Goodbye Endwalker

[caffe_macchiato]

Goodbye Endwalker, you let me play a lot of other games. I will never forget how you respected my time by letting me play other games. I had a blast with Elden Ring and Tears of the Kingdom! We like FFXIV because it lets us play other games, despite us also playing it for 10 hours a day for the past 12 years with no breaks, and even if we do take breaks that's okay but let me be clear, it does NOT force you to play other games there's plenty of content to do, where are your clears and your logs and your Big Fish/Necromancer? And at least FFXIV isn't like WOW, don't you remember Shadowlands? WoD?? Torghast and garrisons?? And don't you remember the allegations? Yikes, Blizzard is just so bad and I hate WoW so much.

Anyway, I think you all need to remember that FFXIV isn't just a game, but a movement. Remember that we all stand on the right side of history against evil naysayers who oppose us and who we are as individuals. An attack against FFXIV is an attack on us all. We will NOT allow them to insult us. So THANK YOU, YOSHI-P! THANK YOU FOR GIVING US THIS MOVEMENT! To celebrate, I'm going to have Yoshi-P's face tattooed on my chest just so that whenever I'm doing "nightclub activities" in FFXIV I'll look down and see my savior looking up at me proudly. THANK YOU SIR!!

[Voidmage]

Be wary of echo chambers (i.e. most of this forum). They can end up giving someone a very false impression of what's really going on. Heck, the hunt trains running this morning were as packed as ever with a lot of "hype" running through the chat, same with the FC. Take a spin around places like YT and for every person here who comments or "likes" a comment naysaying the game, you'll find dozens of people doing the exact opposite. The playerbase data says the same - even once the "WoW exodus" ran its course, EW still had the highest player population at every single point along the way compared with ShB (just as ShB did compared to SB, and SB compared to HW, etc.). The game is actually still on an upward trajectory and will be going for a long time to come.

I think Destiny 2's recent xpac is a good lesson. Check out those forums - the toxicity there leading up to their recently released xpac made this place look like a paradise in comparison. Then the xpac launched...and it's been enormously popular, widely praised...all while the same group continues their negativity on the forum. I expect the same will happen here - a massively popular release of DT, with the forum community that's buried its head in its own echo chamber wondering how it could be.

Not saying you are wrong (there is a bit much doom and gloom here) but it really seems, I don't know, quiter then for the expansions before that (weird to put into words).
I look kinda forward to DT with careful expectations just because Yoshida really seemed genuine with his promises of more multiplayer stuff evenso I maybe sound annoyed by this game on some points.
It's kinda strange how quit DT hype seems though. Maybe because there is no real build up to it's story or many players really are more down to earth with their expactations but I wouldn't call it an echo chamber to be honest.
It would be an interesting discussion on itself I guess.

Also to be a bit off topic. Destiny 2 was allready dead when the announced it for some of us who liked Destiny 1. :P

On topic again:
I missed one other positive point about EW.
The PVP update was great and makes me kinda hopeful for job identity in 8.0.

[Sorimachi87]

Thank you for making this, and apologies on behalf of the negative echo chamber that can't stand people enjoying the game.

Thank you very much for your statement. I knew what i was in for, but yeah it has to be said. Condemning an expansion is easy for us as we are the paying customers. Others need to realize how much work and effort is put into each and every expansion.
Yeah okay, a lot may be rehashed and some mechanics repeat more or less and some clothing has a different color palette. This feature should have been in since ARR, this should have been there. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

Lets enjoy Dawntrail together.

3 more days till maintenance start ^_^

[Rithy255]

EW had it's ups and downs for me, story, gameplay ect.
6.0 Was a pretty decent story wise likely my 2nd favourite in all the expansions... I will not talk about anything beyond that to remain positive.

At this point im waiting to see how DT will holds up, I've already got what I've wanted out of EW.

[CerusSerenade]

Goodbye to the solid 6.0 release, the fun raids-

and the weak, pathetic, most un-enjoyable relic series ever conceived. May Hildibrand be consigned to oblivion where it belongs.

