to make quality patches that aren't just weekly chores to do, he needs to hire more people or replace the ones he has.

Are you just like...new to this game or MMOs or what or just being plain ignorant. We've always had consistent content patches in small bursts like this. It isnt like say WoW where sure there can be big content patches but their release dates is left up to whatever the hells the dev team feel like releasing them. How about you get some much needed perspective.

[Striker44]

A simple content patch? It's been 4 months since the last patch, which was an absolutely tiny patch if you don't play a lot of pvp or do ultimate. I'm not looking for an entire expansion's worth of content in one patch, but there's been nothing to do except unbalanced pvp that you can't even play with your friends, the same boring dungeons we've all played a thousand times, an insultingly easy extreme that loops half way through, and an ultimate which by design doesn't appeal to most people. And this has been true for the past 7 months since savage dropped. There NEEDS to be new quality content and enough of it to last at LEAST part of the way to 6.25/6.3. This is an MMO, we're not meant to play it a few times for a couple hours when a patch drops. If Yoshi P doesn't have enough people to make quality patches that aren't just weekly chores to do, he needs to hire more people or replace the ones he has.

So no, this is not a lot of content for what a patch should be. As is very obvious from the 'from what we normally get', you're just used to getting barely anything and then calling a 'good patch'. Good lord you people have such low expectations for a multi-billion dollar company. Stop accepting the scraps that fall off the table and calling it a king's feast. If not for my sake, then for your own. Wouldn't it be better for everyone if we could get more content?.

Say what? I don't PvP or do Ultimate, and the last patch provided plenty for me to do. Heck, I just finished the Omega quests last night, and I'm starting the Tataru ones now. I also have one more level to get on my Dragoon to finish the last Role Quest from 6.0. Of course, I play the game at a very relaxed pace, for fun. I play maybe an hour or so a night, and rotate between a few different games. If I finish the Tataru and role quests, it'll be only the second time in the entire history of FFXIV that I'll actually be "caught up" on the content (been playing since 2015). And I still have Sightseeing Logs I want to complete, the Bozja relic near the end, crafting and gathering, and achieves.

Unfortunately, there are people with absolutely unrealistic expectations, who devour content the moment it's released and then whine that there isn't more. You see that when a new season of a streaming show comes out, and people binge-watch it the first day, then ask when the next season will be. That's not how life works.

Speaking frankly, when you've reached the point of going on paragraphs-long rants of negativity every day, multiple times a day about something (i.e. FFXIV), it's healthy advice to put it down for a bit, step away, get a breath of fresh air, go outside, do something positive in your life.

[Knot_D]

I've always found the "this is fine because it's better than ___" argument to be very foolish.

Whatever if it's foolish or not, it's always "wow bad xiv good updoot on the left". Can't change the facts tho.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

I agree with you there, I loved 5.4 SAM.

My issue was SAM was underperforming damage-wise, but I didn't mind it much, I was still learning the new rotation and felt the job was still satisfying because the core of SAM, the building of GCDs into your Midare, was still satisfying. And then 6.08 comes around and we get buffs and life's good

Now in 6.1, it's more than just losing a oGCD. The core of the job was ruined, they shifted the potency that we lost from Kaiten'd Iaijutsu into our combos. The Midare we're casting after using our 3 combos is hitting like wet toilet paper.

I'm curious why you think the job was ruined in 6.0 though? And how were you clipping Kaiten when you could single weave the entire opener if you chose to do so?

I greatly dislike oka namakiri. They took Midare, put it on a 120 sec CD, and then nerfed the original. I clipped because the opener had you use oka after the 2nd tsubame, and it clipped slightly. The AoE nerfs sucked too.

Kaiten wasn't really a big loss to me personally. It never felt great to use, and I don't think it really added much to the job. I didn't hate it though.

Mostly I just felt like SAM lost its flow. The new rotation didn't mesh to me, and it just... felt bad to play.

I LOVED 5.x SAM. Heck, I liked 4.x SAM more than I like the 6.0 and 6.1 versions.

