These Relics Aren't Relicing

[Eraden]

Here's the thing that I don't understand about this argument...

Let's say that in the past, FFXIV developed a reputation for having a major FOMO environment, where there was this feeling that a player was obligated to log in every day and grind daily in order to keep up with the game's increasing demand for better gear and higher stats, even on the casual level. In other words, if you took a break, your gear would fall so behind that when you returned, you'd need to spend a lot of time simply grinding and farming materials to update your gear enough to continue new story segments or participate in new content. Then, EW comes along and changes that so that players can now comfortably take breaks without putting themselves in a situation where grind will be a requirement to jump back into the game later. That is an environment in which this argument makes sense to me.

But that is not the story of FFXIV. This game has always been an MMO that allowed you to play other games, take a break, or just casually log in to hang out with your friends without putting you in a situation in which getting back into the game later becomes a chore. And yet, at the same time, it offered unimportant, optional rewards that players who were up-to-date on the game's content could grind out if they wanted to, giving them something they could sink time into when they want to play the game.

So what sounds like the better environment for the most amount of people, an MMO that does not pressure you to log in every day, but offers objectives you can grind out if you would like--objectives that do not gate players behind engaging with new content or progressing the story? Or an MMO that does not pressure you to log in every day, but also does not offer any sort of grind for players who like grind, and anyone who has gotten their account current must wait until the next update in order for them to have new content to play?

Mao comments were nots directed at those whats want grinds. Mao comments were directed at those whats complainings about Yoshi saying to take breaks and play other games. As for grindings, Mao has no problem with thems as long as thems nots borings. As per Mao earlier comment, Mao wantings QUALITY content. Example of quality grindings would be Skyscale questline in GW2.

[ty_taurus]

Mao comments were nots directed at those whats want grinds. Mao comments were directed at those whats complainings about Yoshi saying to take breaks and play other games. As for grindings, Mao has no problem with thems as long as thems nots borings. As per Mao earlier comment, Mao wantings QUALITY content. Example of quality grindings would be Skyscale questline in GW2.

But I think that is a part of the concern. Before EW, no one had an issue with him encouraging players to take breaks and to not force themselves to log in if they don't want to. Because back then, it was all about what you wanted to do. Do you want to play FFXIV? Awesome! If you have backlogged content to complete, then you can work on that. If you're caught up with the game's content, then there will be rewards you can grind for. And that's something some players want to have. But once that aspect was taken away from EW, well now "Play other games" feels more like "Stop playing this game." whether you want to or not. It feels like you're being forced out.

It's a wonderful thing that FFXIV has always been designed to try and avoid FOMO, and to let players play the game at their leisure, but since it is a game dependent on getting people to log in, not providing those extra rewards to grind for becomes antithetical to financing the game. And for players who feel obligated to log in to keep their house, it can feel like they aren't getting their money's worth in their subscription fees because there isn't any new repeatable content for them to play. Which isn't to say that there's no content, because there is, but there's a difference between backlog content, and new goals to aim for.