What are the largest issues plaguing XIV currently?

[Shurrikhan]

Well, I would like to hear more about this proable far deeper and exciting kit with just 8 buttons which was left pretty much vague. So not really well articulated imo

A comprehensive explanation would probably take well over 1000 words, so let's start from a simple illustrative example:

At present, DRG has 9 single-target weaponskills. Since, in content, they will never be used in any order except True Thrust, Disembowel, Chaos Thrust, Wheeling Thrust, Fang & Claw, True Thrust, Vorpal Thrust, Full Thrust, Fang & Claw, Wheeling Thrust and that order will repeat infinitely, they amount to a single decision, to be made once every 5-10 GCDs. And is a single choice even really... a choice?

Not that I'd recommend it, but all 9 off those keys could be handled with equal depth... by, effectively, "auto-battle", with you just weaving in Life Surge before Full Thrust, all other oGCDs as needed, and so forth.

So at present you have 9 keys that do no better a job than 0 keys except in that the finger-dance aspect of hitting a different key per GCD helps keep your timing grounded (while punishing those with manual disabilities, but that's besides the point).

But let's say we instead use... 1 key, but this time allowing for a decision in every possible GCD rather than only once per 5-10 GCDs, with accordant changes in the toolkit. Your "auto-battle" (term used only to avoid confusion with "auto-attacks") would sequence down one line or the other of combos, but now those combos have been opened up. You can now swap between combos at any point along the combo, choicefully favoring either long-term damage or direct burst. You've only one key, swapping between "Finesse Mode" and "Power Mode", for instance, but it'd already allow me more control over my combos than you had with 9 keys previously.

Let's add in the AoE weapon skills to be comprehensive. Presently, we have 3 of them. They all amount to a single decision. The system that binds these 3 actions into that decision acts merely to increase the punishment for having less than 3 GCDs to spend in that particular line of action, making the points of decisions between AoE and ST less modular or fluid. It adds only one manner of restriction-as-optimization -- that Life Surge should be held for Coerthan Tempest.

Let's convert those 3 buttons, for a total of 12 buttons, into our a single button for a total of 2. We now have "Power Mode", "Finesse Mode", and "Piercing Mode", where one is the default and then swapping into either other would make the previous mode take that key's former place. I.e. if Finesse is the default, Power and Pierce are my alternatives across buttons 1 and 2, respectively, and if I swap to Power then Finesse takes the place of button 1, and if I swap to Pierce then Finesse takes the place of button 2.

Voila, I can now charge up -- at whatever varying efficiency we see fit by which to add further constraints, or hopefully thereby add depth to the system -- a Coerthan Tempest of an Impulse Driver -> Disembowel.

I've more available timings at which to swap things around, and thereby gameplay concerns and optimizations, yet I'm using a sixth of the previous number of keys.

But that's not even making full use of these 2 keys or modes. Let's add a further bit to the swaps. Let's say... you can hold down the key to consume MP but generate a further effect on the next attack.

• If I charge up while swapping into Power mode, that will lend the attack further potency on its direct attack (such that there's even more synergetic value in comboing from Impulse to Disembowel to Full Thrust, for instance). You could make this percentile (favoring MP consumption on Full Thrust), or Flat (favoring certain other effects). You could have this bonus linger to some extent into a further attack, synergizing with a quick swap into Pierce thereafter. You could have the charge-up affect different skills differently. There's tons of stuff you could do here, and yet it doesn't cost a single button extra.
• Let's say for now that if I charge up while swapping into Pierce, the previous would-be attack is retained, but will now dash forward and cleave (allowing me to mass-DoT, or mass-vuln, albeit at lesser duration or effectiveness). The cleave range generated per moment of charge depends on the affected skill's potency, so it isn't used for Full Thrust spam constantly. In fact, if I want to maximize it's use for mobility, I'd pop this for True Thrust or Doom Spike only.
• And just to spitball a finish, let's say Finesse gives me some added Attack and Movement Speed, lingering; essentially allowing me to bank the uptime consumed on some fancy spear-flips to really milk a buff window starting as those spear-flips end.

Alright, now I have greater combo complexity than exists in the current build of Dragoon atop, potentially, all the mobility of Elusive Jump, GCD-optimization akin to Life Surge but far more frequently and fluidly available, and window optimization in ways novel to Dragoon. I've still used only... 2 buttons.

And that hasn't even touched on any of the other obvious means of increased depth: skill uniqueness and the undermechanics of combat have yet to be utilized. At present, all but two skills still offer nothing but raw direct potency, and the last two at best provide that potency in slightly less direct ways (DoT damage and potency-as-percent-of-window). They don't have to be that barebone, especially if undermechanics are used in kind.

