Commitment issues

[Trenma]

As it's been mentioned, having sideways progression is a great way to feel like you're not just wasting time till the next patch, however that sideways progression won't work in this game until they implement more interesting sub-stats.

Things like +2% chance to stun on hit, 3/5 pieces of gear = increased crit rate. Basically items that let you chase after some different end-game paths to try and collect but don't fade out once the next numbered patch drops.

[Kaedan]

I love the people who expected FFXIV to go from gear progression MMO to Action RPG or something.

Seriously, what do you want? You want something "different"... and you cite examples of Sky, Sea, etc... which was just "more of the same" in FFXI as well with a different skin. If you want to get that reductio ad absurdum, then pretty much every aspect of the MMO genre is nothing more than the same thing with a different skin. Every Action RPG is the same game with a different skin. Every FPS is the same game with a different skin.

[Luciano_Bozzelli]

Maybe I am just expecting too much, after all in this part of XI's life cycle you had dynamis, sky / sea, HNM's. Lots of stuff amusing everyone and sideways progression in gear. Now this is just repeating itself with every patch, its the definition of a broken record. NEW patch! 3 new dungeons to replace the expert roulette and a new Ilevel, maybe a new raid. 1 month later, bored...

If they just gave us more ways to play, more things to do outside, more ways to gear your character and really customize it I might be able to commit to this, but until then I think its time for a break

P.S Dont get me started on the players sometimes, 1 day after alex launch and PF already populated with "No Noob" "Bonus = Kick". Get real... Even WOW doesn't have that level of arrogance.

Just to be politically correct, FFXI at the first expansion had sky, and we got sky in that first expansion. We also had dynamis I think, but no Sea yet. Sea didn't come till the end of Chains of Promatia, but I agree with your post though. Especially with the players. I was waiting for a few friends to get online later that night when Alexander first came out. I mean day one, and someone had the nerve to ask everyone had they seen the video... Boy this community can be soft sometimes.

So correct example...

FFXI and first expansion Rise of Zilart is equal to FFXIV and first expansion Heavensward as far as the timeline goes. So we can't complain yet about not having Sea, but we can complain for not having a sky type place.

[Destinova]

They are suppose to add a new thing in 3.1 other than the 24 man dungeon. Not sure what it is though.

[Luvbunny]

This game is great - a perfect mix of battle content and cute content. You do not NEED to log in everyday for five hours - 4-5 days for 3 hours per session is more than plenty for one person to play most of the contents - unless you are doing hardcore raid progression. This game is not catered to FFXI die hard who loves grinding till you bang your head on the wall out of sheer frustration. This is a lite online RPG, mostly catered to casuals and people who only have a couple hours a day to relax. Think of your "TV watching time", 2-3 hours a day max.

[Kallera]

I think your concerns sound like they are two fold.

Are you worried your interest in ffxiv won't last and your time will be wasted? Even if the populations suffers a nosedive you still have years worth of updates.
No game lasts forever. (Yes, even dragon's crown...)

If you want to come away with something, try making friends with other players in your time zone or area.

Or are you concerned about the time you spend on games in general?
Pick up something else or focus on another aspect of your life. The game will be here when you get back.

[Dererk]

The real problem is there's a big lack of open world content because of the duty finder they have to balance everything out so it can be cleared with any combination of light part or full party following the set up of 1 tank 1 heal 2 dps and 2 tanks 2 heals and 4 dps. With the minimum item level.

Also lets keep in mind people comparing FFXI to FFXIV lack of open world content as in battle Content crafting and gathering are separate classes here while in FFXI you just needed the tools to gather stuff and mats and crystals to craft while still in your battle job. So they have to make different things to cater to every one.

Hmmm now that I'm thinking about it I realized that the open world is for crafters and gatherers and duty finder is for us who focus on battle and that's just making me sad.

Come on SE show us battle addicts some love we want more open world content.

[Havenae]

I feel you OP. kind of the same boat. It's not for lack of stuff to do so much as it's just more of the same. What killed MMOs most for me was this whole gear progression grind. Raiding in WoW back in WotLK it kind of struck me that it's this entirely pointless aspect of MMOs that was forced upon us. Raid comes out.. you grind and grind and bust your ass to get the gear... so a new raid can come out and you can replace the old gear with new gear. That occurs until the end of the content phase and you're there for a few months until a new expansion comes out and you do it all over again.

What's the point really?

Relic weapons here really grabbed me though. Because it wasn't just about going to get new gear. it was about enhancing your old gear. That's what I'd love to see more of here rather than running the next new dungeons/raids for new gear in an endless perpetual cycle of mind numbing futility.

End of the day though. This genre hasn't changed much in the last decade. You're not going to find much that's different anywhere currently. It's really all the same old shit with just a different skin on the top of it. kind of like the gear progression.

Personally I'd go with the 'friendships' suggestion. They go a lot further than any of the other stuff. Unfortunately FFXIV is about as anti-social of an MMO as I've ever seen. It even promotes it in some cases. So good luck with that.

[Magistrella]

To the ones bashing the OP over XI

you're wrong, RoZ released 11 month after XI release (16th of may '02) in JP (April 17th '03). At that point everything up to The Hall of the Gods was out (pre-sky area) July the 17th exactly 3 month after, they opened up sky, so 14 month in the game.
XI released in US at the 28th of october '03 (PC) and in the EU at the 17th September '04 (PC) - PS2 release (US only) was the 23rd of March '04. All three dates mark the Release date of RoZ in those regions.
CoP was finally released international at September 21st with EU getting a headstart at September 17th 2004 - That is 16 Month after XI was officially released and marked the second Expansion. Finally at the 24th of February 2005 Al'Taieu, or sea, was opened or: 21 month after XI release

At 3.0 official release we were at month 21 in ARR

So... please, get your facts straight when indeed the OP is right when he writes:

after all in this part of XI's life cycle you had dynamis, sky / sea, HNM's.

On Topic:

I feel you, and it feels like a revamped 2.x without a good crafting/gathering system at this point. But until im capped 60 in all classes ill be fine. The grind keeps my brain from realizing that i dont like the weekly caps ^^

[Eekiki]

To the ones bashing the OP over XI

you're wrong

XI's development cycle != XIV's development cycle. Expansion packs were more prevalent back in the early aughts because internet speeds were slower, so offering big content updates via patches was less viable.