Play other games :)

[Deo14]

Well, given how even some of the most ardent naysayers around here who left for a bit still came back and are actively playing again, apparently the answer is "not yet."

Also, the "play other games" thing has been around for years (it's nothing new), and it simply points out how FFXIV allows you to do exactly that without feeling like you've fallen insurmountably behind. It's a game that actually values your time and basic healthy things like diversifying what you play for fun rather than no-lifing one game.

Curious that I have never heard this "just play other game" in my 11 years of playing GW2 off and on. That game actually allows you to take a break, whenever you want, however long you want, unlike here, where you can throw your gear into trash once it's 2 patches old and you also risk missing out on content like V&C, since it dies in a week. My ascended armor I crafted back in 2014? Still BiS. My legendaries? Still super prestigious. All while having no subscription fee.

GW2 isn't overconfidently vertical like FFXIV, content released years ago is still active, worth doing, is close to original difficulty, and most importantly, is designed like MMORPG. All the while the game is still being super casual friendly. Being social there is much easier.

So where's the difference? The game let's you play the game. I know, shocking. It has enough content to keep you occupied, devs have mastered creating something out of nothing. Something that is impossible if you develop content with no longevity in mind. Devs do not need to make excuses like "You can play other games" because they cannot provide content.

Obviously, you will get burned out, just like in any other game, for me, it's usually after 3-6 months. So you do get breaks, but it's when you decide you want to take a break, you're not forced to stop playing just because there is nothing meaningful to do. After a while, I'll come back, try to remember what was I doing last time I stopped and choose if I want to continue it or check new things. I've been doing this for 11 years and I never felt forced to take a break.

Inb4 SE apologists will try to convince me that I hate this game, even though I love this game, and I just want it to be better.

[Ath192]

Curious that I have never heard this "just play other game" in my 11 years of playing GW2 off and on. That game actually allows you to take a break, whenever you want, however long you want, unlike here, where you can throw your gear into trash once it's 2 patches old and you also risk missing out on content like V&C, since it dies in a week. My ascended armor I crafted back in 2014? Still BiS. My legendaries? Still super prestigious. All while having no subscription fee.

GW2 isn't overconfidently vertical like FFXIV, content released years ago is still active, worth doing, is close to original difficulty, and most importantly, is designed like MMORPG. All the while the game is still being super casual friendly. Being social there is much easier.

So where's the difference? The game let's you play the game. I know, shocking. It has enough content to keep you occupied, devs have mastered creating something out of nothing. Something that is impossible if you develop content with no longevity in mind. Devs do not need to make excuses like "You can play other games" because they cannot provide content.

Obviously, you will get burned out, just like in any other game, for me, it's usually after 3-6 months. So you do get breaks, but it's when you decide you want to take a break, you're not forced to stop playing just because there is nothing meaningful to do. After a while, I'll come back, try to remember what was I doing last time I stopped and choose if I want to continue it or check new things. I've been doing this for 11 years and I never felt forced to take a break.

Inb4 SE apologists will try to convince me that I hate this game, even though I love this game, and I just want it to be better.

Deo for president.

[SturmChurro]

...

Yep! I have been playing GW2 again as well since last year, when I was previously taking a hiatus from the game (again, still am, all I did was log in to post). I like being able to hop in and out whenever I want, and there are always people doing content in the world. I really don't like feeling like I have to play something. At the moment, I am working on getting my skyscale. It's nice to have something I can work on at my own pace, and well, just something to look forward to getting after putting in the time and work. There really isn't anything like that in this game, at least in EW. Similarly, it's why I have been surprisingly enjoying my time in Genshin, taking the open world at my own pace, with a nice amount of little collection and completion mixed in.

Simply put, if FFXIV continues like it is, there is very little reason to put much time into it. I don't even really bother gearing out anything other than my WHM, and even now, it's very out of date. I literally haven't bothered to grab the last relic weapon.

[VirusOnline]

Yep! I have been playing GW2 as well since last year, when I was previously taking a hiatus from the game (again, still am, all I did was log in to post). I like being able to hop in and out whenever I want, and there are always people doing content in the world. I really don't like feeling like I have to play something. At the moment, I am working on getting my skyscale. It's nice to have something I can work on at my own pace, and well, just something to look forward to getting after putting in the time and work. There really isn't anything like that in this game, at least in EW. Similarly, it's why I have been surprisingly enjoying my time in Genshin, taking the open world at my own pace, with a nice amount of little collection and completion mixed in.

Simply put, if FFXIV continues like it is, there is very little reason to put much time into it. I don't even really bother gearing out anything other than my WHM, and even now, it's very out of date. I literally haven't bothered to grab the last relic weapon.

Same here, just completed my griffon. Skyscale, next. I'm literally taking a break before I start on that one though. I hear it's a job to do.
I agree - if XIV continues on like this I won't be returning. My sub runs out soon and I probably won't be back until 7.0. If I hear good things.

[TowaIsBestGirl]

!!! Based post alert !!!

This, this, this. All the way this. This is why the "take a break" argument never truly works. The thing so many fail to understand is thus: Other games allow you to take a break. FFXIV, by contrast, forces you to take a break because by the time you feel inclined to resort to such a drastic action it is often the only recourse left to you. Even then, as you also stated most astutely, when you do return you often cannot jump right back in since you must grind out tomestones to get the newest gear since your old set is possibly severely outranked depending on how long you've been absent for.

I see what I say as statements of fact. If you choose to take it as an insult, that's your prerogative.

Inb4 the next time a poster gets angy and umcomfy when ex cathedra statements are made or making one's opinion not clear is villainized selectively. I'm so weary of this, and from where I stand you cannot condemn those whom you share and exhibit the faults of. The "I'm not them, I personally didn't do this" argument also doesn't work, since again, the behavior is being critiqued with selective precision. Enough with the bias already, it's so damn tiresome.

Because people didn't make a huge fuss and spend every waking moment bemoaning the game while paying a sub. You have to pay a sub to post here, which means...you know, you're kind of supporting SE's decisions right now. If everyone who had a problem with it just unsubbed, SE would notice the hit and immediately work to make changes. But they're not getting that hit because people are paying them right now just to post here in the forums. And every time somebody suggests it, people blow them off. If somebody said, "You should probably take a break" while you're not having fun in GW2, you probably would take a break. But here people are making excuses for why they can't and just keep paying the sub that tells SE "people are paying for our game."

Maybe instead of being smug about it you realize people critique games they love and want to get better and realize that Square making having a subscription and logging in to post is actually kind of scummy. It's the only thing that actually enables these backwards and nonsensical analogies, because logic and common sense were taken behind the shed long ago.

Not even close to 50%. I don't care that much about him, other than to point out his own hypocricy.

I don't think I've ever actually insulted him though, can't say the same for his groupies.

It's a common phenomenon that those who say "I don't actually care about <insert thing here>" is often rather concerned with said thing. It's a known obfuscation method in the lives of many human beings living on this planet. I'm also relatively sure it was listed as a symptom of a very particular chapter of the DSM-V, but I'll let you research that one on your own. ◕‿↼