Why do long time players play the game so differently?

[SeverianLyonesse]

I'm curious as to why you consider parsing a chore and a hamster wheel, isn't parsing something you should do for your own self improvement and on your own volition?
Not necessarily talking about you in particular, I see this sentiment to be all too common: parsing is an obligation and something you MUST do to prove to some strangers that you are good at the gamr, even though there has been no recorded ingame instance of people judging you on your parses.

Is it really self-improvement when:

1) There is always new content to clear, which you may not enjoy for having a different difficulty curve, or being more of the same, or having aesthetics/mechanics you don't really like? Off the top of my head, the unskippable cutscenes in certain trials would be very off-putting to older players.
2) Your own main jobs are constantly being reworked: your role diminished/diluted, your ability choice removed, and your rotations gutted? Perhaps you don't want to keep re-learning a job when it will just change again, and often in a less fun way.
3) You have a real life and can discover other interests that translate more directly to benefitting you IRL? Video game burnout is a process that eventually happens to everyone because it is a fairly parasitic pasttime, and that is even allowing for intentionally channeling it in pro-social ways.

All three points just reflect how long the game has been around, and how eventually the divide between various "eras" creates more casual/nostalgic interest in franchise vets. Happens across all media.

And, btw, if it helps categorize my opinion, I am decidedly in the camp of not caring about parsing. I don't have the time or interest in joining a static, and I actually enjoy casual matchups in DF/PF. Not to mention the whole thing feels like a waste of time to me if I'm not ultimately monetizing all those hours sunk into the game, be it through streaming or competitive play. I'm not great--I have really on point days and some faffs, oftentimes related to party communication--but the way I play, I don't need to be.

[Illmaeran]

I'd written a long post that got messed up in the Cut/Paste/Edit process so here's the TL : DR

Reason 1: I've never used ACT or other parsing add-ons because they're banned in the ToS and I got tired of having my screen filled up with add-on stuff in previous games. This one's too pretty to cover up.

I did all my hardcore min/max playing in Vanilla through Wrath WoW. After getting tired of that I stopped and got into more relaxed content. I found XIV in 2014 and fell in love with the relaxed/casual design philosophy and stuck around. A lot of the people who I played with at that time had similar experiences and played the game for the same reason. A few of those folks are still around and still do their casual thing.

If I can get to the point where I'm good enough at a job to do the content participate in without issues, I'm happy. I don't need to min/max to get that extra half percent damage/healing/mitigation. All I need to do is hit my marks and keep up a rotation as best I can.

I do play the market board on occasion, but have no interest in babysitting my retainers to re-list things constantly. I'll toss things up as I get them and will occasionally purge my retainers inventories, but that's generally the extent of it. I've got enough money to buy anything I want, when I want, and make enough doing my regular daily activities to be profitable. If I REALLY need an influx of gil, I'll smash through a bunch of crafting leves. They're a lot less cumbersome and time consuming than playing the market board.

I don't enjoy doing cutting-edge raiding or trials, but I like the pets and glamours from them. Waiting for them to be soloable lets me get into those zones without worrying about dying and will net the pets, mounts, or glamour I want. Old content's fun to revisit for the memories as well.


It's that simple. I, and all the Old Timers I play with, have Been There, Done That in the past and don't want to do it again.

[TaleraRistain]

okay so I'm seeing this pattern being repeated across this thread
basically people who have "already done it", i.e. have already parsed and got all hot and bothered about it, don't seem to want to do that endlessly for every single patch, every new savage tier, every new expansion
which begs the question: does parsing really matter when you have to do it all over again every 6 months to 2 years?
it feels like some endless carrot chasing that doesn't result in any long term reward or achievement, and more of a thing that you do when you're new and have something to prove.

Sounds like you're catching on, padawan. I'm not saying there aren't groups who value the whole optimization mindset and enjoy constantly chasing that carrot. There are and that's where their bliss is and at the end of the day we do what makes us happy. But many of us have been around MMOs for a while. We did whatever treadmill in the past and realized how exhausting that mentality can be. So we might partake here and there, or we don't partake at all. And that's a fine way to play, too. The beauty about XIV is that it's welcoming to so many different mindsets of player. We just have to try to find our niche that makes us happy here.

If you're only surrounded by people who want to chase the carrot, then it can seem like the most important thing in the world. You might need to branch out a bit and poke at some other types of communities if that mindset is wearing you down and isn't something you want anymore.

[Jennah]

Why do long-time players not play the marketboard?

... because we've had 999,999,999 gil for years, and don't need anymore.

[Kolsykol]

Parsing and damage meters in my opinion only matter in the sense of a punching bag to train with and improve. If one wishes to continue improving or are just content with where they are, that is their prerogative.

I use it outside of content to measure gear growth for fun ( I don't use food and pots for it it's a waste imo I am just doing it for fun ).
Inside content tho I've never used it and don't want to.
I feel like if I had a dps meter in my corner I'd actually play worse because I'd pay attention to it too much and stress out about it.

[SyphinAes]

Why are we still feeding the various obvious troll?

[Vahlnir]

Why are we still feeding the various obvious troll?

Yeah. When they said they added additional hot takes as a "courtesy" that was all I needed to see. lol

[SilverObi]

First you're someone who's been playing since 2014 and returned from a long break in 2016, then recently returned in 2021, now you're a newish player. Something isn't passing the smell test here.

[Burmecia]

1. i'm console peasant.
sure, i know passable version of the rotation for the job i raid with. i kinda make it my mission to learn this much at least in every new xpack.
but i never had interest in beginning to file all the tiny rough spots off my gameplay. it's literally whatever for me.
the fact that FIFA World Cup exists doesn't stop me from kicking ball in my local park and enjoying it. read: the fact that we have world racers for savage and ultimate doesn't stop me from trying savage and ultimate with my friends and liking it.
2. atm making gil is probs my fav thing to do in game and always has been in my top 3 things to do. I am very happy with the houses I have, and with my general capacity to spoil my friends. active gil making, passive gil making, I take my profits from both as I can.
3. after you farm your tomes and current raids for the week, what else can you do to increase your ilvl before next week???
better ilvl is the best friend of softcore raider anyway.
farming current ex trials for mounts is the most brains destroying thing for me. did it through better part of SB and for the whole ShB. so taking break myself now, thanks - by enjoying "outdated things".

FF14 since 3.0, semi-veteran at least.

[Shuuli]

there are people who only play mahjong in this game... I seen a vid a bout a guy who just leveled his char, entered the saucer, and never came out xD but has the mahjong achievement. If thats what they wanna do let them.