Is there a reason SE is not trying to future proof content AT ALL?

[Tyssyn]

I own a house, so I stay subscribed, but I still take breaks when I feel bored or burned out, maybe log in once a week, go into my house, poke at retainers.

I know we have 6 month wait for Endwalker, so I'm pacing myself. Taking my time on my relic, then have plans for other things I want to accomplish in game. There's the ocean fishing 1mil point achievement I want to get and I'm only 1/4th of the way there, there's mounts and minions to farm for, I still need a bunch of things from the shared fates' bi-colored gems. I can keep myself happily occupied with those.

[Iscah]

Yeah, though to be fair it isn't really a viable option for those of us who own a house and do not wish to lose it - thus we avoid taking a break.

If you're currently not playing but want to keep your house, you can go 40+ days unsubscribed before paying for a single month and letting it lapse again. You can't just leave for six months but you can certainly get away with only paying for a fraction of a full-time subscription.

[Shougun]

One of the things that they said sometime ago is that they learned it's more important it's fun than how long it takes (paraphrasing). On top of that Yoshida has on a few occasions said that he supports playing the game, taking a break, and picking it back up (housing being one of the items that doesn't quite agree to this, one I hope they can solve some day, although maybe it meant more like "take a break from playing, but not from the sub please" lol ).

There is naturally an importance to grind for those who've the time, and sometimes the required ability, to do so, but there is also a very sizeable (at this point I'd argue potentially majority), who don't, and so I think designing certain things to be grindy until later safety nets are installed and other tasks made not so grindy from the start is a realization on those comments made (the desire isn't to make FFXIV a second job, it's to be fun, and it is trying to be fun to many diverse audiences, which adds to the importance of things like ultimate or using the rolling mountain kind of concept in difficulty (starts hard, over time gets easier, particularly with a function of easy to obtain participation)- yet there is clearly an acceptance / lean that "it's okay to be casual" , naturally it's also okay to be hardcore lol).

[Xatsh]

This is the only mmo I have ever played going back to EQ1 to current where both the devs and alot of player think it is OK and recommended to take breaks from the game for months on end.

It is an underlying problem with design and development of the game. People taking long breaks simply breaks static groups apart, kills communities, and just causes guilds to fall apart due to low activity. Does not effect solo players at all really but anyone looking for community it is disastrous.

As for burnout... that does not exist when a game is well made. Burnout comes from doing repetitive content over and over and over. This is only a real issue in the modern themepark. Games designed like FFXIV and WoW have limited content once you hit the upper tiers. Once you are there it is only a matter of time before you burn out, Aka get sick of doing the same thing day in and day out. Burn out was rare in older mmos that had alot more meat and grind in them. And this was simply because you never really did the same thing day to day at all. Older mmos were not a log in do dailies then do weekly resets style game like most modern mmos are.

To answer the question of this thread. Why does SE not future proof content? It is simple you are not suppose to be doing content once a new "Ride" is added to the themepark. FFXIV is a 100% Linear Casual Themepark. This game is designed for weekend warriors, the 6-12hrs a week tops player. It is designed so no one gets left behind. People are funneled into the same content to speed up Duty Finder and BIS gear is reset every raid patch. FFXIV is truly the king of casual mmos. It is why so many people absolutely love this game... and why so many don't. And unfortunately as bad as taking breaks are you are sorta required to in this game, unless you fit the extreme casual player category.

Devs have to target the block of players they want to attract. There are alot more casual players then midcore/hardcores. Casual content will lead to burnout for anyone not casual, because it is quick, not grindy at all, and rewarding so it has less longevity. A hardcore/midcore style game can have 10,000-20,000 hrs of content, but will push away the casuals who are appalled by grindy mechanics, large guild requirements for endgame, requirement on other people for their progression, lack of quick rewards, and slower character progression. FFXIV has chosen the casual path.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

I disagree that burnout never existed on older (non themepark) mmos. I think people just remember things differently than how it really was 20 years ago or so.

People have probably just changed. I like not having to spend x amount of hours playing XIV to stay current and not fall behind anywhere. I can just log in, do whatever I feel like, raid, then either play the myriad of other games I'm also interested in, or read, or go through my list of crap I still am working slowly on in XIV, like fishing, chocobo racing, etc.

I love XIV, but I also love that it allows me to spend time on my other hobbies.

[ICountFrom0]

Burnout went all the way back to MUD's for that matter. Could always grind out another remort loop for just another small bonus, or get a few billion gold to buy some rare drop, or grind the rare drop yourself.

Anyway, it might actually be the perfect blend. You can run through in a single day if you dislike the content and just move on. Otherwise the maxed out mettle requirement and weekly quest, and honor system, all that is there to keep you going, getting the lootboxes, and getting the purple sparklers.

[kaynide]

And then people complain there isn't enough content because the devs tell people not to subscribe and give them money to make more content.

That’s on them, innit? I’ve done almost everything there is to do for a casual, and I dabble with Eureka and Bozja..but it just isn’t for me.

In the 5.0 series I have stopped to play several games, including some I recommend: Animal Crossing, Nier, Horizon Zero Dawn and Subnautica.

There’s a lot of variety in genre there, if you’re bored, try one out?

[Ravor]

I am really surprised that most people think there is no content in this game.... my current target is:
1. finishing all bozja content
2. getting all triple triad card to get that card mount (currently 275/310)
3. getting all trust NPC to lvl 80
4. finishing the firmament content
5. get a house
6. buy the 25 million mount (my current gil is 12 million, god help me >_<)
7. learning how to actually play mahjong
8. saving MGP for new mount
9. finishing my fishing class quest
10. getting all other class to lvl 80
11. actually doing and finishing delibrium savage
12. finishing extreme lvl 80 (i am still strugling on diamond extreme)
13. many more

I can list more stuff to do in this game........ this game has more stuff to do than most game out there......... what else does they want? the dev love to make player do more content rather than grinding the same content, the amount of content in this game is so many, that I already know what to do in this 6 months

And if you dont like other stuff i mention up there..... play other game

[Ashgarth]

And then people complain there isn't enough content because the devs tell people not to subscribe and give them money to make more content.

Who has ever said that? FFXIV has had the same content release schedule when it had 300k or 2 million subs.

[Kaliesto]

I never did like the whole grind aspect of MMOs and especially from the days of the Early Internet, I think it did have its place at one point in MMO history because back then there wasn't much games to play and we needed something to do.

But since gaming has evolved greatly that I think less grinding would be the way to go.

Grinding in the end was never generally fun, it was just put there as something to do mindlessly (which isn't fun).

I especially don't miss the days of defeating enemies 100 times as a quest (thank god that stuff like that is going away lately).