Are we destroying "our own" game?

[Rueby]

Back then a sizable amount liked stormblood base MSQ more than heavensward
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...?highlight=msq

Interestingly I agree with them, but that's my opinion. I just wanted to bring this up to prove the point that MSQ feedback is hard for any company to really waste a lot of time with. The best they can do is follow trends and "what has worked in the past." MSQ/story feedback seems to boil down to "mixed reception" most times than not, specially for an mmo.

I'm one of the few who actually enjoyed SB way more than HW. I think for me I loved Zenos and Yotsuyu to a degree (only in post), but I understand that Zenos is a divisive char and I can imagine if you hate him you'd likely not enjoy SB. I only loved it for him and the post SB and the weeb aesthetics. Ala Mhigo remains my fav dungeon because there's so much going in the background that you can miss. It has alot of side content I enjoyed, the dungeons were really amazing, and some had day/night cycle which is awesome imo...My favorite alliance raids, pretty cool normal raids...Ozma mount.

I don't know, I really enjoyed the lore and scenery in SB that I haven't felt in any other expansion imo but this is my personal opinion based on my interests and what I like aesthetically speaking.

[Granyala]

Are here any people that actually enjoy the game?

I do.
While I have my reservations and criticisms (I have these every expansion), the bottom line is that DT is still good fun.

Keep in mind: customers are far more likely to complain than to praise. Also, only a small percentage of the playerbase ever visits external resources like forums.
So, forums are not a representative sample at all, since they are always skewed towards the "unhappy" side.

Thinking about it: I can't remember any expac since the dreaded ARR "cheese-wars" that I disliked. Sure, some stories interested me more, some less but I think that is natural and not indicative of "bad quality" or anything. Just personal preference.

[Nasigno]

His July DT number is just the June DT number. SteamDB has not release peak July numbers. July first, DT was already down to 77k players, so that will be July's peak since it has only gotten lower since.

Apologies, will have to retract back, you are right it is hovering around 75,000 - 76,000 as the peak as of right now. Reviewing the peaks it goes up and down between 26-77K as per your statement. The statement stands, the peak drop is still smaller in Dawntrail than Endwalker. The metric is proven.

As for doubting the official statement from Square Enix? If an official stance from the company that owns the server system says it has done better than prior instances, then what statistic will you believe? So I must ask what would you consider a metric that is valid when you cannot even trust the operator of the server?

[Bellybell]

Are here any people that actually enjoy the game? And if not.. where are they? I've heard player counts are looking good, and I tbh can imagine why.

I kinda do.
The dungeons are less sleepy than in EW even if it's not dying hard(I especially like the mob mask ghosts mechanic, very funny).
The raid also looking better than EW i just hope savage will be as fun as Eden.
MSQ tho, was fine to a degree but has too many hiccups that it put me off a bit yet it's still got save by sidequests along the way. It'd be 30% better if they just removed a certain 'element', especially on the last part that it flipped me off so much i have resurrect back to bomb it in the forum after i've never been here since ARR.

[ZavosEsperian]

I think it is rather hard to determine an answer to the thread's premise since there is a considerable divide in players and what they do inside of FFXIV. I typically am more critical of how the community conducts when it comes to a question like this and, depending on how you view the proliferation of venues and ToS breaking things, will likely determine how one will view the game's state. Some could also argue the devs are listening too much and are designing content around a specific subset of people, which can cause that group to have more blame than others, which at the end of the day is what the devs thought was acceptable inside of the game.

I think the lackluster MSQ is causing people to peel back some of the layers of the game a bit to see other flaws the game has now that the wool has been removed from the eyes, which is why there is an uptick in criticism against the game as a whole.

Keep in mind: customers are far more likely to complain than to praise. Also, only a small percentage of the playerbase ever visits external resources like forums.
So, forums are not a representative sample at all, since they are always skewed towards the "unhappy" side.

I didn't realize StrikerGPT was made available to the public...

[Granyala]

I didn't realize StrikerGPT was made available to the public...

I have no clue what that is supposed to mean but it is common knowledge that customers rather utter grievances than compliments, not just in gaming.

If you consider my writing style weird, keep in mind that I am not an English native.

[Cerbolt]

I really don't understand this tendency to rally against negative reactions. People are allowed to dislike something just as much as people are allowed to like it. At the end of the day people post their criticisms because they want the game to be better not because they hate it.

[ZavosEsperian]

If you consider my writing style weird, keep in mind that I am not an English native.

I am not poking any fun at your English (I wouldn't have been able to identify you are not a native English speaker if you didn't tell me), it is more just the content of what I quoted sounds an awful lot like someone else here who tends to be obsessed with majorities and the like. If you thought I was poking fun at your English, I apologize as that was not the intention.

it is common knowledge that customers rather utter grievances than compliments, not just in gaming.

Oh I am well aware of this. We are on the forums after all so we all had to buy the game at some point and I have seen it in other media, not exclusive to FFXIV and that I am much more in the mood to leave a bad review on something I paid for versus a good review, regardless of what that thing is.

[Boblawblah]

I have no clue what that is supposed to mean but it is common knowledge that customers rather utter grievances than compliments, not just in gaming.

If you consider my writing style weird, keep in mind that I am not an English native.

You're fine, I assume she's implying that your posting resembles Striker44 (sp?) a known poster who generally is positive and doesn't shy away from arguing with people who lean more towards negative opinions.

If someone has to resort to belittling you when you're trying to have a discussion with them, their opinion is generally not worth your time.

[Minali]

Browsing through the forum here and watching Youtube videos I clearly see how people seem super unhappy with the new Expansion.
Playing the game for myself and also in my fc and social groups I did not experience that feedback for quite a while.
I never checked this froum in the past and just came here recently to look for the "community voice" but.. is it really that bad? Are people that mad about DT or was it always like that in the forum? Maybe someone that observed the forum for a few years can tell me.

I personally think DT is fine story wise.. sure it may not be peak epic but I feel like it is quite good. I was entertained especcially for the last part of it.

The content imo is great. It is more entertaining than in the past and we now even can wipe here and there, which is often funny. People are saying it is too hard but idk isnt it exciting to have a look at the boss while doing roulettes? (talking about dungeons)

For the raids it is kind of the same. I dont feel like they are particulary harder than - for example - ShB Normal Raids?

Are here any people that actually enjoy the game? And if not.. where are they? I've heard player counts are looking good, and I tbh can imagine why.

It makes me kind of sad hearing all that stuff about "dungeons too hard for me" "raids too easy for me" "story is bad" "bring back stormblood", I have the feeling people are more and more driven into the mindset "Well if everyone says it is bad.. then it must be bad!" until they actually feel that way.

I like the expansion, aside from a few minor hiccups. I think there is much room for improvement in many areas, but to me that's just that: room for improvement. For other people some points are a no go or just dislike things I like and vice versa.
Keep in mind the number of players who are actually posting *anywhere* about FFXIV is really small in comparison to the whole playerbase. And among them, people who are fine with it, rarely say so. It's the people who want to complain, who complain, and apparently some love to do this whenever "Dawntrail" is being mentioned, at length, multiple times in multiple places.
Not saying all criticism is invalid, but I wouldn't consider what you read online in any way representative for anything.