FFXIV outdated patch cycle is one of the biggest issues in terms of content cadence.

[Volgia]

To me the problem is in how character (and I guess by this I mean gear ) progression is too strict in how they designed it and so there are no rewards out there to make you more powerful or to work towards something.

So even if they came up with massive amounts of content, since it's not designed with the "working towards something" in mind, it'll never last past the first time you do it, we have the evidence of that in Criterion Dungeons.

[All_Nonsense]

It was okay, not great, when it was every 3-4 months. But stretching the same or less to 4-6 months feels awful.

The content wasn't really enough for the original patch cycle, and just outright feels bad now.

A similar thing happened in ESO where they cut content releases in half to the point that it felt like a content drought. People on those forums gaslit me that it would be great for the game and really help the devs do better work. Fast-forward and that game has less players than it had in a very long time and still dropping.

I feel FFXIV is heading into that direction - less content over longer periods of time. It's not good for the game and if this game is the cash cow the company depends upon, I have no idea why this is the direction they are going with for this game.

I will say this: They originally extended the dev cycle to give themselves more time to get the graphics update worked out. My big huff of copium and what I'm holding out on hope for is that once they have finally finished with all of that, they will use that extra time to do QoL changes and shake up the dev cycle to give us more stuff to do than "here's a dungeon. Here's a raid tier. Have fun." I'm really hoping they have big plans to capitalize on that extra dev time economy.

[Kuroka]

While i dont want freemium feeling it IS too long, no excuse, hire more ppl or find other solutions. Everything is always "later" or "do you want X instead of Y...?" fu###in no, we want both!

We dont want content thats burned after a week - and no, if you play 20 min a day YOU ARE NOT THE BAR for the avarage player. If you only got a few min daily pls stick to single player.

I want my 2 ex dungeons per patch, i want more cute side stories and "meanwhile that happened after you were here" stuff. I dont wanna have the same dungeon in our ex roulette for more then half a year!

And beast tribes need to start with the addon, not 7.1+.... im done leveling, what am i supposed to do?

[Striker44]

The price of one major patch that lasts 4.5 months is $58.50 or 49.50€ on an entry level subscription. Let that sink in.

What does 7.1 have that is worth subscribing the entire time? What do other games offer for that price?

Let this sink in, if you're completely up-to-date on the game and the only thing that interests you is the new stuff in 7.1, the price of the patch is only a 1-month subscription. Unless for some reason you choose to stay subscribed to a service you don't use, but that's on you...

[Reinha]

Let this sink in, if you're completely up-to-date on the game and the only thing that interests you is the new stuff in 7.1, the price of the patch is only a 1-month subscription. Unless for some reason you choose to stay subscribed to a service you don't use, but that's on you...

Even the super fans think there is less than 1 month of content in a new patch. Things are looking dire.

Don't worry, I won't stay subscribed to a service I no longer use. I'm doing my part to reduce funding for future improvements to the game. You've suggested unsubbing many times to various people and I can only hope you will keep doing more of it so you can better enjoy the game as it quiets down.

[Jeeqbit]

They originally extended the dev cycle to give themselves more time to get the graphics update worked out.

That isn't true. They extended the dev cycle to give their staff a better work-life balance, after working extremely hard for over 10 years.

Avoiding burnout is very important to Yoshi-P. He makes sure they can switch roles and work on different things if they are getting burned out, and forces them to take breaks if they are overworking themselves (which is why they work on things without telling him out of passion sometimes).

QoL changes

Would like if there was lots of QoL. They have barely scratched the surface of little things they could improve.

[Mortex]

It’s kinda insane that they increased the patch time from 3-4 months too 4-6 months because of corona but they never changed these times back years after corona and that they don’t feel the need to address this behaviour is kinda insane

[Aneshda]

It’s kinda insane that they increased the patch time from 3-4 months too 4-6 months because of corona but they never changed these times back years after corona and that they don’t feel the need to address this behaviour is kinda insane

Because they all work on other Games all the time. So they can give us a tiny bit content, while they release other Games created with our Money and make a big loss with those Games.

[Syln]

With the current amount of content that is delivered, the patch cycle should be on a monthly basis and even then it wouldn't be that much.

Now what would keep casuals like me entertained ?

Keep the gear tier pacing as it is currently, new tier every 8 months, one new ultimate every year capped to 2 every expansion. Couldn't care less about that since the only interesting thing about gear in this game is the glamour part.

Forget about the current "dungeon" formula, it's boring as fuck and a waste of resources/creativity/talents, replace them with solo msq duty.

New mounts, new glamours, unlockable themed fx and sfx variations of a job skill set (basically reaching out to some modders and entering a partnership with them).

"Open field" area (available week 2 after the release of an expansion) that get updated every month getting bigger and bigger over time, dumping shitload of casuals content in it, roaming bosses that behave like the Rathalos, random treasure chest with actual reward in them (personal loot and stay up 5 min after the first person open it.),

Weather hazard influencing, mobs, bosses, mobility (storm disabling flying and spawning a special boss/event) rare NPC spawn (shop selling cosmetic/minions/mounts, enabling event etc) make the spawn random but make it last long enough so that no one can tell when it'll be available but still allow a lot of people to enjoy it.

Sky island, gigantic subterranean labyrinth (no map but checkpoints that allow you to teleport back and forth to the entrance) littered with traps, bosses, treasures and event (cave in closing some area for a while, floor collapse making you skip part of the map and teleport you randomly deeper in, whether or not you're able to find a checkpoint before getting killed would be up to you) etc ..

[Jeeqbit]

With the current amount of content that is delivered, the patch cycle should be on a monthly basis and even then it wouldn't be that much.

It's strange that you think that. Just because the content is not for you, does not mean it is "not that much". They have hundreds of people work very hard on it for like 8 months or so just for you to say it's "not much".

A lot of it is high-end raids so I can understand if you avoid that stuff, for example, but they work real hard on all the mechanics for what will be months of progs for many players (and yes I get some people just zoom through them in the first week but a lot of players don't).