FF14 devs just keep doing your thing because my god

[KaijinRhada]

A lot of the WoW hate is just resentment. For many people, WoW used to be a brilliant game. I personally enjoyed it and spend countless hours there which I don't regret. However over time they removed or ruined a significant number of things that people liked, to the point that millions who enjoyed the game finally had enough and had to move elsewhere.

People are just angry at the devs for wrecking something they loved. That's why they take satisfaction at seeing Blizzard struggle, wish for them to do badly or ramble on about how FF14 is superior. Secretly I imagine a good number of players would actually prefer to be playing WoW right now, just a version where all the old things they enjoyed and praised the game for still existed and were built on. Classic barely scratched that itch, as good as it might be, it's outdated content that's been seen and done and new story, zones, classes, ect keep things exciting. I love FF14 but in all honesty if WoW was as good as it has been in the past, I wouldn't be here.

The anger mindset is very unhealthy though. It's that abusive relationship syndrome, where even after you've moved past it, you cling to that resentment. WoW isn't going to die or the devs "learn their lesson" anytime soon, nor is it likely to improve when the old team is long gone. They'll probably have millions of subscribers for years to come. It's just how it is. Best to just look back at the good times and memories and look forward to more to come in FF14 or other MMO's.

This is generally my feeling, and it's true. People will sour to things that they feel have wronged them and I have seen and experienced a level of schadenfreude directed at Blizzard (particularly when it comes to quality assurance, which sometimes >>feels<< completely absent from WoW). Overtime though, I let it go. I understand that devs aren't static, people retire or move on, and from there an enduring franchise will continue and evolve. But just as it changes, a player's interest will change with it. For me, personally, my interests no longer align enough with what WoW is continuing with to keep being subbed.

I still keep up with WoW news to see if there's anything to look forward to enough for me to return. Since BfA there hasn't been. I had in the past unsubbed between expansions from burnout, but the big tipping point for me was the continuation of Titanforging and the return of ham-fisted faction conflict as the main plot driver. On the side of gearing, I was generally pretty lucky, but I still didn't like Titanforging as a concept. For story, the cold war style faction conflict in vanilla and it being an undercurrent in WotLK was fine, but I didn't fancy it in MoP and BfA seemed forced. The way it got narratively pushed in BfA with weird characterizations of different notable NPCs, and a strange plot retread that made it feel like MoP 2 Electric Boogaloo, on top of the recurring burnout on the established systems made it an easy pass for me.

SL seemed like things have since improved, but it didn't spark any interest in me. Continued issues regarding class balance and responses to reported bugs/concerns on PTR and beta are relatively the same as I have experienced before, which is to say not fantastic. Story beats were, well, WoW was never going to win accolades on narrative anyway. Ironically, my mainspec was doing quite well (though my off-spec appears to be doing mediocre at best), but raiding itself isn't enough justification for me to return. For now, I'll continue to reminisce about the bygone days of my WoW career, and keep being entertained by the likes of Rextroy.