My problem with FF 14

[ovIm]

I don't think an unchanging formula has much to do with new player retention... Especially when even Yoshida said it was not likely to change specifically because it's a matter of chain productivity to be able to churn more in less time than anything else?

I would stop arguing with that person, really. They are as apologetic to CBU3 as Striker44 is to the point where I wonder if they are being paid by Square Enix.

The thing is - you are right here. Yoshi-P himself admitted that the reason we are so formulaic is that it helps keep the game running with little to no input from the producer. If nothing changes and the devs grind out the same content as always, there is nothing to control or to innovate, leaving the producer free to do other things (like direct FF16, go to board meetings, etc etc).

At this point, its painfully obvious that most people don't criticize the ever unchanging flow of expected content, but are bemoaning the fact that there is nothing new added to that. A solid combination of traditionally working content, new, exciting innovations, and gameplay content with a long shelf life would make for banger content drops.

Unfortunately, CBU3 are so trapped in their almost robotic schedule that there is no way to inject new things and ideas into the mix. One would need to upheave and redesign their approach if we wanted things to improve.

[Espon]

When I played other MMOs, while the holiday events lasted longer, they also repeated every year with sometimes not even having new items to obtain. Now, I'm not saying FF14's events are good. If anything, they've gone downhill since ARR launched. I remember the old events having more than just a single reward and a piece of furniture and required you to do special FATEs or minigames to earn those rewards instead of just talking to a few NPCs and watching some forgettable cutscenes.

I think a lot of the simplifying and cutting things down is due to player feedback. Unfortunately, a lot of players wanted shorter events, easy levelling, and simplified dungeons so that's what we got now. This forum only represents an extremely small part of the playerbase, and those that are unhappy are the ones most likely to voice their opinions.