Communication from SqEx needs to change

[Altina_Orion]

I agree with the sentiment, but two steps are required to realizing this commendable goal, neither of which I see happening.

First, it requires players to acknowledge that different playstyles and commitment levels are legitimate. While there seems to be almost universal acceptance that those who enjoy high-level PvE are "good players" that are playing the game as intended, that courtesy does not appear to be extended to the rest of us, who are variously referred to as "braindead," "parasites" and worse, not to mention the resurrection of this mysterious Cure-I spamming healer in level 100 dungeons who nobody has actually ever seen.

Second -- and this may be where SE has really finished off FFXIV -- is the recent assertion in the LL that some content could not be made because of a lack of resources. It doesn't matter if that refers to money, personnel, or a director who actually has time to direct. The idea is now firmly placed in the minds of players that content is a zero-sum game, and if "they" get something, that means something has been taken away from "us." Such impressions are extremely difficult to eradicate, particularly when the evidence points to them being true.

It's this second point that I am convinced will reduce the player count below HW levels by the end of 2026.

The second point is rather concerning, but we should use it as a way to demand more from SE. We know FFXIV is their money maker. I know what they said, but just because they said it doesn't me we should roll over, show our bellies, and say "Oh, no budget? Well I guess we should be ok with SE removing content from X as long as Y gets content!"

I'm not a shareholder and I'm some C-suite executive, I don't care about their budget or resources or in-house problems. Fix your shit and feed us all.

[Mawlzy]

The second point is rather concerning, but we should use it as a way to demand more from SE. We know FFXIV is their money maker. I know what they said, but just because they said it doesn't me we should roll over, show our bellies, and say "Oh, no budget? Well I guess we should be ok with SE removing content from X as long as Y gets content!"

I'm not a shareholder and I'm some C-suite executive, I don't care about their budget or resources or in-house problems. Fix your shit and feed us all.

Sure, there are three possible responses to the "resources" claim in the LL.

1. Shrug.

2. Demand SE allocates more resources.

3. Unsubscribe.

My guess is 3 has a better chance of causing improvements than 2, but even if I'm wrong, at least I don't feel I'm being scammed.

[SkankyRoe]

Sure, there are three possible responses to the "resources" claim in the LL.

1. Shrug.

2. Demand SE allocates more resources.

3. Unsubscribe.

My guess is 3 has a better chance of causing improvements than 2, but even if I'm wrong, at least I don't feel I'm being scammed.

I hate to say it but if we go by Squeenix's track record, 3 has a high chance of causing the game to be officially killed. We the players are kinda stuck in a lose-lose situation where staying subscribed sends the message that things are fine, but unsubscribing sends the message that the game is a flop and needs to be done away with.

[Kandraxx]

I hate to say it but if we go by Squeenix's track record, 3 has a high chance of causing the game to be officially killed. We the players are kinda stuck in a lose-lose situation where staying subscribed sends the message that things are fine, but unsubscribing sends the message that the game is a flop and needs to be done away with.

You also have to wait and see how many people will hop over to the mobile version. Everybody knows that A LOT of players are here not for actual gameplay but just for house parties & chill with a fully customizable avatar so the mobile version is gonna be much better suited for them. Western YT reviewers who made their way onto the chinese servers are already showering the game with praise...

[SkankyRoe]

You also have to wait and see how many people will hop over to the mobile version. Everybody knows that A LOT of players are here not for actual gameplay but just for house parties & chill with a fully customizable avatar so the mobile version is gonna be much better suited for them. Western YT reviewers who made their way onto the chinese servers are already showering the game with praise...

I don't expect the number to significantly high. The "house parties & chill" crowd is probably the least likely to hop over to the mobile version, because they won't want to leave behind 5 expansions worth of customization and aesthetic options, and many of them also play on PC where they can use, ahem, special tools. We also don't know how much of the "better stuff" in the mobile version will have less-than-savoury corporate strings attached.

[Jeeqbit]

Sure, there are three possible responses to the "resources" claim in the LL.

1. Shrug.
2. Demand SE allocates more resources.
3. Unsubscribe.

They already said they are doing #2.

Then don't bring it up, anyone and I mean absolutely ANYONE can clear ANY content in this game, Ultimate, Savage and whatever out there, given the time is spending time on it, and that is a fact, there is no actual difficult content in this game at all, unless you are suffering from handicaps in real life.

