Expansion is only temporarily enjoyable. Fails to fix all main flaws.

[IStolzI]

character builds in any game are an illusion, you can pretend all you want you can be different but you can't if you don't go the good build you are nothing but dead weight to your team.

not true at all. Considering how easy 90% of the content in this game is, it wouldn't even matter. Most players don't even do the hardest content before its nerfed.

Sure you might make a build that is flat out stupid, but in a game with thousands of people to play with if you get pressured into doing something a certain way so that people aren't mean to you well, grow a spine.

I love the concept of MMOs, but ever since WoW mainstreamed them design is just about getting as many subs as possible. That usually means leaving out the parts of the game that make people mean to each other (player choice, player competition, difficulty). Which is funny because those are like... the very essence of a "game"

[Malevicton]

Personally if I feel that itch for character builds and customization I just play a single-player rpg.

I feel awkward intentionally playing something sub-optimal if I'm doing group content.

Those are just my thoughts, but I don't think more character builds are necessarily a good or bad thing for MMOs. It's certainly a less customized-build-friendly platform than other genres, though.

[IStolzI]

Also, I agree with most things OP said. The title alone is truth. I played this game till final coil and after the 3rd time everything I worked for was immediately trashed for 2 new dungeons and a new raid with new "HIGH I LEVEL!" gear, I quit.

I started again with heavensward because the parts of the game that are still fun, exploring new areas, seeing new jobs, leveling to 60, should be fun for a little. I guess it's worth $50. But as soon as I'm up to date and all that, it's only a matter of time that SE says "all that you worked for? trash! try this new dungeon. And we're giving echo and all that stuff you got to new players"

The greatest thing about FFXI (I love bringing it up bc the people who love this game hate it) is that most content stayed relevant for an extremely long time.

[Cirgellon]

Also, I agree with most things OP said. The title alone is truth. I played this game till final coil and after the 3rd time everything I worked for was immediately trashed for 2 new dungeons and a new raid with new "HIGH I LEVEL!" gear, I quit.

If you consider it work, you're doing it wrong... If it isn't fun for you, why are you worried about it? This is a video game. Do the stuff that you find fun. You don't need the best gear for anything other than the very hardest content. You won't need it for that content within months as something else gets released. They make it very easy to get all but the very best gear. Gearing is half the fun for most people. If you just geared up once and then ever got to progress again for the q0 years you play, this game wouldn't be nearly as successful as it is. That continual climb for the best gear is exactly what keeps many playing. This part of the game isn't going to change.

[silverhope]

Also, I agree with most things OP said. The title alone is truth. I played this game till final coil and after the 3rd time everything I worked for was immediately trashed for 2 new dungeons and a new raid with new "HIGH I LEVEL!" gear, I quit.

this is every MMO beside ffxi which even some lvl 20 gear was good for lvl 75 content. Wow,rift,wildstar,swotor lot and lots i cant remember. Its just the way it is and it will not go abck to the ff11 days. So maybe your just over the whole MMO thing and its not the games fault but your expectations of what YOU want outta a game.

[Kallera]

I started again with heavensward because the parts of the game that are still fun, exploring new areas, seeing new jobs, leveling to 60, should be fun for a little. I guess it's worth $50. But as soon as I'm up to date and all that, it's only a matter of time that SE says "all that you worked for? trash! try this new dungeon. And we're giving echo and all that stuff you got to new players.

If I had not cleared final coil, or have no notification of nm raids on the horizon, I probably would have agreed(I don't now). Thing was the wasn't after gear so much as closure of story. All the same, there were times I wished I could stop. That choice didn't leave though, in fact I took it several times.

But those on the cutting edge are not punished when new content comes out. In fact they are in the best position to participate and clear new content, that is no punishment. At the same time, recognize that the majority need things relevant to them too, and they are not only far more than you, but it is content you will be doing anyway.

I'd rather people not be as cut off from content when it no longer became new, like it was with ffxi. I had whole expansions I couldn't do because I had the wrong job, or it took hours at no one had at a synced level.

[Colt47]

Also, I agree with most things OP said. The title alone is truth. I played this game till final coil and after the 3rd time everything I worked for was immediately trashed for 2 new dungeons and a new raid with new "HIGH I LEVEL!" gear, I quit.

I started again with heavensward because the parts of the game that are still fun, exploring new areas, seeing new jobs, leveling to 60, should be fun for a little. I guess it's worth $50. But as soon as I'm up to date and all that, it's only a matter of time that SE says "all that you worked for? trash! try this new dungeon. And we're giving echo and all that stuff you got to new players"

The greatest thing about FFXI (I love bringing it up bc the people who love this game hate it) is that most content stayed relevant for an extremely long time.

And the sad thing is that old FFXI is gone forever. There were parts of it that made it hard to play, like group content and non-group content that required a timer and continuous clock surveillance to participate in, but it didn't bog itself down in useless quests. If we needed to grind our level up, we did that pretty much like any sane human being would.

[Hyrist]

Sorry, but you don't fix what isn't broken. For every outspoken person against this system, there are several others of the opposing opinion. SE's made their choice as to where they targeted their appeal.