If you've 'run out of stuff to do' in a game as big as 14, the answer isn't 'more 14'

[Renathras]

A Reddit post that makes a point worth keeping in mind:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme..._but_if_youve/

Title.

Don't get me wrong, I've been there with games. But especially when it comes to MMOs, they're kind of designed so that you CAN'T run out of things to do unless you spend a disproportionate amount of time in the game.

If you feel like you have nothing to do, it's more than likely burnout talking. At least twice a year I'll hit a phase where I log in, socialise with the FC, fly around whatever zone I spawned in for 10 minutes then log off. I promise you, when you hit that point you're best off just taking a break. Because it's never (in my case) that there's literally nothing to do. It's that all I have left to do doesn't excite me.

We're at that point in the patch cycle where this is going to be a take that crops up more and more often, and honestly, save your sanity and do something else for a bit. No game should consume you to the point where having nothing to do is a genuine problem. There's an ebb and flow to live service. It can't all be rapids.

EDIT:

Probably one of the better comments in the thread:

The game absolutely needs improvement, but it's also not the insufferable unplayable trash that some are making it out to be.

Both sides of the argument are way overblown.

I've been playing since HW. Until ShB, I used to LIVE in this game. Literally, 24/7

By the end of 5.0, that slowed down. I had my first big hiatus from the game. Came back for 5.3, played for a while longer, another hiatus. Endwalker came out. Played a LOT of it. after 6.0, the hype fizzled out a bit again and another hiatus ensued. Came back for 6.4, been playing steadily since then.

I understand the whole "It's not burnout, I feel like playing XIV, there's just nothing to do in it" argument; I've been through it. Any long time player will eventually go through it imo. But at the same time... I don't know man, If it's not bringing you joy, then grinding your head against it isn't gonna make it any better.

And I don't mean this in the yoship "haha go play other stuff and come back in the next patch". I mean this as "go live outside the game for a long while and let the content pile up". It's what I did, and it worked for me. Letting the game sizzle for a while and then coming back to check out a ton of stuff can be really refreshing, even if it's an one and done.

AT THE SAME TIME, I do know what it's like to want to see the thing you love getting better and meeting your expectations. Depending on what you're looking for in XIV, EW may very well be disappointing in many regards, and that's understandable.

This is where I feel OP does have a point with the "the solution is not more 14" pov. Voicing your concerns and trying to have a discussion with like-minded players about the game's issues is fine, but sometimes what you need isn't really a break from the game; it's a break from XIV. As a whole. Not just the game; discussions, forums, communities, streamers, YT content, everything.

Just detox yourself from XIV for like. A good year, and see what that does for you. It worked for me, multiple times.

tl;dr: SQEX is not your friend and it's not a godlike entity that does no wrong, but it's also not out to fucking kill your family and shit in your mouth. I do think OP has a point with the whole taking a break thing, just make it a real break instead of a "I'll be back in the next patch" break.

And another couple:

What the majority of people that are complaining about content seem to forget. Is that the dev team is also overhauling the graphics for the entire game and fixing things on the back end so that they can add the QoL things people have been asking for. This is a perfect time for them to fix the spaghetti code left over from 1.0 because they ended the last story ark in 6.0. These tasks take resources hence why we didn't get content that needed to be consistent update during the patch cycles. Both Bozja and Eureka take alot of resources because of all things they add for the fates plus the raids aswell as the story. Then balance all that with the jobs plus the additional actions added.

Another thing people seem to be forgetting is that it was also a good opportunity to test out new content. Island Sanctuary can lead up being a alternative to housing it's only missing a few things for it to be, criterion dungeons are going to be regular content added in future patch cycles they just need to add more to the reward structure.

I totally agree. If you feel like there is nothing else to do in the game, then go play something else. I play a wide variety of games, and I'm always leaving and then coming back to FF14. My only issue with instances like this is when someone specially says "there is a content drought". When someone sees a big streamer say something like that, it makes that person think there really isn't a whole lot to do in the game, while there is a shit ton to do in the game. It isn't that there is a content drought, its that there is nothing else you (as a person) want to do in the game, and that is totally fine.

I remember asking a streamer that said that if they did treasure maps, criterion dungeons, Bojza, or hunts and they said no. That's fine if they don't want to do those things, but you really can't say a game has a content drought, if you don't want to do 30% of what a game has to offer.

shadowbringers vs endwalker

-1 exploration zone with ~12 interesting fights across 2 zones, 6 duels

-3 exploration zone raids

+1 ultimate

+1 deep dungeon

+1 hildy trial

+3 variant and criterion dungeons with 9-12 interesting fights

+1 tribal capstone

acting like there was some sudden massive change in the content and catastrophizing over it is silly

And, honestly, the real issue with all these discussions, so a really good one:

I think people need more to be more clear with their criticisms. "Nothing to do" or "no content" are terrible criticisms that couldn't be further from the truth, there's a plethora of content in this game assuming you haven't already spent thousands of hours doing it all.

If what you believe is that the current endgame content is lacking or simply uninteresting, then be more clear about that. Blanket statements about the game having nothing to do only causes confusion, both among the playerbase and probably to the developers too. Be specific about what you want to see improved.