More downgrades...(Pandaemonium Savage spoilers)

[OM3GA-Z3RO]

Compared to all the previous expansions before EW

A Realm Reborn = Holds the most number of content which is understandable because they needed to keep players busy while they had to fix their mistakes and everything was experimental, their raid The Coils of Bahamut felt like an actual raid, had Voice Acting albeit only near the end and they even had a CG cutscene that explains everything after Louisoux teleported everyone and was left to fight Bahamut on his own. Coils felt like a proper raid.

Heavensward = They really started to up their musical scores and the battle arena's were good and interesting when fighting Bismarck for the 1st time was great, Sophia tilting the arena, Zurvan breaking free thus making the arena smaller was all good. Alexander raids also felt like a proper Raid which they should've kept that formula where in normal raids you all rampage through Alexander and you get to see the spectacle and magnitude of a Primal, there is a literal city inside it and that was great and in Savage it takes you straight to the boss which was great. The Soundtracks in Alexander Raids were absolute bangers.

Stormblood = Trials were amazing in this one, the QTE when you need to clash against Susan's sword, the riding on Shinryu and then running on his tail to his back while dodging lazers were phenomenal this fight is one of the fights that they need to bring back doing mad stunts and not just have a 1 Square or Circle arena like what we have nowadays. Sadly Stormblood was the beginning of the Mini-Trial formula disguised as Raids where you just fight bosses that they could've just been Trials at this point, when I started doing it for the 1st time I was at first okay with it because I considered the story of the Omega Raids a "Tournament Arc" kind of story, the soundtracks were good and Omega's Theme was an absolute banger.

Shadowbringers = They did an amazing job with the music in the Trials but what bothered me the most is the absolute huge lack of voice acting in the important side content the Weapon story line and Bozja, the cutscenes production value was much better than the rest when it came to side content but they have been dulled down due to no voice acting, the actions and body language characters made fell really short without the voice acting, examples being: Valens’ chanting "Burn out the Bad!", Valens’ hysterical laughter when the Ala Mhigan wife pleaded him to let her and her daughter go after the passing husband agreed to take the experiment and many other examples, similar example is within the Raids when Gaia and Ryne laugh, it looks... weird that you can clearly see they are laughing but it's just body language. The Eden raids were pretty good but I could see the degradation of raid fights and arenas and it made me realize that this is the formula they gonna stick to because it is quicker and easier for them to make them and I feared that any future content made will degrade further and I was right, it has in EW.

[Wilford111]

One thing to keep in mind is the game has already the most unique music of any mmo. Guineas record actually.

See I feel like they heard about this during ARR and then used it as an excuse to be extremely lazy with their soundtracks from then on.

[Seraphor]

I don't really understand this hang up of "true raids". As far as I'm aware, there's no defined format for a "raid", just a carry over of what another specific MMO typically does for their "raids" which is ultimately just the case of two different games using the same term for different things.

There's nothing enjoyable about having to burn down trash mobs before you start a fight, especially not if you're repeating that fight over and over, which you sometimes need to do for even normal raids when you don't get the loot you need.

In fact the most boring raid in the game so far, which I loathe queuing into via the roulette, is that one Alex raid which is just a room full of trash mob spawns one after the other.
I couldn't tell you which one that is because most of the Alex raids just blur into each other as one amorphous goblin orgy. The big finishers are great, but the 1-3s are all very dull and repetitive.

Omega did it well, it had the perfect balance between some story trash you fight solo and only one time, followed by the raid bosses themselves as the actual party instances.

[BaconBits]

goblin orgy

How dare you make me read this with my own eyes?

[EtherRose]

"miniscule things" add up. Move along.

They are still miniscule things. Things that a very few complain about.

Snip

You know what I mean, I clearly explained it. Quit being dense. And it's not a major issue at all if the majority isn't up in pitch forks. Because again, you're complaining about something miniscule. Yes you can voice your criticism all you want but don't get your panties in a bunch when others criticize you.

I'm really starting to get the impression that a lot of people who give this type of reply to any sort of criticism are just happy to take anything the devs present to them no matter what package it's presented in. I feel like because Yoshi P saved the game since 1.0, it's like now a lot of players are willing to accept anything because the devs have their full support and trust. Even if you are disappointed about something, you can't even voice your opinion because you're seen as ungrateful and just whining. This type of blind support for anything and everything really puts me off.

Wrong. If they added something to the game that is clearly broken/bugged or not working then no one would take that. We're talking about Music here. Music. One of the miniscule things. And who said you can't voice your opinion? Just because your opinion gets a little fire doesn't mean it's over.

Looks like someone's furious that their favorite game is getting criticized.

