I find it very interesting I see this thread after running into another forum's thread (mmorpg.com) that discussed how "MMOs could and should be made for everyone". Which garnered a very mixed batch of replies, the majority chiming in: "That's just impossible because you can't please everyone." A lot of the users even mentioned that we would have a healthier MMO space if more games would cater to niches, because games would suddenly have a tighter developer focus which could potentially lead to more innovation.


As for FF14, the game is definitely stuck in this "everyman's game" mentality. The idea of creating a game for everyone isn't a bad idea at all. And so far, FF14 has been doing a decent job trying to keep that balance in tact. Other than the franchise it's a part of, that aspect could be the very reason why it has the playerbase it does. However we end up with threads this and others complaining that one side is getting too much favoritism (in this case, the game isn't challenging enough/doesn't reward players who have the time to dedicate to getting to max level in 2 days).

Every MMO has the crowd that will, no matter the obstacles, zerg through the leveling process within the first week of release. That's just a fact now, and telling people who do this they shouldn't isn't going to change that. Doesn't help that Alexander has a set scheduled release and people wanting to play it wants to be correctly geared so they can charge right on in and get their hands dirty. Problem for that crowd right now is a wait...which given knowledge of the MMO playerscape, there shouldn't be that much of a wait. Yoshi-P himself even said in interviews that he encouraged hardcore players to play this way. But that doesn't do any good if they don't have a proper reward or some kind of content to play while they wait for this expansions raids.

So in short, while I agree with everyone else that OP seems pretty set that they just don't like this game, they're not entirely in the wrong either. There should have been an end-game "mini raid" or something for the hardcore players to do that could prelude the oncoming of Alexander. Could even be story events and whatnot. Stuff that drops comparable gear to law tomes if you don't want to grind for said tomes. However the developers didn't have that (mainly because I feel they bit off more than they could chew. It sounds like developing three new jobs at once on top of creating an entire new realm from scratch really took its toll on the team) so now hardcore players are sitting on their hands. Which isn't good for any MMO, regardless of how casual it is.

Honestly OP, from what I've read so far in this thread you should probably Unsub and watch for the upcoming patches. I get the feeling that if there's going to be any "drastic" changes made it will be through those now that the dev team has some room to breathe. Use what you then to make your choice.