Random observation

[Jojoya]

Yes. And it didn't work out all that well now that have people have blitzed through the content and have no reason to return to it unlike Restoration, where I could at least grind out and sell its rewards.

You mean you and a few other players blitzed through it and have no desire to return. Many of us are still enjoying ourselves.

You could return to Island Sanctuary to grind out cowries to buy materia and dyes to sell if you wanted. Granted it's not the rapid on demand style that the Restoration had but it's still possible.

Almost as if people wanted to see their feedback responded to by battle-oriented content being released earlier on in the expansion as opposed to this late on top of an already extended patch cycle that has amounted to little benefit for the players. The loss of a relic zones will also be felt during this expansion, since if Island Sanctuary is any indication I can’t expect anything too stellar coming out of Criterion Dungeons, especially when they led with a princess Minnie mouse mount as a reward.

Battle content releases have always been spread out in this game. Why are you expecting that to change?

We still don't have a good idea of what all the rewards in Criterion will be. If you don't like the mount, you don't like it. I can't say I particularly care for it myself but that's not killing my interest in the content.

A player that wants to be able to consume everything at once should be waiting until about 2 weeks before the x.5 patch to purchase an expansion and return to the game.

How much clearer must it be stated that what you personally want is not what everyone else wants? That what you think would be better may ruin the game for others who enjoy it for what it is?

Forgive me for holding this game to the standards it should be held to if its going to compete for people’s attention, and in Island Sanctuary’s case the success of that attempt is questionable. They already took the compelling parts of the story out of the story and filled it full of slice of life and ill-fitting humour combined with a messianic lets-save-the-void plotline whose only redemption would be a catastrophic failure of that quest in favor of a global demonic invasion of the Source. Bar Pandaemonium, which is notable for being the only current questline where I can find the characters likeable or believable, there’s scarce else to keep my interest. Trying to appeal to everybody in this manner was a mistake – they should’ve focused on what they do best instead of mounting controversy upon controversy with the lackluster state of Island Sanctuary, “the winning number is 0,” Hildibrand 2.0/3.0 relics instead of relic zones, along with pizza, hamburgers, and god forbid burritos if they ever take us to the New World.

It's competing perfectly well for the game it is - a theme park MMO. It's got the second largest active player base in the world. How can you say that's not competing?

If it's not competing with other theme park MMOs like you say, where are the players going to?

Again, if there's not really anything here to keep your interest it's time to go to a game that will. It would be interesting to hear your list of the theme park MMOs are doing it better in your opinion. Please name them for us and describe why you feel they're better.

Then tell us why you're still here playing this game and complaining in these forums instead of playing those other games and sharing your happiness with them in their forums.

Someone has to say these hard truths, because I would rather not see FFXIV fail. I want it to be the best it can be, and it isn’t going to get any better when people can’t see stuff like Island Sanctuary for how hollow it is. All they had to do was listen to the people who, for 10 years, have directly told them that they just want a house. Put that on an island and call it a day. But, no, have whatever this is instead I guess, while players tell each other to leave. And people wonder why FFXIV is painted by others as little more than a visual novel these days.

You'd be better off if you didn't confuse your personal opinions with "hard truths". Everything you post is your subjective opinion.

What you see as hollow may be the entertainment someone else is looking for. Is that why people play games - to be entertained? Yet not everyone has an interest in the same entertainment styles. Some like comedy, some like action, some like horror, some like intellectual puzzles, etc.

It's on the consumer to find the product offering what they want. Don't pay for something that isn't providing what you want. There are product brands I used to go to loyally when I was younger that I no longer buy because they changed their products and I no longer liked them. I'm playing FFXIV now because WoW changed and I no longer liked it.

Be a smart consumer, Don't waste money on things you don't like expecting them to change for your sake. They won't when they've got hundreds of thousands if not millions of other customers that are paying and satisfied..