So What do you guys think of this expansion so far?

[Renato]

So it seems we're mid-way into SB with speculation circling around that the next expansion may be released next summer. How do you guys feel about the content released in Stormblood so far?

For me, what I was looking forward to the most was the story especially after following HW which I loved. Only to be kind of disappointed by the whole Doman/Ala Mhigo storyline. I did like some of the characters which Zenos being the standout for me. I'm curious to see what direction his storyline goes in as well as learning more about the Garleans. Hien grew on me a bit too...but otherwise, I didn't care much for what was going on as far as the whole liberation thing goes. There is a lot of character building right now which is needed for the newer characters introduced but until the end of 4.3, it felt like the story just wasn't going anywhere. I personally think SE should release more than just an hour of the story in the patches.

We also got a ton of PVP changes, Job changes, a re-skinned PoTD, Ultimate Fights, A few story dungeons and raids and Eureka. If I'm missing anything, make sure to speak up.

I'm still enjoying the game after 3 years but I'm hoping there's a lot more (new/original) content to come. There's a ton of re-skinned armor and weapons, remastered boss music and reused music in multiple areas, delayed patch releases with little content. Eureka is a good idea for repeatable content but feels incomplete. A party finder, level sync and daily quests or objectives would be a nice addition to it. Overall, it just feels like a mindless grindfest reminiscent of Korean MMOs from the mid 2000's.

Was the transition from ARR to HW like this too? I started playing when HW was released so all of ARR was was completely new to me.

[Nixxe]

Crafting is too easy and accessible.

[LeoLupinos]

Crafting is too easy and accessible.

And skippable...

[Alsbet]

too much water. 11/7

[Aana]

I was never excited about the story. Evil mega powerful empire. Poor downtrodden farmers need help. Start a revolution. Wow never seen that before! Whats that? You want to start a SECOND revolution at the same time against the SAME empire! BRAVO! /facepalm. The story was quite bland imo. Heavensward easily takes the cake as best story arc so far.

That said, the presentation was a nice step up. HW trounced ARR in presentation. Voice acting, in game cinematics, quest variety, pacing. SB dialed all that to 11. SB also had better developed villains.

SB easily had the strongest presentation. I just gave no Fs about the story arc. HW had the better story arc, and was a step up in presentation from ARR to be sure, but SB edged it out there.

[Brightshadow]

I enjoyed the story and the areas are beautiful, only thing I wish is for them to add more activities to actually push us to go outside into the world 90% of the time I'm stuck at the FC house because everything is a queue.

How would I resolve this?
1.) Make Fates worth a damn, not just experience. (Maybe a new currency?)
2.) Make it easier to locate big hunts, no reason to have to rely on a linkshell.
3.) Add Free Companies activities in these areas. (Like perhaps allow us to duel other free companies, or explore with our free companies to find unique materials to expand the estate, heck even building a hideout for our FC.)
4.) Add a conquest/colonization/rebuild type system similar to the one added in enclave. If you don't maintain these zones the process goes down removing vendors, making dungeon bosses harder, heck maybe lowering the experience earned in the area dungeons.
5.) Add non-instanced dungeons/beast tribes that are worth a damn. Ala Mhigo has a whole outside dungeon with a graveyard and everything but there's literally no reason to go into it. No tough enemies, no outside treasure chests, nothing...

All I want is a reason to be in these beautiful zones, don't make the whole game a lobby.

[Renato]

I was never excited about the story. Evil mega powerful empire. Poor downtrodden farmers need help. Start a revolution.

I can agree with this. But it seems like this is a staple in FF in general where the enemy is some kind of powerful empire or corporation. We've yet to really learn more about the Garleans much which is why I'm excited to see where the next part in the story goes, especially with a possible civil war occurring in that nation.

I enjoyed the story and the areas are beautiful, only thing I wish is for them to add more activities to actually push us to go outside into the world 90% of the time I'm stuck at the FC house because everything is a queue.

How would I resolve this?
2.) Make it easier to locate big hunts, no reason to have to rely on a linkshell.

All I want is a reason to be in these beautiful zones, don't make the whole game a lobby.

I've been saying this for the longest. I even threw out a suggestion in the forums a while back to add monster tracks to the game in areas that hunt monsters frequent. Each footprint increasing in size depending on what rank the monster is. I do wish they would do more with the overworld area though. I feel like the FATEs are starting to get more interesting though. Like there's one on the Azim Steppe where you have to defend a tribe and once completed, they build a base in that area or the one where Grand Companies are training in the Area Outisde the Reach (I can't remember the name) and they attempt to fight you to measure their strength. Maybe SE should take notes from GW2 and have it to where when you finish certain FATEs they unlock vendors who sale rare/exclusive items.

[Nixxe]

2.) Make it easier to locate big hunts, no reason to have to rely on a linkshell.

I don't see why the community aspect of the hunts should be removed just to help people who want hunt rewards without putting effort into hunts. This is an MMORPG. Content that encourages people to routinely come together and work together is desirable, and as it currently works, people build communities around spawning and finding hunts.

[Brightshadow]

I don't see why the community aspect of the hunts should be removed just to help people who want hunt rewards without putting effort into hunts. This is an MMORPG. Content that encourages people to routinely come together and work together is desirable, and as it currently works, people build communities around spawning and finding hunts.

Linkshells have limits, not everyone can join the popular linkshells. Usually those popular hunt linkshells fill up super fast leaving no space for others.

[Kazrah]

I'd consider it about the same level as Mists of Pandaria for WoW in that it was a "kinda" expansion, meaning that the story is kinda interesting, the newer features are kinda fancy, and the endgame content is kinda there.

It also feels more like the expansion has tried to make every general group in the game happy: ultimate raids for the tryhards, eureka for the XI fans, HoH for the casual elites, crafting made more accessible for all players, and more pvp content for the tens of fans out there who wanted it. As the saying goes though, "you can't please all the people all the time", but I think content exclusively from SB is about as close as we the players could genuinely expect.