If you've 'run out of stuff to do' in a game as big as 14, the answer isn't 'more 14'

[ForteNightshade]

The point about the graphics overhaul makes me think back to a question asked more than once on these forums over the years. People wanted graphical updates or QoL and were asked if they would be content if the game didn't get as much new content while that was being worked on. I think we have our answer.

Not quite. If Yoshida announced tomorrow they could completely overhaul the graphics to make the game look like Black Desert or that we could have a much more robust character creator but it would cost us a patch of content, you'd probably see much less of a vitriolic response. Endwalker spent a significant amount of time overhauling content the vast majority of us will never engage with. Which meant we possibly lost content without any direct benefit. And I say possibly because we don't actually know whether the whole Trust system and dungeon overhaul truly impacted EW's development. After all, would Island Sanctuary suddenly not be a sweatshop simulator if those aforementioned overhauls didn't happen?

Not to mention, QoL features shouldn't impact content longevity. It isn't exactly hard to toss in some meaningful rewards so Criterion isn't dead on arrival.