Ultimate demise of 14?

[LilimoLimomo]

And its more likely that I am just burned out,

I know it sucks to hear, but you've got it. Final Fantasy 14 is going to keep being Final Fantasy 14, which is great for the people who want to play the game it is, and less so for those who want it to be different. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to recognize when you don't want to play the game as it currently is, because that's your sign to take a break.

And to be clear, absolutely be open about what you want the game to be and leave your feedback for the devs, as there's always a chance that some of the feedback you leave could help steer future development of the game! But after you do that, don't hold your breath waiting for it to happen; get some distance, get some space, and find other things that fulfill you. And if the day comes when you feel that itch to play the game that Final Fantasy 14 either is or has become, it'll be here to scratch it.

[Kirutsuki]

Your complaints are something that comes up regularly since at least the end of Heavensward. Yoshida& the team talked about it a few times, but the reason the game is so formulaic is because it allows for people to come in and come out of the game whenever they feel like it and know what they go into when they come back, basically.

On another note, the game is so formulaic because... it's the game. That's FFXIV. They're not gonna dramatically change the formula. Yes maybe we could wait 3 more months before an expansion comes out (which is not a smart business decision tho), but you'll just get the content of what would have been the next patch into the normal release. Which amounts to the same. And while a dramatic/substantial change in formula would probably appeal to you, to a lot of people it would probably be gratting, especially if the change goes in a direction that is not to their liking. The current formula has at least the merit to speak to most types of player populations. (And to be fair, MMO players always want change, then invariably complain about change).

Lastly, expansion launches are always a bit low on endgame content, by nature. It gives the player time to level up a bit of everything and go on to a few things before bigger things like your Bozjas and all come out (which was what Endwalker lacked). If the formula feels stale, or the current content is getting boring on repeat for you, frankly, do not hesitate to stop for a time and go play another game. It's not a jab to you, different games are there for different experiences. And XIV will always be there to come back to when you're not bored with it.

EDIT : also you played 6000 hours in the last 4-5 years. Burning out of it is kinda natural.

Yup, just sad that this is when my burnout happens. Sure it was kinda there at the end of endwalker already, but I was really hoping Dawntrail would change things, but it did not.

[Sekundessounet]

All those are more like tasks, they're not actually super engaging content at all. They're what most people do to pass some time and probably watch TV while doing it.
And what I men by super engaging is not that I need some raid tier level combat, but I do want to feel interested in what I'm doing.

Tell me one thing that is in Dawntrail specifically that keeps you engaged that isn't the raids or dungeons.
Treasure Maps, that's it. And arguably even those are kinda TV worthy, but atleast there's fun in those.

Crafting, questing, sightseeing log are nice to do too. Raids and dungeons I find quite fun to do for leveling and some weekly fun with friends.

[Sekundessounet]

Yup, just sad that this is when my burnout happens. Sure it was kinda there at the end of endwalker already, but I was really hoping Dawntrail would change things, but it did not.

With your rythm of play, nothing they could do would have. Stop playing for a time, come back for 7.1 when new stuff is out, then you'll see ! I think 7.1 has at least Cosmic Exploration and Variant Dungeons.

[Kirutsuki]

With your rythm of play, nothing they could do would have. Stop playing for a time, come back for 7.1 when new stuff is out, then you'll see ! I think 7.1 has at least Cosmic Exploration and Variant Dungeons.

Sure will. It's time.

[Sekundessounet]

Sure will. It's time.

Take care o/ Check out what comes out of liveletters if you wish to keep in touch with the game in the meantime. I think there's one relatively soon, and probably some in September and October.

[Turtledeluxe]

XIV isn't a deep RPG or grind centric MMO. It's a cosmetic chasing, second life app.

[Darkrai4014]

Did those come with the expansion release or did people have to wait for months for them to finally be playable?.

Eureka released in patch 4.25 of stormblood (which was just under a year after stormblood had come out), this was after the game had already had the first and second raid tiers come out, as well as two new trials and a new alliance raid. and two MSQ patches worth of story. It was perfectly playable but the grind got slowly nerfed periodically as the expansion went on. It had a lot of mixed reception because it was a massive time sink and was rather complicated and difficult, but it was about 4 zones worth of content by the end of the expansion + a large scale alliance raid.

Dawntrails version of this is expected to release around 7.2 or 7.3, which will be sometime next year. I do agree I wish there was a little bit more content spread around to do, which Endwalker and to an extent Shadowbringers somewhat lacked and im hopeful dawntrail will fix those problems. But as someone with about 14,000 hours in this game I can say that there is plenty to do (Even on expac launch) for the casual player, sometimes you just have to look around to find things. If anything, the social aspect of this game has functionally infinite content if thats up your alley.

[Kirutsuki]

Eureka released in patch 4.25 of stormblood (which was just under a year after stormblood had come out), this was after the game had already had the first and second raid tiers come out, as well as two new trials and a new alliance raid. and two MSQ patches worth of story. It was perfectly playable but the grind got slowly nerfed periodically as the expansion went on. It had a lot of mixed reception because it was a massive time sink and was rather complicated and difficult, but it was about 4 zones worth of content by the end of the expansion + a large scale alliance raid.

