Quote Originally Posted by Mawlzy View Post
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.