Do We Remember That a Game Is Meant to Be Fun?

[Aidorouge]

I remember there was a time when my Steam backlog was growing because I started playing FF14, and now over the last year I've been knocking that backlog out because I barely play FF14, including quite possibly unsubbing in March which would mark the first time I WON'T have houses to drag me back to avoid losing them. Hell, this last maintenance I re-installed SWTOR for the first time in years, I just need to unbind and re-bind my security key because I changed phones recently.

I don't know what went wrong with FF14, or how much it got right in the first place when I really think about it... but I've played gacha games that made me feel like my time, and money, was better spent.

[Appleboops]

What, you don't enjoy doing the same craft jobs 500 times over for 8 different jobs just to get a shiny tool that's technically weaker than the one you can buy from the shop? (market I mean) O.o That's the definition of fun ya'know

[GraceHorizon]

I’ll say this: my favorite thing in FFXIV has always been duty roulettes. The game has a deep library of multiplayer content, and doing pickup games with random people keeps it fresh because my teammates always do things a little differently. But lately roulettes have been getting stale for me because there are fewer casual and midcore players, and I too often end up getting cranky hardcore folks who are trying to speedrun content for tomestones or crystal paste or whatever. So the fun is going out of the game for me too, and I’m indeed cutting back my play time.

[Amarande]

But lately roulettes have been getting stale for me because there are fewer casual and midcore players, and I too often end up getting cranky hardcore folks who are trying to speedrun content for tomestones or crystal paste or whatever. So the fun is going out of the game for me too, and I’m indeed cutting back my play time.

Yeah, right now the game is getting to kind of be in an odd "in between" state.

The core gameplay is kept steady for the base of longer time casual players but the difficulty balance seems to be increasingly built around pleasing the "cranky hardcore folks" with the result of seemingly everyone being at least a little dissatisfied instead ...

[PyurBlue]

I don't mind the repetitive aspect within an expansion, as to a large degree that is what gives an MMO its content

It is standard MMO formula but I'm not convinced that it has to be this way and FF14 takes repetition to an even higher degree by relying so heavily on scripting. Designing content with some variation in mind would help so much. SE has done it in the smallest of ways with variant dungeons, but then let them fall to the side. It's a mindset more than anything.

[Striker44]

Who on the development team believes it’s fun to do the same Society Quests every single day?
Who thought it was engaging to constantly send players across the entire map just to collect objects?
Who considers it enjoyable to run the same dungeons over and over again just to get proper gear?
I’ve been running essentially the same dungeons for ten years.
And who thinks it’s fun that, as a SCH, my main gameplay loop is pressing Broil repeatedly?

I hate to break it to you, but for better or worse, every single one of these is simply a core aspect of the MMO genre. I'll use WoW as an example since it's the biggest and most famous example. Every expansion features new groups that have daily quests for rep grinds (I remember doing that in BC 20 years ago). Quests that sent people around the world used to be praised, and there was much criticism when WoW revamped the zones and removed those epic questlines in favor of containing each zone within itself. Gearing up through endless dungeons is the entire philosophy behind M+.

And you can substitute pretty much any other game you want in there. SWTOR? Same deal. GW2? Yep. I'm most familiar with those two, so I'll say them with confidence. We may have differing opinions on whether each of us as individuals finds these kinds of things fun or not, but you seem to be acting as if this is somehow a new direction FFXIV has been taking when it's the direction the entire MMO genre has been taking for literally decades. If anything, FFXIV has adapted more than others by allowing today's modern MMO gamers (who are largely adults with families, full-time careers, and limited playtime) to still progress in gearing without needing to dungeon grind. Rep grinds only provide mounts and cosmetics, whereas in some games it's an important way to gear and you fall behind if you don't. Etc.

[TeresaFortell]

I've replied with a similar response in another thread, but the main issue, in my opinion, is the failure of Occult Crescent. OC was meant to provide the fun and to compensate for the monotonous tasks mentioned. However, it was a complete downgrade from previous field operations, and Forked Tower was simply not something that the average playerbase would want to do, let alone do it repeatedly. Since this group of players, which constitutes the vast majority of players, would typically not do savage, there is no content for them to actually do. Thus, OC is the main culprit.

[FudoMyoo]

Still having fun at Frontline Roulette.

[Kishin12345]

It is so ironic that these types of threads always get started by former smn mains. I get it, you got robbed of your favorite job without a real replacement, but if you dont have fun in the game then you should just take a break or move on. For me personally raiding is the most fun it has ever been and i can only recommend it to everyone who is struggling to have fun in the game these days to try out the savage raids!

[MsMisato]

Fun? are you sure