Well I think we at a new low .

[R041]

Out of curiosity, what MMO have you played that delivers more content more often than this 4 month patch cycle that SE is using?


lol don't worry, I don't want it. I can't see myself ever giving up my Mist 60 unless SE releases a knock-your-socks-off FFXIV version of RIFT Dimensions.

Or unless I get bored with the other content in this game and decide it's time to move on.

Sorry not trying to be rude. I'm doing my best over here with what I got.

I'm a very material person, so it's hard to just let them go. lol

[Raskbuck]

Out of curiosity, what MMO have you played that delivers more content more often than this 4 month patch cycle that SE is using?

Well, answering your question would mean tripping into a "gotcha" moment, since I don't think any modern MMOs currently delivers on that.

What I will say, however, is that I would be perfectly fine with the extended intervals, if the content met my expectations. Which it currently doesn't, unfortunately.

Back in ARR, every main patch (2.1, 2.2, and so on) included all main features in one go. Personally, that gave me plenty of things to do, and I was content with taking a break once I've had my fill of the content. Take a look at patch 2.1, and compared it to what we get now. We still had XX.5 patches, but those were meant to be smaller Gold Saucer additions, tuning and sometimes PvP-related things.

Heavensward started transitioning into dividing the patches into the main features one, and the XX.5 ones. The HW relic was the first example of this, which I personally wasn't super happy with. One of my favorite activities was pushed some months into the future, but I didn't complain about it. When 3.15 arrived, the content was roughly the same, so I wasn't really sure the reasons for the delay. Back then, I remember Yoshida mentioning something along the lines of not wanting to overwhelm people (I don't have the quote on hand, if you're expecting a source).

As the game progressed more and more, more content was getting staggered and put into the XX.5 patches. Beast Tribes started making an appearance. Relic progression was delayed until X2.5 (as opposed to 2.1, and 3.15), and so on. And, in Shadowbringers, the frequency of those patches was delayed for an additional month.

So, to answer your question, it's less about finding an MMO that can deliver that frequency; and it's more about the perception of content stagger I've seen over the years. It's taking longer and longer to receive the same kind of content, and I personally don't feel the additional time has made me go "whoa, I can see why they delayed it."

I just feel like the content has been roughly the same, only that now it's being divided into micro bits to artificially extend the subscriptions as much as possible. Hope that answers a little where I'm coming from.

[Kyrj]

I've probably said this before but it's sad that FF14 was set to take the MMORPG world by the balls with ShB being such a massive hit just to have post EW come and be....well post EW. What a pathetic let down.

[Shinkuno]

I've probably said this before but it's sad that FF14 was set to take the MMORPG world by the balls with ShB being such a massive hit just to have post EW come and be....well post EW. What a pathetic let down.

People were on huge copium with that anyway, most of it was bitter wow players swapping over, many which have already gone back just as the streamers did

[R041]

People were on huge copium with that anyway, most of it was bitter wow players swapping over, many which have already gone back just as the streamers did

They used XIV as content for their own frustration and lull. They were never truly going to stay.

[Rolder50]

As for the infamous ARR PowerPoint slides, they are not the Mission Statement for Square Enix in perpetuity. The company has been responding to feedback, just not as quickly, and not to the points you might desire.

In what way have they been responding to feedback? Some of the main issue I see people complain about have been issues for a long time. Such as...

General state of healers being unengaging.

Kaiten.

General dumbing down of jobs and the 2 minute meta.

Savage loot lockouts.

Relic steps having boring tomestone steps. (Started in SHB)

BLU dead in the water.

I think you get the point.

[Shinkuno]

In what way have they been responding to feedback? Some of the main issue I see people complain about have been issues for a long time. Such as...

General state of healers being unengaging.

Kaiten.

General dumbing down of jobs and the 2 minute meta.

Savage loot lockouts.

Relic steps having boring tomestone steps. (Started in SHB)

BLU dead in the water.

I think you get the point.

They listen, just not to people that are affected lol. They listen to the people being afk in limsa for 15 hours a day. The people that even if all classes had 4 buttons would still fail to hit 3 of them.

[magitekLuna]

I've probably said this before but it's sad that FF14 was set to take the MMORPG world by the balls with ShB being such a massive hit just to have post EW come and be....well post EW. What a pathetic let down.

More like any thing past mid of 6.0 was a let down.

[DPZ2]

In what way have they been responding to feedback? Some of the main issue I see people complain about have been issues for a long time. Such as....

What part of "The company has been responding to feedback, just not as quickly, and not to the points you desire" was not understood?

Example: 400 glamour dresser slots increased to 800. 16 glamour plates increased to 20. Apartments created for those who are not FC bound.

Your own examples -> points to "and not to the points you desire".

[Jojoya]

So, to answer your question, it's less about finding an MMO that can deliver that frequency; and it's more about the perception of content stagger I've seen over the years. It's taking longer and longer to receive the same kind of content, and I personally don't feel the additional time has made me go "whoa, I can see why they delayed it."

Fair enough, though most of the content stagger is due to player feedback.

People were feeling overwhelmed if everything was released at once. Do they do MSQ first or the new raid first or the new trial first or the new tribal quest first or the new gathering nodes, etc.

So SE started staggering things. Instead of having to choose between 6-10 content additions/updates on patch day, we're done to 3-4 with the rest coming some weeks later. Still enough choice that players will spread out a bit between the different options but not so much people are feeling overwhelmed by trying to get it all done as fast as possible.

I would say I feel like waiting 8 weeks for the .x5 content feels like a bit too long. I think a 4 week wait would be better, or 6 at the moment. But I'm definitely happy that they choose to stagger it some. There generally is quite a bit of content contained within the full patch cycle for those who like to do everything in full.

I think something else that might be at play is work/life balance. Changes that were made in the wake of COVID have really shifted the thinking among both employers and employees. The US has been slower to react to the results of studies about improved performance with better work/life balance but you see the changes going on in many other parts of the world.