Zepla: Endwalker is the Worst FFXIV Expansion I have played

[Renathras]

Who OP is (another Gaius alt...) aside (let's be real, OP posted this to rile people up and stir the pot, not to make any serious or rational point, "her" history speaks for itself):

Zepla's snark at one point kind of indicates she's lost it a bit (so, of course, the usual suspects super agree with her on it...); when you attack people, you aren't criticizing the game, full stop. She very much seems to be a person in need of a break.

THAT said, EW is like the reverse SB. SB flopped on release, but made up for it in the post-patches. EW's release was fantastic but it dropped the ball in the post-patches. Where it needed to let us down gently from the post-climax high of the resolution of the 10 year story arc, it kind of just dropped us with little to do and longer patch cycles. It's the one expansion they REALLY shouldn't have decided to drop Exploration Content, and Island Sancutary, Criterion, and Orthos were thrown out to try and make up that void but have, for various reasons, failed to do so.

Part of this may be FF16 work, part of it is probably that they've also used a lot of resources on the graphics updeate (which isn't just 7.0 but is a work in progress that they're introducing bits of over time as well) and the revamp of the 1-70 game with Duty Support, AI, rebalancing and tuning all the earlier game stuff, and a lot of pruning and alternations to old quests, items, and systems to make the game more streamlined and "new user friendly" for people picking up the game. And all that stuff is fine and good...but it does expend resources that can't be used on the top end.

I do agree with Sharknado above:

Dawntrail has a lot of weight to bear on its shoulders. EW is "good" yet not many play it now during patches. WoW Dragonflight is "good" yet the amount of players is also low and more probably are in the Classic versions, especially now with Hardcore and Season later this year.

[Johners]

Dawntrail has a lot of weight to bear on its shoulders. EW is "good" yet not many play it now during patches. WoW Dragonflight is "good" yet the amount of players is also low and more probably are in the Classic versions, especially now with Hardcore and Season later this year.

And where is the EU's new data center we were supposed to get this summer? Did the traffic was overestimated and it's not needed? (not like mega-queues disappeared like a month after expansion and will be the same at the Dawntrail launch).

Start playing a week or two before the expansion launch, do all MSQ X.1-X.55 content, then play Y.0 and quit until 1-2 weeks before the next expansion and repeat.

Doing this requires you to buy the expansion at full price though. If you just quit after 6.55 and wait until 7.55, you'll get Dawntrail for 50% or more off of the MSRP.

[Kaurhz]

Dawntrail has a lot of weight to bear on its shoulders. EW is "good" yet not many play it now during patches. WoW Dragonflight is "good" yet the amount of players is also low and more probably are in the Classic versions, especially now with Hardcore and Season later this year.

And where is the EU's new data center we were supposed to get this summer? Did the traffic was overestimated and it's not needed? (not like mega-queues disappeared like a month after expansion and will be the same at the Dawntrail launch).

Start playing a week or two before the expansion launch, do all MSQ X.1-X.55 content, then play Y.0 and quit until 1-2 weeks before the next expansion and repeat.

Dawntrail will just be a make-or-break for quite a few people, I think.

I think they just overestimated the longevity of the traffic they were getting at the time. If the traffic at the time were more permanent then it would make a lot more sense to have another DC, but that level of traffic is hard (probably impossible) to sustain, especially when a good load of that traffic wasn't necessarily down to the game itself actually being good, but for a combination of other things. If we get another EU DC, I'm fairly confident it'll be post-7.0

[Rolder50]

She do be right though, pointless attacks on OP aside.

[Theodric]

Zepla's snark at one point kind of indicates she's lost it a bit (so, of course, the usual suspects super agree with her on it...); when you attack people, you aren't criticizing the game, full stop. She very much seems to be a person in need of a break.

I think that's a rather strange and unfair stance to take. She's an entertainer first and foremost, so naturally she's going to be theatrical when gesturing and showcasing expressions. Though there's also individuals who are simply animated and excitable as part of their natural personality.

You can go back and look at her earlier videos when she was less critical towards the game to see similar mannerisms at play.

[Vahlnir]

I think that's a rather strange stance to take. She's an entertainer first and foremost, so naturally she's going to be theatrical when gesturing and showcasing expressions. Though there's also individuals who are simply animated and excitable as part of their natural personality.

You can go back and look at her earlier videos when she was less critical towards the game to see similar mannerisms at play.

Yeah. I don't think she has "lost it". How she comes across to me is frustrated. Most people aren't calm, cool and collected when they are frustrated past a certain point.

[Renathras]

I think that's a rather strange and unfair stance to take. She's an entertainer first and foremost, so naturally she's going to be theatrical when gesturing and showcasing expressions. Though there's also individuals who are simply animated and excitable as part of their natural personality.

You can go back and look at her earlier videos when she was less critical towards the game to see similar mannerisms at play.

That specific tone and facial expressions - go watch the segment just before 30 mins; that's an angry face, not the face of someone being theatrical for the sake of it - make me think there's deep seated, and misguided, anger there. As people here note all the time when the negative nancies insist everyone who still likes the game is a shill worshiping Yoshi P: People liking the game aren't shills, nor are they saying no criticism at all is allowed or the like. They point out, as I often do, that insults aren't criticism, and insulting the devs and especially other players isn't critique under any definition.

