7.0 copium has got to stop

[Koros]

This is more or less how I feel about it. I don't really harbor any sort of intense feelings for the game, nor have I for the past Idk... 5 years? I picture my general disposition towards the game on a timeline that consists of a vague apathy at baseline that is broken by the great highs of an expansion launch. I still continue to play the game because I still enjoy it to some degree, and this pattern hasn't changed at all. The content that is delivered is something I consider to be "just enough" to enjoy, but the needle does not move beyond that. With each major content release I can expect a decent-to-good storyline with some easy-yet-enjoyable content alongside it. I honestly find the level of consistency to be commendable, but I'd be lying if I said I was 100% ok with it. This feeling of "yeah it's ok, I guess" becomes more palpable over time, and while I would like something more (whatever "more" entails is much too nebulous for me to go into at this point), I just don't see it happening. I think the devs are simply all-too-entrenched in their own design pattern at this point.

Ultimately, this won't stop me from playing the game. I've come to see it as that game, the "background game", a game I can always turn to if I'm just not feeling like playing anything else. I've been playing since beta 2.0 and at this time I am far too invested into the world, characters, story, etc... to simply just drop it. Sunk cost doesn't cross my mind. I'm talking momentum. I've been playing, and will continue to do so, but as I said at the start, with a certain hint of apathy. No gnashing of teeth, or stomping my feet, just kind of a shrug.

That's basically FF16 too it's a Cbu3 thing

In ten years people will be like "FF16? Oh that's an ok game it existed I guess"

[LuciferNacht]

I'm honestly just worried about the story. Like for the first time this patch, I found the fetch quests to be too much and I wanted to skip them.

First time since I started playing years ago. Story is what this game has going for it IMO, this last patch was so lackluster I haven't even gotten to the trial yet. It felt like a slog to get through.

This is the first time I've felt like my time to ultimately retire might be coming but I have faith and will give them the benefit of the doubt. We've got fanfests coming, so we'll hopefully get more info on 7.0 and the future!

[LuciferNacht]

This is more or less how I feel about it. I don't really harbor any sort of intense feelings for the game, nor have I for the past Idk... 5 years? I picture my general disposition towards the game on a timeline that consists of a vague apathy at baseline that is broken by the great highs of an expansion launch. I still continue to play the game because I still enjoy it to some degree, and this pattern hasn't changed at all. The content that is delivered is something I consider to be "just enough" to enjoy, but the needle does not move beyond that. With each major content release I can expect a decent-to-good storyline with some easy-yet-enjoyable content alongside it. I honestly find the level of consistency to be commendable, but I'd be lying if I said I was 100% ok with it. This feeling of "yeah it's ok, I guess" becomes more palpable over time, and while I would like something more (whatever "more" entails is much too nebulous for me to go into at this point), I just don't see it happening. I think the devs are simply all-too-entrenched in their own design pattern at this point.

Ultimately, this won't stop me from playing the game. I've come to see it as that game, the "background game", a game I can always turn to if I'm just not feeling like playing anything else. I've been playing since beta 2.0 and at this time I am far too invested into the world, characters, story, etc... to simply just drop it. Sunk cost doesn't cross my mind. I'm talking momentum. I've been playing, and will continue to do so, but as I said at the start, with a certain hint of apathy. No gnashing of teeth, or stomping my feet, just kind of a shrug.

Wow, what an incredibly articulation of how I feel. I was trying to express this but definitely not as well. Completely agreed.

[Hanayumi]

Has the game changed? Yes
Is this bad? No
Should everyone just flat out quit? No, but folks should really evaluate whether this game is still for you after these changes the likelihood of them reverting any of it is slim to none. And desipte the massive changes that has certainly pushed folks away from the game this is still a great MMO, especially for those that do not have the time to dump 1/2 a day into gaming or those that like putting time into multiple games...

[PercibelTheren]

I'm honestly just worried about the story. Like for the first time this patch, I found the fetch quests to be too much and I wanted to skip them.

First time since I started playing years ago. Story is what this game has going for it IMO, this last patch was so lackluster I haven't even gotten to the trial yet. It felt like a slog to get through.

This is the first time I've felt like my time to ultimately retire might be coming but I have faith and will give them the benefit of the doubt. We've got fanfests coming, so we'll hopefully get more info on 7.0 and the future!

This is also my biggest concern. I can tolerate a lot of flaws if the story is good but it just hasn't been. Endwalker MSQ had a lot of issues and ended up being a huge letdown for me. The patch quests have been lacking lately as well. I hope it's because they are putting all the effort into 7.0, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Arrius]

That's basically FF16 too it's a Cbu3 thing

In ten years people will be like "FF16? Oh that's an ok game it existed I guess"

Ten years is pretty good. Some folks completely forget about certain games after just two or three months when the mainstream is done with it.

[TomsYoungerBro]

This is a fair point because if they were to "fix" anything, we would see small increments of it throughout Endwalker in changing philosophy. If anything, they have double downed on their philosophies throughout the patch. If you hate the 2 minute meta and overall simplification of jobs, it is only going to be worse in 7.0. Do you dislike having no repeatable content and content with lackluster rewards? It will only get worse next expac.

However, MMO users usually have lots of hours of investment into the game and their character(s), so its only fair to at least hold on with hopium/copium that maybe something will change course, or they'll atleast refine their strategy to be more enjoyable. We are near the end of the expac, might as well wait lol.

[Loonastra]

I played wow and quit in WoD and here i am... I just feel like this expansion is the WoD of this game for me, i really hope i'm wrong but yeah...

[Atelier-Bagur]

I played wow and quit in WoD and here i am... I just feel like this expansion is the WoD of this game for me, i really hope i'm wrong but yeah...

Actually considering the favoritism of the previous expansion, I feel like we're in the Battle for Azeroth phase with Shb being Legion. That means 7.0 will the worst yet with Shadowlands and the game will finally start getting good again with 8.0 Dragonflight

[Ranaku]

Actually considering the favoritism of the previous expansion, I feel like we're in the Battle for Azeroth phase with Shb being Legion. That means 7.0 will the worst yet with Shadowlands and the game will finally start getting good again with 8.0 Dragonflight

That's your personal subjective opinion tho, you have every right to be not satisfied with the product you have access too. Heck i can't understand some of the design choices either and how they basically gave people no grind this expansion for whatever reason, something that always helped a lot with in between patch activity.

But if we look at the numbers, like the raw numbers. XIV is doing better on patchdays now than to release (RELEASE!) of previous expansions. We have now on patchdays more daily players than we had when ShB came out. The games state and activity is a highly subjective matter for most people obviously but that doesn't mean the game is doing bad. Just means you are getting older and the good times from back then hang in your mind and build a nostalgic memory that is far from what once was actually. Nobody really remembers how far the game has come and how much better we have it now compared to the "old days".

The problem i feel is that we old players know already what is to come basically, we know that our jobs will play in the future mostly the same. The games mechanics will stay the same. The fight mechanics might change but the overall design stays the same. It's something WoW did differently and had partially success with it before they overused the borrowed power system so much that it became a nuisance and chore to players. But XIV could learn from WoW mistakes, lost actions from Bozja and Eureka were a dip into this concept and many players had actually really fun with the really stupid and overpowered things you could do with it. So it kinda leaves me baffled that this time around in EW they didn't include it into the relic grind.