If you continue to dumb down the game, you will lose half your player base

[StriderShinryu]

They've also been prone to taking a handful of comments as an excuse to change something even if the overwhelming majority of players are fine with it. Such as when they decided to change the Sage icon due to 'trypophobia' (despite leaving the leatherworker icon alone when it in itself has many more holes than the original design for Sage had!)

If that isn't enough, look how utterly obsessed they've become with the idea of removing the gender lock on hairstyles and gear despite many more people just wanting conventionally attractive options for whatever gender of character that they're playing.

You keep saying things like "overwhelming majority" and "more people" but how do you know that's the case? Not saying that aren't people who do feel that way, yourself being an example, but you're clearly an intelligent enough person to recognize that there's a massive gap between "I want it like this" and "most people want it like this." You've called for "the numbers" in your other thread so you are clearly acknowledging that you don't have, well, the numbers.

While I'd imagine the "overwhelming majority" probably aren't overly invested either way, they do appreciate having more options and more stuff they want in the game (or made available to them if it for some reason isn't available to them).

[SamsaraTrickstar]

Ye I think the same as you. Thing is yoshi stated he is now going after the solo players that "fear"the mmo part of 14. That why they do all the things more and more simple and easy. So far they did not do it to the raids but we see by 7.0 . Problem now is the game is boring out side the 1 day you do raids,that if you even do them. I for now don't so it's super hard to even force my self to do the weakly tomes. Hope they stop it and star to add more mid core content but 8 don't think yoshi want to.

[MsQi]

Honestly I'm getting tired of fighting this battle. Understand that Blizzard had little RPG experience prior to WoW. They had Diablo, which was derivative and more focused on action than RPG elements. Weird for someone in a company (SE) that has a much longer history in RPGs to put WoW on such a pedestal

Wow was a great game, however much of what was great was borrowed from other games, and much of that has been removed. There's nothing wrong with using certain ideas from other games, but it was clear they didn't really understand why they even copied those ideas. Why those ideas helped develop the world and the community was apparently lost on them.

The worst thing was when they started talking about fun. Fun is important, but fun is not hard. In any genre you need to have goals that are bigger than just raw fun. And when WoW devs started talking fun, it meant something that that many people found fun was going away.

[Demetri_Delethorn]

This topic is a yikes and a half from me. The game isn't going anywhere just because they're making jobs more playable. A few people might leave because they mistakenly attribute "more buttons" as actual difficulty and skill, but if they leave over that, then they were probably going to leave anyway. I shouldn't have to be dancing my fingers around my controller and contorting my hands just to make a job playable. Many jobs have far too many buttons.

[MiaShino]

Many jobs have far too many buttons.

There is whoooole truck load of methods to reduce buttons without removing complexity. Astro for the example, why do I require four separate buttons to play and draw cards? Why did crown draw/play become separate buttons again? Why the heck is Oblation not trait that improves tbn?

Oh look at all the skills that could simply also do aoe with potency fall off. If I have to hear about 1,2,3 being complexity some how this Mia is going to explode! Look we get it, you can count higher then Valve but these could all be on one button. Yeeting core skills is what makes the jobs less entertaining. Skills that improve or modify other skills, skills you rotate through with varied order.

Besides you just hold L2 - R2 and press d-pad or face buttons anyways. Sometimes you press both triggers at same time then press the d-pad. If someone with my size hands can do this anyone can do this.

[SamsaraTrickstar]

having to press 500 different buttons during combat does not make the game fun

If it's an action game then yes. But 8n teb target you need to have lots of skills or it's boring. It's the reason all hate low level dungeons. No skills to use.

[SamsaraTrickstar]

They've finished the FFXIV story. There will be a little extra padding for the die hards, but now they are clearly shifting focus to make the game more suitable for the many millions of solo FF players who skipped XI and XIV.

They could well lose 50% of MMO players, yes, but they will gain 10 times that number in solo-players who can then experience the story from ARR to EW.

There was one tiny hint to the wind down of the game in the last Japanese live letter, #70... Yoshi said "I hope we can still make it to live letter #100". Which goes against the "10 years more" and brings it to a much shorter period. Enough time to push the solo players through.

That where you are wrong. This solo players leave after a month. Nothing solo players hate more that a unfinished story in an rpg.

[Shibi]

That where you are wrong. This solo players leave after a month. Nothing solo players hate more that a unfinished story in an rpg.

6.0 finished the main story. That's stated by SE.

The changes now to make ARR and onwards more soloable is also stated by SE.

I expect we can expect another huge trimming of ARR and Post ARR quests to happen in coming patches to speed up the boring parts and help retention. Because ARR and post ARR is still mostly a boring pile of steaming cow poop.

[SamsaraTrickstar]

6.0 finished the main story. That's stated by SE.

The changes now to make ARR and onwards more soloable is also stated by SE.

I expect we can expect another huge trimming of ARR and Post ARR quests to happen in coming patches to speed up the boring parts and help retention. Because ARR and post ARR is still mostly a boring pile of steaming cow poop.

And going for 10ore years of new story. So?
The reason low lvls are boring is you have no skills and shit it to easy. It's the mix of badly made boring jobs 8n a bad boring content.it geting ok.by lvl 40 to 50.

[Shibi]

...The reason low lvls are boring is you have no skills...

Yoshi said in Live Letter 70...

"We also made further adjustments on the balancing on lower levels"
"You will learn some actions sooner on lower levels so it doesn't feel as boring playing them, but that of course results in some potency nerfs"

More details of this will be in the patch notes tomorrow.