Is FFXIV viable as an MMORPG without doing end-game & raiding?

[RiceisNice]

No "Holier than thou" from me, I'm quite clear that I am not a raider. For various real life reasons I haven't been able to stay completely current with content, despite playing since beta phase 3. I would probably be a 'casual' raider if life hadn't got in the way.

I very, very specifically do not want this to become one of those threads where two polarized groups call each other names because one group likes raiding and the other doesn't.

It was more directed in the general replies on this topic (and really, the forums in general)

. IMO it's just really not a good mindset to have since you're essentially telling people "you're playing this game wrong", when said game is built around the concept of a themepark with some sandbox aspects, and that the players are infact, genuinely getting bored because of how content is being designed/released.

Can they(SE) tailor content to each part of the community without hurting the other?

In a nutshell, they can. The problem I feel is that they aren't doing a very good job of doing because they're falling short of almost every content they've introduced. The new players are enjoying the game for the reasons we enjoyed 2.0, not 3.0. All the added-on content from 3.0 and onward has bit messy at best (Diadem, LoV, 2 dungeons per cycle). As someone who did expert roulette/coinflip everyday, I've noticed a significant decrease of lasting power in the expert dungeons, whether it be because of the fact it's only two for a roulette cycle, or that it's boring boss/mob mechanics throughout (it's both in some cases), and gets more exasperated as the gear scaling increases because of how undertuned it gets. It may also be just me, but I also feel there's been an incredible disconnect between the developers and players. I find myself disagreeing more with Yoshida's liveletter and interview points more than acknowledging or even maintain a neutral stance about it.

It's not perfect, but it's a circle of life easily replicated by the community as a whole, thus making endgame an almost self-sustaining thing, even with the human variables.

It can also go both ways. If I can't find a reason to log in, my friends and most likely some static members are gonna drop the game collectively and probably not come back until after the release of 4.0, if ever. But like I mentioned, a lot of it has to do with the fact that I'm frustrated and don't agree with a lot of the design points and viewpoints of the developers, and almost feels that they've lost sight of what made the game good (not to mentioned all the dropped talks about housing, egi glamours, and numerous other things that have fallen into purgatory.) Players are a finite resource for the game, and no amount of new recruits via a revolving door design is going to help if the retention isn't good enough.