“The feedback we’ve received has been positive overall,” says battle content designer Masatoshi Ishikawa.
They must read r/ffxiv where even the most lukewarm takes are downvoted to oblivion, and only fanatic praise of the game is allowed.

Variant is mind-numbingly boring, and Criterion is a waste of time beyond the first run just to see how they designed the bosses.

Sadly, it isn't strange to think that they consider Variant/Criterion a success when they consider Island Sanctuary a success by how little players engage with the system except for once a week spread-sheeting.