Are we destroying "our own" game?

[Ruris]

I am glad DT happened. It needed to happen. Cause now the only ones not stepping back and saying, "oh...wait, this is not good" we know are the ones who are either lacking knowledge in literary and narrative areas (which is perfectly fine), or just part of the foaming at the mouth fandom. And you can always tell which one is which by their responses.

This post resonates with me. I'm someone who came over for ShB and was enamoured with it. EW had a lot of high points for me, and also a lot of low points that I would have liked to have talked about. Any kind of meaningful and productive discussion but you paint the picture of the online EW fanbase presence perfectly, to a point I don't need to. I said similar on this forum a while back, that the current DT climate is also a bit of karma for the then lack of emotional regulating players showcased that didn't allow them to tolerate healthy discussion. Just remove it from their sight so no one else could see it and possibly agree with it. Reddit is still like this, though I am seeing a lot more positive Dawntrail posts get downvoted in similar fashion lately, which really is telling of how poorly Dawntrail is being received.

This is why users here who are posting threads of this nature either have no idea of how the online scene looks for this fanbase, or opting to dismiss it and try and make this place a 'sweep the negativity under the rug' too. I've seen a few posts again today of users claiming that the poor form of Dawntrail is what prompted them to post here for the first time. Including myself. I do think we get a bit hotheaded in here but I don't think for a second that hyperbolic posts such as the original purpose of this thread is something that is appreciated by people trying to give some constructive feedback.

[Voidmage]

It's like forum's living in one world and people in game are living in another. Haven't encountered anyone who didn't like DT msq. I'm seeing the opposite in game, it's been a lot of fun so far.

Normally when msq/story/content is bad it gets expressed in all locations where the community exists, including in-game; but that's not what I'm seeing with DT.

There are a lot of locations where it is disussed though. I don't know how many times that was already said and even my tone is starting to get sharper now because this take is so often brought up and already answered.
There is the forum (english and japanese), there is reddit, there is YouTube, there is twitch, there is 4chan / 5chan and several japanese sites, there is steam, there are other mmo-forums.
The story is the big thing of this expansion being discussed with lots and lots of back and force.

There doesn't seem to be any majority on either vocal site to be found.

I get the anectodal part and players not encountering stuff (I encountered negativity ingame) and i get liking the story. that's absolutely ok and no one asks those to chnage theri opinion.

But all of you should stop already with this stupid take of only this forum being unhappy with the MSQ. It doesn't help your standpoint at all.

Edit:
After reading your other responses it's clear you are just a troll trying to get a kick of antagonising people.
Won't waste my time on you any further.

[Fawkes]

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.

There was a noticeable increase in negative nancys post-shadowbringers.

They've got a huge thread about Endwalker's story being bad, so it's more than likely that some of the hate you're seeing is overblown by people who just want to be mad.


That said, I think Dawntrail is definitely worse. It feels like a return to Stormblood quality to me. The scions are dumb again, none of the dialogue choices matter at all, the stuff I felt like Shadowbringers/Endwalker had fixed about the MSQ seems like it was reverted.

[Striker44]

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.

Is it really that bad? No. Not even close. This forum has always been an echo chamber for negativity and ridiculous hyperbole. I've been around here for years, and if you went by the forum, every single xpac in this game's history was the worst ever when it came out. Even ShB, which is routinely ranked as the #1 favorite by players, was trashed here. Please don't think this forum actually reflects the playerbase at large. There's a reason you haven't seen that kind of feedback in your FC and social groups - it's not the norm. There are tons of people thoroughly enjoying this expansion.

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.

There's a few of us. Most people who enjoy the game tend to head to other places like YT and Reddit or, you know, are just actually playing the game instead of hanging around here. I'd encourage you to check out some YT videos, not from your "content creators," but just videos of DT. I recommend some of the ones for the OST. Check out the comments. Even though they're OST videos, people will be talking about the in-game story that's associated with the music, and you'll find a lot of people posting about how much they're enjoying the story and finding it meaningful (and compared to the dozens of "likes" negative comments will get around here, you'll see those positive comments getting hundreds of likes in support).

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.

This can be a real thing. I experienced it with Destiny 2 recently. In the run-up to their own latest expansion, I was active on the forums there, and I have to say...as negative as this place is, these forums look like a paradise compared to the D2 forums. It actually did deflate my anticipation for the new expansion. Then the xpac actually launched, I put the forums in the rear-view mirror, and just...played the game. And let me tell you, I had a blast. It's a very real psychological thing that surrounding yourself with negative people, especially when it's a full-on echo chamber, can impact you negatively as well. Best bet if you start feeling that way is to just get away, go play the game, and have fun enjoying it!

[NoOneofConsequence]

This can be a real thing. I experienced it with Destiny 2 recently. In the run-up to their own latest expansion, I was active on the forums there, and I have to say...as negative as this place is, these forums look like a paradise compared to the D2 forums. It actually did deflate my anticipation for the new expansion. Then the xpac actually launched, I put the forums in the rear-view mirror, and just...played the game. And let me tell you, I had a blast. It's a very real psychological thing that surrounding yourself with negative people, especially when it's a full-on echo chamber, can impact you negatively as well. Best bet if you start feeling that way is to just get away, go play the game, and have fun enjoying it!

100% with you on this. The forums almost killed the game for me at one time. Because you start to doubt your own opinions on whether or not you are enjoying yourself. Distance yourself from the forums. Look and feel for yourself, and understand that yours is just one opinion in a sea of 10s of thousands.

[Rekh]

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.

[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.

[boopadoop]

our forums are always, always negative tbh. and full of trolls... i've also seen a lot of positive feedback for DT in other places, but here...heh gl finding anything pos

but yes. yes we are. bc positive feedback is rarely given out by the average contended person versus the voluminous negative feedback from ppl who may or may not have legitimate concerns (and many imo are just bored trolls). we also have a lot of people who dont even bother to think for themselves because they follow "big" social media accts who might say thing a or thing b and decide to bandwagon off of that. i say this in general, not ffxiv specific... honestly the internet is the pits for a lot of reasons

anyway ffxiv forums perpetually not a the place to look if you wanna feel good abt anything

[Reimmi]

our forums are always, always negative tbh. and full of trolls... i've also seen a lot of positive feedback for DT in other places, but here...heh gl finding anything pos

but yes. yes we are. bc positive feedback is rarely given out by the average contended person versus the voluminous negative feedback from ppl who may or may not have legitimate concerns (and many imo are just bored trolls). we also have a lot of people who dont even bother to think for themselves because they follow "big" social media accts who might say thing a or thing b and decide to bandwagon off of that. i say this in general, not ffxiv specific... honestly the internet is the pits for a lot of reasons

anyway ffxiv forums perpetually not a the place to look if you wanna feel good abt anything

Twitter is a hugbox, the subreddits are mixed.
my positive feedback is the content is looking way better than endwalker, which tended to make me fall asleep mid fight