SE, no effort anywhere lately.

[Jojoya]

Serious question, but are you just here on the forums to be a contrarian?

I've seen you bash the game before, I've seen to critique some of the more outdated bits really heavily, but right now with a lot of people complaining about a lot of the latest releases you're in the exact opposite direct. It's not even sensible half the time, it's literally just pedal to the metal arguing against the whole thread senselessly.

What is your goal if it's not to be contrarian and argumentative?

Some things I agree with. Some things I don't. I have no interest in being part of a hive mind. I do, however, enjoy discussing the game with other players.

Overall, I see the game positively. No game is going to be perfect but focusing on the negatives of a game doesn't not improve enjoyment of it. Players should at least acknowledge what they are enjoying about the game at the same time they talk about what could be improved.

What always confuses me are those who bash almost every part of the game but then have no problem continuing to pay $15/month to play it. If the game is that bad, why spend money on it instead of spending money on better games? They also rarely bring up examples of other comparable games doing those things better. If they can't offer examples of another game doing it right, then perhaps the real problem is players setting their expectations unrealistically high.

Finally, there's the problem of game age. Any game is going to feel dated after a while. Game developers trying to shake up a game's design formula risk alienating the long time players who had been happy with what the game had been while not attracting enough new players to offset those lost.

On the player side, any game you've played for several years is only going to start feeling easier and easier. You're familiar with the systems, you know what to expect and your skill level has increased compared to how you started. Yet the game itself still must be created to be accessible to the completely new player (not just those new to the specific game but those new to gaming in general). You can't set the skill bar too high or those players quickly drop out because they haven't had the time to build that skill. You can't overload them with mandatory content or they feel they can never get caught up (which has already been acknowledged as a problem with the MSQ and SE has announced they've been making plans to deal with it).

So, where are the examples of games that have addressed the issues that the OP brought up in their initial post in a better way than FFXIV? Are there none? If there are none, is it because the gaming industry is embracing mediocrity in general (in which case, why are gaming consumers continuing to pay to support mediocrity) or is it players setting expectations unrealistically high?

Sounds like you enjoy WoW. Which, is perfectly fine and all that. Bit strange that you if you are having so much fun in another game you feel the need to come to the forum of the game you no longer play just to bitch about it.

I mean, if you've moved on...then MOVE ON. Trust, it's the healthy thing to do.

Have fun!

Doesn't mean that moving on is easy to do when you've devoted a number of years to a game.

I had the same problem when I was leaving WoW. And the problem solves itself when game time runs out and you lose the ability to post in the game forums outside of what's available ot trial players.

Exactly! Let people go away from our game, just because they find it boring lately. Thats awesome idea! And it works. I also downloaded wow after so many years and thinking about buying a sub just because every dummy in this forum tells me I should go play other games. And lemme tell, you, Im not gonna play FF for a LOONG time before a catch up with all wow content that released. So cg. Just caps shout everybody, who wants FF14 to improve, so they can have more fun with it, to go away. Let FF die and move on! Was a fun ride while it lasted...

So then maybe the problem is that you have played this game long enough to get burned out and be in need of something different (but not too different). WoW has changed enough in the past 6 years or so that it probably doesn't feel much like the game a lot of us left because we started to hate it. It will feel fresh and new where FFXIV can't.

Let's hope it doesn't disappoint.