Thread: Endwalker is the lowest point of this game since 1.0

Originally Posted by Silver-Strider

Your comment was a generalization of the game as a whole, which was false because ShB was universally loved, despite its lack of content. Sure, the lack of content in ShB was a sour point for the expansion as a whole but the quality of the content was never called to question. EW doesn't have this same distinction because, despite having more quantity of content, the quality is absolutely awful, hence the complaints about the quality of it.

ShB was not universally loved. Heck, this forum was negative about it, too. Because there's a dozen or dedicated trolls around here that are just negative about anything. In the wider FFXIV community, ShB was overwhelmingly popular. But guess what? So is EW. Poke around anywhere except here, and you'll see the story, the music, the side content get huge praise. The quality is there, you just won't ever see it here in our echo chamber of negativity.

You want examples of EW's quality, okay then quote me in the part of my first comment where I mentioned Endwalker in the first place. There's nothing to defend when you keep putting words and gaslighting me.

Dude, this entire THREAD is about EW. And everyone's talking about EW. Either your take is being intentionally dishonest, or you're making commentary that is entirely off-topic.

Originally Posted by Striker44

ShB was not universally loved. Heck, this forum was negative about it, too. Because there's a dozen or dedicated trolls around here that are just negative about anything. In the wider FFXIV community, ShB was overwhelmingly popular. But guess what? So is EW. Poke around anywhere except here, and you'll see the story, the music, the side content get huge praise. The quality is there, you just won't ever see it here in our echo chamber of negativity.

I say ShB is universally loved BECAUSE it was generally popular. EW doesn't really have that because even on other sites, there's a lot of people that don't claim it as great. Hell, I've seen people claim that SB was better narratively than EW, something that I've yet to see anyone claim for ShB. Sure, there's some people that didn't like ShB too but on the whole, I feel the reception was more overwhelmingly positive than that of EW.

Originally Posted by SilversLyu

The problem with Endwalker is not necessarily the amount of content (altho that too plays a role) but how they package it into the game + the longevity behind it. If you even compare ShB with Endwalker alone, Shb had Ishgard Restoration (big W for the crafters, altho a grindfest), Bozja (relic zone is always a plus for engaging with the game in my book and many other players want it back as well), own trial series outside MSQ etc. It was content that had atleast some depth to it and a solid longevity.

What can Endwalker offer? Criterion Dungeons (rewards are questionable, no real incentive to engage with), Relic weapons with no real grind so far behind it (and no zone, altho debatable this one is a huge one), Island Sanctuary (the idea is nice but the potential can be much higher, and it's like a checklist simulator); and no trial series outside MSQ - all content with no real longevity behind it, content that is more or less "dead on arrival". EW had a deep dungeon with EO, I have to give them that one tho.

People were hating on ShB content and job balance back then, but realising in what state we currently are.. yeah. There is another Elephant in the room: job balance and the shafting of jobs. I cant say much how that one affects players, but want to point that out.

I feel like incentive is a key element. For example, I think the longevity to Bozja and Ishgard restore is how potent leveling is in both of them. Ishgard Restore especially. It's so busted for leveling that it's still relevant an expansion later. Endwalker lacks that. Sure, we have EO but that isn't busted enough to do it over regular roulettes. Rewards for all of it is meh. Island imho probably having the better rewards but it's basically the gatherers version of Bozja. Bozja being fates in a zone. Island being regular gathering in a zone. I think a miss point on Island is not being able to level your gatherers, but I suppose this is intentional because we have Diadem already. Which now that I think about it, Diadem is basically Island but, in the sky, and without the Island crafting. Criterion Dungeons, I don't really know how to fix that but relic should have been tied to it imo.

Originally Posted by Thurmnmurmn

Do you know why you feel that way with ex5 and 6? Burnout or other reasons? Genuinely curious.
I agree that endwalker is the worst expansion. I could list off a few reasons why but everyone has already repeated them countless times on here.

The game isn't fun, the fights aren't fun, the mechanics aren't fun or even unique, the 2 minute meta makes every job not fun, PLD (my main) got ruined, healers have no complexity in DPS, job balance is the worst its ever been since 1.0, the story was awful and the post-expansion story is even worse. SB was infinitely better than this and I thought that was the low point of the game.

I've never felt the need to take a break before from this game since I started in 3.4 and even after a 6+ month break, I STILL don't have any fun playing. It's not the same FF14 it was, and taking a break won't make this game good again. It's like all the good devs are gone and we're left with amateurs at best who have a very different and worse direction for the game now. It's souless and uncreative. No passion. No love.

Originally Posted by Striker44

In the wider FFXIV community, ShB was overwhelmingly popular. But guess what? So is EW.

Sorry guys, I left my majoritahGPT bot on.

My tinfoil hat theory is that CBU 3 tries to funnel everyone into raiding by making jobs more accessible with the 2-minute meta and spacing the release of patch content further apart so that the players get bored and jump into raiding. Once those players are hooked on the choreographed fights and drip fed BiS drops, the devs would have a great excuse to cut costs and put less effort into creating long-lasting content with an interesting gameplay loop in the future.

But that's just a theory; a tinfoil hat theory.

It makes me laugh how there are still people hating on SB when it ended up being a much better expansion than both SHB and EW, yeah the story was mid, but thankfully the job designs, Omega raids, Eureka and 3.5 lords made up for it.

Yes Endwalker is the extension of content dryness and job casualization.

Stormblood content was the prime of the game,
except the story but i only speak about pve and not the story at all.

i feel like the last raid tier genuinely went too quickly, it left much to be desired in regards to story