Would you be opposed to SE implementing a program to scan for addons/parsers?

[Absimiliard]

Japan has several laws that would prevent them from doing so even if they were so-inclined. Beyond that? Yes, yes I would mind. Anything designed to detect addons and the like would need to be unacceptably invasive. Moreover, while I don't have any need for them regardless, the vast majority of addons and third-party tools utilized by the playerbase are completely harmless. Barring someone just outright hacking (which the gil sellers seem able to do with impunity, though their activities do require a lot more than mere mods or harmless tools), nothing third-party tools do should be of any consequence to anyone.

Killing ACT will kill the raid community. Killing textools and similar things will kill the lion's share of the RP community, and it will take a sizeable chunk out of the general playerbase as well. There are plenty of hills out there to die on, but anti-mod sentiment is not one of them. They are the reason the game has lasted as long as it has, and eliminating them will not do it any favors.

[caffe_macchiato]

Killing ACT will kill the raid community. Killing textools and similar things will kill the lion's share of the RP community, and it will take a sizeable chunk out of the general playerbase as well. There are plenty of hills out there to die on, but anti-mod sentiment is not one of them. They are the reason the game has lasted as long as it has, and eliminating them will not do it any favors.

I just wish that FFXIV was good enough for people. I know we're not the best MMO and that WoW has more raids, features, etc. than we do. I know that this is only a side game for most people in between breaks for their main game. I know we don't deserve much and Square Enix is a struggling company.

But...for a brief period of time, people actually had faith in FFXIV. They didn't scoff at our lack of features, or trivialize our hardest content. They didn't trash the art style and replace it with imported abominations from Second Life. They enjoyed the game for what it was. They had fun. And some people on consoles still have fun! But that group is getting smaller as PC players get louder and more numerous. PC players seem like they hate large parts of the game, since they replace everything with third-party solutions. Are they really enjoying FFXIV, or are they enjoying what someone else made in Blender?

Maybe someday Square Enix will realize what made FFXIV good in 2013-2020, and rekindle that magic for the next MMO. But for now, I guess FFXIV is past its prime. Maybe the rest of us should put our time in a game that's actually respected.

[Raikai]

WoW has more raids, features

Maybe in a 'current' expansion, but although it might not be everyone's cup of tea depending on what it is, XIV usually keeps features from old expansions relevant all the time. I'm not playing anymore so maybe that is changed in Dragonflight, but afaik WoW used to discontinue every previous expansion's features as soon as it was over.

[Zebraoracle]

Maybe in a 'current' expansion, but although it might not be everyone's cup of tea depending on what it is, XIV usually keeps features from old expansions relevant all the time. I'm not playing anymore so maybe that is changed in Dragonflight, but afaik WoW used to discontinue every previous expansion's features as soon as it was over.

Uhh... I'm not sure what you mean, but most of WoW's raids were always available for people to go back to. WoW just doesn't have level sync, and AFAIK before the Cataclysm revamp of the world, the only raid that was actually removed was Naxx (which got readded in WotLK anyways).

[Heroman3003]

Uhh... I'm not sure what you mean, but most of WoW's raids were always available for people to go back to. WoW just doesn't have level sync, and AFAIK before the Cataclysm revamp of the world, the only raid that was actually removed was Naxx (which got readded in WotLK anyways).

I think they mean the 'expansion gimmick' style content being removed. Legendary weapon grind is something recent like that I heard? Where for an expansion every class had same weapon and had basically to grind to empower that and in next expansion whole feature was pertty much gone. I imagine unless Blizaard changes their course, whatever expansion gimmick there is this time will only exist for this expansion and never again. FF14 does have some 'left behind' features that didnt get updates in expansions that followed (or did but sparingly) but doesnt truly remove them ever, and you can always just go back and do that. I think some pvp content for that regard is the only exception.

[Zebraoracle]

I think they mean the 'expansion gimmick' style content being removed. Legendary weapon grind is something recent like that I heard? Where for an expansion every class had same weapon and had basically to grind to empower that and in next expansion whole feature was pertty much gone. I imagine unless Blizaard changes their course, whatever expansion gimmick there is this time will only exist for this expansion and never again. FF14 does have some 'left behind' features that didnt get updates in expansions that followed (or did but sparingly) but doesnt truly remove them ever, and you can always just go back and do that. I think some pvp content for that regard is the only exception.

Oh that's fair if true. I never bothered to go back to old zones to check if the special gear grinding stuff was still active.

[Raikai]

Oh that's fair if true. I never bothered to go back to old zones to check if the special gear grinding stuff was still active.

That's what I meant, but also XIV's level sync + roulettes gives old dungeons/raids much more relevance than the Timewalking feature of WoW.

Also we can think about big 'side features' that aren't discontinued. Old Deep Dungeons, Exploratory zones, previous Map hunts - they are all still relevant to this day even after you completed them, because of rewards or something lucrative to farm.

Still on side activities, I remember that during Pandaria, we got that cooking place with several reputations, etc, that I genuinely thought it would become the "cooking hub" going forward, and it was forgotten after the expansion. We got the amazing Class Halls and its side activities and stories... again to be forgotten. As a mage player, I was suprised how the class hub, allegedly housing the best and strongest of the kind, never got involved with anything after Legion.

[Absimiliard]

I just wish that FFXIV was good enough for people. I know we're not the best MMO and that WoW has more raids, features, etc. than we do. I know that this is only a side game for most people in between breaks for their main game. I know we don't deserve much and Square Enix is a struggling company.

But...for a brief period of time, people actually had faith in FFXIV. They didn't scoff at our lack of features, or trivialize our hardest content. They didn't trash the art style and replace it with imported abominations from Second Life. They enjoyed the game for what it was. They had fun. And some people on consoles still have fun! But that group is getting smaller as PC players get louder and more numerous. PC players seem like they hate large parts of the game, since they replace everything with third-party solutions. Are they really enjoying FFXIV, or are they enjoying what someone else made in Blender?

Maybe someday Square Enix will realize what made FFXIV good in 2013-2020, and rekindle that magic for the next MMO. But for now, I guess FFXIV is past its prime. Maybe the rest of us should put our time in a game that's actually respected.

Parsing has been a thing in the game since at least ARR, and people have been making cosmetic modifications to it for just as long. The PC players have always outnumbered the console players, and they've pretty much always been the loudest demographic to boot.

As for trivializing content, I feel you are overestimating the kind of edge players can get from those tools. The most egregious of them is Cactbot, and even it can only give you warnings. None of them will play the game for you. I do not personally use or approve of Cactbot, but I'm well aware of how prevalent it is - and how often the people using it still suck even with it. Personal skill still matters, whether you're getting warnings from Cactbot or zooming your camera out to the point of absurdity with whatever that JP raid team was using.

The above aside, I do tend to agree with you in the hope SE eventually remembers what FFXIV's golden age looked like. Unfortunately, I fear they are going to judge what people want purely by subscriber count rather than taking an objective look at the systems, cosmetics, and whatever else people had the most positive feedback about.