Random observation

[TheMightyMollusk]

Is Gaius the Lich King?

Did Arthas get a ham-fisted heel-face turn too? Last I checked he stayed dead, but I admit I haven't really looked at WoW's story since I left back in early Legion.

[Atelier-Bagur]

Did Arthas get a ham-fisted heel-face turn too? Last I checked he stayed dead, but I admit I haven't really looked at WoW's story since I left back in early Legion.

They brought his disenchanted self back at the finale of the Shadowlands story with Sylvanas putting the blame on everything on him before he faded away forever.

[Raikai]

Are we heading into FFXIV's BfA?

Lol, I don't think even if XIV hits rock bottom with job design, story and/or gameplay it could be as bad as BfA was.

Now, the similarity with WoW that I might foresee for the future is some sort of brief time skip where the world will be changed as a whole - not necessarily a Cataclysm, but maybe something like 5 years?

[Cithaerias_pyropina]

Island sanctuary is precisely what was advertised. Your expectations don't factor into the equation at all.

Huh, Island Sanctuary was advertised as a mammet sweatshop? I could have sworn it was advertised as a cozy place where you could raise animals and crops, guess I was wrong.

[aveyond-dreams]

I just want to be able to be able to enjoy the content without the game telling me to leave until there's something to do.

This. The way Island Sanctuary works looks like something akin to Clash of Clans or Dragon Vale. Comparisons made by certain posters to other similar titles are hardly helpful when it comes to defending the content, especially when a number of better farming sims appear to be scheduled for release this fall by both SE and indie developers. Most of which appear to offer some form of combat to spice things up a little, and locales that are more impressive than a generic La Noscea reskin.













If people who are into these sort of games are who this was supposed to be for, I cannot see them choosing FFXIV's island sanctuary over any of these titles. It just wasn't done well or fleshed out enough.

[Payadopa]

This combined with a story that flew off the rails and has no direction anymore has left FFXIV in the worst state it’s been in since, arguably, 1.0.

Man, I needed a good laugh.
This is like the most hyperbolic statement I've read in a while. haha

[aveyond-dreams]

Man, I needed a good laugh.
This is like the most hyperbolic statement I've read in a while. haha

Except I'm being serious. I feel like this game veered so far off into a direction it should not have gone in starting in 6.0 or arguably 5.4 when they had the first uwu catboy moment. They're taking in feedback from people who aren't normally into MMORPGs or Final Fantasy games in general, and now we have to deal with a playerbase that thinks it's ok for them to keep making mistake after mistake in all things ranging from content to writing. Especially blunders that some have justified with the "promise" that it'll be fixed or improve later.

Enough is enough. Content should release in a proper state from the beginning, and they need to figure out what direction this ship is sailing in when it comes to the story, since as far as I'm concerned 7.0 is no longer an automatic buy for me. I would love it if some of these influencers would actually call some of these issues out instead of defending the status quo at every turn or reacting to reaction videos in a strange feedback loop. This isn't conducive to anything good, but at least I can sleep easy at night knowing that I'm not the problem here and that if things keep getting worse I'll be remembered as one of the few people who actually tried to speak out when hardly anyone else did.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

Except I'm being serious. I feel like this game veered so far off into a direction it should not have gone in starting in 6.0 or arguably 5.4 when they had the first uwu catboy moment. They're taking in feedback from people who aren't normally into MMORPGs or Final Fantasy games in general, and now we have to deal with a playerbase that thinks it's ok for them to keep making mistake after mistake in all things ranging from content to writing. Especially blunders that some have justified with the "promise" that it'll be fixed or improve later.

Enough is enough. Content should release in a proper state from the beginning, and they need to figure out what direction this ship is sailing in when it comes to the story, since as far as I'm concerned 7.0 is no longer an automatic buy for me. I would love it if some of these influencers would actually call some of these issues out instead of defending the status quo at every turn or reacting to reaction videos in a strange feedback loop. This isn't conducive to anything good, but at least I can sleep easy at night knowing that I'm not the problem here and that if things keep getting worse I'll be remembered as one of the few people who actually tried to speak out when hardly anyone else did.

There he goes again insisting longtime FF or MMO players MUST dislike this games direction.

Aveyond was such a big fan he didn't even join the forums until 2021.

[Atelier-Bagur]

Aveyond loves to always talk as if he speaks for the entire community.

[Jojoya]

Heavens forbid I expect more engaging mmorpg elements that are aligned with the standard set by Ishgard restoration last expansion.

I’m quite firmly opposed to the frontloading of non-combat content but seriously, they need to do better than Island Sanctuary. Defend it all you like, those of us who see it for what it is are unmoved by your arguments.

This combined with a story that flew off the rails and has no direction anymore has left FFXIV in the worst state it’s been in since, arguably, 1.0.

Ishgard Restoration was intended to add both an alternate leveling path and an end game for crafters and gatherers.

Island Sanctuary was intended to be low demand relaxing content for players looking for a brief break from other content. It was not supposed to be this expansion's version of the Restoration. It was supposed to be something different for the game.

You're comparing apples to Chicken Cordon Blue. We know you're unmoved by what others say because you're not interested in discussion of what the content is. You're only interested in discussion about what you personally want.

Same with people having rose tinted glasses for shadowbringers when it was originally considered the worst expansion in terms of content

So was Heavensward at its release. It was very much hated by a lot of the player base.

What did you think was so terrible about the content in Shadowbringers.

I know some players felt like they were getting less in terms of quantity of dungeons but as SE said, they put that effort into the boss level encounters designed for Bozja/Zadnor. There's going to be disagreement on how that effort would be better spent.

I don't remember seeing a lot of complaints about overall quality, though.

I'd argue it's not a matter of players wearing rose-tinted glasses once the expansion is gone. I think it's more players being hyper critical when content is released looking for things to complain about instead of relaxing and enjoying a game for what it is. If they truly hated the newly released content as much as they say, they wouldn't stick around and wouldn't come back for the next expansion.

Huh, Island Sanctuary was advertised as a mammet sweatshop? I could have sworn it was advertised as a cozy place where you could raise animals and crops, guess I was wrong.

It is a cozy place where you can raise animals and grow crops.

If you want rewards for doing those things, you only need to talk to the Exporter to sell your Leavings and excess crops not needed for the animal feed, and Hoarder to buy your rewards. You can ignore the other mammets.

It's up to you on whether you want to turn it into a mammet sweatshop. Nothing says you have to put them to work. Personally I don't mind doing it - I hate mammets so I'm happy to abuse those rusty machines..

If people who are into these sort of games are who this was supposed to be for, I cannot see them choosing FFXIV's island sanctuary over any of these titles. It just wasn't done well or fleshed out enough.

Perhaps you should stop trying to compare very casual side content in a story-driven theme park MMO with a full fledged farming game that's only about farming.