Why is endgame loot capped?

[Brightamethyst]

Gear and tomestone caps exist because without them people would run a hundred dungeons and a dozen raids in the first week and then spend the next 4-8 months complaining about how there's nothing to do.

[Equitable_Remedy]

Gear and tomestone caps exist because without them people would run a hundred dungeons and a dozen raids in the first week and then spend the next 4-8 months complaining about how there's nothing to do.

This is the actual answer. (Tomestone caps also function to allow people to 'keep up' without having to no-life the game.)

As a bonus, the caps provide an evergreen topic for people to complain about, and there are few things that MMO players love more than complaining about the MMOs that they play. It's a win - win.

[MementoKoishi]

This is the actual answer. (Tomestone caps also function to allow people to 'keep up' without having to no-life the game.)

But there's still nothing to do, you can reclear in a day with your static and then log off for the rest of the week. If you could farm gear you could equip other classes and try to run savage with them, now you are forced to just choose 1 or 2 classes if you clear very fast and have books.

Now someone will come and tell me "but you haven't finished your fishing log, or you haven't farmed every single glam out there etc etc". Yeah, sorry but there are better games out there if you want to play something like a sandbox or farming simulator, some of us want to actually raid and do content.

[Equitable_Remedy]

Now someone will come and tell me "but you haven't finished your fishing log, or you haven't farmed every single glam out there etc etc".

You are correct that, except for all the other things to do in the game, there is nothing else to do in the game.

Yeah, sorry but there are better games out there if you want to play something like a sandbox or farming simulator

Do people who makes these complaints only play FF14? I play FF14, but it's neither the only game that I play nor a full-time job. Yes, go play other games! That's not a criticism of any game.

I don't know why this is so hard for people to understand, so I'll just say it plainly: it takes longer to create content than it does to beat it.

That's the bottom line, and until LLMs make content production faster than content completion, pacing out content tends to be more enjoyable for gamers than no-lifing content as soon as it drops. Gamers are going to complain either way.

[SillyCrow]

I don't think SE wants the situation to change short term. Because it retains subs while keeping investment at the same level. From a corporate level it makes no sense to shake things up. They'll respond if the sub counts are affected negatively, however.

[MementoKoishi]

Do people who makes these complaints only play FF14?

Unlike other games, I pay 10.99€ per month for ffxiv, and it has less replayability than other f2p games like league or pay once games like minecraft. If you believe it's acceptable for a game that requires subscription to have content that can be cleared in 1 day and raids that can be done in 1 week for hardcore statics and 4 weeks for the rest, then I think you are lying or just a fanatic who can't accept criticism. Doing all the MSQ from ARR to Endwalker is a good experience and I don't regret anything, but it could be just as easily turned into a single player Final Fantasy entry and almost nothing would change, people forget this is supposed to be a mmorpg. The only reason I haven't cancelled my sub is that I own a house and have to raid with my static every week.

[Ransu]

Unlike other games, I pay 10.99€ per month for ffxiv, and it has less replayability than other f2p games like league or pay once games like minecraft. If you believe it's acceptable for a game that requires subscription to have content that can be cleared in 1 day and raids that can be done in 1 week for hardcore statics and 4 weeks for the rest, then I think you are lying or just a fanatic who can't accept criticism. Doing all the MSQ from ARR to Endwalker is a good experience and I don't regret anything, but it could be just as easily turned into a single player Final Fantasy entry and almost nothing would change, people forget this is supposed to be a mmorpg. The only reason I haven't cancelled my sub is that I own a house and have to raid with my static every week.

Oh no, $11 a month... the horror. You have to work for 30 minutes to pay for that month of play time. THE HORROR!

[MementoKoishi]

Oh no, $11 a month... the horror. You have to work for 30 minutes to pay for that month of play time. THE HORROR!

Europe doesn't have 1 single economy like the US, countries in the Balkans that have average wage around 400-600€ per month pay the same price as people in Germany and the UK with wages at 2000€+ per month. You assume everyone has 11€ to throw away each month like you.
Inb4 "gaming is a luxury you aren't entitled to it".

So ... you pay 10.99 Europe a month to turn a game into a job?

If there was a better game out there, trust me I wouldn't be here, but sadly the mmo market is filled either with korean bloatware or garbage like wow. It also happens that my friends are in the static, and we like hanging out and doing current content. I still didn't see you justify the price tag for the amount of content we get though. The story is worth the price you paid for the expansion, but the rest? Active sub to raid once in a while? Maybe you are like the guy above who just has 20 subs running at the same time and using them once in a blue moon.