Yeah. I don't think she has "lost it". How she comes across to me is frustrated. Most people aren't calm, cool and collected when they are frustrated past a certain point.

I do agree she comes across as frustrated, but that tone and attitude is wrong, no matter who does it. Better to explain what you dislike and make a plea to change, and acknowledge those that don't agree with you as having valid points of view as well while suggesting compromises. Attacking them with that level of venom ain't it.

EDIT: Post limit for the day, so just leaving this here for now:

If anything, people are proving her point about the community and criticism in real time.

But people AREN'T, that's the point.

Where did I say her criticisms were invalid? I didn't.
Where did I say she was demanding insane grinds - the thing she's insisting anyone who disagrees with her is doing? I didn't.

So no, she's not having her point proven in real time. Hell, I've been criticizing the lack of a Eureka/Bozja this entire expansion. I just don't get angry with and accuse people of making caricature arguments. I haven't said, of anyone who likes there not being a Eureka/Bozja "Well! You just accuse anything that isn't MSQ of being a terrible GRIND!", now do I? Because that is generally not what people do.

My issue has been consistent, and my issue with criticism has as well: If you are attacking other players - and yes, making caricatures to preempt people from offering views countering your own is doing so - you aren't critiquing the game. That's where I draw the line.

I wasn't calling her unhinged, I was saying she seems to be angry. I've watched Zepla on and off for years. She's not normally like that. The only other time I've seen her at all like that was talking about the Ukraine war.

There's a point where one goes from "I like this thing but want some changes (the state I'm in, btw)" to "I'm really frustrated with this game but want to stay with it and push for change" to "I'm REALLY frustrated with the state of things and lashing out at other people (this is the point you should probably have taken a break by now, but if you haven't, is the time to do so)" to "I honestly hate everything about this game and am only staying subbed for a house and anyone who disagrees is a shill white knight who worships Yoshi P as their personal god and simps for Y'Shtola art (a position, sadly, that more than a few have gotten to)".

Not everyone's as rational as I am, so many people have more bleed through between 2 and 3, but specifically what sets me off is when people start attacking players. If you have critiques, make them. Don't try to cut off any rebuttals by insisting anyone who would offer one is <insert caricature>. Ginger Prime did this when he took a break from FFXIV, and it set a lot of people off, too. He eventually seemed to realize it was a bad thing and backed off of doing so, at which point his positions were much more amenable to people.

I'm gonna have to disagree with you there. This is exactly the level of frustration the devs need to hear. It also makes a bit of a statement coming from one of SE's biggest yes-people.

No, attacking other players is not a valid outlet for frustration.

"Bullying is exactly what the school needs to see to get administrators to accept the children need changes" is not an acceptable take. Hurting or attacking innocent people to get your point across is wrong. Zepla has a huge megaphone. She could make her critiques without badmouthing people and be listened to. The badmouthing alienated half the audience outright, so is bad for getting listened to (the people agreeing with her are ones not alienated by it as they often engage in it themselves...), but that aside, it's unjust to attack the innocent for the crimes of the guilty. Moreover, to preemptively attack people for something you imagined they might do but that they haven't even done.

[Vahlnir]

I do agree she comes across as frustrated, but that tone and attitude is wrong, no matter who does it. Better to explain what you dislike and make a plea to change, and acknowledge those that don't agree with you as having valid points of view as well while suggesting compromises. Attacking them with that level of venom ain't it.

I'm gonna have to disagree with you there. This is exactly the level of frustration the devs need to hear. It also makes a bit of a statement coming from one of SE's biggest yes-people.

[Katish]

I feel like people who use the person x needs to "take a break" argument are doing so ingenuously. But, I think they need to re-evaluate that... Zepla did in fact take a break during Endwalker, I did too for a bit...but a break doesn't mean FOREVER. How long is a break? Because after six months of waiting on break, the game barely got anything. For an mmo, that's really bad, and I do mean extremely bad. Even between main patches, most mmos release things to fill up your time...and I can't help but feel that this is Square showcasing laziness at its finest given they can get away with it. (lel)

A huge grind isn't what's needed (I would enjoy it given the lack thereof), but somewhere in between that gives you something to do.

[Vahlnir]

I feel like people who use the person x needs to "take a break" argument are doing so ingeniously. Zepla did in fact take a break during Endwalker, I did too for a bit...but a break doesn't mean FOREVER. How long is a break? Because after six months of waiting on break, the game barely got anything. For an mmo, that's really bad, and I do mean extremely bad. Even between main patches, most mmos release things to fill up your time...I can't help but feel that this is indeed laziness at its finest.

I took a break for a few months myself, losing my house (willingly) in the process. That is my average break from a game though, but up until now I've made sure to log in at least once a month to keep my house. It all depends on the state of things. Sometimes I'm away from a game for almost half a year if things are especially bad. Usually nothing I need to worry about with this one though, or at least that was the case at one time. Now? Who knows.