Genuine Question for Frequent Negative Posters

[LittleImp]

Do you overall dislike the game?

No. I'm just generally unhappy with the direction of the patch content since Shadowbringers started it's major patches.

The game is ok right now, but it could be much much better. It doesn't really matter that the game is bringing in some new Mare user or scorned WoW player that will quit in 2 months when they get bored; Most of my friends are walking away from game out of frustration with the poor quality patch content. I don't blame them, because I can't even find a reason to log in either.

What do you still enjoy about the game?

The way PVE encounters are structured. Many of the boss fights in this game, even in casual content, are satisfying to progress through and optimize for the first time. To me, even fighting a dungeon boss for the first time can have the same appeal and feeling as fighting a savage boss.

This, and the social aspect of the game, are the primary thing that kept me playing it. I don't mind parts of the story; Segments of it are good, for an MMO, as long as you don't take it too seriously and try to view the narrative as a whole; If you do that, certain things really start to break down honestly.

Why the frequent focus on negative aspects?

I was on the debate team in high-school. I graduated college with an art degree. I spent 4 years of my life sitting in 4-6 hour critique sessions 3-4 times a week. A few years of that industry later, I career changed into the QA field and now write automation designed to break other software. Needless to say, arguing and looking for problems is just kind of part of my nature.

I also just really, really don't like the practice of "white-knighting". To be frank, something about people tripping over themselves to defend a product to the point of near delusion just kind of motivates me to argue with them. Most of the criticism I post is usually prompted by seeing someone else say something I strongly disagree with, rather than being something I post organically for its own sake. True-believer types tend to astroturf the tone of the discourse around games in a way I consider unproductive, so it feels necessary to balance them out a bit.

[Mcg55ss]

But at this point the only people that defend this game are people that only afk the game on their second screen. The could make every class have a 100 button rotation and it wouldnt affect those people anyway.

And yet world of Warcraft just had a post yesterday about an article that had final fantasy 14 number one MMO and wow retail number 3 and most were defending that final fantas 14 was number one they were complaining that they thought number three was too high for retail that it should be out of the top five.

[Shinkuno]

And yet world of Warcraft just had a post yesterday about an article that had final fantasy 14 number one MMO and wow retail number 3 and most were defending that final fantas 14 was number one they were complaining that they thought number three was too high for retail that it should be out of the top five.

If you mean the WoW sub then that subreddit is literally filled with more FF14 players than WoW players and players that havent played WoW in 10 years but still decide to have an opinion on it. They pretty much overran the subreddit around 2 years ago and the mods didnt care.

But aside from that, what even is your point?

[Mcg55ss]

If you mean the WoW sub then that subreddit is literally filled with more FF14 players than WoW players and players that havent played WoW in 10 years but still decide to have an opinion on it. They pretty much overran the subreddit around 2 years ago and the mods didnt care.

But aside from that, what even is your point?

I believe i said WOW FORUMS...if i meant subreddit i would have said subreddit, just cuz you want to make on mindset negatively on this game don't think im too dumb to know what im talking about or mean.

[Deo14]

OP

I'll just copy paste what I already told to Jojoya, it sounds little off-topic without context, but it should convey general message:

Do we need some to follow some regulations of minimal positive things we say, just so we feel like we're legitimate? I'm talking just for myself - I very rarely talk here about things I like. You can check all my 300+ posts, I bet there is not a single praise about this game's music, even though that's one of my most favorite things about the game. I have something positive to say, but I usually won't say it, I don't see a reason. You yourself described it as "at the least does not see as a problem with the game" - why would I start talking about something that I don't see as problem? What would I achieve by that? Would it spark some interesting discussion? Very unlikely. This is why I don't just throw random praises into the void, I don't see a reason. It doesn't mean I passionately hate the game as some seem to think, it's just different mindset and different personality traits.

Long story short - why? Why would I post some positive things in forums meant for feedback? If I wanted some positive fluff, I would check mainsub or similar media meant for this, there's more than enough of that in there. As for the rest:

Why do you stick around in the game/forums?

I want to engage with the game because I like it, but nowadays there's not much to do, so I spend more time in here.

Does something about it give you enough joy to be worth your time?

I still like the game, and there are good discussion in forums every now and then. And if not, there is often drama to fill the rest.

Is there something that gives you hope that things will get better, and thus you're not ready to leave just yet?

