Miss the good old days

[NegativeS]

But I don't know if we could ever go back, because we've reached a point where nothing short of a war or revolution will purge this malaise.

How compelling.

Have you ever considered that maybe you're just getting bored of the game? Or maybe you're just getting old?

[YumieYumiki]

Even if you avoid all the politics and current events in FF14, you'd surely feel its oppressive force, suffusing the game culture through every nook and cranny.

The current oppressive political climate is caused by the resurgence of fascism, notably in the USA. Where are you feeling that in Dawntrail?

[Reimmi]

"VA drama" I think you mean a targeted transphobic and racist hate campaign, actually!

That's more than a bit hyperbolic
I didn't even know who the VA was and that she was trans til it got brought up by people trying to defend her

Also, i think you're proving the op's point by bringing that up lol

[applemints]

That's more than a bit hyperbolic
I didn't even know who the VA was and that she was trans til it got brought up by people trying to defend her

Also, i think you're proving the op's point by bringing that up lol

no, that is explicitly pretty much what it is. bring up wuk lamat in any major city hub and it becomes a cesspool of transphobia.

[Selsix]

That's more than a bit hyperbolic
I didn't even know who the VA was and that she was trans til it got brought up by people trying to defend her

Also, i think you're proving the op's point by bringing that up lol

Hard agree. I personally think you're allowed to criticize the VA choice, but the second you do all the transphobia stuff gets brought up. I had no idea who the VA even was until I finished DT and already formed my negative opinion.

[freshavocado]

It sounds like u grew out of the game and that's totally okay. There's so many other games you can play with friends youve made in xiv..
I cant really relate because im still nee to the game so i feel that newfound excitement you used to have.. i made new friends through eureka and am so excited for the new glam updates that i think will breathe a new life into the game. I really loved the latest expacs n i think its just ppl r just too old for that kind of whimsy when they say they hated it

[DiaDeem]

OP: Why don't I feel anymore like I'm 20 and it's 2015?

Because you're 30 and it's 2025.

Unless you make peace with the passage of time, it's only gonna get worse the older you get.
Nostalgia isn't a bad thing, but melancholy is a symptom of chronic depression and shouldn't go untreated.

[bic12]

This is exactly what I mean tbh.

I know I was the one bringing it up but man, look at how everything becomes culture war BS now, including this thread (which is tame to be fair, but still, it's a totally different vibe from 2015).

And it used to be funny to me because I thought surely no one IRL cares about this? But no, people do, and now people in our highest levels of government are literally shitposting like they're on 4chan.

OP: Why don't I feel anymore like I'm 20 and it's 2015?

Because you're 30 and it's 2025.

Unless you make peace with the passage of time, it's only gonna get worse the older you get.
Nostalgia isn't a bad thing, but melancholy is a symptom of chronic depression and shouldn't go untreated.

And nah, I really don't think it's just me. I went down memory lane and looked at social media from the early 2010s. It was so pure. The Internet unironically liked wholesome, "cringe" advice animals memes. People were sharing xkcd nerdy jokes. There was frankly barely any politics on the Internet. It was kinda relegated in a corner - traditional mainstream media during primetime hours.

Look at this game now. And look at the Internet. You can't be sincere anymore without being called cringe. If I said I would love to design a flying car, people will come at me Twitter-style, talking about how that will be something only the rich could fly in, or whether I'm going to make it in America to resist the globalists or whatever. Let's be for real right now. Can you imagine the VA drama happening during Heavensward?

I don't think it's depression man, I'm very happy with my own life. But looking at this game's community is upsetting. Look at all the bickering between healers and non-healers at the start of this expansion. So much ridicule, dehumanization, and a complete refusal to even lend just the tiniest bit of empathy towards healers upset at their role. It reminded me of what's going on in America.

I feel like the FF14 community and our society now feel like 4chan, all the clapback, the dismissal, the irony, the insincerity... 4chan honestly won, because both left and right now co-opted its toxic style, substance notwithstanding. There used to be a time where you could share a stupid Doge meme on the Internet and everyone would reply with silly jokes. Can you imagine that happening anywhere in 2025.

[CCheshire]

The current oppressive political climate is caused by the resurgence of fascism, notably in the USA. Where are you feeling that in Dawntrail?

tbh titanman and his alts don't feel anything other than the compulsive urge to create ragebaiting and doomer post topics for general discussion every other week.

[Alicie]

I was talking to a friend today and was asked what I played for fun. Told him I used to play FF14, it was a big part of my young adult life. I bantered with people, chatted in Idyllshire, "ragebaited" before that was in the common lexicon, had a blast clearing the early Ultimates, screamed when I cleared...

What went wrong? I always thought it was this game. To be sure, this game has been going downhill in many respects. But I don't know if it's that anymore. I think we're just living in an age of malaise, especially in the United States.

I figured, when you look at how completely nonsensical the Endwalker/Dawntrail story was, that's partly because we can't imagine that kind of society in real life anymore. Really, people just giving up their centuries of hatred because you offered them a steamed bun? That's ridiculous. It wasn't just because part of FF14's writing went downhill. I think it's also because this game is now situated in a very different culture and climate.

And the Heavensward community I remember will never come back anymore, because it was a slice of Internet culture that will never come back. It's not that people grew up, it's that the Internet writ large is no longer a somewhat insulated pocket of culture. Even if you avoid all the politics and current events in FF14, you'd surely feel its oppressive force, suffusing the game culture through every nook and cranny.

I mean, can you imagine anything like the VA drama happening during HW? I certainly can't.

But I don't know if we could ever go back, because we've reached a point where nothing short of a war or revolution will purge this malaise. You have to have an optimistic society and culture for people to feel good about playing average or "OK" games. I'm not sure Americans will ever see that in this century.

I'm sorry but if we're talking about nonsense and comparing things to the real world, the world would be just doomed when we would reach Titan, cause nobody spends ages finding some rotten cheese, old wine and yapping with weird strangers to "save the world" when you're being virtually the only one who can do so.