Unenthused About Dawntrail

[Thurmnmurmn]

I haven't even decided if I'll get DT yet. As of right now I don't even play the game much anymore and I'm not sure why I'm still subbed.
There's a good chance I'll get it and give it a go but probably not with the launch.
After EW I just have no desire to play the game.

[Cidel]

I've been pretty "meh" for a while now, probably specifically around some time during Shadowbringers. The content structure has been stale and formulaic as have been most of the fight encounter designs. I haven't been enthused per se about an expansion since Stormblood, outside of the relief that comes from finally having something relatively new to do.

This is the same song and dance in terms of info they share about upcoming expansions to try and hype players (and it does work on many)- but like, I could care less about the new "zones" they reveal when roughly 75% of the game is instanced and the zones are dead to most players outside of the first few months of players leveling and chasing FATEs around; before just being relegated to DoLs flying back and forth between set node spawns and Hunt trains looking for the shortest route between marks. Maybe a handful of still-active FCs or PF treasure map parties who don't care about the zone but whether or not they get an instanced portal after curb-stomping trash mobs.

Don't really care about the new jobs this time around. Might level Pictomancer to see if I like it better than the current casters, but it hasn't "hyped" me. I could care less about whatever the raid series theme is; when it will boil down to another weekly grind of memorized mechanics that lasts about as long as however lucky I am to outroll 7 other people on different gear slot tokens. I didn't even bother with EX fights in EW because having a weapon with a marginally higher ilvl feels largely pointless if you aren't actively running Savage (because this game has no mid tier content, just braindead-training wheels and savage/ultimate), and I didn't care for how any of them looked aesthetically. That and I was utterly burned-out from farming mounts (or rather, chances to outroll the rest of the party) in ShB- only to be disappointed that the final mount wasn't yet another Eastern-theme mythological creature but a freaking ZOID. Wasn't feeling it with EW's mini winged leopard things, and the final retro Bahamut mount was so far out the left field that I feel even more vindicated for not bothering.

I'll admit, I am interested that the Mamool Ja are playing a large part in this expansion- they were my favorite beastmen race from FFXI until the Amalj'aa sort of became their "replacement goldfish" in XIV. Speaking of which, I guess I am also interested in seeing what the FFXI alliance raid will be and what gear will make the final cut for rewards. The two dye channels are also something I am looking forward to- though I wish they would do more glamour QoL upgrades.

EW felt like such a budget, low-effort expansion that my expectations are as equally rock-bottom (which I guess will work in their favor). The one saving grace is that Yoshi flat out admitted that content felt "too comfortable" lately and I guess I'm holding out hope that that self-reflection on the state of his game's content results in something.

[Router]

I don't think it's surprising that some people aren't hyped considering that we've gotten basically zero story hooks to pull us in for DT. Right now it's just Wuk, basically. The devs even realized this and dropped the Solution 9 preview just to get people wondering WTF is going on. I'm mostly waiting on the media tour to decide if I'll be excited or not but I'm pretty much expecting more of the same in terms of job & fight design, so meh. At least we're getting Bozja/Eureka 2/3 so I'll have stuff to do in between raids; That's already way better than Endwalker...

[Bonoki]

I find myself lacking enthusiasm for the storyline. Having ventured to the Moon, traversed the edge of the universe, and even experienced time travel, the prospect of exploring a barely explored continent feels remarkably anticlimactic. Particularly disheartening is the fact that previous attempts to reintroduce the grounded, relatable adventurer in 6.1 failed. It seems our journey to the New World is driven solely by the Warrior of Light's aimlessness, prompted by a chance request from a stranger to aid in a competition whom we know nothing about. It leaves me questioning the coherence of the narrative's direction.

[Derio]

I find myself lacking enthusiasm for the story as well. Endwalker was extremely lackluster compared to the other expansions. Pictomancer just doesnt excite me and viper looks like a less fun version of ninja.

The fun stuff really comes after the expansion with Savages and extreme trials and large scale battle content. Ultimately what will get me excited will be the job action trailer and media tour because that usually tells you if your job will be good or not.

Im going in with extremely low expectations for DT because I havent heard anything about key game issues like the 2 minute meta, job balance or fight design be addressed in any of the live letters with actual examples.

[Supersnow845]

I’m in that weird spot within not excited for 7.0 but I’m potentially excited for 7.x

A new field content zone is about all you ever need to rope me in, I’m also cautiously optimistic for celestial exploration and even though ultimates aren’t really my speed I’m definitely going to do lesbian power ultimate

But nothing in base 7.0 is really enticing me

[VentVanitas]

meh. I'm not going to quit, but another ~2.5 years of baby easy roulettes with samey, boring jobs doesn't exactly sound thrilling to me. I'll still stick around for my friends, the music, and to see how the story and post-patch content will fare, though.

it's hard to not feel excited about shiny new things, but my expectations are low.

[Kennar]

I'm a sucker, so I'll get DT. My expectations, however, are definitely tempered. The trailer didn't do it for me, the brief intro we got in 6.5 didn't draw me in, and I have a feeling Wuk Lamat is going to start to annoy me about halfway through. I'm also done with crossovers, collaborations, tie-ins, and homages--I want to see something original instead of nostalgia bait. That being said, I have no real idea what the story will hold so I'm going in with cautious optimism. There had better be more to it a beach episode and tournament arc.

More than the MSQ, though, the gameplay has to deliver. Bring back the fun.

[Hanayumi]

Until a better Mmo shows up, still sticking with FFXIV, plenty of great games have been coming out lately for sure, but personally for Mmos, theres just been nothing remotely close to FFXIV quality out now or coming out anytime soon, so... yeah!

[Jeeqbit]

Am I out of the loop or are people seriously going "Nah this expansion sucks" just from the rough plot thread we've been shown so far?

They are saying that based on the trailer, but if they looked at the information beyond that (such as videos, screenshots and art of the areas we're getting) and pickup on the FF9 references, it's actually going to be really good. Just a lot of people will only see the trailer. The launch trailer will most likely be the real trailer for this expansion that shows off what the expansion is really about, but people forget about the launch trailers usually.

Others are saying it'll not be good based on the content and mechanics rather than the story, but the content and mechanics are mostly going to be the same as the last 4 expansions so it's kinda just, if you're expecting a formula that's been the same since Heavensward/Stormblood to be different, it's expecting something that hasn't ever happened in the game's life, you know?

It seems our journey to the New World is driven solely by the Warrior of Light's aimlessness, prompted by a chance request from a stranger to aid in a competition whom we know nothing about.

We did learn more information, actually:

1. The New World was one of the places we were advised to explore in Ultima Thule.
2. The competition involves a competitor who intends to wage war with the eastern nations now that Garlemald is out of the picture. Getting this information out of Wuk made the situation far more urgent.
3. Galuf Baldesion was meant to handle something in the New World, but can't because he's no longer around due to the incident. Krile thought it a good opportunity to bring this letter she found up. Out of respect, we can sort it out in their stead.

I don't think it's surprising that some people aren't hyped considering that we've gotten basically zero story hooks to pull us in for DT.

I agree that these hooks being sudden and done at the tail end of the patch cycle made them feel rushed.

The devs even realized this and dropped the Solution 9 preview just to get people wondering WTF is going on.

To be fair, they usually show us most of the areas except the last one, spoil the early part of the plot (but not the end nor the last boss nor the setbacks) and they usually put a lot of contextless spoilers in the launch trailer. Always remember the Shadowbringers launch trailer spoiled the primals discussion from the Qitana Ravel though.