Why Are the FFXIV Forums So Bad?

[Avoidy]

In-game is moderated.

The forums are moderated, too. But the posts that get deleted are generally ones that are critical of the game, which were of course reported by fanboys who couldn't bear to read about how their favorite toy isn't perfect. It's understandable to think we don't have moderation, though; I didn't think we had mods either, until I got slapped with a 10 day ban for saying a new cash shop glam was terrible looking and encouraging people not to buy it so the shop team would maybe stop producing lazy slop. But spreading that kind of nEgAtiviTy is a bannable offense, and apparently swearing is too, when it's in a post that a fanboy disagrees with.

To answer OP's question, these forums are awful because you basically have 2 types of people here for (apparently) opposed reasons. One group took the devs at their word about wanting to hear feedback, so they came here to provide it only to learn that actually no devs read this place or provide any semblance of a response to any posts. And another group is here to insist nonstop that the game is 11/10 perfection while pushing back on every feedback thread they see, even if the request is totally reasonable. Anyone coming here to provide feedback is simply mistaken about the purpose of this place, and they learn this when they post feedback and get told that they should just quit the game if they have any issues with it. If you want to actually talk about the game in a critical manner, there're barely any places to do it. This community is high on its own farts.

It also doesn't help that we do have people who post genuinely interesting critiques of the game sometimes but they do it on these alt accounts in a trollish provocative manner so that half the community here just dismisses genuine feedback with a kneejerk "TiTanMeN!!!" response and doesn't even read the thread they're replying to. And those types of trolls are drawn here because Defenders of the Game can't help themselves and have to just reply to everything even if it's by someone they can't stand. It's like watching a train crash in slow motion. I don't like it here but I can't stop checking back when I'm bored at work.