Island Sanctuary is yet another data point in the trend of FF14's downhill spiral

[Eloah]

You can tell this is a troll post because OP said that this is the "fifth major patch this expansion". We are literally in patch 6.2. I mean there is being hyperbolic for the sake of emphasis, and then there is just being superfluous.

[sagacious]

I thought Titanman was on vacation.

OP's posts are definitely on a downward spiral. Proceeds to add my second workshop and treehouse.

Agreed, op's post are simple minded. Everyone loves Island and I have found no one who doesn't except this post. 50 million people love the island one dosen't and he posts his dislike? get out here boyyyy!! (Stands in treehouse looking at windmill in the distance)

[Zaniel]

For me the island is extremely basic. They could have done so much better. Look at Monster Hunter (especially Monster Hunter World), Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley etc.

/rabble /rabble

Arrgg, SE should have built a full scale AAA game equal to Monster Hunter World into their side content for 1 patch inside their actual game. /sgfsdgdgfsgfsgfwOo

Devs must have a stroke reading this sorta post.

[DiaDeem]

Ah yes, another "the game is dying, the end is nigh" thread based on some vague personal perception by a single person.

[LalafellDown]

I’m actually enjoying this solo content more than all the dungeons stuff. I hope the devs continue to build upon it. Even though there are better farm sims out there. This is going in the right direction. To improve it I hope we see more upgrades and a fix to the gathering animations. I hope they make gathering a more active experience like combat. This would revolutionize the game itself.

[Absurdity]

What would be your alternative? Getting everything day one for free and then be done with it? I bet you would be also the first one that would cry that there is no content. There has to be a timesink obviously and this is completely and utterly optional content that works for itself if you put like one hour of work in every week. If that is too much for you, maybe you want to try one of these mobile games that play themselves for you, seems like the superior choice from your standpoint.

Actually yes. If I want to invest all my time into getting my island progressed to max I don't see why I shouldn't be able to.

When people complain about there being no content they're usually talking about replayability.

They don't mean "I grinded for 3 days straight and now I'm done" but "I did this content once and now there's literally no reason for me to do it again"

It all starts with respecting your own time. Gather at your own pace. Build at your own pace. Don't get too many animals right away.

This is where I'd have to disagree. The island does not let you progress at your own pace, once you've progressed past the first hour or so you have to wait for your passive marketplace, your timer for building upgrades, your crops, your animals and your expeditions.

Your only choice at this point is either to wait for the island to do it's thing or mindlessly grind 10 exp nodes, at which point it doesn't respect your time anymore.

It's basically telling you "You're going to play this casually and you'll like it...or suffer"


Besides, even if you wanted to grind by gathering the terrible exp nodes you would still hit a brick wall with the Seafarer's Cowrie which are needed for certain upgrades and the overwhelming majority of rewards from the vendor. Since those can only be generated passively you literally have no choice but to wait.

[Mullygrubb]

I was pretty sceptical about Island Sanctuaries compliments to falling for WoD's Garrison hype all those millions of years ago.

It is what it is, I suppose. I've tried it, saw that it's short lived - especially in that it seems to serve no purpose for the rest of the game at all - and now I'm done with it and will move on.

If others are into it, then all power to them. What drew me to FF14 in the first place was the mass amount of content for a player to choose to enjoy, rather than being pigeon holed into mundane content for the sake of outright progression.

That being said, this game still falls short in a lot of areas, and I really hope resources weren't pulled from addressing and solving those issues in order to build this, that'd leave a pretty bad taste in the mouth for me.

[Deveryn]

It's basically telling you "You're going to play this casually and you'll like it...or suffer"

What's actually wrong with that? This is meant to be something completely on the side, allowing you to enjoy the regular content you stay subbed for. After the initial setup, you'll just be checking in with this periodically to eventually earn some rewards.

[Absurdity]

There doesn't seem to be any reward for feeding your animals as well.

Slight correction here, animals drop materials that you can only get from them, depending on the animal it can drop 2 different materials. Feeding your animals keeps their mood from decreasing, or even improves it when you use the better quality feed, which increases the chance of them dropping both materials.

What's actually wrong with that? This is meant to be something completely on the side, allowing you to enjoy the regular content you stay subbed for. After the initial setup, you'll just be checking in with this periodically to eventually earn some rewards.

I just don't think content that actively prevents you from playing it by timegating everything is good design, especially when it has cosmetic rewards locked behind it.
Island Sanctuary should allow you to play it at your own pace, be that only checking in once a day or grinding till you've had enough. Eureka, Bozja and even the Ishgard Restoration managed to do this, I don't see why this needs to be any different.

The way the currency is set up only compounds the issue.
Islander's Cowrie, the currency you can farm, is essentially worthless. All you get from it is materia, cordial and glamour prisms, all items which you can get from content that already existed prior and probably more easily as well.
Seafarer's Cowrie on the other hand can only be generated passively but has all the actually desirable rewards locked behind it and at the same time is required to progress your island in the first place.

[Deveryn]

I just don't think content that actively prevents you from playing it by timegating everything is good design, especially when it has cosmetic rewards locked behind it.
Island Sanctuary should allow you to play it at your own pace, be that only checking in once a day or grinding till you've had enough. Eureka, Bozja and even the Ishgard Restoration managed to do this, I don't see why this needs to be any different.

The way the currency is set up only compounds the issue.
Islander's Cowrie, the currency you can farm, is essentially worthless. All you get from it is materia, cordial and glamour prisms, all items which you can get from content that already existed prior and probably more easily as well.
Seafarer's Cowrie on the other hand can only be generated passively but has all the actually desirable rewards locked behind it and at the same time is required to progress your island in the first place.

So, in good design, you get the nice rewards right away? That's what your argument sounds like and I have to disagree there.



Obtaining cosmetic rewards in this game is never without some manner of time investment and this is a different spin on it. You don't like it because it feels forced. I love it because it's not up to some RNG, like most of the other content. Effort is minimal and interaction is non-existent. Of course, I'm used to this type of game, as are other people. I would play this kind of stuff when I had less free time.