Quote Originally Posted by Auro_Seldaris View Post
Good lord. First of all, this is more than a stumble, this is a gradual decay that's been going on slowly for years. Second of all... You act like she's an ex-girlfriend that broke your heart. She's just a talking head on a screen, why did you put so much of yourself into her? Also, you must not have valued her that much, because you started to hate her the picosecond she disagreed with you.

Unironically, you sound like a cultist. This is how cultists treat people that betray the cult. This is how Scientologists treat people who they feel betray the church. They're "heatbreaking and evil" and they're suddenly the worst person in the world for the sin of disagreeing or going against the gospel of the cult.
Gradual decay? Calling me a cultist for advocating constructive criticism? I’m not here to defend the game blindly. I care about it and want to focus on fixing things, not tearing them down.

The tone has become too negative, and this thread proves it. Positive change requires some optimism. Balanced neutral pragmatic and diagnostic non-emotionally charged verbiage to hyper-focus grievances in a logical format.

Zepla’s influence matters. She helped grow the community, but now her words are driving people away. That’s why I push back. We should be building up, not tearing down.

If she still values the game, her approach should inspire hope, not foster hopelessness. As a public figure, there’s responsibility for what she says and how it affects the community.

Your view seems to be that the game is doomed. I’m pushing back against that. The devs have the lion's share of the blame, but if we, as a community, can’t encourage hope, we’re also killing the game.

Words have power. We need to wield them carefully, especially those with influence.

Let’s lower the temperature. Critique without demoralization. There's nothing disagreeable with that approach.
Acknowledging overstepping and where things can go too far is just as important as the criticism itself.
If we desire the success of the game surely we can do it without driving our own people away.

If you want to snap somebody out of being a FF14 player it's not speaking to Wuk Lamat that'll do it - A Zepla video or your own words just might.
Eventually, FF14 will adapt and change, just like WoW has. Let’s ensure we don’t create an apathetic community like WoW’s, but instead, inspire people to return and enjoy the game.
What the game has to offer is still thousands of hours of enjoyment for newer players, we offer the best free trial experience of the major MMOs. I want to keep those players here.
Be critical, but let’s keep it constructive—less doom, more hope. (I'm saying this hoping this breaks through - Optimism! I esuna your doom!)