Endwalker is pretty great

[Myon88]

CC is such a great game mode ruined by the base of the game itself, if it wasn't for how the server ticks work it would be such a blast to play
It's super good and as you said a massive improvement but man it just sucks because of how the game is built

I agree with that. The inherent limitations of the game's engine and netcode mean that its PvP will never hold a candle to the 'real' PvP games out there. Still, I think what we ended up getting is a pretty acceptable diversion.

It's also an interesting window into job identity unfettered by multiple expansions of bloat, and maybe even future mechanics e.g phys ranged being able to cast while walking.

[Rein_eon_Osborne]

I wouldn't call IS being comparable to Bozja. Current Diadem IMHO is closer to that plus squadron mission(s).

You either grind for it solo (squadron command missions & gathering in Diadem)… or leave them on ‘auto’ then come back next day to pick up your reward (squadron, again).

In Bozja, nothing in there ‘plays the game for you’. The only identical part is they’re an instanced zone.

[Boblawblah]

I think IS has the potential to be fun, but it's never going to be a replacement for grindy content like Bozja, it was made for a different type of player.

I'm a very casual solo/story player, so for me Endwalker was fun. I didn't actually like the story the first time, I got frustrated with parts of the story and let that taint my whole enjoyment of it, but when I played it again, I tried to get into it more and enjoyed it quite a bit more. As for everything else (pvp, higher difficulty raids, etc) they don't interest me, but I'm glad they're there for people that do like them.

[Saraide]

I'd hate for SE to come away from these forums with the wrong impression, so I'm going to do something pretty rare and illustrate why this expansion has been a major success.

Dont think you need to worry about that really. Public opinion isnt swayed either way by what forum posters have to say, if anything it's the other way around.

[Atelier-Bagur]

"Um naw youre pretty wrong. Endwalker is not so great"

On a serious note, to me EW has brought some good new ideas for the game;

The pvp revamp and new game mode, duty support for msq dungeons, portraits, some needed QoL features, Island Sanctuary, Variant/Criterion Dungeon, New Deep Dungeon etc.

At a perspective, its actually pretty nice, the only issue is that most of the big feature stuff didnt land as good as it shouldve making the expansion look "lackluster". Emphasis on "look".

Its why I think of it as investments as the idea that this content grows to become something really good in the future.

[VentVanitas]

The portrait system is super fun

the portrait system is the most bugged shit EW has dropped so far. Sometimes your portraits can just break for no reason even when you make zero changes to your glamour plate or gear set. Why do adventurer plate portraits not break when I make changes to my gear set/character, but regular portraits do? It's inconsistently designed.

The recently added restrictions for portraits (having to show your char's face) ruined a lot of the portraits and pose ideas I previously had too, all because a handful of jackasses decided to ruin it for everybody involved and show their ugly character's rear end.

[Hurlstone]

I'd hate for SE to come away from these forums with the wrong impression, so I'm going to do something pretty rare and illustrate why this expansion has been a major success.

I cannot really comment on the PVP side of things, but I more or less agree. Endwalker is probably my second favourites expansion. Is it perfect? No, but name an expansion that is. Everything has flaws when you look at it with critical eyes. I however really liked how Endwalker wrapped up the story and the themes it explored. Its introduced some of my favourites characters in the form of Venat and Zero, and I am currently really enjoying the Pandæmonium raid, which could end up being my favourite raid story if it sticks the landing. Island Sanctuary is such a great addition and I look forward to how its improved over time, plus portraits are fun. The 6.1+ MSQ content has been a mix of intriguing and mediocre, but I am edger to see how it ends and what 7.0 will be like. Variant Dungeons are great, and whilst there is a lot of room for improvement I like that we are getting some more harder solo content.

Not to belittle those who disagree naturally, art is subjective after all. Nice to see some positivity however, given how gloomy this place can often be haha.

[Kickwars]

Perhaps we’re remembering things differently but the only thing I recall TOP raising was the alarm bells of the amount of bugs and glitches it launched in. The high end raiders I interacted with had the general feedback of it being clearly untested and unfun.

No one here is “willing to bite their tongue” regarding 2min homogenization. Having a bunch of jobs that are little more than copies of each other with different animations does not a fun MMORPG make.



Yes I imagine that for people who have a fascination with games akin to the Sims are having a wonderful time with portraits, which to date still break too often to be of any use. Some of us came for a video game instead of a dress-up simulator, but it’s clear to which crowd they are choosing to pander to now.

The people who were upset that they actually had to put in some effort in order to have cool looking equipment for their character. Hence the state of these relics to which they feel entitled to.



In what way is a Cookie Clicker Sanctuary: the zone any way equivalent to Bozja with its skirmishes and critical engagements? The extremely limited housing functions it’s set to be updated to have do not make up for the sort of content people used to log in daily for. By all means enjoy your tropical island fantasy if you wish, but that does little to satisfy those of us who wanted a house in any of the other biomes this game has.



Yes. Endwalker put a bow and killed off many ongoing storylines all at once in order to rush us headfirst into a Void storyline that so far has very little of interest going on. And I’m saying that as an FFIV fan.

A coup of sorts took place all right, but it isn’t the one you’ve described over the course of your post.

SOURCE PROOF AND CITATIONS NEEDED

btw did you know I have a FULL TIME JOB

[Saraide]

SOURCE PROOF AND CITATIONS NEEDED

btw did you know I have a FULL TIME JOB

Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime. That's why we post on company time.

[IDontPetLalas]

I'd hate for SE to come away from these forums with the wrong impression, so I'm going to do something pretty rare and illustrate why this expansion has been a major success.
[*]The portrait system is super fun
I don't know about you guys but I think glamour and g-posing are some of the most important pieces of content this game has. It is the one edge that FFXIV has over its more visceral peers like WoW, and it's important for it to cultivate that edge.

Through the power of a nice looking portrait, its also ushered in an era of DPS players getting comms that were previously monopolized by the tanks and healers.[/LIST]
The portrait system was so poorly implemented it was more of an annoyance that a feature. I rarely use it. I would argue with your priority on glamour and gpose, they aren't my highest priorities in the game but I understand that they are one some people's top 10 list.

• Crystalline Conflict has been a massive improvement over The Feast
  
  
  PvP is evergreen content and infinitely replayable due to the human element involved. It's very important to get right as a result, and I'm glad their efforts paid off this time.

I would agree, with the caveat that PVP still needs more frequent, even minor , scaling / job adjustments and attention to maps that have been left in inactive status for years - that happened with RW and will happen soon to FL. Content gets stale and poorly balanced.

• Side Content
  Orthos and Island Sanctuary I consider equivalent to the past expansions' equivalents in Bozja and the like. It largely comes down to a matter of taste as to which one strikes your fancy.
  
  

They aren't equivalent, as pointed out by others the way the content works is quite different, and the type of player that it would appeal to- personally I'm OK with that- and I expected that the first release of IS would likely miss features which would be added in later patches.

• Endwalker's Story
  Not much left to say that hasn't already been said. Endwalker's MSQ put a very neat bow on the story so far, with highs only rivaled by Shadowbringers. WoW tried similarly to frame Shadowlands as the end of an era, and they failed miserably. Destiny 2 is currently trying to do the same, and it's looking like they'll soon follow in WoW's footsteps. It's difficult to overstate what a coup this has been.

Well, this is your opinion - all that i will say is that I don't share it other than saying that it did finish the story. Other than that I would say that as a story it was mediocre, I agree it had some high points that i enjoyed, however I would put below Shadowbringers and below at least HW. So from a story perspective I would not classify it as a "coup".