Quitting ffxiv for good

[Jojoya]

This is actually not true though is it? Most of this games decisions have been driven by player feedback historically, maybe less so now.

We know that happened with 1.0 but 1.0 was a failed game. The only way to save it was to listen to what the players had to say.

Yes, I'll admit I expressed my thoughts badly there and so that comes across as unfair to the developers. It would have been more accurate to say they rarely choose to implement what's requested by player feedback unless player participation is below what they expect and they don't have any ideas they feel are better that will improve it.

But there's still the problem of whether SE's response is what the players were asking for in their feedback.

Players wanted gear rewards in Criterion. SE puts the weapon upgrade in Criterion Savage while nothing is added to Criterion.

Players want the relics weapons to be tied to something other than an exploration zone? SE makes them purchased through tomestones instead of giving them a unique process of acquisition that would feel like additional content.

Players want a lottery for housing instead of placard clicking. SE gives it to them, but not in the way players had visualized and tied to some additional changes that most players didn't want. Most players who left the original feedback would say they didn't get what they were asking for when the lottery was added.

Players not happy with Blue Mage design. This is one where I have to give the developers credit for trying to please players even while failing. The player base is not unified when it comes to what Blue Mage should be. It should be solo content! Group content! Casual content! Hardcore content! Trying to please those who were complaining inevitably made those who had been pleased upset. A good example of why developers frequently do their own thing instead of trying to make changes based on player feedback.

So how many times have players gotten exactly what they were asking for instead of SE choosing to respond in their own way? Not often.

I don't fault the developers for their choices, even when I may not personally like them. It is their game and their personal effort going into making the game.

But the last thing I want to do is leave an unhappy player with the idea that if they complain enough in the forums, the developers will change the game into what they want. The developers are going to continue to make the decisions about what they feel do or don't fit into the game, which are technological possible, and which are possible but not feasible from a time/cost/resource perspective.

Better to leave the feedback then move on if they're that unhappy with the state of the game. As long as they don't do something that will get them banned, they're always free to return to the game in the future when things look better to them. Just as the developers can always go back to read the feedback if the player base disappears one day.