Quote Originally Posted by Remedi View Post
The question to ask is:
Are the devs out of touch or The playerbase is actually a multiheaded (and sadly forgetful) beast?
I agree with posters above, both. That said, I think to a large extent that is something that can be laid at SE's feet as well. Realistically speaking, they've built FFXIV to target the lowest common denominator, the widest possible audience. Without commenting on the merits of that decision (and it's often typical for MMOs), one of its clear-cut downsides is that community feedback is going to be widely varied, and often contradictory.

This reality demands a minimum of two countermeasures, neither of which SE has done well.

(1) Feedback must be frequently, officially and carefully solicited. Done properly, this can tune out some of the 'background noise' complaints of players, and help get to the heart of important issues that will drive the game's future.
(2) The content design and development process must lead the charge when it comes to delivering fresh experiences that work well, since they cannot rely on consistent and clearly-directed player feedback to inform them of larger structural issues.

That latter point is probably where SE has failed the most spectacularly. Their content design process is incredibly conservative, and tends to view half-assed game system as being 'good enough' until informed otherwise. Glamours are good examples: I'm 99% certain the development team was fine with the original implementation of Glamours, and content to rest on their 'laurels' and not think about it anymore. They also seemed quite happy with the Diadem-style content, because they released the crap twice. Put quite simply, they don't seem to have any sort of creative fire underneath them, any sort of motivation to push the envelope and then - once pushed - to continue pushing it.

Maybe this was the inevitable backlash to the failure of FFXIV 1.0. I'm not sure. Regardless, it is no longer a sustainable model. They've got to start driving development in new directions, much as FFXI did, much as the vastly more successful WoW has done throughout its lifespan. You'll win some and you'll lose some doing this, but so long as a title is vibrantly and consistently evolving, players will stick through the short-term, and minimize the effects of the inevitable missteps. Playing it safe, though, will kill FFXIV over time. They've got to start making changes unprompted, and, of course, listening to players more carefully.