Honestly, What's the verdict for you?

[CCheshire]

It's been over a decade since I joined ARR, and I used to take way more breaks b/t major patches instead of a constant sub for now in DT.

I still find the game fun esp if I can do a lot of small and large goals over time, from basic stuff like capping tomes/n-raid tokens, and like collecting old EW Ex mounts, I have 2 so far after I finished the gwiber farm a few days ago. Also collected the 2 DT wings but I'm waiting for the drop rate boost for Ex3 eventually to show up.

I did visit OC for 8 days, and I haven't gone back since I'm not into FT until they release North Horn, then I'll return to check it out. If I don't feel interested in MSQ, I can still do new trials and dungeons, even if we only get 1x now compared to back then. If you don't like DD then I can still be entertained by new rewards along with new features in housing, like trying to upgrade to an M house.

FWIW: FFXIV doesn't have to be your forever game if you're bored of the same content each year. The main issues I can think of are that you can't control if your FC will be dead or if friends quit because people will always be coming and going in MMO due to IRL factors. In the end you can keep in touch via Discord or maybe not.

[Gwenkatsu]

I don't get why.

Which is perfectly fine. I for one will never understand why anyone would want to interact with the harder content in this game, seeing how even normal MSQ trials are a convoluted, overdesigned, unfun mess.

To be fair, they said what their inspiration was (AI), and well, clearly Cyberpunk and westerns. It's just an obnoxious and overbearing mix, with the shift in theme so sudden and drastic that it's hard to appreciate.

I sounds like they did not only throw the plate with spaghetti at the wall, but the entire buffet. This might explain the strange mixture of sushi, hamburgers, chocolate-flavoured donuts, and BBQ sauce they served as DT

[Kaurhz]

Quantity is not the issue I have, it's really just the quality of it, and how much longevity there is behind it, and/or the required investment.

Like, yeah, quantity wise we have as much content as we've ever had but the amount of time and investment you spend on that content just ain't the same...

Want multiple relics in SB? Well enjoy doing Anemos-Hydatos multiple times
Want multiple relics in DT? Well enjoy your 12-20hr grind on Demiatmas, and then you can have every other relic for merely doing your daily roulette.

Wanted to craft high-end recipes in HW? Well the abilities have this depth so enjoy learning crafting, and if you want the real good stuff, go engage with Grand Company and Desynthesis.
Want to craft high-end recipes in DT? Well enjoy farming your scrips and doing your folklore node for 10-15 seconds every 5 minutes.

[Valence]

Innovation doesnt work with the current FFXIV Community. I mean take a look at the Phantom Jobs its something new and people already complaining like shit, you know how new things in the world are innovated? with trial & error, experiements and fails but the FFXIV Community doesnt even give Square the Room for Fails and Experiments because the moment something is only 1% off like 99% is perfect 1% is bad, i guarantee you the people here will focus on the single 1% not the 99% which is good

Counterpoint: Crystalline Conflict was well received and works. Casual pops all the time. It was a new thing with a full new mode, and everyone of the 19 jobs at the time were reworked from scratch as well.
It's not a matter of reactionary communities, it's a matter of what's being delivered and when they actually put some effort into something truly new and creative. Phantom jobs aren't new nor creative, they're just a glorified role action system you can level up.

[CaptainLagbeard]

Quantity of the content's been changing... We haven't gotten new Variant Dungeons yet, and I don't know if we will, but I suppose there's been more content added with expansions, aside from dungeons...

But quality has been going down, and they also keep doubling down on things causing issues. Healers haven't gotten an update in years, and their job just keeps getting off-loaded onto tanks.

At least in Occult, with some of the Phantom Jobs, healers feel like a real role again.


But overall for DT, story was trash, it got somewhat better with 7.2 but remains to be seen how long that lasts... Arcadion's story is actually ok, except for the Arcadion's president making no sense.

[Raikai]

I mean lets be real for a Second, the Content really didnt change much, maybe its on your side because you played that game quit long and see now how it really is.

Lets break it down a bit.