This is true. The reason it's true is because many streamers are not actually very good at the game, especially if FFXIV isn't their main game. Yet, given enough time, they clear Ultimates. Time is the key for them - they get paid to play games, so they can spend 16 hours a day until, despite their lack of knowledge of the game, they learn the fight script well enough to get the clear.

this is about SE making casual content and bar it in, in a way so only the 'elite' think they can beat it

Sorta. It's about SE making it require more coordination and planning than 24+ randoms are going to bring. It's about SE giving a very limited time window to find 24 people, despite that it often took 30 minutes for Delubrum Reginae to pop in Shadowbringers. All of which forces discords to solve these problems in advance of the "time window".

in which they probably found the streamer/content creator dorks or something to fill in with and forget to actually taking the actual players in on the bandwagon.

Is still a myth that normal players don't clear these things. Pretty sure I've seen people in CWLS and my FC that have cleared. It's fair to say that a lot of people (20,000 per data center) find themselves able to join discord servers for this sort of content. If I compare this with the active level 100 population of each data center, it's about 25% for EU, 25% for NA, and oddly almost 40% for Aether (probably due to everyone using DC travel to Aether).

But there are many players that are afraid of discord despite that, don't understand the discord processes, or don't have the time or desire to deal with signing up and being available at a certain time, and for them there should be a raid that doesn't require that sort of thing. Most people were expecting a version that is easier to enter and complete casually.

[Mawlzy]

Sure, there are three possible responses to the "resources" claim in the LL.

1. Shrug.

2. Demand SE allocates more resources.

3. Unsubscribe.

My guess is 3 has a better chance of causing improvements than 2, but even if I'm wrong, at least I don't feel I'm being scammed.

They already said they are doing #2.

Yes, they implied that, and it would be a wonderful opportunity to "earn back the trust of the players." We will see.

But one issue is the bizarre approach they take to resource allocation.

Going back to at least company chocobos and Grand Companies, SE has acted as if resources are almost unlimited, by first developing complex systems, then completely abandoning them.

Island Sanctuary is the classic example. That was a huge chunk of content that must have soaked up resources. It annoyed many (I personally liked it), in part because it appeared to take resources away from other areas of the game (simplified relics, nothing Bozja-like).

So how do the devs take advantage of this massive resource investment and build on it?

They don't. Get the island to level 20, thanks for playing, you're done unless you want to set your weekly workshop to farm dyes. (The only purpose of which is to generate gil, which is useless because there is a massive overabundance of gil.)

Net result: those who liked the content are sad because it dies, and those who didn't can point to it being a colossal waste of time that took resources from content they like.

[PercibelTheren]

Going back to at least company chocobos and Grand Companies, SE has acted as if resources are almost unlimited, by first developing complex systems, then completely abandoning them.

I was really surprised when they didn't just turn the NPCs you get from Grand Companies into Trusts. Or integrate the two somehow. Instead, the older system was completely left to rot.

[Themarvin]

Is still a myth that normal players don't clear these things. Pretty sure I've seen people in CWLS and my FC that have cleared. It's fair to say that a lot of people (20,000 per data center) find themselves able to join discord servers for this sort of content. If I compare this with the active level 100 population of each data center, it's about 25% for EU, 25% for NA, and oddly almost 40% for Aether (probably due to everyone using DC travel to Aether).

But there are many players that are afraid of discord despite that, don't understand the discord processes, or don't have the time or desire to deal with signing up and being available at a certain time, and for them there should be a raid that doesn't require that sort of thing. Most people were expecting a version that is easier to enter and complete casually.

It is not a myth, if you take content like Forked Tower then the clear rate should be closer to 60-80% of the population going to that place alone due to it is not savage/ultimate and nor even Ex.

So you are still in a bubble on that part, what people was expecting was maybe stuff alike Castrum, the need of discord should not even be a thing for content like this, unless it is years old content that no one is doing anymore and need to be player revived for a clear.

It merely seem like you, yourself and possible others in the same bubble, is far off from reality of the actual playerbase.

[Jeeqbit]

It is not a myth

It is a myth because otherwise there would be 0 clears and SE confirmed otherwise.

if you take content like Forked Tower then the clear rate should be closer to 60-80% of the population going to that place alone due to it is not savage/ultimate and nor even Ex.

I agree that there should have been a normal version but there wasn't. A normal version would have been cleared by 100% of people that attempted it. Unlikely that 20-40% would fail it.

But again it's also wrong to say that a lot of regular people don't clear it through discords given each data center's server has such huge numbers of members usually exceeding 20,000. They wouldn't draw that many if the servers were useless since they are word of mouth.

So you are still in a bubble on that part

I'm not in a bubble. I think you just didn't understand what I meant.