What was they thinking when they did variant dungeons and criterion

[R041]

Many people here deeply love the criterion dungeons BECAUSE they have no rewards. They want to clear once for the challenge and that’s it. They don’t want to have their time playing other games or AFKing taken up by a mandatory grind. Let’s face it, we’re in a big season for new games coming out. We don’t have time for replaying old content like criterion. FFXIV isn’t meant to be a “main game” like WoW is, it’s a side game. We log in, do dailies or weeklies, then log out or go AFK. We like to get our business over with. Let me play other games Square, I don’t like FFXIV that much and neither do you.

Do people forget we actively pay a sub with these weird talking points? Or that there are massive time gated systems that mean we need to stay subbed, or to keep our housing?
People get excited for new systems coming out to help pad the in-between, but when it's a big let down we're often told "You're not actually supposed to play the game, Yoshi even said so."

The most rewarding thing for me to do right now is to sit at a Summoning Bell to AFK do Ventures and craft, because over the years I just see us culling things down even further until there's nothing left to do other than a 2 day gimmick released every 6 months, and MSQ once every few years.

FFXIV doesn't need to be a main game, I just want it to at least be a game.

[Midareyukki]

Do people forget we actively pay a sub with these weird talking points? Or that there are massive time gated systems that mean we need to stay subbed, or to keep our housing?
People get excited for new systems coming out to help pad the in-between, but when it's a big let down we're often told "You're not actually supposed to play the game, Yoshi even said so."

The most rewarding thing for me to do right now is to sit at a Summoning Bell to AFK do Ventures and craft, because over the years I just see us culling things down even further until there's nothing left to do other than a 2 day gimmick released every 6 months, and MSQ once every few years.

FFXIV doesn't need to be a main game, I just want it to at least be a game.

I think people misquote what he said. He said you weren't supposed to binge the game and poop-sock it, just log in when you want to, log out when you don't, without FOMO or feeling like you had to log on every day.

Otherwise, you have to log on at least once a week for weekly clears and resets, not to mention remain subbed to not lose your house like you said. And that's a bare minimum. So the game IS meant to be played, and has content if you decide to remain logged on and subbed.

I disagree with Macchiato saying that FFXIV is a side game. Any game is a side game. If the distinction mattered that much, then we'd be paying monthly for something actually inferior.

imo the real issue doesn't lie in there being stuff to do daily\weekly\monthly. The choice to log out and go AFK is there in any game, be it side/main, be it FF14, WoW, GW2 or whatever. You don't have to remain in-game like a match of League that you absolutely cannot pause. The real issue is in the quantity and quality of content, and whether they translate into proper longevity and if they're fun or not.

It's why as much as I agree with Yoshida and think people rushed Island Sanctuary and similar content that wasn't meant to be rushed, I also have to point out that the devs didn't have the foresight to prepare for the way the community handled it. They didn't prepare for it to have longevity, they went through it relying on good player behaviour. Meaning that while I see the people who rushed it as not having read the room, I realize I shouldn't use what the devs said as an answer to those people because the devs' design is flawed.

Christ that reminds me of Meteion. "Hermes wouldn't have failed had he had better forethought and prepared Meteion for her purpose rather than allowing logic errors to form"...

Longevity needs to be assured as much as fun has to be. Not for every content, not everything needs to last, and fun is subjective. But if we're going to be waiting this long and remaining subscribed all throughout, then content needs to be relevant and last a little longer. And one thing that helps older content remain relevant despite its age is keeping it fun and provide rewards.

[Alleo]

It's why as much as I agree with Yoshida and think people rushed Island Sanctuary and similar content that wasn't meant to be rushed, I also have to point out that the devs didn't have the foresight to prepare for the way the community handled it. They didn't prepare for it to have longevity, they went through it relying on good player behaviour. Meaning that while I see the people who rushed it as not having read the room, I realize I shouldn't use what the devs said as an answer to those people because the devs' design is flawed.

I dont have the reddit link to the interview anymore but I remember that Yoshida recently said that most people do Island Sancturay in a casual slow way. He said that they just like to pet their animals, and plant some crops.

So what should the devs have done then to keep the other part of the playerbase that did rush/hardcore play it to stop doing that? More gates? A much bigger grind? And when does the solution become tedious for those of the players that do enjoy it slowly?

The problem in it as I see it , is that yoshi will make even more content made for this solo play and by that being more easy.take the dungeons (normal ones) we got in 6.x, some if the more easy ever. Same go for trials and raids.its to the point less people do that way faster that in the past.

What is easy really depends on the view of each player. Someone that does Ultimate will probably find a lot of things very easy in this game. Same for those who have statics and do content with them.

In the end the devs have the statistics. If these show that more people enjoy solo play than it would be a financial bad descision not to focus on that group. That does not mean that others cant have their cake either. People that want a challenge still can do extremes, savage and Ultimate. Now we have Criterion too which according to some comments here and on reddit can be quite hard.

It just makes no sense to make everything harder when the main target audience does not want it.

[Jojoya]

Do people forget we actively pay a sub with these weird talking points? Or that there are massive time gated systems that mean we need to stay subbed, or to keep our housing?
People get excited for new systems coming out to help pad the in-between, but when it's a big let down we're often told "You're not actually supposed to play the game, Yoshi even said so."

The most rewarding thing for me to do right now is to sit at a Summoning Bell to AFK do Ventures and craft, because over the years I just see us culling things down even further until there's nothing left to do other than a 2 day gimmick released every 6 months, and MSQ once every few years.

FFXIV doesn't need to be a main game, I just want it to at least be a game.

It is a game. Whether it's a main game or not is up to the player.

What "massive time gated system" are there that are keeping you subbed against your will?

You don't have to maintain a constant sub to keep your housing even when demolition is active. Right now you don't have to be subbed at all with demolition suspended since December of last year and likely to continue to be suspended until the additional new EU and NA worlds are added next year (not to mention the new wards they said they're making plans to add).

If you're not enjoying the content or the rewards, why are you logging in?

[R041]

If you're not enjoying the content or the rewards, why are you logging in?

I'm not.‎ ‎ ‎