Honestly, What's the verdict for you?

[Vikor]

I came back to play OC after ubsubbing since 7.0 ending, I logged in and made it through the unlock quest, only to immediately not care about playing. It has nothing to do with difficulty or available time to play.

The "magic" for a lack of better terms just feels gone. I am probably paranoid here, but the current state of things and decisions just have that vibe that WoW did as we crept into WoD, where Blizzard felt they were on top of the world and could just go on content generation autopilot, not paying attention to what they were producing or making sure it had that "spark" that made it a Blizzard game.

I sat by and paid a WoW sub as that game spiraled to the ground, and I just can't let myself do that again. I hope 8.0 is stellar, I want a reason to come back, but current decisions just make me feel like we've crossed a threshold that is going to take a very long time to course correct.

[Mawlzy]

I came back to play OC after ubsubbing since 7.0 ending, I logged in and made it through the unlock quest, only to immediately not care about playing. It has nothing to do with difficulty or available time to play.

The "magic" for a lack of better terms just feels gone. I am probably paranoid here, but the current state of things and decisions just have that vibe that WoW did as we crept into WoD, where Blizzard felt they were on top of the world and could just go on content generation autopilot, not paying attention to what they were producing or making sure it had that "spark" that made it a Blizzard game.

I sat by and paid a WoW sub as that game spiraled to the ground, and I just can't let myself do that again. I hope 8.0 is stellar, I want a reason to come back, but current decisions just make me feel like we've crossed a threshold that is going to take a very long time to course correct.

I suspect part of it is SE is stuck in the mindset that all they have to do is throw in FF cross-references and everyone will get teary-eyed and clap.

This overlooks the COVID/WOW influx that was dominated by people who have never played other FF games.

I think it's possible SE is fine with "shaking off the fleas," and allowing the playerbase to drop back to FF fans, who they assume will put up with anything provided references from other games are dropped in on a suitable cadence.

[Daralii]

I suspect part of it is SE is stuck in the mindset that all they have to do is throw in FF cross-references and everyone will get teary-eyed and clap.

This overlooks the COVID/WOW influx that was dominated by people who have never played other FF games.

I think it's possible SE is fine with "shaking off the fleas," and allowing the playerbase to drop back to FF fans, who they assume will put up with anything provided references from other games are dropped in on a suitable cadence.

They should actually try with the references then. DT's numerous IX references feel like they were mechanically and soullessly thrown in by people that didn't care and just skimmed an overview on a wiki, and I dislike the expansion more because of it.

[Carin-Eri]

They should actually try with the references then. DT's numerous IX references feel like they were mechanically and soullessly thrown in by people that didn't care and just skimmed an overview on a wiki, and I dislike the expansion more because of it.

I am, personally, curious as to why there are cases where the reference is there visually, but isn't supported by the dialogue/story. Zelenia for example is - for all intents and purposes - Beatrix, but for reasons that are not clear they avoided naming her as such.

[Jeeqbit]

I am, personally, curious as to why there are cases where the reference is there visually, but isn't supported by the dialogue/story. Zelenia for example is - for all intents and purposes - Beatrix, but for reasons that are not clear they avoided naming her as such.

It is but although they ripped large amounts of the lore wholesale, it is technically a different game and they are just taking inspiration from it. They probably don't want to hurt the lore of the original characters, so instead you can interpret these to be the "next generation" that came after the ones in FF9 if you want, but somehow having similar attributes and personalities.

There is also a standout character that seems very different to Garnet - Spheen, so that might be why.

[TaleraRistain]

I am, personally, curious as to why there are cases where the reference is there visually, but isn't supported by the dialogue/story. Zelenia for example is - for all intents and purposes - Beatrix, but for reasons that are not clear they avoided naming her as such.

It was a bit odd with Steiner and Beatrix they used Otis and Zelenia when they had other obvious references like Zander and Ambrose for Zidane and Amarant that used the same first initial. Garnet makes a bit of sense since Sphene is fulfilling both the gemstone name and the first initial of her real name.