Quote Originally Posted by OdinelStarrei View Post
Just gonna segway over to this thread instead. This thread is perfect, because Recon's post is actually phenomenal, which is all the more incredible that it gets to be solidly ignored for years.

Alright, question for you then, I still have a few days of forum access left.

I also, hate Blizzard. The only company who even comes close to the pure personal hatred I have for Blizzard is modern Nintendo. I stopped supporting them when D3 was treated the way it was, the things afterwards were just justifications that I made the right choice. When I came to XIV, long ago, I got exactly what I wanted from the game.

But the game IS different now, the developers themselves have admitted this change in philosophy. If the game was the same, my friends would still be here, gameplay I fell in love with would still be here, etc etc. No need for too much preamble.

So for us, who had our loved jobs reworked or outright removed from the game, midcore combat and exploration content deprioritized, and a dedicated push towards non-combat, socializing and RP on the surface. Not saying those things are wrong, just saying they happened. People deserve to be happy if that's stuff they enjoy. I already left, no need to go over that bit.

Where are we now supposed to go, the jaded XIV old-guard, since XIV isn't built for us anymore, or at worst, is actively hostile to us?
I would tell you the same thing I told someone very close to me in my life who I play video games with, that loves a very narrow part of FFXIV only, ie. extreme trials and harder content. They hate the story, never play with in game music on, dont RP, etc. I told her she should go play WoW because she loves to skip quest text, raid, learn hard bosses and mechanics, toxic yelling about pvp, all that fun stuff. She would be better served by WoW for what she wants out of gaming. Now she hates blizzard too and theres no chance of her actually playing WoW (she hates WoW's art style)

Since you hate Blizzard no WoW for you. Try ESO and Guild Wars 2 maybe? But honestly, just like her, it sounds like what you want from a game would be better served by WoW or some competitive moba like League. I can also tell you from personal experience you are better off with a completely different genre of game than a game you aren't happy with. Believe me.

Now, all that said, I also know where you are coming from about being the jaded old guard of a game who has witnessed the very fundamentals of the game you love, change into something you despise. I am genuinely sorry that happened. It sucks. I wasn't around pre Shadowbringers, so i dont know what the game was like back then but im very sorry you seem to feel like youve had a hobby that you love taken away from you. I dont want that for you or anyone. But I would be lying if I said I wasn't here for it. I regret that what I want for the game doesn't match up with what so many others do. But im still here for it.