Quote Originally Posted by strawberrycake View Post
One thing I never really understand with how people in the community function (I've been experiencing this since Shadowbringers specifically), is that everything is an absolute or an extreme, or a situation where if the others win you lose. I'm am just as guilty of this as anyone else, and I noticed that type of mindset becoming more normal for me and others I know who have played XIV for a long time.

Some examples being:
  • If someone talks about how they're enjoying XIV someone has to talk about how they aren't, or vice versa.
  • Someone will say they want more content, given they have more time, and someone who is more casual oriented who already is ok with the lack of time they personally have to spend on XIV seeing it as a slight to how they play.
  • People feeling the need to tell people to quit when someone made a tempered take about the state of the game, explaining their thoughts in a fair way.
  • The assumption that someone hates the game in it's entirety for wanting change.


I feel like between a lot of the bickering we all do and at times unfair mental gymnastics played, it becomes impossible to not only give feed back or to even see if there are worth while player made solutions to known issues within the game. But to also discuss the reality of the game good and bad.


And I know a lot of this may end up being trolls or people talking around points. And I'm in no way trying to come off as condescending with a post like this. But I mean, fair question(s) here.
Different people have different points of view. It's a discussion forum. You have to be open to others entering a thread with their own opinions. Hopefully everyone is being genuine with their thoughts but trolls will be trolls.

Regarding:

Quote Originally Posted by strawberrycake View Post
  • People feeling the need to tell people to quit when someone made a tempered take about the state of the game, explaining their thoughts in a fair way.
The tempered takes are fine but they need to understand that what they post is still just their opinion. Some players might share the same or similar opinion but together they still don't doesn't represent the entire player base.

When the tempered take is summed up with "I can't enjoy the game anymore as it is", then suggesting the poster quit is good advice (though definitely there are good and bad ways of saying it).

The game is not going to be changed because the poster and a handful of other players are unhappy. If change the poster would see as positive is coming, it's not going to happen overnight. It could be several months away.

It does not make sense to waste time and money on something you cannot enjoy when the entire purpose of that something is to have a good time. Spend the time and money on something you will enjoy instead. If the first something later changes to something you can enjoy, go back at that point.

While some "just quit" comments are very flippant (usually obvious by the way they're posted), others are out of genuine concern. Sticking to things making you unhappy is not good for your mental health or your physical health. Quitting really is the best thing to do a lot of times. Seek out what will make you happy when the game is no longer doing it.

Quote Originally Posted by strawberrycake View Post
  • The assumption that someone hates the game in it's entirety for wanting change.
That's going to depend on what they want changed and how they're expressing their opinion.

Someone has a wall of text list of grievances and changes they feel the game needs but makes no mention of what they like and feel is done well? They've done it to themselves. There is nothing for the reader to use to infer that the poster might like the game. Perhaps the poster liked what the game was in the past but that past is gone and the game is different now. Perhaps they like their vision of what the game might be but that game doesn't exist. How do they genuinely feel about the game as it currently is? We can't know for certain, we can only go by what they post. What they posted didn't sound like it was coming from someone who likes the game.

Someone posts repeated sweeping negative generalizations about the game? No one who likes something overall is going to say those things. They're going to talk about that one thing they want changed and not bash the game as a whole.

Someone starts a new thread each day talking about one of the current negative hot takes on the game? They may not hate the game but they certainly don't like it. They probably don't care about the game at all and are just screwing with people for the lulz.

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Let me add this in as a side note:

I read an article a few days back related to the communication patterns of the various generations. One of the Generation Z members interviewed mentioned how their generation has a habit of talking in ironic and sarcastic ways. Other members of their generation will understand what they mean because they talk the same way.

Members of other generations won't because that's not how they talk as a rule. They're used to expressing their opinions clearly, not hidden behind irony and sarcasm.

This is a game with a multi-generation population. There are players in their teens and other players who are in their 70s and 80s. There are also those who come from different cultures and have learned English as a second (or third or fourth) language.

Perhaps some misunderstandings are happening because posters use different styles to communicate. It's something to keep in mind if what another poster says rubs you the wrong way. None of us are likely to change how we communicate but we can control how we react.