I criticize the game myself. Your point?

Snip

The way the criticism was delivered in the end is what is petty. Not the criticism itself. "wHaT a DOwNgRade", Yea yea we've heard it many times now at this point it's satirical. And nobody is stopping anyone from voicing negative feedback, at all. I don't understand why people think that they can give negative feedback but not receive any in return. You think everyone would just agree with you?

[Mansion]

I don't really understand this hang up of "true raids". As far as I'm aware, there's no defined format for a "raid", just a carry over of what another specific MMO typically does for their "raids" which is ultimately just the case of two different games using the same term for different things.

There's nothing enjoyable about having to burn down trash mobs before you start a fight, especially not if you're repeating that fight over and over, which you sometimes need to do for even normal raids when you don't get the loot you need.

I think that's just because trash is boring in this game. We have very basic AoE rotations because we have very little need to be using AoE in the first place. We don't use Crowd Control (and we have very little CC) because we have no use for it. So as it stands now, yes, trash would be obnoxious in a raid. I personally hate every trash pull in 24-man raid.
Now if there was a fundamental redesign of AoE and fight encounter, it might be interesting.
At this point for players who have been around for some time, I'm sure any change would be welcome to shake up the formula. But this requires a lot of work from the devs, and I'm not sure they are interested to even shyly stray away from the comfort zone they have established in their patch cycle. Some like it, some find it boring. Both opinions are valid.

But the downscaling of little bits of content here and there is a fact. I'm not sure it applies to music which is the topic here, but less dungeons, less side quests, less gear sets... the only thing we have more and more is cutscenes, which is a finite value in a MMO.

[KizuyaKatogami]

They are still miniscule things. Things that a very few complain about.



You know what I mean, I clearly explained it. Quit being dense. And it's not a major issue at all if the majority isn't up in pitch forks. Because again, you're complaining about something miniscule. Yes you can voice your criticism all you want but don't get your panties in a bunch when others criticize you.



Wrong. If they added something to the game that is clearly broken/bugged or not working then no one would take that. We're talking about Music here. Music. One of the miniscule things. And who said you can't voice your opinion? Just because your opinion gets a little fire doesn't mean it's over.



I criticize the game myself. Your point?



The way the criticism was delivered in the end is what is petty. Not the criticism itself. "wHaT a DOwNgRade", Yea yea we've heard it many times now at this point it's satirical. And nobody is stopping anyone from voicing negative feedback, at all. I don't understand why people think that they can give negative feedback but not receive any in return. You think everyone would just agree with you?

I’m fine with people disagreeing with me. It’s when they resort to disgusting tactics like emotional manipulation, using someone’s cancer or a global pandemic to try and prove a false point that is a problem. Just so happens so is insulting others and you’ve ticked all the boxes so i’ll just refrain from engaging with you.

[Y2K21]

You mean all the miniscule things that don't really matter but people like you make it out bigger than what it really is? You take something that is completely mundane and act like it's the end of the world over it. The same threads pop up over and over from people like you - "Omg they didn't do this or Omg they didn't add the exact same things from the other expansion or this current thread".... wHAt a DOwNgrAde. Move on now.

Wow now the music is "miniscule and completely mundane" because someone complained that we have less music in the game? Dont you know Soken was in the hospital with cancer.

[kpxmanifesto]

I criticize the game myself. Your point?

C'mon man, it's not a riddle. You don't have to be petty and disrespectful to someone because they criticized FFXIV.

[Seraphor]

I think that's just because trash is boring in this game. We have very basic AoE rotations because we have very little need to be using AoE in the first place. We don't use Crowd Control (and we have very little CC) because we have no use for it. So as it stands now, yes, trash would be obnoxious in a raid. I personally hate every trash pull in 24-man raid.
Now if there was a fundamental redesign of AoE and fight encounter, it might be interesting.
At this point for players who have been around for some time, I'm sure any change would be welcome to shake up the formula. But this requires a lot of work from the devs, and I'm not sure they are interested to even shyly stray away from the comfort zone they have established in their patch cycle. Some like it, some find it boring. Both opinions are valid.

But the downscaling of little bits of content here and there is a fact. I'm not sure it applies to music which is the topic here, but less dungeons, less side quests, less gear sets... the only thing we have more and more is cutscenes, which is a finite value in a MMO.

We have add phases in a lot of fights that involve more specific mechanics. Those pretty much take the place of trash mobs and I much prefer how they work. As part of the fight, and a predictable part at that, it allows you to work them into your rotation, which is useful for tanks and healers.

There's also the presence of "door bosses", giving you multiple phases to one fight. Againn much more preferable to pre-fight trash mobs, and yet some people still complain about them.