Quote Originally Posted by Zenji View Post
Yea I know it\\'s fun the first time, and I\\'m all for grinding to get something, but doing the same over and over again without any meaningful rewards or at least a sense of accomplishment is no bueno.
It's fine that you don't have fun in the game anymore.

I still have fun with it, though.

Your issues with the game seem to revolve around a single-player experience... the idea of playing a game to reach a goal within the game.
I can understand why such an idea causes so many frustrating problems within an MMO.

I don't play the game with such a focus.
I play the game because I like to be part of a team.
My main team is really small. Me and my wife run an FC. That FC has 3 other (active-ish) players in it.
And I have a few friends on the server I also consider to be part of "my team" (even if they don't know it )

That's it.
But that's the way I like it.
Small, understandable, not-overwhelming, and I can feel like I make a difference.
Not a difference in the game... I'm not doing any world-firsts. But a difference to my team.

As soon as I'm playing for "my team" and not "something in the game..." it no longer really matter what the actual content is.

I don't care if all the Expert dungeons are (fundamentally) the same thing.
I don't care if most content (fundamentally) is the same thing over and over.
I appreciate such things because they help refresh the background scenery.. but it's not why I play.

I play to be part of my team.
I want to be there for them... answer questions, provide help, provide support, joke around, relax, have fun.
I want people to rely on me. And I want to successfully fulfill that needed support.

I have a dude in my FC who stops playing for months... then returns for a month or two and repeats the process (he likes a bunch of other games, too.)
This is our general interaction:

"Hey Cold, nice to see you again, just returned. I have no idea what's been added in last few patches, what should I do?"
"Hey dude, good to hear from you again. Finish MSQ, open Expert, and don't miss the new 24-man raid for gear along with whatever you can get with Creation Tomes."
"Thanks! I'm on my way!! - Hey, I saw some cool dog-mount, I want one, how do I get it?"
"That's the mount like the ponies from earlier primals. Each new EX primal gives one out, RNG isn't too friendly yet, but just have to keep killing them."
"Sounds fun, later!"
"For sure, have fun!"

I *like* being the guy who can answer such questions very quickly and easily and help out.
I like being the FC who doesn't kick someone for leaving the game for a few months, and is there to welcome them when they return.
I like supplying glamors, melds or anything else I can to enhance the fun for the rest of my team.
I like chatting about the game, discovering/learning content-dances, and teaching it to others for the rest of my team who play regularly.

For me, it's all about "being part of a team."

I used to play a lot of rec-level sports for that part-of-a-team-feeling, but my body isn't capable of following what my mind thinks it should be doing anymore. I'm too old to treat it that way now (I'm 39). So I get that part-of-a-team-feeling from MMOs now. And FF14 is the best one I've found yet. It's smooth, fun, and contains lots and lots of really nice people to meet and hang out with.

Some teams last only 1 instance or 1 hunt or 1 meld request.
Others are parts of multiple runs for specific items (like wolf-farms or hunt-trains or going after a specific item).
Others still are very long-term with no end in sight (or desired).

That's why I play. I play for the team experience.
And I like video games, so it's fun for me to get that team-experience while playing a video game.

FF14 isn't a game I play to have fun.
FF14 is just the game I play while I'm having fun.