Genuine Question for Frequent Negative Posters

[LilimoLimomo]

I want to preface this by saying this isn't a judgment, but rather genuine curiosity; I'd like to better understand a perspective that is different than my own that I have trouble relating to.

I also want to get ahead of anyone who might want to jump in with a snarky reply to dunk on the posters I'm asking about: please don't. I'm not interested in hearing what you think about frequent negative posters; I'm interested in hearing their own genuine words and thoughts. Please do what you can to avoid turning this thread into a conflict. Thanks in advance for being cool.

Okay, with all that out of the way, I've noticed that the FF14 forums seem to have numerous users who regularly post in ways that suggest that they feel very negatively about the game. I'm not talking about folks who post a thread here and there with criticism of certain aspects of the game; rather, I'm talking about folks who post frequently and almost exclusively have negative things to say about the game.

And that's kind of what I don't get, because at least for me, if I disliked something that much, I would personally want to get away from that thing, rather than expose myself to more of it every day. Which makes me think that I'm probably misunderstanding these posters, or perhaps I'm only seeing one aspect of them that isn't representative of them as a whole.

So here are some questions for frequent negative posters, the answers to which I hope will bridge the gap and help me better understand your perspectives:

• Do you overall dislike the game?
  • If so:
    • Why do you stick around in the game/forums?
      • Does something about it give you enough joy to be worth your time?
      • Is there something that gives you hope that things will get better, and thus you're not ready to leave just yet?
      • Or something else entirely?
  • If not:
    • What do you still enjoy about the game?
    • Why the frequent focus on negative aspects?
      • Is it just that there's nothing to say about the good parts?
      • Or is it something else?

Thanks in advance for helping me better understand you as a genuine person!

[RosaliaDLB]

post is too long to quote

And that's kind of what I don't get, because at least for me, if I disliked something that much, I would personally want to get away from that thing, rather than expose myself to more of it every day. Which makes me think that I'm probably misunderstanding these posters, or perhaps I'm only seeing one aspect of them that isn't representative of them as a whole.

So you expect someone like me for example that likes housing, hanging out with people, go to venues,glamours, just basically being social and doing housing, to just quit the game because I despise the mogstation stuff and I bash it ? Because I think the content is absolutely atrocious and boring in this game ? Because of those reasons, I should give up on housing and my friends and social activities in general ? Your take doesnt make any sense.

[IDontPetLalas]

I don't see that negative criticism should be unexpected with any product, nor should it ever be unwelcome as long as the tone remains appropriate.

In reading your post, there could be a false hypothesis on your part, namely that those people who post negative feedback dislike the game. It could certainly be true of some people (after all some people quit the game) however I don't believe that is true of many, although perhaps sometimes it can be hard to tell from the tone of their comments- we're limited here after all to just the forum.

Before you jump in " but I said I'm not talking about people who post negative criticism once in a while", I can think of a number of reasons why someone would use this forum and post frequent negative criticism and actually be invested in the game: not wanting to be downvoted to the depths of Hades on social media sites, legitimately focussing dev resources /community attention on some of the shortcomings in the game, requesting new features.

All of the above to say, imo, if a game never receives or has very limited negative criticism- something odd is going on. Criticism is heathy.

[LaylaTsarra]

Nothing wrong with negative criticism but one has to wonder what the real story is when someone posts here with 2 dozen accounts. Can't simply be trolling has to be more to it than that.

[Atelier-Bagur]

Sorry, I cant voice my own opinion because apparently to some people, me going through the game 4 different times is grounds for you to be ridiculed and ignored for your arguments no matter what.

Unlike others who spends their time doing housing, or some who spends all day trolling and hating on the forums with multiple accounts where theyre allowed to express their opinion on other parts of the game without facing hostility.

[VentVanitas]

I'm more of a lurker than a frequent poster but I do tend to post my thoughts here and there which typically aren't positive.

Do you overall dislike the game?

I wouldn't be here if I did. I love XIV. It's because of that love for the game that I want to see it improve on what I believe to be its biggest drawbacks.

What do you still enjoy about the game?

Raiding, hanging out/socializing with friends, immersing myself in the expansive lore of this game, etc. I still find a lot of things to enjoy about XIV despite how much I could talk about what I don't like lol. What drew me into the game back in early Stormblood in the first place was the feature to be able to swap between jobs freely, and I thought the art style was a nice sweetspot for me. Not too anime, not too grimy and realistic.

Why the frequent focus on negative aspects?

Is it just that there's nothing to say about the good parts?

Or is it something else?

Mainly to find solidarity. It is genuinely difficult to find avenues of discussion where I can talk about what I believe to be wrong with the game. The main reddit is allergic to critical thinking and r/ffxivdiscussion is too... doomer-ish for my tastes. So here I remain at the official forums. At its best, you get a lot of dedicated posters that invoke a lot of productive discussion like ty-taurus' job feedback survey thread. At its worst, it's a lot of trolling and turf wars.

I wouldn't say that there's not much to discuss about the good things in XIV, but more like that what's said about it has already been said to death. Everybody knows that the game has good stories, good music, good avenues of socializing, a lot of fun raids like the myriad Savages and Baldesion Arsenal, etc.

I myself am just more personally invested in discussing the negative aspects of XIV because I find it fun to theorycraft hypothetical solutions, and I want the game to be the best it can be, because it can easily be so much more than it is now if SE were more daring.

[AwesomeJr44]

Unlike others who spends their time doing housing, or some who spends all day trolling and hating on the forums

Bro.

[RosaliaDLB]

Bro.

LMAO, even I dont have that many posts on my main

[Leonerdo]

I'm not a "frequent" negative poster, but I do partake in the negative healer discussions on occasion. I'm gonna give you my personal take, how I have actually felt and acted on forums for years. But it's also one of the most common opinions on negative feedback on video game forums everywhere. So I'm gonna say it in general terms, because I know it's not just me.

People complain because they love the game (or at least, have loved it in the past). And because they love it and play it so much, any sharp edges are very obvious to them. So they complain, hoping that it helps make their favorite game better in the future... As cliche as it is, that's what I believe.

There is a second part to it though. Just enjoying the drama. Misery loves company, and all that. Sometimes it's just nice to hear people complain about something you've been bothered by recently and you just wanna shout "Yes, exactly!"... and then maybe walk it back a little, because damn these people are PISSED, and their criticism is shotgun-style, doing all kinds of collateral damage. Maybe that last part is just me, idk.

[AwesomeJr44]

Do you overall dislike the game?

No but I think it's headed in a bad direction and I can definitely see this answer changing if it continues.

What do you still enjoy about the game?

Raiding, Glamour, playing with friends, housing (to a lesser extent than Storm but I still like it), some other things I can't remember ig

Why the frequent focus on negative aspects?

1) We already have enough people kissing the feet of Yoshi P and the rest of the dev team.

2) There's a lot less things to say about something that is fine as it is compared to something that is broken.