I don't see any indicators that game will change direction. I'm just waiting to see how will DT turn out, if jobs become drastically even worse, or if DT will have same mistakes as EW, then I'll just either quit or become one of those who plays for 1-2 months per expansion.

[Iscah]

But at this point the only people that defend this game are people that only afk the game on their second screen. The could make every class have a 100 button rotation and it wouldnt affect those people anyway.

This sort of statement is where a lot of the objections to "negative posters" come from. It's not that you personally dislike the game, but that you claim those who like it are automatically something less than a real player.

Some people like to stand around in Limsa looking pretty, but there's plenty of people that just play the game as an actual game – but not 24 hours a day.

I'm here because forum discussion is a hobby in itself – any time I start playing a major game, I will look for a forum to it so I can discuss the game with other people who like the game (which does not mean liking every aspect), and if it provides dev feedback then all the better.

If you don't like a thing, say you don't like a thing. But don't say that people can only like the thing if they don't really play it.

Long story short - why? Why would I post some positive things in forums meant for feedback?

Because feedback isn't always negative.

If people only speak up about the things they dislike, and not the things they do like, they might change something on the false impression that nobody is happy with it in its current state.

[Hurlstone]

I must admit, I used to have more energy in these debates but honestly… I just think very few of the regular 'complainers' actually care about the state of the game or what they say. It makes trying to debate these topics feel rather worthless, given how jaded some people appear, and I really do not think the game and its flaws can be used as an excuse.

This sort of statement is where a lot of the objections to "negative posters" come from. It's not that you personally dislike the game, but that you claim those who like it are automatically something less than a real player.

Some people like to stand around in Limsa looking pretty, but there's plenty of people that just play the game as an actual game – but not 24 hours a day.

I'm here because forum discussion is a hobby in itself – any time I start playing a major game, I will look for a forum to it so I can discuss the game with other people who like the game (which does not mean liking every aspect), and if it provides dev feedback then all the better.

If you don't like a thing, say you don't like a thing. But don't say that people can only like the thing if they don't really play it.

That's the an issue too, there is a spiteful element to much of the constant negativity/trolling. People who play are just AFK'ing/ERP'ing, and anyone who dares disagree with a criticism is just a ‘white knight shilling for the poor billionaire company’. Even the self-admitted trolls have changed their tune of late and decided to go for more personal attacks to get more ‘enrage’ engagement. Its even stranger due to the fact that there are so little ‘white knight’ posts/trolls here… out of all the places on the web which discuss the game, this is the most 'open' I would say.

Because feedback isn't always negative.

If people only speak up about the things they dislike, and not the things they do like, they might change something on the false impression that nobody is happy with it in its current state.

Exactly, all type of feedback should be recorded. Dismissing praise and positive comments is just as bad as dismissing constructive criticism.

[JamieRose]

[*]Do you overall dislike the game?

If not:
1. What do you still enjoy about the game?
2. Why the frequent focus on negative aspects?
3. Is it just that there's nothing to say about the good parts or is it something else?

Not everything I post is negative, but yes I still enjoy this game.

1. The story, the community, the FF nostalgia, the costumes and collecting, just having fun overall.

2. When the game is frustrating or an aspect of it is not enjoyable, I feel it necessary to give feedback so improvements can be made.

3. What would you like me to say about them? I feel it's less necessary to bring up aspects of the game that are not frustrating me.

I get a lot of flak around here for speaking my mind, and I may come off harsh at times, but I do genuinely enjoy FFXIV. I would have stopped paying for it if I wasn't enjoying it.

[Eastwall]

The things l don't like are in a tolerable level. So, l would try to complain So maybe it get some change, But l do still want to play the game.

[Moonlite]

The OP and others are missing the point. Lets say I complain about housing every time that an issue pops up or a new thread wanders its way onto the front page. Does that mean I hate the game, no the game just has a bad housing system. Or mogstation items, does that mean I hate crafting, no the game doesn't seem to have a decent cash shop. I don't think it is online with other games at all. So because I enjoyed Eureka or some other content I should never comment about how bad the cash shop is? I to this day don't believe that it is completely separate and takes zero time from the team working on the game.



Most of the complaints feel more peripheral over actual core design. Them adding less content. That isn't really a core issue. Or them selling X amount of expansions and then being shocked when those people login and try to play the game, after instancing all the story and not having enough instance servers. I would say if a new decent tab target type combat game came along the people that complain about peripheral issues would probably try out the new game.