MrHappy State of Endwalker w/ Zepla podcast

[ZephyrMenodora]

weather people like it or not it is a very critical part of the games marketing and SE will in fact pay attention if the popular community content creators are not singing the games praises

It's regrettable as it feels like any nobody can just ramble in front of a camera and if they are likeable enough they can influence a certain segment of the population...but I don't really think traditional "games journalism" and their reviews for influence were any better.

Just think for yourself is a pretty good rule of thumb.

[Jeeqbit]

It would be better if they posted their own thoughts

There is value in discussing content creator videos that bring up issues or ideas. The only time there isn't, is when the video has no valuable feedback in it (for example, a video of them eating or discussing random dramas that don't relate to the game at all).

So what is your constructive criticism? Hmmm?

They post it all the time, to be fair...

I saw a comment thread of people saying while they agree on post EW being lackluster theyll actually go against what she said just because they dont like her.

There are people who do that. I once met a passionate Xeno hater in a raid and they wanted to "not use a strategy" because Xeno made it. Sabotaging the raid because they don't like Xeno.

But it works both ways. On day 1 everyone will load up Xeno and MrHappy on their second monitor and copy their strats, even in a "blind" party.

Streamers are just players

I agree, but the reality is that their success makes them visible to Square Enix, who watch their videos. This makes them the most effect way to convey feedback to Square Enix. All their subscribers and Likes suggest a lot of players agree with what they say as well, otherwise they probably wouldn't be where they are.

For evidence of that look at how long issues like the alliance raid item level trick were unnoticed on these forums until MrHappy started reading them.

[Atelier-Bagur]

Also to the people keep saying that content creators are complaining because theres no content to generate money from FFXIV.

Need I remind them that FFXIV was never EVER a highly viewed twitch game for streaming. Really the only burst of activity is when new people stream their first time msq experiences and that only happens once to them. Other than that nobody really watches FFXIV for its endgame or pvp. Sure we had World First Ultimates but funny enough not many people try to stream it due to ahem....proof of 3rd party usage.

[VerdeLuck]

I agree, but the reality is that their success makes them visible to Square Enix, who watch their videos. This makes them the most effect way to convey feedback to Square Enix. All their subscribers and Likes suggest a lot of players agree with what they say as well, otherwise they probably wouldn't be where they are.

For evidence of that look at how long issues like the alliance raid item level trick were unnoticed on these forums until MrHappy started reading them.

That's fine but like I said, streamers have a pretty big bias. Which means a portion of the playerbase is just unheard pretty frequently. Streamers are always going to advocate for their style of gameplay first, which is hardcore raiding, long grinds, and systems that reward long hours played and lock you into logging in consistently.
That's a pretty annoying situation if your opinions and play style doesn't align 100% with a streamer, basically no one is going to hear any feedback. Considering the devs only really pay attention to the JP forums for general feedback, having to rely on an influencer to agree with you to have your issues potentially filtered up to SE sucks.

Honestly people complain that SE doesn't really care about the middle ground level of player who wants somewhat challenging content but doesn't want to go full hardcore with a static or discord, but why is that?
Look at the streamers, they're either hardcore raiders who just care about savage and ultimate, or they are super casual and just do MSQ then are done. There are very few streamers in that middle ground.
If SE only cares about streamer opinons they're going to basically get the feedback that they need both more balls to the wall hardcore raiding content, and then also more super casual content to do at a slow pace.

Which seems to be the main complaint here, they are moving towards the 2 extremes and leaving the middle bare.

[Xeronia]

That's fine but like I said, streamers have a pretty big bias. Which means a portion of the playerbase is just unheard pretty frequently. Streamers are always going to advocate for their style of gameplay first, which is hardcore raiding, long grinds, and systems that reward long hours played and lock you into logging in consistently.
That's a pretty annoying situation if your opinions and play style doesn't align 100% with a streamer, basically no one is going to hear any feedback. Considering the devs only really pay attention to the JP forums for general feedback, having to rely on an influencer to agree with you to have your issues potentially filtered up to SE sucks.

Honestly people complain that SE doesn't really care about the middle ground level of player who wants somewhat challenging content but doesn't want to go full hardcore with a static or discord, but why is that?
Look at the streamers, they're either hardcore raiders who just care about savage and ultimate, or they are super casual and just do MSQ then are done. There are very few streamers in that middle ground.
If SE only cares about streamer opinons they're going to basically get the feedback that they need both more balls to the wall hardcore raiding content, and then also more super casual content to do at a slow pace.

Which seems to be the main complaint here, they are moving towards the 2 extremes and leaving the middle bare.

With all due respect I did watch the whole video, Zepla's main complaints were Island Sanctuary really missed the mark in being a spreadsheet simulator, she expected more sim elements like actual consideration for what you have to feed the animals or more to do with minions then just setting them out to run around. Mr. Happy kept citing the relic and just lack of rewards for content as the issue for Endwalker. Sly was pretty neutral all throughout and did note the thriving community events if the game is lacking stuff for you.

Funny enough the most interesting part is they all picked the "worst expansion" and all had different answers. Zepla is obviously Endwalker but admits that she would agree with Mr.Happy's pick of Heavensward had she not been a new player at the time upon hearing his logic behind picking Heavensward of two terrible raid tiers, terrible relic steps, and Diadem was such a failure it had to be reworked again in a later expansion. Sly picked Stormblood as the worst with little reason given. They all came to a conclusion that Endwalker really sucks if you are a veteran player, especially one who did all content from past expansions you wanted in the ShB Covid delay era. It is a good expansion if you are newer however as all those old things still have some life to them and thus the relative lack of Endwalker's lasting content wouldn't matter.

[Jeeqbit]

That's fine but like I said, streamers have a pretty big bias. Which means a portion of the playerbase is just unheard pretty frequently. Streamers are always going to advocate for their style of gameplay first

That depends on the content creator, but I think many of them know their role as influencers and take being objective and seeing all sides seriously.

I've occasionally seen MrHappy slip into that "hardcore raiding" bias, but he really, really tries to consider all sides and he's really good at it, probably even the best.

Asmongold, despite his reputation, understands the importance of all sections of the playerbase - hardcore, midcore and casual and the associated content made for them.

Zepla did a good job of acknowledging all the different sections of the playerbase in her recent videos as well.

I could go on. I think they are usually pretty smart and understand that all the different sections of the playerbase are important to create a strong ecosystem, but I'm sure there are exceptions or at least they act like they are an exception for entertainment reasons.

which is hardcore raiding, long grinds, and systems that reward long hours played and lock you into logging in consistently.

That's one of the things MrHappy has clearly contended with. He does do everything on day 1 if he can, but I've seen times where he has had to reluctantly accept many players are not like that and don't rush through it 16 hours a day. It can be hard to see things from others' perspective, but I'm glad that he does.

[Troxbark]

No, there wasn't any nuance there. If anything you just tried to extend your absurd comment to even more people who don't act anything like your hyperbolic post.

Nuance is understanding that people can also be happy with the game and still think aspects can be improved.

Your post is just an attempt to insult others, and there no nuance whatsoever. Waiting on these imaginary people who post that the game can't improve in any way.

If you think that no one has posted something like that, then I'm not late for it so my comment still stands.

This is what happens when you're emotional and reply, the context goes completely over your head, lol