[Graveyardprincess]

idc who what when or how there better be a hot demonic evil boy again ... or a vampire prince like ew raid tier 5 _-_ are at the very least bring back zero and make a void expansion

[Azureskies01]

Finally the power of friendship tripe that was known as EW is done! woo. Now if we could go back to having a half way decent MSQ like in Shb or even Stb that would be swell.

I'll never forgive them for putting Zodiark at lv 83. EW was -redacted- through and through. I'll spit on its grave.

[Carin-Eri]

Well, I've already said that I think the music was, frankly, perfect. However, atop that - positives that spring to mind:
- The interactions with Jullus at Camp Brokenglass - a truly touching moment
- The The Font of Maya - Matsya and the baby; I was SO on edge throughout that sequence.
- The Moon - the awe of being there, and it started off really nicely (though I'd have to concede that I didn't enjoy Bestway Burrows much and could barely believe Zodiark ended up being a midgame boss)
- The whole Ragnarok launch sequence
- Despite feeling somewhat indifferent about Meition I did enjoy the whole 'Endsinger' thing, and I'll admit I grinned like an idiot when Zenos appeared
- The fight against Zenos, as well as our final interactions with him either side of the fight. I know this one polarises opinion, but I loved every minute of it - and 'Footfalls' playing during the fight was the icing on the cake for me!
- The closing sequence. Not going to lie - I had tears in my eyes during the scene with our character walking with the Scions, toward the 'key' Ascians, and then seeing my character acknowledged as "The Warrior of Light" (love that touch, acknowledging every players part in the overall success of the game as a whole).

On the more negative side:
Well, I'm actually not in the 'Endwalker sucks' camp here - I enjoyed it and I'm not willing to pretend otherwise. And I wasn't exposed to the pre-launch marketing/hype since I didn't start playing the game until shortly after EW launched and avoided anything related to it for the sake of not spoiling the MSQ for myself. Playing the MSQ at my own pace, I didn't actually reach Endwalker until the following March.

And I watched the Footfalls Cinematic right before I started Endwalker. To this day I still think that cinematic was incredible - I recall watching it that first time. The music and the lyrics, the promise of a 'end of the world' scenario story. The emphasis on the moon and the question of it's role in the story, not to mention the question of why the Warrior of Light was on the moon - alone no less! I was completely blown away by it and couldn't wait to see how it would all translate into the story.
But even as someone who very much enjoyed Endwalker.... I don't think the story quite lived up to what the cinematic portrayed. 'The Final Days' should've been a world-changing, almost apocalyptic, event - but it doesn't feel as if it had as big an impact, or long-term consequence, on the world as Dalamud/Bahamut did overall.

Anyway - goodbye Endwalker. Count me as one who thinks the positives outweigh the negatives, and who'll look back fondly on the journey you took me on.

[Daralii]

And I watched the Footfalls Cinematic right before I started Endwalker. To this day I still think that cinematic was incredible - I recall watching it that first time. The music and the lyrics, the promise of a 'end of the world' scenario story. The emphasis on the moon and the question of it's role in the story, not to mention the question of why the Warrior of Light was on the moon - alone no less! I was completely blown away by it and couldn't wait to see how it would all translate into the story.
But even as someone who very much enjoyed Endwalker.... I don't think the story quite lived up to what the cinematic portrayed. 'The Final Days' should've been a world-changing, almost apocalyptic, event - but it doesn't feel as if it had as big an impact, or long-term consequence, on the world as Dalamud/Bahamut did overall.

Anyway - goodbye Endwalker. Count me as one who thinks the positives outweigh the negatives, and who'll look back fondly on the journey you took me on.

The pacing was definitely one of the big issues. It took until ~84 for the Final Days to even start, and I think we only actually saw it in Thavnair and Garlemald. The starstorm in 5.3 did a better job with the idea because it affected every overworld skybox in Norvrandt.