Dawntrails version of this is expected to release around 7.2 or 7.3, which will be sometime next year. I do agree I wish there was a little bit more content spread around to do, which Endwalker and to an extent Shadowbringers somewhat lacked and im hopeful dawntrail will fix those problems. But as someone with about 14,000 hours in this game I can say that there is plenty to do (Even on expac launch) for the casual player, sometimes you just have to look around to find things. If anything, the social aspect of this game has functionally infinite content if thats up your alley.

Yea I mean its not like I can't find things to do. Its more specificly to the expansion zones that content is so lacking in unless you really enjoy fates or something. I do often go back to ARR tasks because those give me the enjoyment I need.
But as said, I think burnout just hit me like a truck and I can't but look at Dawntrail very negatively, it really feels like Endwalker again for me and I just can't.

[Jeeqbit]

I am sort of scared about the future of FF14 if this is what they have to show for us.

As someone that has played for almost 10 years, this is what they have always had to show us. The result? The game had more pre-orders for Dawntrail than any prior expansion. It's still above 1 million active characters last I checked.

Not only are the other NA data centers extremely overwhelmed and congested, the new one that many regard as dead (Dynamis) is actually busy and bustling with new players that is really great to see actually. You know a game is big and growing if even the most rejected data centers are just growing their own communities in spite of that.

the entire Dev team has pushed themselves into a corner with the way they handle their expansions and the following patch content with such data driven systematic approach

No doubt you're aware, they have used this approach successfully for 10 years and the game has only grown as a result.

ultimately is hurting the game and at least my enjoyment for any of it anymore.

As a veteran MMO player, I can just say that there's always gonna be negative things. You can focus on the negatives and be bitter, or focus on the things you enjoy about the game and be happy. The amount of effort is really the same, except one of them makes you happier.

I WAS hoping Dawntrail would deviate from their normal way of handling an expansion and it's content

If you wonder this again, I suggest asking us here on the forums. We'll likely remind you it ain't changing. Many of us here have a pretty good grasp on if SE are actually changing their tune, and so far, despite all the buzzwords, most of us haven't actually been expecting a formula change.

We were expecting the content to get "more exciting" and deviate from how they do mechanics so it's fresher like how different ARR and Heavensward dungeon mechanics are (the expert dungeon with dolls running at you or the ghost fight being an example). But we weren't expecting some major combat change or formula change or job uniqueness. Just to explain what I was personally arguing and what I wasn't.

Searching for content to do and waiting for patches and all of those upcoming patches are so predictable that people already know what is going to be included in each .x patch.

Some people do not like this, others do. I like it! I know exactly what I am getting for the next 6 months, so I get 6 month subscriptions. If I wasn't sure what I was getting, I might not be so certain. I can tell sprouts what we will be getting for the next 2 years. etc. It's good in that way.

It's getting stale, and the dev team needs to stop doing this.

I don't know what to tell you. Maybe you find excitement in actual formula changes. For me, a new coat of paint on the 6 areas, 2 cities, standard 4-raids, expert dungeon, hunts and alliance raids is enough for me. To each their own.

I'm not a hardcore raider so Savages tend to take a backseat, so what am I left with?

Many non-hardcore players still do other things such as collecting mounts, spawning S ranks and conducting trains, roleplaying, social content like houses and venues or as you said, maps.

Why can't the devs in Creative Studio III come up with new and unique gameplay systems to spice up the general non hardcore gameplay?

They just can't, tbh. They don't make system too complex and if they did, they'd be concerned they're too hardcore for the majority of casual players. Things aren't as complex as FF11 or older MMORPGs. For example, beastmaster will probably just be a beast book and that's it.

That's the game, whether you like it or not. Some of it is just due to competency (in the coding and hardware departments), but some of it is because it makes the game successful. Other games may do it very differently - but not necessarily all get the same success FFXIV does. So maybe you're just looking for another game?

Doesn't the developing of a game so systematically become extremely boring when you know exactly what you're making for each patch?

They cycle developers to different areas to avoid burnout. Consistency can be a good thing, especially for work-life balance. And though it's consistent, the actual story, animations, models, and mechanics are different and I'm sure that is the part that excites them.

Just so you know, I have seen people make this argument since Heavensward. Literally, I've see people make this argument about consistency being a problem ever since then. It's not a new argument. Some people like consistency, some people don't. But that's the game, like it or not.

And why must we wait for these patches to come out so that we finally have something to do at some point that resembles something unique?

Developing things takes time. I'm not sure what else to tell you? This is why they openly suggest trying other games when you've done what you want to do.

Why couldn't we just have the expansion come out a few months later, with all the bells and whistles and people could go and do whatever they wanted.

If that is what you truly want, you could try unsubscribing for 2 years, then return at the tail-end of the expansion when all of the patches have been released. Then there will not only be the base expansion content, but also all of its patches (aka bells and whistles), available to you.