What if armor were a thing, for instance? Should True Thrust, which appears Dragoon's most straightforward deep-striking attack, really have no advantage in piercing armor over the other skills? What if there was at least a modicum of physics? Should Vorpal do nothing to, as per its appearance, push enemy bodies or blades to each side? Should Full Thrust not toss lighter enemies skyward? Should Disembowel's double-slap, as if parrying, honestly have no effect or its turn, as if ducking under a misdirected blow, not synergize with the first half of its animation? What we had a modicum of AI, rather than merely a CD schedule, a movement speed, and a target-directing table with zero interactions beyond damage-times-modifier in, enmity out? Should the wild, flurried VFX of Chaos Thrust really have no impact on mob behavior or behavior-informing metrics? Should Fang & Claw's dodge component really be only for show?

Naturally, to take advantage of those different skills' unique effects, you want more buttons. Heck, you might even want all 12 of them. But that's only effective design when you let each amount to at least a decision each for every given GCD, rather than a third, fifth, or ninth of a decision as offered every 3, 5, or 10 GCDs. Having a lot of buttons is fine, but it ought to come with commensurate depth, rather than just depth in pretense -- the reality of which, by being separated despite marking no separate decision, is squandered.

[Endeleon]

There's no freaking moombas.

[KayRadley]

Content droughts. COVID exasperated this, as seen in 5.3's delay and the unfortunate cancellation of the All Saints' Wake event, but it feels as though there are large gaps between major content updates, with what we get in each update not being quite enough to hold us over until the next. I've been enjoying some roleplaying to compensate, but hope this can be addressed.

[Ash_]

The biggest issue as an Aussie I am currently facing is apparently everywhere is somehow out of stock of digital EU game time cards.. I usually buy from Game UK, but have looked around various other reputable sites and its the same story. How do you sell out of digital codes? Seems like I'll have to settle paying maximum $40 this time from the SE store -_-

[Sequine]

Catgirls
Tater haters
lack of optional hardcore light party content(Mythic+ equivalent)
Manqo'te being a manlet race that caps out shorter than fem midlander
Elezen men need a cheesy mustache.

[Zumi]

I feel like there could be more bosses per raid tier. Each raid tier has 4 bosses and there are 3 tiers in an expansion and you get 12 total for the expansion. Would like to see more bosses per raid for sure.

[ASkellington]

Some of this has already been said, but maybe collectively it'll help get some changes rolling:

State of healers. I actually just ran The Great Hunt normal earlier and that fight alone sums up healing in general: In 90% of content I'm barely doing anything. To the point where I wish I wasn't there or was an actual DPS. As an AST I have cards to deal with some boredom. I feel sorry for my co-healer WHM and SCH mains.

Can also include State of Tanks and some other DPS jobs in there. Tanks don't feel different other than effects. Some DPS, while not struggling, could use some major quality of life changes. I don't main those classes so I cannot comment on them. We all know who they are.

Lack of communication for western audiences. I get it. Square is based in Japan. That audience is the major focus. But when you have a 73 (and possibly still going) page asking who has quit healing, when you have several various different posts asking for DRK changes on the English forums, I think you should address that. To add onto this, and sorry if its going back to point 1, there was 0 communication about any healer questions, and for the most part that has remained. Why? People feel ignored and its pushing them away from the game.

Content design. Oh boy is this a doozy. Dungeons this expansion aren't hard at all. Maybe I'm old fashioned or maybe it was never this way, but I thought that dungeons were there to teach you how to use your kit in practice for Raids/Trials and Savage content. They do not. And they should. I shouldn't have to go into Savage level content to make the most out of my kit if I'm not a dps. I should be challenged to do so in dungeons so I'm prepared to do it even better by the time I get there. Tankbusters should be more frequent. Raid wide damage should be more frequent. If healers are forced to have so much healing in our kits (cause healers) make the content match.

Since its partly related, older fights while synced (CT raids I'm looking at you) need to be relooked at in the ilvl department. We shouldn't be able to skip phases as we are right now.
I could also extend this to somewhat dead content (like FATEs outside of Yokai event) but word limit.

The Devs do not feel that it is ok for X to be more difficult than Y. Aside from Savage/Extreme vs normal content. It is ok for certain jobs to require more skill than others. If a person wants to get better at a job, they will learn to get better. If they avoid a job because its too high skill for them, that is also fine. You do not have to, and should not, make jobs easier and accessible for all to play. People who want the higher skill will automatically be drawn to it. Not everything is for everyone and it shouldn't be.

