Dev Team, show me you care about your players because I just don't see it (long read)

[Neptune]

Hi. I'm Neptune. I've been on these boards since they first opened and they were filled with pleas about the game and suggestions to make it better. I've made a series of threads about how this game should be designed with the 97% of players in mind who quit after the first few weeks. Here's a few of them:

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...absent-players
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...rdcore-opinion
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...1-LOYALTY-MODE

I feel strongly that this game should appeal to the masses and I'm really proud of Yoshi-P for taking the game in that direction, but beyond the attention to these masses of absent players, shouldn't there be something left for those of us who own FFXIV?

I play a Conjurer if you didn't know. It's why I bought the game on launch day. I've always been excited about casting elemental magic and being a Black Mage type character ever since I read about Conjurers on the FINAL FANTASY XIV website well over a year ago. I want to know, has the dev team lost sight of all those people that were excited for this game's launch? We bought this game because we were excited about the Armoury system and its unique classes.

I'm trying to figure out why I still play a game that puts this announcement on the front page of its website:

"The Armoury system ... has been deemed unnecessarily complicated..."
"... the above changes will render all gains associated with the shield skill (levels and EXP) invalid."

I see. So when I made it a point to level my Sentinel class up to 50 to gain its very useful abilities such as Aegis Boon II, I am supposed to just log onto my favorite website, The Lodestone, so the dev team can tell me that all gains are invalid. Furthermore the dev team leaves it up to the Lodestone to inform me that one of my classes is getting wiped from the game along with most of my abilities.

One of the first questions asked to Yoshi-P was about our characters getting wiped. Many have said they would quit if that happened and I always thought the mere idea of it was crazy talk. With the recent announcement of changes to class actions we are getting as close as we have ever gotten to a wipe. My character's level may never be reset to 1, but what about my playstyle, my abilities, my tactics, my fun, my experience (not points) and least of all but most relevant, my effort?

Let me back up and say that I understand the game needs work and I hope it turns out better than ever. If you are still grasping to see the point of my post, it's about what happened to customer service? Am I, as a purchaser of FINAL FANTASY XIV, supposed to log onto the Lodestone, or even worse, into the game, to find out that most of what I worked hard to attain is wiped from the game? Is it too much to ask for consideration from the dev team? Would it be all right if someone posted to say we're aware this may cause some major disappointment but we are going to make up for it with X and Y? Am I really supposed to just log on and read an anonymous post about how I'm getting screwed and conclude that FFXIV is the most awesome game ever and continue to be the only one out of any gamer I know that even gives a damn about this game?

Dev Team: I purchased FFXIV to make a Conjurer character and cast offensive elemental magic in this videogame for fun. Along the way I leveled my Sentinel class to cap and regularly used its abilities to defend myself in challenging solo battles with my over 40 different abilities. Now you've announced that you're taking away most of my actions, changing my role to White Mage, "rendering" my Sentinel class "invalid", and you haven't said one word about offsetting the changes to my character. And you know what, all I want is some directness and honesty. If you've been too busy working at a breakneck pace and you don't realize that people like me are out there and care about our characters and about our experiences in this videogame so far, just post and say you're out of answers and you're sorry. I know you can think of something to make up for it, but I don't know if you even care.

Note to users: If I see any rude, off-topic posts I will not hesitate to report them.