The current state of the "MMORPG" FFXIV is unsustainable. Here's why

[Themarvin]

1) Trivialised combat.
The combat has come a long, long way since Stormblood. Did it go the right way though? No it didn't. It's easy, jobs are homogenized and it's rotations are far too simple, on top of removal of lots of positionals (looking at you, Monk). Absolute destruction of jobs such as Astrologian and Summoner, removal of things that made jobs feel good such as Samurai, removal of DoTs and party buffs. Go watch a couple of Stormblood raiding videos and you'll see what I mean.

2) Trivialised encounters
Constant nerfing of dungeons, not only by power/potency creep. The very first red flag being Coincounter from Aurum Vale, then allowing rezzes in Titan and Sophia if people fall down the arena. The absolute, shameless nerfing of Orbonne Monastery and Thunder God Cid.

3) No long-term content and grinds
Perhaps the reason -why- people are so bored in Endwalker is the lack of long-term things to do in the current expansion. Most notably, the lack of a Foray such as Eureka and Bozja. Both, who really had a MMO feel to them, a large group of players working together in an instance, while now we're stuck to running 4 man content for most of the tomestones with easy, not challenging fights.

Final Fantasy XIV ceased to be a challenging game. In a pursuit to appease the raiding crowd to allign their epic 2 minute burst, and cutting content because of people who whined about having to do any effort to obtain their shiney weapons are really damaging the game which results in the mid-core players to suffer the most. Unless Square Enix / YoshiP want to save this game, I'm afraid it will go on a downwards spiral in 2 years, if not less.

TL;DR: No long term investment forays/grind, easy combat and easy encounters.

Then find another game to play, FFXIV is not meant to be for everyone.. and for long term stuff it still exist within the game, alone some of the archievements is quite the grind to get.

[Kyrj]

Then find another game to play

This is a shit take. "Just leave" Game not changing the way you like it? "Just leave". The devs are being lazy with the .x patches? "Just leave". How many times are we gonna use this argument until you're the only one left?

To your credit though that it was I do when a product I've used for a long time starts to drop in their quality, I don't pay for mediocre shit. But then again mediocre shit seems to be the norm for SE these days.

[Jojoya]

You can argue about job design all you want but it comes down to the developers reacting to 2 different things: player demand for job balance so their favorite job is less likely to be excluded because elitists pay too much attention to theorycrafting and metas, and most players having reached a skill cap where they just can't handle more complexity in a job. The developers are rarely going to cater to the elitist niche no matter how vocal they get because every MMO in the past that has done that has inevitably failed.

Is the content overall truly less difficult than in the past, or does it just seem that way because you're now more knowledgeable as a player and are more likely to have gear up to date? A lot of the excitement we get from games is because we start out knowing almost nothing about what we're doing and have to figure it out, whether alone or with the help of other players. Once you have a decent grasp of the game's general design and mechanics, it becomes easier to progress because you have a basic idea of what to expect. As you get better, a game naturally gets easier. Same as with job design, when the majority of players start reaching their skill cap the developers can't afford to increase difficulty farther outside of the very niche content like the Ultimates. The game costs money to make; the developers need to make sure that the game appeals to enough players to keep paying the expenses.

The game has plenty of long term grinds. Hand of Creation. Divine Provider. The Indefatigable. Necromancer. The Accursed. Ultimate Thrillseeker. Of the Longest Hunt. Honest Gillionaire. Gambler. The Alpha Wolf. The Fortunate. The Luckiest of...
Are you trying to convince us you completed them all?

Try to blame things on casuals all you want but it sounds like the real problem is on your end.

Perhaps you've played the game too long. Any game will get boring after a while if you don't give yourself a break from it.

Perhaps you're expecting this game to be something it's not intended to be. MMOs need to have their vision of what they want to be, and that's not always what a specific player wants.

I can promise you that the game is not at risk of dying in the next 2 years. There are lots of players still experiencing the content for the first time and overwhelmed with all the things they have to be doing. Even if SE were to move the development team to other projects and just keep a maintenance mode staff, the game will keep going for many more years to come because it's an enjoyable experience that many players want to continue sharing with family, friends and others.

