Quitting ffxiv for good

[Ath192]

It actually does make a lot of sense. Look around and you'll see it all the time. I've experienced it myself with a plethora of rec leagues, bands, and so on. The groups that persist healthily over time are the ones that are constantly working to recruit new members. The simple reality is that no matter how much you focus on existing members, they will slowly but steadily bleed away over time for various reasons. What keeps something going strong is regularly adding new blood. Especially with something that's been around for 10 years like FFXIV has, and in a genre that is no longer the "king" of gaming like it was back in the 2005-2015 era or so, you're not likely to just pick up new people without specifically making changes to appeal to them. But that's what will keep you going.

Noone is saying the game has to only cater to existing players.... What everyone is saying is that it shouldn't be the only focus. Expanding the lifespan of each customer is a good business strategy. To counter your point I'm just going to say that theres always a small subset of players that will defend the current direction of any game right up until they drive it to the ground. It's also up to the Devs to not listen to those players because you want to know the funny thing? Even after all the defending they do once the game goes dead they also quit lol. Bunch of hypocrites.

[Jojoya]

Expanding the lifespan of each customer is a good business strategy.

How would you propose doing that when customers aren't of a single mind about what they want?

There's a point where most people get bored with something, no matter how good it is, simply because they've done it too much. They need a break to try new things. Sometimes they'll return to the old, sometimes they won't.

Investing money trying to keep long time customers ends up a waste of money when they quit anyways. That's why so many business have special introductory offers for new customers but won't extend any special offers to their existing customers. Either the existing customer is still satisfied with what they're getting and will stick around, or they aren't and will leave.

How many of us are still actively playing one or more of the online game we were playing a decade ago and enjoyed? Of those games we're not still playing, why did we quit?

FFXIV will not be any different in the long run. There will come a point where we lose interest for whatever reason and move on. We owe no loyalty to a game as it is a business arrangement. We pay for access to the service because we're happy with what we're getting, or we don't pay for access to the service because it no longer suits our wants and needs. It's rare for the changes to a game over time to stay in sync with the changes to what a player is looking for. Eventually they're going to diverge and part ways.

The best thing to do is move on instead of trying to deny and fight the divergence. Sticking around won't accomplish anything. The developers are going to make the game they want to make, not the game that players think they should make.

Again, my biggest complaint was that the casual content or midcore content got WAY to easy and didn't require any mental agility that the previous expansions did.

But it never did require any "mental agility". All it required was experience. Once I figured out the differences between the WoW content style and the FFXIV content style, the casual content here became easy since a lot of my WoW experience could translate.

You're making the same mistake others have made. The new content additions are not easier than the older ones (not by a long shot) though design has changed. The difference is your mastery of the game. You got good. The challenge is no longer there.

If the game no longer offers the challenge you want because you've mastered it, then you're making the right decision to leave so you can find a game that will offer you new challenges.

But honestly, leave the petty insults like you used in your initial post out of your feedback. You're only tearing yourself down by using them because now you've made yourself look small and petty instead of looking like someone making a considered decision about what is in their best interests.

[Myrany]

The best thing to do is move on instead of trying to deny and fight the divergence. Sticking around won't accomplish anything. The developers are going to make the game they want to make, not the game that players think they should make.

Which is why I have walked away from one of the games I have been playing for years and am seriously testing to see if I want to walk away from 2 more. The Devs vision and mine no longer agree. I will give the changes a fair shot but if it goes as I expect I am out.

FFXIV is not one of those games yet for me.

[Ath192]

The best thing to do is move on instead of trying to deny and fight the divergence. Sticking around won't accomplish anything. The developers are going to make the game they want to make, not the game that players think they should make.

This is actually not true though is it? Most of this games decisions have been driven by player feedback historically, maybe less so now. And they are only revamping the graphics because we asked for them, not because it was the easy thing to do. With the developers personally thanking the players for staying through 1.0 and apologizing to them how can you reconcile your words with so much evidence to the contrary?

I feel like your statements are more about silencing the negativity instead of listening or understanding it simply because you don't like it. But negativity has a place, and its that very same negativity in regards to this games difficulty that made it so easy. That was all player feedback. So hopefully that very same negativity will balance the game back to an interesting state again.

You certainly have no grounds to claim the devs won't make a game players want. Not when it comes to this one.

I distinctly remember Yoshi P asking in a keynote for Endwalker if it was okay to add weeks to the patch cycle and him getting a positive response because the players believed the Devs deserved some more breaks. Unfortunately, we did not realize this was going to make this games stale formula extremely obvious and make the game feel stagnant. As such, hopefully they'll step up efforts again and hire more people to keep content up instead of overworking their employees.

I have my resentments for sure, but despite criticizing them for not caring about a lot I can't say they don't take feedback.

[ty_taurus]

This is actually not true though is it? Most of this games decisions have been driven by player feedback historically, maybe less so now. And they are only revamping the graphics because we asked for them, not because it was the easy thing to do. With the developers personally thanking the players for staying through 1.0 and apologizing to them how can you reconcile your words with so much evidence to the contrary?

Something really interesting to consider is that there are many companies that pay a lot of money specifically on tools, resources, and employee time to collect data from people who are canceling subscriptions on why they are leaving the service. That data is incredibly important because companies want to know what is causing any form of hemorrhaging of their consumer base, even if that hemorrhaging isn't severe or putting them in danger.

