Zepla: Endwalker is the Worst FFXIV Expansion I have played

[Vahlnir]

As a Relics Enjoyer myself, most of them don't hold much prestige to me as they're just Timesinks, aside from maybe the ARR relic which still requires a ton of commitment and a willingness to tolerate poor game design for glam.

The Ultimate weapons are the ones with universal prestige tied to them in this game, as they require a substantial degree of player competence, a solid understanding of your job, and the commitment to prog for weeks, if not months at a time.

For me relics were, at least up until now, not so much about prestige, but more about personal accomplishment. I could look at a finished weapon and say "That took a while, and the grind was real, but man. Look at this thing of beauty. I did a dang thing." Now, they are just tomestone weapons. Heck, they are actually lesser versions of tomestone weapons. I don't get that feeling of accomplishment when I look at EW relics.

[Zairava]

For me relics were, at least up until now, not so much about prestige, but more about personal accomplishment. I could look at a finished weapon and say "That took a while, and the grind was real, but man. Look at this thing of beauty. I did a dang thing." Now, they are just tomestone weapons. Heck, they are actually lesser versions of tomestone weapons. I don't get that feeling of accomplishment when I look at EW relics.

This exactly.

The current DRK relic is probably one of the best looking DRK relics next to Cronus Lux imo, I want to feel something about obtaining it but I can't. It took literally 0 effort to obtain. Complete questline, use stashed tomes, obtain "relic".

I may have joined the anima weapon acquisition when it got a lot easier, but the fact that I at least had to put in some effort to get it makes it mean so much more.

The difference is astronomical, especially when you take into account Zodiac(ARR)/Eureka/Bozja relics even if you aren't a fan of how stages look.

[Supersnow845]

I’m at the point of having so little content to do and absolutely nothing to spend causality tomestones on I’m logging in to do whatever roulettes I feel like doing on the day then using the tomestones to stockpile the upgrade items

At this point I think I have enough for about 5 classes worth of relics that I’ll probably eventually give to classes I’ll never use

At least back when my main source of glowy weapons for off classes was anemos relics i at l ast had to put in the effort to basically clear out all of anemos to get enough crystals for one relic which would take around 3 hours or so, and it came with a side of assisting new people in eureka

[Swordsman]

I’m at the point of having so little content to do and absolutely nothing to spend causality tomestones on I’m logging in to do whatever roulettes I feel like doing on the day then using the tomestones to stockpile the upgrade items

Yep, welcome to the club. I do a few roulettes and pvp a little, but most of my time is being spent on Baldur's Gate 3. I may just level up this SAM for the hell of it.

[ChrysOCE]

Yep, welcome to the club. I do a few roulettes and pvp a little, but most of my time is being spent on Baldur's Gate 3. I may just level up this SAM for the hell of it.

Similar, minus the roulettes. FL Pvp for a 1 - 1 1/2 hours, just because working towards the Seal Rock glam and mount stuff. Other than that, there's just nothing really.
EW desperately needed an exploratory zone. Content that gives you a reason to login, for an extended session, and pulls people together. Pvp isn't a social thing, you (hopefully!) aren't spending an hour in PVP chatting away with different people, across your various 10-15min matches. There's nothing now that really pulls together 10-20+ people into doing the same thing. V/C: either running alone or up to 4 people, but its not long lasting anyway; IS: done alone but its not like you need to spend too much time doing it anyway; EO: (if you can even get a run going), up to 4 people, otherwise solo; EW Relics: you don't need anyone else and can get them passively, don't even need to make any effort at all.
MMORPG or RPGMMO, whatever. Where is the MMO content, with EW? Where's it going to come from, with DT, with what they have announced so far?

[Zairava]

I’m at the point of having so little content to do and absolutely nothing to spend causality tomestones on I’m logging in to do whatever roulettes I feel like doing on the day then using the tomestones to stockpile the upgrade items

At this point I think I have enough for about 5 classes worth of relics that I’ll probably eventually give to classes I’ll never use

At least back when my main source of glowy weapons for off classes was anemos relics i at l ast had to put in the effort to basically clear out all of anemos to get enough crystals for one relic which would take around 3 hours or so, and it came with a side of assisting new people in eureka

More or less the same here. Like Chrys I've been doing Seal Rock for the glam, I need 50 more for the chestpiece as of yesterday. Seal Rock and...Danshig? I unironically find fun, I very much enjoy large-scale content but pvp didn't really click for me in ffxiv until they did the pvp job overhauls. (Now if only they could put cc resist in frontlines.)

I'll do roulettes when I'm feeling the drive but there isn't much more that I go and do. Might finish some eureka relics after the mogtome event ends.

[Jojoya]

Unfortunately I pay to get content, not pay to invent content in my head

If you wanna roleplay go play DND

You got approximately 160 hours of 6.0 MSQ and roughly another 20 hours of 6.1-6.5 MSQ (part yet to come).
You got 13 new dungeons and 7 new trials (final of each upcoming in 6.5).
You got Pandaemonium.
You got Myths of the Realm.
You got Sil'dih Subterrane and Mount Rokkon with 3 different difficulty modes each.
You got Dragonsong's Reprise Ultimate.
You got The Omega Protocol Ultimate.
You got Eureka Orthos.
You got Island Sanctuary.
You got 2 new world boss level FATEs (Chi and Daivadipa) in addition to all the other new FATEs.
You got new crafting and gathering recipes and leves.
You got Tataru's Grand Endeavor.
You got the Somehow Even Further Adventures of Hildribrand.
You got the Manderville weapons.
You got the Omega sidequest.
You got the Splendorous relic tools.
You got level cap on all jobs increased by 10 to 90 (Except BLU which increased to 80),
You got Crystalline Conflict.
You got a new Leap of Faith puzzle at the Gold Saucer.

