What is the point of Eureka?

[Haxaan]

First off, Eureka is not for everyone. It is side content, like Ultimates, Diadem, and PVP. Yes it does have the relic locked behind it, which was not a surprise as we knew that was the case when Eureka was announced. I think one of the biggest problems people have with Eureka is that it is a grind. It is literally the manifestation of a time grind in physical form. Every other Relic has been something that you needed to take weeks or months to finish for each step, and it was a symbol of Commitment and Pride. The Eureka Relic is different because it is not locked behind running dungeons over and over again with a percentage chance of getting your drop, or spending millions of gil on high end crafted items. Instead of that, you have to grind for "currency" manually and trade said "currency" in for upgrades.

Eureka isn't perfect, by any stretch of the imagination, but it does offer a different kind of player experience than other side content currently in the game. Eureka offers players an "overworld" experience with up to 140 other people all having different goals when entering, but working together to help each other. Whether it be Bunny Fate Farming, or Prepping NM Fates, or just chatting and being someone to talk to for an hour or two. It offers a community experience for a brief moment in time. The rest of the game has become known for its "One for all and All for me" attitude, where people play the game for themselves.

Eureka also offers people who do not have a lot of time to sit in queue to spam dungeons for tomes an outlet to obtain them, rather quickly I may add, in a different setting. As someone who works a lot and doesn't always have time to get a learning party together, I appreciate the ability to go into Eureka when I want, set a small goal for myself (i.e. get 2 bars of light to reroll my weapon, or get enough crystals to upgrade another weapon, or buy some Pyros gear) reach said goal and leave whenever I want. I get to meet knew people every time and have a generally good time, even if it's only for an hour.

Square definitely punched a lot of people in the gut with Pagos, and yes, Pagos was rough... a counter opposite to Anemos in fact. Pyros has done (in my opinion) a good job of bridging the gap between Anemos and Pagos, by making it easier to level yet keeping a nice amount of difficulty and keeping the time sync aspect alive without it being to overbearing. Anyway that's just my two cents.

[purgatori]

Eureka also offers people who do not have a lot of time to sit in queue to spam dungeons for tomes an outlet to obtain them, rather quickly I may add, in a different setting. As someone who works a lot and doesn't always have time to get a learning party together, I appreciate the ability to go into Eureka when I want, set a small goal for myself (i.e. get 2 bars of light to reroll my weapon, or get enough crystals to upgrade another weapon, or buy some Pyros gear) reach said goal and leave whenever I want. I get to meet knew people every time and have a generally good time, even if it's only for an hour.

So much this. The great thing about Eureka for me has been that it offers an alternative route to gear/wealth progression that allows me to minimise doing content I don't particularly enjoy (lvl 70 dungeons) and outright avoid doing content I actively dislike (raids & trials). The grind is real, to be sure, and it's rare that I can entice anyone from my FC to join my expeditions, but as a casual/not very skilled player it makes a world of difference to have content that doesn't force me into groups that live or die depending on my skill level/rote-memorisation of a fight.

I respect players who go into this game looking to have their mettle tested, but it's not what draws me to the game. I'm just not very good, or even very interested in being good, at traditional-esque MMO combat, so when I go looking for challenges I look towards games with combat more my speed: e.g., Ninja Gaiden, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, etc. What I get out of FFXIV are the lore, exploration, story, characters, art, atmosphere, and a minimal amount of social interaction. Anemos has gelled quite well with my way of playing, but whether that will continue to be the case for Pagos, Pyros, and Hydatos is uncertain.

[MrThinker]

Anemos has gelled quite well with my way of playing, but whether that will continue to be the case for Pagos, Pyros, and Hydatos is uncertain.

Pagos MIGHT be a bit less appealing for you, but Pyros is as good as (or even better in some opinions) than Anemos, especially because the Logos system it introduces can be a lot of fun to mess around with.

[purgatori]

Pagos MIGHT be a bit less appealing for you, but Pyros is as good as (or even better in some opinions) than Anemos, especially because the Logos system it introduces can be a lot of fun to mess around with.

Yep, MrHappy got me hyped for Pyros.