The worst thing about not being able to play is avoiding the spoilers

[Red_Panda]

The real bummer is this has ruined my enjoyment of the game as a whole and has blocked off my normal partaking of the internet for who knows how long. Spoilers are everywhere and I can't go to any of the usual places I go to to find information or to talk about the game. I always have a social media blackout for new expansions but now that I am looking at possibly months until I can complete the story.

I am stuck in a constant state of paranoia having to side eye anywhere I look online. I already had a major event spoiled by someone randomly posting it in a place you wouldn't expect. By the time I will finally be able to take part in the conversation about the game everything will already be old news, all the joy and discovery discussion will have been had. Everyone's opinions about the story will be set in and I won't be able to add anything to the topics. It is really stressful and frustrating.

[DPZ2]

Yup. Even reading posts from the Lore sections of the forum ... do players really not know how to write a headline that doesn't spoil the game for people?

[Welsper59]

While I agree that there is a need to shift your day to day if it involves frequenting sites that talk about spoiler related content, it really shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. Then again, that probably is easy for me to say because of how I don't often go to social media sites or participate in community stuffs (like using FFXIV related Discord channels) as a norm. I also don't go to sites with the potential to spoil, like lore filled wiki sites or fanart stuff, with the exception being YouTube.

I get the fun to be had in discussion while something is hot, but the situation we all face with Endwalker is a bit of an anomaly and not exactly something that didn't normally happen before. I mean, you won't exactly be among the first, but... so what? You'll also be among a sea of others who are in the same situation as you. If the recent influx of players some months ago is any indication, discussion is always had.

[kejakalope]

The real bummer is this has ruined my enjoyment of the game as a whole and has blocked off my normal partaking of the internet for who knows how long. Spoilers are everywhere and I can't go to any of the usual places I go to to find information or to talk about the game. I always have a social media blackout for new expansions but now that I am looking at possibly months until I can complete the story.

I am stuck in a constant state of paranoia having to side eye anywhere I look online. I already had a major event spoiled by someone randomly posting it in a place you wouldn't expect. By the time I will finally be able to take part in the conversation about the game everything will already be old news, all the joy and discovery discussion will have been had. Everyone's opinions about the story will be set in and I won't be able to add anything to the topics. It is really stressful and frustrating.

Sympathies. Even the Youtube front-page algorithm is like playing Russian roulette. But, remember that a huge portion of the community is in the same boat, so you're not as far behind the curve as you think.