These forums are weird

[caffe_macchiato]

Seems like a stark contrast of those inside the game. Everyone's so nice and positive, and the story generally seems to be well liked by the players.

Then I come here and it seems like every topic on the front page is just negative, angry, or bitter.

What's the deal?

1) Churn. FFXIV has a steady player growth due to new players coming in to replace old ones that leave (Source: Lucky Bancho). Except, the old players are still here and make criticism about why they leave. The new players have no need to complain since the game is free and they have no investment.

2) A lack of places to talk publicly about the game. Balmung Ul'dah has a /shout chat that's similar to these forums in its opinion on the game, but conversation is filled with sex and ERP so you might have not seen it.

3) The "sweet and friendly" paradox. FFXIV has fostered a culture where people are extremely nice up-front due to the censorship from GMs and the overall need to be agreeable in order to make friends and do content. Negative comments are left to other sites like the forums. I have met some forum posters in-game and they have never said a negative thing about the game there. Of course, this is an anecdote, but it's just as true as yours.

4) You do not have a class that is level 90. This means that you don't have experience in endgame raiding or activities that other people do. You have nine years of mostly single-player, "solved" content to do by yourself to keep yourself occupied. Plenty to do. Once you finish it, then what? Perhaps a "break" to "play other games" like Yoshida suggests? Many of us have already taken a break. We pay monthly in the hopes that someday we can have something to do in our favorite video game, which is this one.

A single-player game is fun for your first play-through, but after you finish it, then it's over. Why are we required to pay monthly for this? We were lured to FFXIV in the hopes that it would be an online game similar to WoW, Fortnite, Minecraft, Apex, GW2, PSO2, OSRS, etc. that has a persistent online community. That's what it was from 2013-2022 before the big single-player shift. You don't know what that's like. Now we've lost our favorite game and many of us are still in shock and bewilderment that it could fall apart so quickly.

It takes a lot for us to piece our (personal) lives back together again. Eventually we will, and we'll leave this place so you can have the game all to yourself. While you idle and play other games, of course.

[Arkdra]

4) You do not have a class that is level 90. This means that you don't have experience in endgame raiding or activities that other people do. You have nine years of mostly single-player, "solved" content to do by yourself to keep yourself occupied. Plenty to do. Once you finish it, then what? Perhaps a "break" to "play other games" like Yoshida suggests? Many of us have already taken a break. We pay monthly in the hopes that someday we can have something to do in our favorite video game, which is this one.

A single-player game is fun for your first play-through, but after you finish it, then it's over. Why are we required to pay monthly for this? We were lured to FFXIV in the hopes that it would be an online game similar to WoW, Fortnite, Minecraft, Apex, GW2, PSO2, OSRS, etc. that has a persistent online community. That's what it was from 2013-2022 before the big single-player shift. You don't know what that's like. Now we've lost our favorite game and many of us are still in shock and bewilderment that it could fall apart so quickly.

It takes a lot for us to piece our (personal) lives back together again. Eventually we will, and we'll leave this place so you can have the game all to yourself. While you idle and play other games, of course.

The rest of your post was fine but hilarious and insane screeds like this are simultaneously why nobody takes this forum seriously while also being the main reason to come here.

[EliaStormblade]

Many of us have already taken a break. We pay monthly in the hopes that someday we can have something to do in our favorite video game, which is this one.

Don't like what you get, but keep paying the monthly sub to play things you don't like. Shiggy diggy.

Why are we required to pay monthly for this?

Because it's a live service game. You pay to play it. If you don't like playing it, you don't pay. Easy as pie.

[caffe_macchiato]

Don't like what you get, but keep paying the monthly sub to play things you don't like. Shiggy diggy.

To be fair, I'm not allowed to talk about what I really do in FFXIV on these forums.

Because it's a live service game. You pay to play it. If you don't like playing it, you don't pay. Easy as pie.

