Quote Originally Posted by ShanXiv View Post
Compare to 2.0, 4.0 has better graphic quality, better CG movies, better story quests.
better music, better sounds, larger maps.
the overall quality of 4.0 is better than 2.0.
The Royal City of Rabanastre is currently the best 24man dungeon.
And I really like the FF5/6 bosses in Deltascape.

The problem is not money, they have more resources than FFXI,FFXIV1.1x-1.2x team

Look at the luxury FFXV,chapter 13 is a mess. FFXIII?meh...
Tales of Berseria,The Legend of Heroes VI series are better RPG IMO
The Nier Automata is more impressive than those costly AAA FPS games.

The problem is the resource allocation,the speed of content consumption,the direction of the game,the lack of longevity,
and the lack of MMO development experience(Yoshida and his team should play some FFXI, not WOW..)
That may very well be. That said, in order:

(1) I haven't seen any appreciable graphics difference myself, particularly from 3.0 to 4.0 (which is where they actually stated, up-front, that they'd be slowing the rate of content production dungeon-wise). Sure, there's a few extra DX11 effects thrown in there, but the textures are still embarrassingly low-resolution, the physics system is still nonexistent, etc.

(2) The CG movies took a step back with 4.x, in my estimation, with 3.x remaining the high water mark. Incidentally, all of the CG videos still pale in comparison to XIV 1.0, because they rely on standard emote actions for manipulating characters within them.

(3) The quality of the storyline quests is sort of a personal preference thing. Again, for me, 3.x is the clear high water mark, with 2.x and 4.x coming in roughly equal at the moment.

(4) The music and sound quality hasn't changed in the slightest, though preference can. For me, some of the best battle themes originated in 2.x; 3.x had the best overall theme; 4.x was solid but forgettable for me.

(5) The map size hasn't changed from Heavensward to Stormblood, so where has the money gone since? Also, the total land mass size went down vs. ARR, because individual maps might be larger, but there are far fewer of them. This isn't a strong argument.

(6) Royal City and the choice of bosses for Deltascape, again, are preference-based choices.

So, what I see is absolutely nothing - except the DX11 graphical bells and whistles - that has improved as a result of funding. I've seen you list style preferences, but that's got nothing to do in the slightest with resource allocation or funding of the team. The outcomes of funding are game systems and amount of content, not direction of storyline, choice of Raid boss origins, or what the music composer drew up for an expansion's overall theme. And in this area, we've seen very uneven and half-arsed efforts since 2.x, despite more revenue streams than ever centered around FFXIV.

I also agree that resource allocation might be a problem, but this also ties back to my central point about wanting SE to fix the underlying architectural limitations they're working around. That is, at the very least, part of the problem we're now facing, even if it's not all of it. I've worked in software development before; having neat ideas dashed on the rocks of reality because of ever-present architectural limitations is one of the most soul-sucking realities a developer can inhabit. Maybe, with time spent on a fix, we'd see a rejuvenated team come out of it, with some fresh ideas content-wise.

Finally, we cannot say for sure that the problem isn't money (and based on previous statements by Yoshi-P, there is some indication that it is, in fact, a problem). We have no clear idea of exactly how large the development team is. All we can say for certain is that more money is flowing into FFXIV now than it was during the 3.x expansion cycle, based on SE's own financial statements. And, despite your arguments, I'd suggest in no way do we have a clear picture (particularly for the 3.x to 4.x time period) of where, exactly, that money has gone. As a consumer, that's very frustrating for me, and likely for others. FFXIV feels a bit like air travel right now; I pay more for a seat each year, but the seat is smaller, the snacks cheaper or nonexistent, and the flight is late more frequently than it was the year beforehand. Unlike air travel, however, FFXIV is optional entertainment rather than an occasionally-required mode of transportation. This isn't a good look for it.