[Kes13a]

A simple content patch? It's been 4 months since the last patch, which was an absolutely tiny patch if you don't play a lot of pvp or do ultimate. I'm not looking for an entire expansion's worth of content in one patch, but there's been nothing to do except unbalanced pvp that you can't even play with your friends, the same boring dungeons we've all played a thousand times, an insultingly easy extreme that loops half way through, and an ultimate which by design doesn't appeal to most people. And this has been true for the past 7 months since savage dropped. There NEEDS to be new quality content and enough of it to last at LEAST part of the way to 6.25/6.3. This is an MMO, we're not meant to play it a few times for a couple hours when a patch drops. If Yoshi P doesn't have enough people to make quality patches that aren't just weekly chores to do, he needs to hire more people or replace the ones he has.

So no, this is not a lot of content for what a patch should be. As is very obvious from the 'from what we normally get', you're just used to getting barely anything and then calling a 'good patch'. Good lord you people have such low expectations for a multi-billion dollar company. Stop accepting the scraps that fall off the table and calling it a king's feast. If not for my sake, then for your own. Wouldn't it be better for everyone if we could get more content?



I've always found the "this is fine because it's better than ___" argument to be very foolish.

lucky for you.. they are hiring!

since you are obviously what they need on their development team and to all indications you feel and think you can do much better than who they have currently. now is your chance to put your skills where your mouth is. since its so easy, it should be a breeze for you.

please.. apply!!!!! make the better game for us! the player base is waiting in breathless anticipation for you to show us how they should be doing it ^^

[SannaR]

Yep, I completely forgot how it looked! It's been a while since I even remembered the glam existed. That's a cool fun fact though Thank you lol. My mind just blanked it on completely when I looked at it on a hoodie lol..

It's also on the blanket of the pre-order mount.

[Atelier-Bagur]

Just to give you an idea, lets compare FFXIV's patch cycle to WoWs. This is kinda old info, but here's a timeline someone made of the content patches from ARR-Shb compared to Vanilla-Shadowlands 9.1. https://i.redd.it/qut9puhli5i71.jpg

Yeah as you can see, WoW has almost an entire year long worth of drought compared to the measily 4 or so months schedule, and even then the patch in of itself gets sprinkled gradually within that time frame to fit everything it has to offer. So I have no clue what you're even talking about, regarding "quality content". Apparently, having a big side recreational side activity, alongside new types of midcore dungeon content, quests and raids is just nothing for a patch.

[AwesomeJr44]

We've always had consistent content patches in small bursts like this.

Thank you for proving my point. You lack imagination and can't envision anything past what the dev's have so graciously given us in the past. If we've never gotten better, then there must not be anything better.

What we have been given in the past is not enough. If the devs want 4 month patch cycles, then the content needs to last that amount of time. However, it does not. And I'm not even talking about the uber-hardcore players who play 10 hours a day. The content for 6.1 lasted 3-4 hours for me excluding ultimate. This is meant to last me 4 months? Well of course it won't, as anyone who plays the game for more than 5 minutes a day will burn through that VERY quickly. This is not some indie title. This is an MMO made by a multi-BILLION dollar company. If there is not enough people on the FFXIV team to make enough content to last until the next patch, HIRE MORE PEOPLE. This is an obvious answer. The only reason they don't is because SE is more interested in shoveling the profits out of XIV and into their other projects. This should not be acceptable to anyone, but apparently some people have such low standards that they accept this with open arms. Then you all get excited and act like its unusual when there might be actual content. New content for the game should not be unusual, it should be the norm.

Heck, I just finished the Omega quests last night, and I'm starting the Tataru ones now.

If this is true, this is because you have not been caught up with content. You're only doing the 6.1 quests right now. Ask any new player if there is content to do in the game for them. They will tell you yes as they have 10 years' worth of content to get through. If you haven't done the new content and waited 4 months to do it, of course you have content to do. I got everything from 6.1 that wasn't locked behind weekly turn-ins done in about 3-4 hours of gameplay, not counting Endsinger farming for the mount (also not counting the ultimate obviously).

You CANNOT tell me that 3-4 hours of gameplay is meant to last over the course of 4 months. That's only an hour every month if you want to spread it out. This is an MMO. Even if it's not designed for hardcore players playing it 10 hours a day, it's absolutely laughable to have 3-4 hours of content and expect that to last until the next patch, or even until 6.15.

And I still have Sightseeing Logs I want to complete, the Bozja relic near the end, crafting and gathering, and achieves.

You still have years of gameplay left to experience, and thus I don't think you should be telling people that are completely caught up in content exactly how much there is. You're the equivalent of someone coming into the community of that streaming show example you mentioned and claiming there's always new content because you have 10 years of it to get caught up on, even if in reality we only get a few short episodes every 4 months.

