Where is all the content?

[Xavier_Firbold]

This expansion really feels to me like a rehash of pretty much everything we've had before.

I also am well aware this opinion will invoke the ire of the much lauded "community".

For example

1. Gearsets
   In this new expansion we have one set of "new" gear, which is the AF gear for each class. Everything else is re-used from either SHB or STB, some of which isn't even dyeable. Where has the effort been in this? The new crafted gear is a reuse of PVP gear which the majority of people didn't even like.
   
2. Music
   Fate bosses still have the ARR music... Why?
   
   Raid tier doesn't have a second theme.
   
   Lot's of reused music throughout the expansion, the new map "Dungeon" hasn't even changed even though it's a completely different lore based area.
   
3. Zones
   Ultima Thule is the smallest zone we have EVER had based on walkable terrain. Labyrinthos is also tiny compared to the likes of Heavenswards areas or even Stormblood. The Ruby sea? All zones in EW have at LEAST half of the area available to explore. The Mare Lamentorum was hailed as a completely new world for us to explore and yet it's as big as both areas of Uldah put together.
   
4. Voice acting
   No voice acting in raids, even though this new tier is a "completely new and original idea". Baby Elidibus has a voice in the opening scene and then nothing else? Characters within Pandaemonium are INTEGRAL to our story going forward, it's part of the reason the events of ARR happened to begin with. It's a joke that these characters are not voiced.
   
5. Server issues
   Need I say more? The excuse of covid doesn't fit when I can easily go onto a server hosting company and pay for a server to be setup to the same level as the servers which Square use in their datacenters in the EU. With almost 24 hour deployable time. This can easily be seen here and here
   
   All this while the player subscription numbers have increased by almost a million in the last 16 months seen here
   

[Xavier_Firbold]

6. Story issues
This most recent story was the most poorly paced and incongruous mess I have ever sat through. There are so many plot holes and time travel issues introduced with this narrative that from some points of view, it would be impossible for the WOL to even have done the things in the past to allow the things to happen as they have in the future.

Not only that, Meteion is the worst Deus ex Machina I have seen for quite some time, if she was so dangerous, and Hydaelyn/Venat knew about her for this entire time, why not warn us earlier? The whole thing just doesn't make any sense. The journey through Ultima Thule where the characters are being killed off was almost laughably obvious. We had already been introduced to the Mcguffin that would bring them back.


Overall, I absolutely adore this game and it's been a complete passion of mine for near enough a decade now. But seeing it go so down hill so quickly is such a shame. This whole expansion just reeks of lazy writing and cash grabbing. As of writing this they've just released a stripper pole on the MogStation... Really?

Feel free to lambast me as much as you want community. Tis what it is.

[Pintsized]

[*]Server issues
Need I say more? The excuse of covid doesn't fit when I can easily go onto a server hosting company and pay for a server to be setup to the same level as the servers which Square use in their datacenters in the EU. With almost 24 hour deployable time. This can easily be seen here and here

Ah, I see we have an MMO server deployment expert .. or not .. obviously an entire XIV datacentre could be built using pre-packaged hardware like this.

LOL?

[Xavier_Firbold]

I don't know bud, maybe it could and maybe it couldn't? Do we really know what the hardware is like? My example is simply to prove that servers ARE available, not necessarily that they're to the same spec.

[Pintsized]

6. Story issues
This most recent story was the most poorly paced and incongruous mess I have ever sat through. There are so many plot holes and time travel issues introduced with this narrative that from some points of view, it would be impossible for the WOL to even have done the things in the past to allow the things to happen as they have in the future.
<etc>

Agreed, the asinine use of Azem's Crystal to invalidate any emotional investment players had made in the Ultima Thule arc as well as the 'teleport me home' button simply destroyed any integrity the writers once had IMO.

It's beyond me why so many 'young male fans' are so giddy with excitement over this appalling end to the ARR arc .. it's FFXIV's equivalent of Game of Thrones Season 8.

[Pintsized]

I don't know bud, maybe it could and maybe it couldn't? Do we really know what the hardware is like? My example is simply to prove that servers ARE available, not necessarily that they're to the same spec.

Yes servers like this are available from services like this, the issue is that SE will have a standard spec for all their hardware for ease of deployment, servicing etc, and so off-the shelf one-offs like this really aren't much use for SE's needs.

[DynnDiablos]

Agreed, the asinine use of Azem's Crystal to invalidate any emotional investment players had made in the Ultima Thule arc as well as the 'teleport me home' button simply destroyed any integrity the writers once had IMO.

It's beyond me why so many 'young male fans' are so giddy with excitement over this appalling end to the ARR arc .. it's FFXIV's equivalent of Game of Thrones Season 8.

No one is forcing you to play. You are free to exit and do something else.

[Bearded]

It does need to be taken into account that one world is not one server - it's probably at least 6 servers containing quite specific components and might be several servers more than that in truth. Then you have the data connections, backup facilities, etc. etc. - this is not off the shelf stuff you get from a hosting company.

[ArcaviusGreyashe]

It does need to be taken into account that one world is not one server - it's probably at least 6 servers containing quite specific components and might be several servers more than that in truth. Then you have the data connections, backup facilities, etc. etc. - this is not off the shelf stuff you get from a hosting company.

It's even more complex than that, since housing has its own servers, instances have their own servers, but they all use the same network, and so on. Plus this is all built on an ancient indian cemetery that's haunted by 1.0.

Story issues are personal point of views, so I don't agree with you, I won't convert you to my point of view, neither the opposite, let's just call it a day.

The other arguments are interesting, though.

I agree with you on gearsets, there are indeed less than there was before, zones are indeed smaller, maybe even less diverse... These are all valid points, but does that make the game worse ? I mean, we don't use the open world anyway, except for some tribal quests, so gigantic zones may not be that interesting. Every area in the expansion serves a purpose in the story, and that's... just another way of doing things.

But I still find it lackluster that the raid is indeed a bit disappointing. Arenas are not that great, P4S transition is laughable compared to the others... I must agree that if you don't like the story of EW, it's clearly a lackluster expansion. We can only hope that the alliance raid and future patches will be a breath of fresh air. It's still My favorite expansion, but I can't disagree with you.

[Xavier_Firbold]

Indeed, nobody is forcing us to play, however we are paying for a service and therefore have the opportunity to either congratulate or complain.

If you're in a restaurant and the food comes through half cooked or wrong, do you complain? For me it's the same principle, if you're paying for a service you have the right to comment about said service.

To take this away from a patron is nothing short of censure.