I'm sure there are some other things I'm forgetting but the general point is you paid for new content and you got new content. This expansion is not lacking in new content compared to Shadowbringers. Most of those things can be done repeatedly.

What is missing is your interest in and engagement with that content. That is what needs to be addressed.

Where did it miss the mark?

We're a broken record at this point.

It is not the amount of content, it is the implementation of Island Sanctuary, the lack of meaningful incentives for criterion, DD not being a good source of exp for leveling, and even if by deliberate design, the relic being a glorified tome weapon.

We've been trying to point that out for a while but few of those who are unhappy seem to want to acknowledge that it's interest and engagement lacking, not the amount of content to do.

One thing you didn't mention that I think has had a big effect is the 2 minute meta. Beyond the general issue of job design (also a problem), the 2 minute meta has effectively removed some player agency and that makes things less satisfying even if that agency is sometimes more illusion than real.

If the 2 minute meta is back for Dawntrail, then we'll truly know the developers don't pay attention to player feedback.

It just seems like it's an excuse to trot out the "toxic casualism" bogeyman these forums have used for years at this point, and point to that as why you're specifically not having fun in this game. It's the toxic casuals who are preventing this game from being good, because they, idk what. Shield SE from seeing criticism? Stay subbed even when you're not having fun? IDK.

No one is shielding SE from feedback unless it's the trolls stirring things up into personal arguments instead of constructive discussion.

The opinions of casual players are just as valid as hardcore players. Both are paying a subscription for the game. SE needs to take both into consideration.

I've said this in the past. I think part of the problem is this is a transition period for the game. Yes, they are focused on the new player experience heavily because they're trying to make the game friendlier to new players and give them a new starting point other than Gridania/Limsa/Ul'dah. We were told during the 10 year roadmap LL that the 6.x series was going to be that transition and so things wouldn't be quite what we were used to.

The important thing now is to make certain SE knows what changes during the 6.x patch series have negatively affected player engagement so they can be corrected in Dawntrail. That means people need to list their feelings clearly and constructively. The personal bickering needs to end if the feedback is going to have a chance of being seen.

Doubt anyone will see this as it will get lost in this thread pretty fast but.
I use to complain a lot about the negativity in these forums. You know what that does? Creates discussions/arguments like in this thread.
If people want to be negative, just don't engage with them. The moment you engage you create the circling conversations we always see. And this applies to whatever of the two sides you stand on.

Being negative is fine when it is being constructive. Engage with that - questions can help reveal useful information.

But do avoid engaging with the negativity that has no purpose other than being negative.

[Zairava]

We've been trying to point that out for a while but few of those who are unhappy seem to want to acknowledge that it's interest and engagement lacking, not the amount of content to do.

One thing you didn't mention that I think has had a big effect is the 2 minute meta. Beyond the general issue of job design (also a problem), the 2 minute meta has effectively removed some player agency and that makes things less satisfying even if that agency is sometimes more illusion than real.

If the 2 minute meta is back for Dawntrail, then we'll truly know the developers don't pay attention to player feedback.

Ah hell, thanks for pointing that out. 2-minute meta is a cancer that needs to be eradicated.

I could go on an entire book long rant about the simplification of jobs and combat design but I don't feel like busting a blood vessel right now lol. Maybe I'll make a thread on that soon if I can get it well composed

[Stormpeaks]

.

You got approximately 160 hours of 6.0 MSQ and roughly another 20 hours of 6.1-6.5 MSQ (part yet to come)

160 hours of movie, great, that's not actual content that you can play but sure.

You got 13 new dungeons and 7 new trials (final of each upcoming in 6.5).

And yet in expert roulettes all you can do is the same 2 dungeons a million times, fun eh ? As for the raids, once you got your gear, that's it, one day every week for like 2-3 hrs for reclears and you're done.

You got Pandaemonium.

Same.

You got Sil'dih Subterrane and Mount Rokkon with 3 different difficulty modes each.

Basically a one and done once you're fully done with it.

You got Dragonsong's Reprise Ultimate.
You got The Omega Protocol Ultimate.

Thank god for a bit of difficulty in this game. 2 pieces of proper difficult content for the entire expansion, great.

You got Eureka Orthos.

Which is still not anywhere near Bozja in terms of repetition.

You got Island Sanctuary.

Spreadsheet simulator that you do in 10 minutes each week.

You got 2 new world boss level FATEs (Chi and Daivadipa) in addition to all the other new FATEs.

Did it on patch day, got both mounts.

You got new crafting and gathering recipes and leves.

Really ? Thank god there is some new crafting, this is normal in the cycle of an MMO with crafting.

You got Tataru's Grand Endeavor.
You got the Somehow Even Further Adventures of Hildribrand.
You got the Manderville weapons.

Completely mediocre content, especially Hildibrand, it was funny the first few times, it's well past its time now, it aint funny anymore.

You got the Splendorous relic tools.

Once again, this is nothing amazing to have a bit of extra side content for crafter, idk why you say this as if this is some kind of revolution in content.

You got level cap on all jobs increased by 10 to 90 (Except BLU which increased to 80),

No way, so like an MMORPG ?

You got Crystalline Conflict.

That gives no rewards once you have done the series, I'd know as I do all of them, I did all the series in 2 or 3 days and theres nothing left for me anymore.

You got a new Leap of Faith puzzle at the Gold Saucer.

If this is content, so is going to the aetheryte to teleport somewhere else.

[Boblawblah]

Being negative is fine when it is being constructive. Engage with that - question can help reveal useful information.

But do avoid engaging with the negatively that has no purpose other than being negative.

I'm not sure how you keep it up. You're probably one of two - three posters that actually tries to have some solutions to issues taking all sides into consideration and all you're met with is snarky responses.