Time to Quit

[Theodric]

You...can't be serious, can you?

Why wouldn't I be serious? A significant number of people playing this game are present on Twitter and they're openly advertising that their primary use of the game isn't to actually play it but to mod and lewd it.

It's been a problem for a while, escalating in recent years. Even when I roleplayed in this game, there was always this sleazy portion of players trying to pressure people into engaging in ERP even if they declined. That portion of players has grown emboldened over time to the point where many threads have been made regarding the number of venue adverts filling up the party finder (some of which are outright adult in nature).

You could also look at the amount of players casually advertising their deepest, darkest fetishes in a carrd profile linked to their search info.

One thing that is consistent, however, is that whenever any of this is pointed out it is always downplayed.

Just the other day there was a thread here where someone was defending pedophiles. It's past time to stop pretending that this game doesn't have a growing number of genuinely unsettling players who aren't here for the actual game as intended but as a Second Life simulator.

Furthermore, where did I say the game is 'dying'? I doubt it'll die, much in the same way as World of Warcraft isn't going to die. It doesn't mean the game can't go in a completely different direction and screw over the original target audience, though.

[Renathras]

Why wouldn't I be serious? A significant number of people playing this game...

And what is that "significant number"?

What is the "number" there? Is it 50? 500? A thousand? A million?

[Theodric]

And what is that "significant number"?

What is the "number" there? Is it 50? 500? A thousand? A million?

I'd say the fact that - as another poster so kindly pointed out - at least 20000 players are using a specific lewd mod counts as a 'significant number' when there is content designed to appeal to a far lesser number of players.

I think it'd be quite the interesting experiment for Square Enix to ban mods altogether as of 7.0 and prevent them from being launched, if only to see how many players actually stick around to continue playing the game as intended.

[Ath192]

And what is that "significant number"?

What is the "number" there? Is it 50? 500? A thousand? A million?

Why does a hard number matter? Do you actually mean to dispute that a lot of ppl use this game for ERP, lewd mods and random venues. Because surely you have common sense and know that is the case.

[Ivtrix]

And what is that "significant number"?

What is the "number" there? Is it 50? 500? A thousand? A million?

The developer who runs the horse mod where you can see other mods has estimated based on usage that 14% of the playerbase uses his specific mod. I can find you the discord post if you’d like. He’d be very in tune with player usage.

[Rufalus]

I've been saying over and over for a few years that the formula is creating apathy. The schedule is so packed full of story and cookie cutter content that they don't have any gaps for reacting to player demands or even doing a collab with their own game FF XVI at its launch. Isn't the 10 year mark a good time to rethink the giant MSQ wall, like balance out the ratio of linear goals to very repeatable evergreen multiplayer activities with rewards that people need more than once.

[Heavenchild]

I don't want to quit, but..., it's really not much to do. I like the new content (for example the island) but it's somehow all ded end. Nothing longlasting.

I miss a good relic farm/grind, some tasks to do to get something from it. Most of the time I had enough stones to get the relic right after the quest. I have also no interest to collect all weapons because I ran out of inventory space looooong time ago.

It's sad that they did not improve the rewards for Criterion. So it's the same problem as last time. People have no interest to do it.

They separated the island from the rest of the game. So this is also ded end. It's not even possible to visit other islands when people are not online. I really hope they change the direction of island sanctuary. I like the idea, but what we have now is sadly a ded end.

I don't want to quit. But I am really bored. And when I am bored, I come to the forum. :x

[Theodric]

My concern with Island Sanctuary is that its very bare bones in general but has a lot of potential to be something that persists through expansions and gains additional features over time. It's the sort of content I enjoy in theory since I'm very fond of anything involving building and carving out a slice of the game world to call my own. I'd be surprised if it continued to receive updates as of 7.0 and especially if it's anything more than a new seed type being added every patch or two. For every bit of content like Triple Triad that is updated every patch there's many more pieces of content that are simply left behind to gather dust.

[Rufalus]

Oh yeah, forgot to add the observation that this is one of the most engaging games when they drop content, but one of the least engaging during its lulls, owing to its linear nature and mostly cosmetic rewards you only need once and the low cap weekly restrictions.

[Renalt]

I believe that even though some of us don't like the direction it is going and might leave...SE stands to gain more people rather than lose by making the MMO easier and more accessible. They are a business and business seems to be going good for them right now. I don't really blame them making the choices they have been even though we have been quite vocal we don't like it on here. We are the minority of the community at large.

Lose 10,000 regulars as opposed to gaining 50,000 people starting fresh? That's a good trade. I'd make that trade. Even if half of the new crowd quits in as early as a single month...that's still 50,000 new games sold at what...$60 a person? Also after that you still retained half which is more than double what was lost. Game just might not be for me anymore. I do wanna see what 7.0 offers. It might rekindle my interest or not but that remains to be seen.