I was thinking just now why Endwalker feels so awful to play and it dawned on me that it’s because the game design is so bland I don’t feel like I or anyone matters anymore. It’s completely nihilistic and stale gameplay.

I am talking about normal content. As most of the game is normal content. For example our tank disconnected in Aerherfont, an expert dungeon and I tanked it as BLM while a very poorly geared SCH kept me alive. How poorly geared? Well he hasn’t played since he finished EW and only bought enough pieces in the market board to get his ilvl high enough. Did not meld them either.

So… people don’t needs tanks, they don’t need healers, and they sure don’t need DPS, then all we have is depression as a player. You don’t make a difference. Not really. And this is sad.

I know most of these elements were implemented because people felt too much pressure as a healer or tank, or didn’t want to fail or whatever. They tried to make it so people feel safe. But safety isn’t fun. By doing this the developers also took away the chance for players to shine and pull through. For people to notice and recognize who’s good at their job. None of this exists now. Everyone is indifferent to everyone.

In a quest to avoid conflict in their game at all costs they did not create happiness or success. They created silence and indifference. Before, in dungeons like the burn sure if a player wasn’t able to clear after several wipes people would get mad, or at orbonne monastery, but they also knew joy when things were completed. This is because people recognized that things took effort and well… they made a difference. People were important.