[Raven2014]

The only reason I haven't cancelled my sub is that I own a house and have to raid with my static every week.

So ... you pay 10.99 Europe a month to turn a game into a job?

[Jojoya]

Unlike other games, I pay 10.99€ per month for ffxiv, and it has less replayability than other f2p games like league or pay once games like minecraft. If you believe it's acceptable for a game that requires subscription to have content that can be cleared in 1 day and raids that can be done in 1 week for hardcore statics and 4 weeks for the rest, then I think you are lying or just a fanatic who can't accept criticism. Doing all the MSQ from ARR to Endwalker is a good experience and I don't regret anything, but it could be just as easily turned into a single player Final Fantasy entry and almost nothing would change, people forget this is supposed to be a mmorpg. The only reason I haven't cancelled my sub is that I own a house and have to raid with my static every week.

I replay through content here frequently because I enjoy it. I don't have a problem with the subscription fee.

Trying to compare a subscription MMORPG to a F2P MOBA is pointless. They're different game types with different revenue models and different development needs. Not to mention F2P doesn't mean they're not making money. LoL made about $1.75 billion in 2020. FFXIV made about $500 million that same year.

FFXIV is a MMORPG. It is a massively multi-player online game. Players are assuming a role within the game, in this case the Warrior of Light.

Are you're trying to narrowly define what makes something a MMORPG? There's actually a broad variety of content that can be included in a MMORPG and the absence of one of those things does not keep it from being a MMORPG. A MMORPG doesn't even have to include combat content, even if that's been a staple in most of the games of the genre.

Players would absolutely notice the difference if SE converted it into a single player game because all those others they're used to seeing around would disappear.

Criticism is fine when it is based around what the game offers instead of what you think it should be offering, and when it is constructive in nature. "This game sucks!" isn't useful as criticism. "There's no content!" isn't even criticism, it's objectively false. And that's mostly what we've been getting here in the forum lately as players have the mid-expansion doldrums catch up with them. It's a normal cycle. Every MMORPG sees it happen. It doesn't always affect the same players.

As a personal guess (I definitely could be wrong), I think a lot of the current reaction is because we're coming down off the high from the culmination of Hydaelyn/Zodiark story but for the first time since ARR, the x.3 patch does not have a finale/epilogue of major importance.

3.3 - Final Steps of Faith, the finale to the Dragonsong War.

4.3 - Castrum Fluminis - an epilogue to the Far East portion of Stormblood.

5.3 - Seat of Sacrifice - the finale to the Unsundered Ascian story.

6.3 - Mount Ordeals - checkbox on the list of things to do to reach

Azdaja?

The patch doesn't seem that great because what's happening lacks the gravity of the corresponding patches in the other expansions. Quantity wise, we are getting pretty much the same amount of content but the type is differing slightly. We were warned all the way back at the Announcement Showcase to expect it. Things we would be doing would still be important but lacking the "save the world" gravity. Our characters are not needed to be the WoL at the moment. We're back to being a common, though very experienced, adventurer for a while.

Maybe that's a rough change for some to accept on an emotional level and so that's why they're feeling less than satisfied.

Only you know how you feel. Think back to 3.3, 4.3, and 5.3. How did you feel then and how does that compare to how you feel now. What has made the difference?

If you feel like it's really just the encounter quality that's off, I can understand that. For MSQ, Mount Ordeals feels like a cake walk after doing Storm's Crown. The developers are human. Sometimes they're going to miss the mark. But that also doesn't mean the game is doomed because they're going to continue to miss the mark in the future.

If there was a better game out there, trust me I wouldn't be here, but sadly the mmo market is filled either with korean bloatware or garbage like wow. It also happens that my friends are in the static, and we like hanging out and doing current content. I still didn't see you justify the price tag for the amount of content we get though. The story is worth the price you paid for the expansion, but the rest? Active sub to raid once in a while? Maybe you are like the guy above who just has 20 subs running at the same time and using them once in a blue moon.

The subscription price is for access to the game servers for as much of the month as you want (outside of maintenance downtime). It's not for the content.

If you feel like you're not getting your money's worth, then unsub until you think you will.

But what you might want to do is add up how many hours you play a month then divide your subscription cost by those hours. Then compare that to other services that you pay a monthly or hourly fee to access and the amount you use those things. Is the value really that bad in comparison?