Bizarre burnout

[Crustyman]

Hey everyone, I've been suffering through minor burnout recently and I'm not sure what to do. Its not that I don't enjoy the game itself , its just a lot of pent up feeling for where ffxiv is going,

Before EW I was a smn main, job got bogged down to press 1 button to wins, and ever since then I just haven't been having as much fun as I used to have. Dragoon and astrologian are my other favorite jobs, but after hearing what they're gonna do to them in 7.0, I just really don't wanna play. I like doing raids, I think they're cool, but I can't shake the feeling whenever I play that all I'm doing is for nothing and that I should just play something else. Pre EW I was playing this game so much that I logged about 1k hours in, which is a lot of hours for me. Though when I really suffered the first stage of major burnout was when I read the forums and saw that the ffxiv dev team is not different then bungie or any other terrible studio. I just can't shake the feeling that what I'm doing isn't gonna be worth anything in the long run, and that I should just quit.

It's been even worse lately with all the negativity with dark knight and machinist. It really makes me feel that the huge surge of players that came with EW drove ffxiv to the boiling point of just making crappy decisions that benefits nobody.

I know the obvious answer is to just stop playing, but ffxiv is (was?) my favorite game, and I just hate seeing all this stupid negativity and stupid reworks in the game. I've met so many nice people and I would hate to stop talking to them because of a lack of common interest anymore. I just don't feel like there's anything else to really do anymore, since all the jobs I like are leveled up to max, and most relics just look ugly.

Sorry of the huge rant, but I'm not sure where else to put this.

[aveyond-dreams]

FFXIV has become a game where all I can do is log in to turn in leves and wait for the day that SMN becomes even half the class that it was in FFXI, but my trust in job design/combat has reached such a low that it wouldn’t surprise me if the class somehow lost abilities coming into 7.0.

Diofield releases this week and I was able to pick up Octopath Traveler on PC for half off on steam. Unlike the people who will doubtless come in here trying to paint you as somehow in the wrong or recommend content that doesn’t appeal to battle oriented players, I’m not telling you to “go play something else” as I detest when people throw that in my face whenever I complain - I’m saying that there are a lot of better games than Endwalker that we should be playing especially with how far the standards of gameplay and writing have fallen here. Keep speaking out, and keep pointing out how other games are doing things better than FFXIV is right now.

[Boblawblah]

It sounds like you need a break and are trying to find reasons for why you're not liking the game now, and why you won't like it if you change what you're class you're playing. Take a break, the game isn't going anywhere.

[Soge01]

Best thing to do when it comes to information from the forums is not take it too seriously. The place will make you feel depressed, lol. Yeah, the place has some valid points here and there, but its best not to get all your information regarding FFXIV from here. Diversify where you get your info from, along with different opinions on certain subject matters.

And yeah, you just need a break from the game. Take you mind off of it. Had to sort of do this months after the changes to Samurai. Feel better about it now and I play with with no problems.

[hagare]

you visit the OF, of course you're gonna get hit by negativity.
What do the players in game tell you?
that aside, seems like a perfect time to stop playing for a while.

[Theodric]

Unfortunately the game is, over time, becoming more of a visual novel on many fronts and simplifying a lot of game elements. There's a lot of flash and nostalgia bait but once you're all caught up it's easy to fall into the habit of wondering what, exactly, you're logging on to do. Especially if your time is limited/other games are competing for your attention.

At any rate, don't be afraid to take a break if needed.

[TaleraRistain]

I can't shake the feeling whenever I play that all I'm doing is for nothing

Isn't this basically any game ever? Unless you game professionally, it doesn't pay the bills. It's a way to spend your free time in a way that you enjoy, like any other hobby. So maybe sit down and think about what doing things for something is and what that something is. And then think on whether XIV gives you that something or not. Maybe it still does in some ways and you can focus on enjoying those. Maybe it's not and it's time for a break. A break also doesn't have to be forever. You might go indulge in something else and then come back, refreshed and ready to pursue that something again.

For me, my "something" about gaming is fun. I can feel that fun in many different ways. Sometimes it's tied to accomplishments. Sometimes it's tied to things that are a lot more laid back and chill. If I think about logging in that night but the idea doesn't seem fun, I just do something else that night. Our lives are far too short to spend our free time being stressed or unhappy. Many of us have plenty of that nonsense through work.

[Kuzonoha]

I have a similar story.

I too, mained Summoner before Endwalker. I too hate the rework with every fiber of my being. Almost a year later I still struggle with an job crisis. I played SMN and Monk through the 6.0 story, then dropped SMN to focus on Samurai, then they removed Kaiten, which made the job significantly less fun for me, so dropped it and switched to Dragoon. Then they mention they're going to rework the job, so I switched to Monk and mostly play that now, though I switch to Dragoon every now and then since they delayed the rework to the next expansion. While I played all of these jobs, enjoyed them for a time, can play them at a fair level, I don't love any of these jobs. Not like Summoner.

I feel you, OP. I too question the direction that this game is going in terms of combat and balance. Thankfully, I found plenty of other reasons to continue playing this game whether it be friends, the story, the characters, the world. These things I love. My advice would be to take a step back and think about why you play this game. Is it just the battle content? Is it something else? I too, have been playing this game for a very long time and accomplished almost everything personally I want to in terms of past content so I get it...while I will always have a home in this game, I make an effort to pull back and enjoy other games since this game allows for it.

Be well, OP.

[PharisHanasaki]

It's been even worse lately with all the negativity with dark knight and machinist. It really makes me feel that the huge surge of players that came with EW drove ffxiv to the boiling point of just making crappy decisions that benefits nobody.

My feelings exactly. Was just talking about this about two days ago with my FC mates.

To add, the new influx of players came with their own playstyle that just makes the game not fun anymore. Healers don't care about healing, they just want to get a great parse, so people are dying to lack of heals everywhere. They got mods that tell them where to go, watch guides religiously, completely bloat the screen with waymarks that are not necessary, and cry if you wipe once. Like this is fun at all.

And, I can't count the amount of times people join a fresh prog only to leave after one wipe with the excuse "Oh, no, emergenceee", "My fish is drowning". Like, did you not read FRESH prog lmao.

Anyways, that was just one example, it's not the only one, people just don't wanna run content for fun. When I saw the clip of that dude yelling to their static, I just thought they were taking a GAME way too seriously, they made it a job basically. This is not WoW, nor is it anywhere as complex/hard.

[Arrhin]

I think a lot of us have been there, or currently are. I've played since ARR launch, sub has never lapsed not once. I have at times played taken mini breaks to play other gamers whilst still logging in say weekly to enter my house to avoid demo, and checking out MB, maybe some retainer ventures etc. I once raided pretty hard, did all my roulettes every fekkin day, but no more. A few years ago I started levelling my crafters and gatherers, got into high end crafting, glams, side story stuff. What I'm saying is you don't need to abandon XIV entirely if you don't want, perhaps explore other aspects of it, or as I do still sometimes play it low-key and do some single player stuff. Sometimes I just watch youtube and hang out with IG friends while I do irl housey stuff. If you still find yourself gravitating away that's fine too, take a real break, come back next expac if you want.