[Jojoya]

This is actually not true though is it? Most of this games decisions have been driven by player feedback historically, maybe less so now.

We know that happened with 1.0 but 1.0 was a failed game. The only way to save it was to listen to what the players had to say.

Yes, I'll admit I expressed my thoughts badly there and so that comes across as unfair to the developers. It would have been more accurate to say they rarely choose to implement what's requested by player feedback unless player participation is below what they expect and they don't have any ideas they feel are better that will improve it.

But there's still the problem of whether SE's response is what the players were asking for in their feedback.

Players wanted gear rewards in Criterion. SE puts the weapon upgrade in Criterion Savage while nothing is added to Criterion.

Players want the relics weapons to be tied to something other than an exploration zone? SE makes them purchased through tomestones instead of giving them a unique process of acquisition that would feel like additional content.

Players want a lottery for housing instead of placard clicking. SE gives it to them, but not in the way players had visualized and tied to some additional changes that most players didn't want. Most players who left the original feedback would say they didn't get what they were asking for when the lottery was added.

Players not happy with Blue Mage design. This is one where I have to give the developers credit for trying to please players even while failing. The player base is not unified when it comes to what Blue Mage should be. It should be solo content! Group content! Casual content! Hardcore content! Trying to please those who were complaining inevitably made those who had been pleased upset. A good example of why developers frequently do their own thing instead of trying to make changes based on player feedback.

So how many times have players gotten exactly what they were asking for instead of SE choosing to respond in their own way? Not often.

I don't fault the developers for their choices, even when I may not personally like them. It is their game and their personal effort going into making the game.

But the last thing I want to do is leave an unhappy player with the idea that if they complain enough in the forums, the developers will change the game into what they want. The developers are going to continue to make the decisions about what they feel do or don't fit into the game, which are technological possible, and which are possible but not feasible from a time/cost/resource perspective.

Better to leave the feedback then move on if they're that unhappy with the state of the game. As long as they don't do something that will get them banned, they're always free to return to the game in the future when things look better to them. Just as the developers can always go back to read the feedback if the player base disappears one day.

[sindriiisgaming]

players wanted gear rewards in Criterion. SE puts the weapon upgrade in Criterion Savage while nothing is added to Criterion.

Players want the relics weapons to be tied to something other than an exploration zone? SE makes them purchased through tomestones instead of giving them a unique process of acquisition that would feel like additional content.

Players want a lottery for housing instead of placard clicking. SE gives it to them, but not in the way players had visualized and tied to some additional changes that most players didn't want. Most players who left the original feedback would say they didn't get what they were asking for when the lottery was added.

Players not happy with Blue Mage design. This is one where I have to give the developers credit for trying to please players even while failing. The player base is not unified when it comes to what Blue Mage should be. It should be solo content! Group content! Casual content! Hardcore content! Trying to please those who were complaining inevitably made those who had been pleased upset. A good example of why developers frequently do their own thing instead of trying to make changes based on player feedback.

You know I for the most part didn't even mind blue mage. I find it fun and wish they added more of it. The blue ult will be fun next expansion. And if we get bst I will also enjoy it. I enjoyed blunder till the hackers showed up. That achievement was kinda a mistake. I enjoyed pvp rework but crowd controll abuse needs a nerf. I enjoy the lottery system but ppl can abuse it with alts and they need to tighten the restrictions on one account with housing. Better everyone has 1 per dc than 100 ppl having every house. I enjoy criterion. Tho not savage. Despite its complainers. I enjoy some savages but only a tiny few this expansion. And i adore reaper despite its simple rotation. Its actually why i play it. Its approable unlike other melees. Its not like we hate everything. Just a lot of things

[ForteNightshade]

The best thing to do is move on instead of trying to deny and fight the divergence. Sticking around won't accomplish anything. The developers are going to make the game they want to make, not the game that players think they should make.

This is objectively false. Almost every major implementation has been in direct response to some measure of player feedback. Job changes, the introduction of Party Finder, cool down resets and all the way to the now maligned two minute meta. If you want a recent example, look no further than the glowing tome weapons. They were a rather desperate last minute addition to Criterion due to dismal participation rates and near constant criticism over lackluster rewards. Now whether they're listening to the right demographic or making good changes is where we're open for debate, however they absolutely are adjusting the game based on "what players think."

A successful game series need to both listen to its playerbase while parsing that information accordingly. Plenty of ideas people think they want, be they hardcore raiders or casual gposers, aren't actually good idea. On the flipside, they might have a decent concept which needs fleshing out from someone with genuine experience: i.e. a developer. A prime example of how important player feedback and communication is would be Baldur's Gate. Even when they openly deny adding features or ideas players have requested, they typically do so with an explanation why it won't work or how difficult those changes might be. Which is why fans have been much more understanding amongst that community.

Catering to either side will inevitably cause backlash. And if you think the midcore playerbase isn't sizable enough for the devs to care. Well, the Chinese producer certainly disagreed. In his interview, he outright stated Yoshida wants to emphasise group content in Dawntrail as a direct response to the litany of criticism towards Endwalker solo focus. He goes on to mention how they feel, in retrospect, doing so much behind the scenes work (Trusts and such) took more time than they expected. If this all winds up being the case, then this is yet another case of player outright having an impact on the direction of FFXIV's "vision."