Where is the gameplay?

[Jojoya]

Dawntrail has been criticised heavily for having the least amount of gameplay of any expansion, slowly turning more into a visual novel than an actual RPG game.

Same complain has been made for years. It's not a new one.

The new summer event is two quests, where the only "gameplay" element is running between npcs and using 2 emotes. What happened to interactive events? Other MMOs do it, why can't FFXIV? Even FFXI, SE's 22 year old MMO had more involved events than FFXIV does.

I agree I miss the interactive activities during the seasonal events. There's nothing wrong with bringing back some of the old ones that weren't specific to the event's story for the year.

I acknowledge that there is a climbing mini-game, but it's just kinda... there. There is no reason or reward to do it, and it's not even included as a part of the quest for the event.

There is a reason to do it - to have fun seeing if you can get to the top. To socialize and cheer on other jumpers.

It doesn't need a better reward. It doesn't need to be part of a quest.

Learn to embrace life and do things just for the sheer joy of the experience instead of turning everything you do into a job that requires compensation.