Heavensward :
3 Normal Raidtiers + Savage Raidtiers
Diadem
7 Ex Trials
3 Alli Raids
a few Dungeons
3 Beasttribes

Stormblood :
3 Normal Raidtiers + Savage Raidtiers
Doman Restoration
7 Ex Trials
3 Alli Raids
a few Dungeons
HoH
Ultimate
3 Beasttribes
Eureka + BA

ShB:
3 Normal Raidtiers + Savage Raidtiers
7 Ex Trials
3 Alli Raids
Bozja (Which incluces 2 Large Operation and 1 48 Raid + the Savage Version of it)
a few Dungeons
Ultimate
3 Beasttribes

EW:
3 Normal Raidtiers + Savage Raidtiers
7 Ex Trials
3 Alli Raids
a few Dungeons
Eureka Ortho
Ultimate
3 Beasttribes
Criterion
Island Sanctuary

DT: Currently at it


you see its kinda always similiar with the difference in DT which adds now everything, so its really just maybe a issue on your side if you play the same game many many years it just starts to get boring and bland escpecially if you dont do all the content out there

but in the end its just a game and i dont wanna sound rude but your house, your fc etc thats just some ingame shit, sooner or later if the servers shut down in the future it will happen anyway i wouldnt bother with it if you are really unlucky right now

You're right - if you play the same game for many years, and a game that sticks to the same on-rails formula for all of those years, of course you'll hit a personal break point.

But then I wonder if they are just OK with veterans quitting because at some point the same-same-same formula gets the best of them.

[CamuiKushi]

The biggest thing keeping me subbed to the game is that it's somewhere to exist in a virtual space with friends. I'm not subbed because of Dawntrail, I'm still subbed in spite of it. Yeah, I can chat with my online-only friends on Discord. We can VC and watch stuff together etc. But being able to occupy a virtual space with them feels more fulfilling. That and I like playing dress-up-dolls with my many alts lmao
But yeah, Dawntrail itself? It's... fine? Not the worst, but I'm not frothing at the mouth in anticipation of the next patch like I was during ShB or EW.

[Infindox]

My issue lately is the way the content is.
We will go for a stretch of time with barely anything, then they will plop something down we all have hope for being something we can sink our teeth into... Then it disappoints everyone.
Chaotic was a good idea, but they made it far too annoying for the average player, and it became more PF fodder, and then content you need to find people on Discord for.
Occult Crescent is the new exploration zone! Except you can be pretty much be done with everything within a week or two, the things that take longer aren't super rewarding, the atma grind becomes tomes again, and Forked Tower boggles my mind that they thought it was a good idea to begin with (just look at any of the post on here).
While I did spend quite a bit of time in Cosmic Exploration so far, and I like the content, I understand why people will probably ignore it.
Then in between we just get society quests with worse writing then past expansions, whatever the hell that ending to the job quests was (like seriously, what was that???) and some other random stuff that lasts no more then a hour or two to do (if that).

[DynnDiablos]

That's fair, but FFXIV right now has everything it has always had: regular Beast Tribes, Custom Deliveries, Normal Raids, Savage Raids, Trials, Extreme trials, MSQ, Dungeons, Ultimates

Plus the return of Field Operation, Exploration Content

Plus more recent additions to the content cycle such as Variant/Criterion, Chaotic

This has not changed since Heavensward other than things having been added to the content cycle as mentioned above. So either the game has never had anything for you to do, or it is you that changed.
You're not alone since clearly most people who post on these forums express similar sentiments and experiences.

But when I gauge sentiment in the game itself people are largely positive and defend the game, whether in OC or in High-End pugs when I have chill chats about the game in party chat. Although not everyone is happy with the game in NN or FC chat, most people are happy with the game in NN or FC chat.

Of course, you mentioned most of your FC aren't even playing, so it's possible people in the game are positive because, well, the ones that aren't positive stopped playing much.

If there's one piece of advice I can give though: every MMO I've played has had positive aspects and negative aspects. You can focus on what you like or what you dislike; the amount of effort is the same, but one of those things makes you happy.

Moreover, two people can view the same thing in a completely different way depending purely on their mood and how depressed they are generally. Take a glass that is filled half way with water. Is the glass half-full (optimist), or is it half-empty (pessimist)? Often whether people are happy with the game comes down to just whether they are predisposed to view things positively or negatively in general.

But ultimately, if you can't find thing(s) to enjoy, or a way to think of it positively no matter what you do, then maybe the game just isn't for you anymore. No point playing something if there isn't even a small slither of enjoyment, happiness or excitement that you can find, or potentially find, in it.

A lot of people say they want everything to be different and not "a different coat of paint", but personally, I'm content with that and the consistency.

The problem is the writing has taken a total nosedive. DT is so juvenile and horribly written compared to the previous expansions. There is nothing keeping intrigued or entertained. In fact, I don't give a f--k what happens to anyone at this point.

[Jeeqbit]

We haven't gotten new Variant Dungeons yet, and I don't know if we will

I believe that all 3 are planned like before. But they are definitely planned.