[Iscah]

It's not that JP servers are better. Japan is a relatively smaller country, acting as a whole region for a datacenter while other regions are basically continents. If you're living in Japan, it doesn't matter in what province/prefecture you live, you'll always be close to the servers location and have low ping. Same thing happens with South Korean games because SK is a small country and mostly based on Seoul, most Korean players have 9-10 ping. For other regions you can get differences of hundreds of ping depending on where you live, even if you're from that region.

The Japanese servers aren't just for Japan. Players from other countries in the region also use them.

[Bearded]

In all honesty the issues plaguing the forums are threads like this. The game's fine.

[Recon1o6]

ff14 has a lot of limitations currently that are really in need of fixing as they are, or starting to become long term issues that are holding it back.
This is the top 10 in no particular order, since some will obviously be more important to different people

Available dev funding and resources: SE is being really stingy with ff14. It absolutely prints money yet SE denied the funding to bring on new severs until they literally started cracking at the seams when 5.0 launched. SE knew it would be popular, but did nothing. Each patch the servers are more overloaded and have queue times to get in. Dev resources too are insufficient- they are getting enough to keep the game ticking, but they aren't getting the time or people needed to fix the spaghetti code in places where its still around.

Cheating, rmt and botting: going hand in hand with dev resources, the devs aren't bothering or are unable to address the masses of bots being used. The rmt taskforce seems to be nonexistant now given they are advertising constantly in PF

Dev communication: It is well known by this point the forums are screaming into the void 99% of the time. The devs need to take on ideas and feedback, especially the feedback they don't want to hear like with healers and tanks

Job kits: Healers in the worst state they've ever been with redunant healing, minimum damage tools. Tanks not far behind with almost useless defensive abilities. Dps are base breaking at best. Ranged and raise taxes need removal, the gap between dps and none dps is too wide this expansion (tanks/healers take forever to do the duties) the kits are designed around balance and not fun. Homogenisation has been excessive and unneccessary. Devs need to stop dumbing down things and instead raise the weaker jobs. Include a proper, mandatory tutorial as well. Buffs and debuffs need to be readded and need to be long and strong enough so a notable difference can be seen and felt without 3rd party tools

I could rant about job kits all day and so could many others, so lets continue

Casual-Hardcore gap and difficulty: This expansion is, without a doubt, the easiest expansion by far. On one hand there are people who actively refuse to use their job's full kit (cryo mage, 'pure' healers etc)
and can get away with it. Yet we have savage and ultimate especially in NA more excluding than ever of anybody who doesn't have high parses and prior experience, and full of people who willingly fail mechanics in order to get their parse higher to the detriment of others parses. Not to mention the exclusion of ps4 players who can't parse and pc players who dont want to break the tos.
The msq and normal df content needs the difficulty bar raising and a proper tutorial implemented so there are less clueless starting players and max level players are unable to play without using their full kit. Parsers need to be blocked and an in game recruitment for statics instead of through reddit, discord etc.
You didn't need the parsers and other 3rd party tools in the coil people, and gordias was rushed for HW release and left there due to relic delays.

Also, crafting/gathering accessibility has leaned too far in the other direction, now its too easy to get into, markets have been flooded.

Housing: need I say more?

Glamour and gear: no Long hair, clipping, endless buttcapes and pauldrons, lack of variation for casters/healers so they are sutck with robes and coats constantly, gear/gender restrictions, dye restrictions, out of date models, lack of body variance (flat butt, lack of bust, no muscle on most races), poor customisation especially in the face (clones everywhere!), genderlocked races... is it any wonder the modding community has hit it off so well?

Content and release of it: Limited time content (ishgard), non repeatable content in abundance, relics are starting at 2.5 instead of 5.05 like originally thereby losing portions of the playerbase at a time. The patch cycle has become stale with ilvl being calculated. BLU being advertised as solo and ends up requiring a party and a static in order to gets its achievments, mount and even decent spells. Most of its spells are clones and meh potency and been balanced around party play. Lots of party play content despite the msq being primarily solo and no solo content other than relic. Lots of small content that dies off with no popularity or replayability like verminion, ocean fishing etc Eureka has a whole host of issues, getting older raid glam gear is nigh on impossible sometimes as you need a party still.

Technical faults: Ghosting mudras, Sch myriad issues, data issues in the glamour dresser and retainer summons, semi random lag spikes, effect failures (tank mount explosions don't show up for a lot of people)