I need to vent about my disappointment in Bozja. What even happened here?

[Gemina]

I really tried to enjoy this content, and definitely gave it a fair chance. I abandoned it back in 5.3 iirc, and I revisited it the other night since I decided to go after a Law and Order weapon. It wasn't long before I was reminded why I despise this content. While on the step that gives x5 memories per Castrum run, I decided to hop into Bozja and just do some Skirmishes and Engagements while waiting things out. Ten minutes in, I said "screw this" and hopped right into grinding CT raids. I would GLADLY run CT 15 times over the hassle with Castrum three times. Easily the path of least resistance for me, but it isn't even about that. Bozja just isn't fun.

I also find myself getting frustrated and annoyed. Even managing what is basically an entirely separate inventory drives me ape crazy. If I get aggro unexpectedly, too much lag related death I can't do much about other than find a spot I think is safe and pray; having to gradually make my way back to camp if return is n/a, and just all kinds of other little things that all add up to me exploding.

It's not all bad, and there are some fun bosses and mechanics. Lost actions can be convenient and fun to use, but I also dislike having to manage them and how they can make all jobs function differently than in regular PvE content. I've never been a fan of FF games that do not use the job system, and that can definitely contribute to my feelings about Bozja.

[Kaoru_Nagisa]

I like Bozja when I'm in Bozja. I don't like Bozja when I'm not in Bozja.

It's definitely content I need to be "in a mood" to play. Sometimes turning my brain off and going from Skirmish to Skirmish is relaxing, and can even be fun. Castrum, Delubrum, and Dalriada are also all really fun content on their own - they're just dragged out and made incredibly tiresome by poor play and lazy players. The relic grind itself, though, was horrid and exactly the same issue I had with Eureka. Thankfully, Bozja was at least more fun to me than Eureka... so I guess they're kind of improving.

Still wish relics would just go back to grinding various different types of content that you can pick up and do while doing other stuff, rather than shoved in a separate instance zone cut off from the rest of the game. Bozja was an improvement over Eureka, but I still don't like the core of it regardless.

[AnotherPerson]

It didn't even felt like a battlefield. Just a barren wasteland where all the fighting was already done and we are just there to clean up quick. You know what looks like a true battlefield? The last stormblood dungeon, that would been the right aesthetic to go for not this patch of always looking the same mud.

I mean... it was nuked and Bozjans are trying to reclaim the dead land, so it made sense it's a barren wasteland.

Adventure-wise, Eureka made more sense since you're exploring uncharted territory all over again after it was affected by the elemental changes. The atmosphere was different, and it was reflected by the storytelling and aesthetic design.

Bozja's kind of environment aligns to how warzones are in real life; they aren't fun or pretty. It's depressing and sad, with survival on the line and everyone's roles in contributing to the effort (hence the mechanically challenging fights in Critical Engagements).

It's not bad design in that sense, but it's definitely not everyone's cup of tea and doesn't need to be. It is optional sidecontent after all.

[Adeacia]

I liked Bozja well enough. Found it fairly entertaining. I got my completed weapon this time. Not like Eureka which I dropped well before finishing. Not a fan of essences, just like I didn't like the Eureka version of them. Raids were fine, though as a healer I didn't feel too useful there due to the twice come ruin debuff.

I'd rather have them not make content like this again that will die and make it basically impossible to get a weapon down the line since it requires other players to be there in content no one will run anymore. They did at least consider that this time from the start, but it's not enough.

[Iscah]

I'm also up to the Timeworn Artifact step on the relic and it may just be nope out time. I don't mind DR. I do mind all the bitching about the "right" essences. The idea of having to go out into this zone I hate and farm those makes me just not even want to play the game.

If it's any help, CLL drops the fragments that give you essences, so you might be able to get them cheap on the marketboard. I have no idea what the supply vs demand is, though.

[GeminiReed]

If it's any help, CLL drops the fragments that give you essences, so you might be able to get them cheap on the marketboard. I have no idea what the supply vs demand is, though.

The ones that have a chance to yield the useful essences all sell for 10-20k gil per gacha ticket. Very easy to burn through a couple 100k to get what you need. While that's pocket change for some people that's somebody else's entire purse.

[SturmChurro]

Bozja was pretty hit or miss. I thought it had some really great ideas for how they could incorporate open world events, or world bosses, but Yoshida stated in some interview awhile back, that their battle team is stretched to thin to ever really implement that kind of content in the general open world.

[Velnora]

They really should take a page from GW2 on how to do open world content.

[Corzado]

I'm hoping they can take the best of both Bozja and Eureka and combine them into whatever we get in EW.

Bozja - Actions, Raids, CEs (would prefer if they were less frequent though, it loses the appeal when you're teleporting to one every 10 minutes.

Eureka - More player agency (ie not just doing boring fates and being transported around the map for CEs), aesthetically pleasing and much better map design (Yes, that includes Pagos), actual real community aspect vs the "community" that XIV players are used to.