So true. Except, one small problem. You see, when you tell people to leave your game, sometimes they actually do. You don't want people to leave your game, you're just throwing it around as rhetoric. But they will. It's happened to other MMOs before. I don't need to say the name, because most of you already know. You don't think it can get worse? It can. Or do you not remember the absolute meltdown in 2021 when "that other game" fell apart and died because--guess what--people actually did leave.

It's a self-solving problem. We'll leave soon enough, just like you want. You don't really want that to happen, but it will.

[aveyond-dreams]

-guess what--people actually did leave.

It's a self-solving problem. We'll leave soon enough, just like you want. You don't really want that to happen, but it will.

Tuesday's my last day. After this patch those of us after the actual story of the game's world and not some bland crossover with FFIV have nothing left to grip us and there's no repeatable content scheduled for the whole rest of the expansion. Can't wait to see what happens to the population of this game in the coming months. Exodus would be an apt word for the effect I anticipate, despite having very much hoped for the opposite in what should have been an expansion that encapsulates all the excellence we used to enjoy for the past 10 years.

[Dorito_Burrito]

Tuesday's my last day. After this patch those of us after the actual story of the game's world and not some bland crossover with FFIV have nothing left to grip us and there's no repeatable content scheduled for the whole rest of the expansion. Can't wait to see what happens to the population of this game in the coming months. Exodus would be an apt word for the effect I anticipate, despite having very much hoped for the opposite in what should have been an expansion that encapsulates all the excellence we used to enjoy for the past 10 years.

And I'm sure you'll be so disgusted at the outcome that you'll return for 6.5, yes?

[Atelier-Bagur]

Tuesday's my last day. After this patch those of us after the actual story of the game's world and not some bland crossover with FFIV have nothing left to grip us and there's no repeatable content scheduled for the whole rest of the expansion. Can't wait to see what happens to the population of this game in the coming months. Exodus would be an apt word for the effect I anticipate, despite having very much hoped for the opposite in what should have been an expansion that encapsulates all the excellence we used to enjoy for the past 10 years.

Ok aveyond see you in 6.5

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

Tuesday's my last day.

See you again soon

We'll leave soon enough, just like you want. You don't really want that to happen, but it will.

Still waiting for it to happen....again, its not that anybody actually ""wants"" ya'll to leave.
But it would just be nice if you say it, you actually follow through and do it. And we (or at least me) would rather see you guy do something more happy and healthy, then paying and playing something you dont like, and then sitting on the Forums constantly complaining...while still paying for something you dont like.
And then creating excuses for it.

[aveyond-dreams]

See you again soon




Still waiting for it to happen....again, its not that anybody actually ""wants"" ya'll to leave.
But it would just be nice if you say it, you actually follow through and do it. And we (or at least me) would rather see you guy do something more happy and healthy, then paying and playing something you dont like, and then sitting on the Forums constantly complaining...while still paying for something you dont like.
And then creating excuses for it.

Once again you are deliberately misinterpreting people's positions and feigning concern when you have no place to.

Those of us who have taken issue with Endwalker's many missteps have been, repeatedly, told to quit/leave/play other games/"take a break" and so on. Who are you trying to convince that this isn't the case? And believe me I will absolutely be voicing my thoughts on how Endwalker turned out elsewhere despite not being subbed to post on the forums because it's actually significant how FFXIV was handed the WoW exodus and how everything became so slack and mismanaged afterwards across each aspect of the game.

This act of yours is too transparent. But don't worry, with Pandaemonium wrapping up the last bit of worldbuilding left in the tattered remains of FFXIV's lore, I don't see where this story goes from here that could bring me back for 7.0, since I stopped playing through the MSQ after it was clear we weren't going to get anything out of it except shallow references to FFIV. I've been pretty consistent with this position but instead of approaching me in a serious manner, you chose once again to go for gotchas that will no doubt gain you lots of upvotes from the defenders of Endwalker.

Congrats. You won. Unless a miracle happens and the game does a 180 you won't be seeing me or any of the posters you would rather see doing something "more happy and healthy" around because a combination of the game's shortcomings and the community that defends them has driven us out.