Not sure what to do

[Tinytiger]

New player here.
Really loved learning the ex trials and had a blast farming them for gear, and then some.
Was super excited all day at work on Tues about going home and experiencing the new raid...even decided to take a day off Friday cause I thought I'd be doing the raid. Turns out I ended up clearing it with a pug group within 1 hour after I got home. Note I'm not mad about taking a day off, that's my own impulsive behavior, but now I'm left wondering what people do in this game?
I've gotten my SCH/AST to best in slot gear and I'm not really interested in alts since I'm a healer at heart, and with the abundance of WHM running around I'm not too interested in making one of those either. Even if I were to make a WHM I don't think it would be terribly exciting to farm the same trials but on a different healer.
Not trying to rant here; I'm genuinely wondering what challenging content people do after they hit level cap and farmed their optimal gear. Do we just afk until savage is released? Sorry if this comes off as obnoxious, I just don't know what to do and am sad about it cause I was having the time of my life in this game a week ago.

[Hasrat]

Many players do indeed unsub and just come back for major patches or raids or whatever. If you're at end game, got your gear, not into doing side content, don't really want to keep farming latest content for no reason, yeah. You're not gonna have much to do.

[DrWho2010]

pretty much people in your situation just wait until savage is released. of course not everyone plays at the same pace so that's why there's a 2 week grace period.

there's other content to do - level other job, craft/gather, increase FATE reputation, etc.

[Niwashi]

The people who find plenty to keep them occupied generally have a wider range of interests than you do, whether that's an interest in multiple types of casual side content or an interest in all the different job roles. If you're only interested in the more challenging extremes and raids, and only interested in healing, then you were bound to run out faster than more gets released (even though clearing within the first hour is a bit surprising).

[Tinytiger]

Well what I'm sort of wondering right now is, what do people do with the gear they've farmed from the ex trials? Is the only use for it to clear the savage raid when it comes out? And once that is out and we get the gear from it, will the only purpose of it be for the patch after? It feels sort of empty at level 80 between patches. No type of hard dungeons to challenge yourself in, or world pvp to put your good gear to use. I guess what I'm struggling to accept is that the only thing you can do with the awesome gear you've farmed is to wait until the next patch to get some use out of it.

[Raldo]

You're basically asking "Why does anyone challenge themselves to get the best gear, when you can get slightly-worse gear for little effort?"

I think most MMO players accept that MMOs are just gear treadmills. You shoot for the best until there's a new best, and hopefully you're getting some enjoyment along the way. Why? It's a video game, you're already wasting your time, do you need a reason? Do whatever keeps you entertained.

If you're already bored, try out some of the side content. In the month leading up to ShB, I wasted my time trying to collect all the Triple Triad cards, crafting 1 of everything for the achievement tools, etc. Level some other jobs or something. I just got my 3rd job to 80 yesterday. Why? I don't know. If you're already at the bleeding edge of the content, I assure you that the speed of patch cycles will not be able to keep you satisfied. Once you're done with Savage, you'll have the best gear for like 6 months, and then once 5.2 hits, everyone will have be able to get gear that's better than your savage gear for very little effort. If you're already asking yourself "Now what?" then perhaps this game (or possibly all PvE MMOs in general) aren't your cup of tea.

[DrWho2010]

they use that gear to do the normal raid, then use that gear to start on the next set of tome gear, which is used to progress in savage. once you reach best in slot from that, if you're ONLY healing and that's the ONLY thing you want to do, then just unsub until the next update. that's all I can suggest.

this game has no world pvp and never will, and XIV's dev philosophy doesn't favor a mythic+ type dungeon challenge system.

the only other thing would be to find yourself a group for Ultimate and do that when it comes out. if you're THAT good.

[Tinytiger]

You're basically asking "Why does anyone challenge themselves to get the best gear, when you can get slightly-worse gear for little effort?"

I think most MMO players accept that MMOs are just gear treadmills. You shoot for the best until there's a new best, and hopefully you're getting some enjoyment along the way. Why? It's a video game, you're already wasting your time, do you need a reason? Do whatever keeps you entertained.

If you're already bored, try out some of the side content. In the month leading up to ShB, I wasted my time trying to collect all the Triple Triad cards, crafting 1 of everything for the achievement tools, etc. Level some other jobs or something. I just got my 3rd job to 80 yesterday. Why? I don't know. If you're already at the bleeding edge of the content, I assure you that the speed of patch cycles will not be able to keep you satisfied. Once you're done with Savage, you'll have the best gear for like 6 months, and then once 5.2 hits, everyone will have be able to get gear that's better than your savage gear for very little effort. If you're already asking yourself "Now what?" then perhaps this game (or possibly all PvE MMOs in general) aren't your cup of tea.

I think you missed my point entirely. As I stated above I really enjoyed the challenge of getting the best gear. And I never mentioned anything about catch-up mechanics either, but I don't think they are a bad idea at all.

My issue right now is that it feels like there's nothing to do with the gear once you get it. There's no way to enjoy the fruits of your labor. You just stand in the city and look pretty. Shouldn't there be some more max level content to do that allows you to feel how much more powerful you got by obtaining this awesome gear? Something where you can feel how much of an advantage you have because of this gear you farmed?

In my experience with MMOS, max level is when the game is supposed to start, not come to an abrupt end. But I think I'm starting to realize that comparing this game to other MMOS is my mistake.

once you reach best in slot from that, if you're ONLY healing and that's the ONLY thing you want to do, then just unsub until the next update. that's all I can suggest.

this game has no world pvp and never will, and XIV's dev philosophy doesn't favor a mythic+ type dungeon challenge system.

the only other thing would be to find yourself a group for Ultimate and do that when it comes out. if you're THAT good.

I'm starting to realize this as well. Thanks to everyone who replied, for the honest answers.
But I never claimed to be good On the contrary, I make mistakes like everyone else; especially in unfamiliar content. Most of the time, however, the solution is simply to practice at it and learn from your mistakes until you've gotten comfortable with the encounter.

[Elladie]

I would say the large majority of people who play this game never go anywhere near Savage content. It's certainly not a game where 'the game' doesn't start until you reach max level.

Most of us who play continuously - I play most days and have done since 1.0 with a six month break after HW due to personal reasons - are busy levelling other jobs, crafters, gatherers, doing hunts, chasing FATEs, doing Eureka-type content, chasing achievements, challenge logs, trying to beat Deep Dungeons, chocobo racing, trying to catch all the fish in the game, redecorating, farming glamours, doing treasure maps, having fun!

[Hasrat]

In my experience with MMOS, max level is when the game is supposed to start, not come to an abrupt end. But I think I'm starting to realize that comparing this game to other MMOS is my mistake.

Yeah, pretty much. Is also probably a big part of why the game is so story driven, everything locked by MSQ, etc. You're meant to enjoy the journey. End game is, well, the end. It is, as was said, a gear treadmill at that point. And, as some might possibly claim, the game's just not targeted towards the challenge-seekers. It's largely a pretty casual game. So, the devs just aren't aiming to create any large amount of content that you've gotta have the current best gear to get through.