This game used to have a fun playerbase. What happened?

[AnnRam]

ERP/Modbeast/Mare happened.
Now you have a divided community where:

-A very small group does content/raid etc and play the game as a MMORPG but they have to deal with the bigger community aka the second life one who don't play the game at all and stay online 24/7 doing erp spamming venues, advertising modding etc, basically they are playing a version of FFXIV like Skyrim with 2500 mods installed etc, so if you aren't part of that they won't talk to you.

-The new players or returned ones that doesn't fill in both communities and quit as long they are done with current content and comes back after a big patch.

[Rolder50]

Hey now you can both be a modbeast and do content / care about gameplay. Those are not mutually exclusive.

[Khet_Fyth]

No shade or insult intended: But maybe this just isn't the game for you anymore? It's perfectly natural to outgrow things and you shouldn't feel bad for letting it go if its clearly making you this unhappy.

[VerdeLuck]

There is a definite shift in the community into a polarized state, the hardcore raiders get more hardcore and gatekeep more based on their websites, 3rd party tools, required gearing, etc.
Then on the social side it becomes more and more gated by mods, discord servers, social groups, linkshells, etc.

It's sad to see but the casual MMO gamer who comes in after work to play a few hours and chip away at some goal or duty while they talk is a dying breed. Either you play for the story and unsub or you go fully into one of the hardcore groups.

[AddictedToWitches]

The game never had a good community because even in ARR you see the same toxicity you see now.
But arguably it's gotten worse over the years. Borderline impossible for people to get into hard content with how absolutely terrible the community is.

[lotlizard]

The game never had a good community because even in ARR you see the same toxicity you see now.
But arguably it's gotten worse over the years. Borderline impossible for people to get into hard content with how absolutely terrible the community is.

Pardon me, but are you a "scab" healer (a healer who will continue to heal in lieu of the current healer strike), or a healer who will heal my scabs? Just asking for a friend here

[gllt]

It's not FFXIV or MMORPG specific.

Every game tries to maximize player retention and grow the playerbase at any cost now because infinite growth is the only thing that matters to shareholders.

Disagreeable gamers have always existed, but there are more of them present in your games now, that's all. There's nothing to shake them off anymore. And you leaving the game because of them isn't enough of a disruption to the cash flow to make a difference.

It's like how companies actually have no incentive to fight scalping behavior but rather plenty of incentive exists to encourage it. It's guaranteed sales even if it's going into a warehouse somewhere to never see the light of day.

The worst gamers you know are the most reliable subs. That's it.

[Connor]

The playerbase hasn’t gotten ‘meaner’, it just got ‘bigger’. Which, unfortunately means your likelihood of coming across a complete asshole has also became bigger over time lol. Proportionately though I wouldn’t say the community during any particular expansion was more/less ‘toxic’ than now. There was just less people for it be noticeable

[Wildheaven182]

Plotwatchers, rpers, normies, raiders... long ago, the four nations lived in harmony, then everything changed when the dev nation attacked.
The nocturnal sect astrologians were completely eradicated...

[Drkdays]

It was over a decade ago that I made some of my most lasting friendships with some of the most interesting people online. We were bound by a thread of whimsy and a love for all things final fantasy. The social engine of an MMO with the foundation of one of the best RPGs of all time? FFXIV was a mecca for people like me. The seasons breezed past us as balance changes went up and down and expansions came and went. That last part gets kind of fickle though. With new expansions comes a new playerbase, and by the looks of it..... yikes. These days, it feels like like those who want to enjoy the worldbuilding and gameplay mechanics of the final fantasy universe were put in the backseat. Instead, all you have to do is take one look at limsa to see where we've landed. People who have trouble asking for extra ketchup packets are now making cliques over funny numbers on the bad website or acting like this is second life with catgirls. All I'm saying is you don't need to go to Gridania to touch grass. Feel free to step outside, that doesn't cost a monthly subscription.

You're remembering visiting the ice-cream truck when it was a novelty for you and the other kids in the neighborhood. It's not a novelty anymore and lots of the kids on your street moved away and were replaced with new kids, but you can still get the ice-cream and the new kids play different music and watch different TV shows but they're still kids enjoying themselves and having fun with each other.