Unfortunately, there are people with absolutely unrealistic expectations, who devour content the moment it's released and then whine that there isn't more.

If you think wanting more than 3-4 hours of gameplay after 3 months of nothing is unrealistic, your standards are too low. Is it unrealistic to ask for more than a small sandwich to eat over the course of 4 months? No matter how much I ration that sandwich, even if I only take a nibble of it per day, I'm going to starve on that alone. 3-4 hours is just not enough content for a 4 month period if you're already caught up on the game.

Speaking frankly, when you've reached the point of going on paragraphs-long rants of negativity every day, multiple times a day about something (i.e. FFXIV), it's healthy advice to put it down for a bit, step away, get a breath of fresh air, go outside, do something positive in your life.

Have you ever wondered if maybe I talk about the game so much because I care about it and don't want it to be so content-starved that I literally cannot play it outside of a weekly chore for months on end? If I didn't care, I'd just leave the game's community to die in its own filth.

This community could honestly use some more negativity. Everything's always so positive to the point of dev worship that we can never get any real change in areas where the game really needs it. The game's become stagnant because if you dare be unhappy with something, you're a 'problem'. Didn't Shadowbringers teach us that exclusively having stagnancy is a bad thing and that we need both sides of the coin? I seem to remember the people of Eulmore having to learn that loafing around and accepting things the way they are isn't a good plan. We need both negativity AND positivity if we want the game to be the best it can be, but it seems like some would rather focus on exclusively being positive no matter what, even at the game's detriment. I guess everyone just forged ahead from Shadowbringers' lessons the moment Endwalker came out. That's rather fitting as Endwalker itself discarded everything that came before as well.

Apparently, having a big side recreational side activity, alongside new types of midcore dungeon content, quests and raids is just nothing for a patch.

I don't think it's nothing, it's actually a decent amount of content for once. However, this should be the norm and what is expected, and it clearly isn't.

[Jojoya]

A simple content patch? It's been 4 months since the last patch, which was an absolutely tiny patch if you don't play a lot of pvp or do ultimate. I'm not looking for an entire expansion's worth of content in one patch, but there's been nothing to do except unbalanced pvp that you can't even play with your friends, the same boring dungeons we've all played a thousand times, an insultingly easy extreme that loops half way through, and an ultimate which by design doesn't appeal to most people. And this has been true for the past 7 months since savage dropped. There NEEDS to be new quality content and enough of it to last at LEAST part of the way to 6.25/6.3. This is an MMO, we're not meant to play it a few times for a couple hours when a patch drops. If Yoshi P doesn't have enough people to make quality patches that aren't just weekly chores to do, he needs to hire more people or replace the ones he has.

So what MMO is doing it right in your opinion?

MMOs aren't about massive content releases every couple of months. You get a large content release at game/expansion launch then smaller amounts of content released at intervals until the next expansion. What keeps players occupied is repetition of the content they've already done for rewards they haven't received yet, not a steady stream of completely new and original content. If you get the rewards you want quickly, then you take a break to play other games until the next content release. That's MMO life.

For a MMORPG, this is a quality game regardless of what you want to think. Players might have differing opinions about what content design among the different MMOs is better suited to what they want but it doesn't change that SE is putting out a quality game for the experience they intend. It tends to have far fewer major bugs than many other MMOs.

The more you talk, the more it sounds like MMOs are not the genre for you. That's fine. I have a lot of friends and family that I would never recommend a MMO to because it's not the type of game they enjoy. There are others I do recommend it to because they would appreciate the story emphasis being a priority over an end game min/max emphasis like WoW.

It's up to players to find the game that appeal to what they want, not for a game to try to please all the millions of players who have different interests and preferences.

Have you ever wondered if maybe I talk about the game so much because I care about it and don't want it to be so content-starved that I literally cannot play it outside of a weekly chore for months on end?

It's not content starved. Raids, dungeons, trials, PvP, tribal quests, FATEs, hunts, maps, crafting, gathering, Gold Saucer, and so on. There's lots of content and most of it is repeatable for useful rewards.

Your problem is that it doesn't have enough of the content you want while you're ignoring all the rest of the content the game has. You really seem to be playing the wrong type of game if you're expecting more out of a MMORPG.