It doesn't need your approval to survive anymore than it needs mine or that of any other single player.

This is a shit take. "Just leave" Game not changing the way you like it? "Just leave". The devs are being lazy with the .x patches? "Just leave". How many times are we gonna use this argument until you're the only one left?

To your credit though that it was I do when a product I've used for a long time starts to drop in their quality, I don't pay for mediocre shit. But then again mediocre shit seems to be the norm for SE these days.

It's not a bad take. It's an honest one.

When a game no longer suits what you're looking for, it's up to you to find a game that does. It's not up to a specific game to change to meet your personal standards.

Players have been using your argument for years and yet the game is still here despite all the naysayers. You're not going to end up anymore correct than any of them were.

[Kyrj]

"The game is still here"

Said every SWTOR, Age of Conan, Wildstar, LOTRO, etc. player

[RobynDaBank]

"The game is still here"

Said every SWTOR, Age of Conan, Wildstar, LOTRO, etc. player

"The game is still here"... also said by the RuneScape, WoW, ESO, GW2, even Everquest players of the world. Your point?

[magitekLuna]

1) Trivialised combat.
The combat has come a long, long way since Stormblood. Did it go the right way though? No it didn't. It's easy, jobs are homogenized and it's rotations are far too simple, on top of removal of lots of positionals (looking at you, Monk). Absolute destruction of jobs such as Astrologian and Summoner, removal of things that made jobs feel good such as Samurai, removal of DoTs and party buffs. Go watch a couple of Stormblood raiding videos and you'll see what I mean.

2) Trivialised encounters
Constant nerfing of dungeons, not only by power/potency creep. The very first red flag being Coincounter from Aurum Vale, then allowing rezzes in Titan and Sophia if people fall down the arena. The absolute, shameless nerfing of Orbonne Monastery and Thunder God Cid.

3) No long-term content and grinds
Perhaps the reason -why- people are so bored in Endwalker is the lack of long-term things to do in the current expansion. Most notably, the lack of a Foray such as Eureka and Bozja. Both, who really had a MMO feel to them, a large group of players working together in an instance, while now we're stuck to running 4 man content for most of the tomestones with easy, not challenging fights.

Final Fantasy XIV ceased to be a challenging game. In a pursuit to appease the raiding crowd to allign their epic 2 minute burst, and cutting content because of people who whined about having to do any effort to obtain their shiney weapons are really damaging the game which results in the mid-core players to suffer the most. Unless Square Enix / YoshiP want to save this game, I'm afraid it will go on a downwards spiral in 2 years, if not less.

TL;DR: No long term investment forays/grind, easy combat and easy encounters.

you are mostly correct. i will add to this the unwillingness of the players to communicate in game turning most players affectively in to npc/bots.

[Kyrj]

"The game is still here"... also said by the RuneScape, WoW, ESO, GW2, even Everquest players of the world. Your point?

I can give you WoW and ESO and to a much much lesser extent GW2 but RuneScape is pushing what MAYBE 300k? And lol everquest. You really used everquest.

[magitekLuna]

I do feel like they're leaning way too hard into following the "safe" content cycle they've had since HW.

It's nice that they made an attempt at introducing new types of content through Island Sanctuary and variant/criterion dungeons, but both still lack the longevity the exploratory zones had.

variant/criterion dungeons in them self are a really well made content. its fun to do but then what? where the rewards?
as for Island Sanctuary i cant think of any one that for really think this is content as a sane person . Island Sanctuary is a BIG SLAP from yoshi to the players. people asking for years for instant housing . yoshi Sayed there no way to do it as limitations and such. then he do Island Sanctuary that is WAY bigger that instant housing ever be, but there nothing what so ever to do there.

[Elucesta]

I can definitely see the difference between those who actually play and enjoy "Old School" mmos and those who just play FF14 and claim they play MMO's.

[R041]

I can give you WoW and ESO and to a much much lesser extent GW2 but RuneScape is pushing what MAYBE 300k? And lol everquest. You really used everquest.

Don't forget Ultima Online, there are literally dozens of us!