Disappointed With XIV Direction

[PaulH]

Long time player, first time caller sort of, but I just had to get this off of my chest.

I want to preface this with that I am someone who has dabbled in most content (aside from Ultimates) and have done everything from fishing voyages to some of the harder savage content. Not the best player but absolutely not the worst.

And hear me when I say, the direction this game is going is sad. I know Yoshi P said that the game is not meant to be played all the time, but I just finished what was in this content patch and am floored that there is NOTHING else to do. It offers NOTHING worthwhile to engage my friends or anyone else who I have had to watch fall off this game because it is so empty. I waited 4 months for essentially nothing to do.

"BuT tHeRe iS pLeNtY tO dO"

No there isn't. PvP is an EXP machine. Raiding is for a small sect of people (not knocking but stating the percentage of people who raid is much smaller than the whole). Criterion dungeons fell flat. And Gold Saucer is not entertaining when it's the same things (mostly) since it released in ARR.

The worst part of all of this is the player base enables it. There is no evergreen content that keeps the middle 15-80 percentile wanting to even come back. I played WoW SoD FAR LONGER and enjoyed it (with some qualms) than I did this major patch for two days.

Something needs to change because I am tired of seeing the people who I want to play this game with fade away because there is nothing to keep them engaged. And yet, there are people who say there's plenty to do.

Absolutely reprehensible.

This is sad and I agree with alot that has been said , i will keep my sub going but there is little to do there seems little to me and am still doing the very casual stuff now and I still enjoy it mostly. The usual its' not an airport blah blah if people dare mention they are unsubbing as if there some glee to be had about people is just unhelpful, unkind and well their attitude represents their nature and is all stuff and nonsense.

[Jeeqbit]

there is NOTHING else to do.

PvP is an EXP machine. Raiding is for a small sect of people (not knocking but stating the percentage of people who raid is much smaller than the whole). Criterion dungeons fell flat.

See, there is content to do, you just don't want to do it. And it's fair to say "I don't like the content that gets released and don't find it fun". But that is a different statement to "there is no content".

As for me, I'm doing or will be doing many of the things you didn't mention - weekly alliance raid, weekly unreal, hunt farming, FATE farming, beast tribes, gemstone farms, I will be doing scrip farms at some point. As well as things you did mention like PvP and extreme farming. But dismissing raiding like that is dismissing the majority of their long-term battle content such as extreme farming this patch.

Again it's fair to say "I don't like that most of the long-term content is high-end raids or mount grinds" or that you want the content to be different, but saying there isn't any content isn't true.

[Wolwosh]

What I get from this patch for casuals is that they want you to run fates till you drop dead for the new plates.
Gather a lot of orange scripts until you can buy the new mount with tokens, even more if you hadn't managed to get the Rroneek yet.
Run 500 maps until you finally get to the last floor(because door rng is abysmal)and very maybe roll a weapon coffer.
Pvp for the series reward and just let everything cap, because there isnt nothing new to get.
Go back to Eureka?

[Saraide]

What I get from this patch for casuals is that they want you to run fates till you drop dead for the new plates.
Gather a lot of orange scripts until you can buy the new mount with tokens, even more if you hadn't managed to get the Rroneek yet.
Run 500 maps until you finally get to the last floor(because door rng is abysmal)and very maybe roll a weapon coffer.
Pvp for the series reward and just let everything cap, because there isnt nothing new to get.
Go back to Eureka?

Out of all of those the fact we didnt get another set of rewards for crystal trophies confuses me the most. They didnt even give us any level 1 recolours of old sets. Could have given us lvl 1 glam versions of various crafter and gatherer sets aswell. But it's just nothing new there. I guess I can feed more into the glamour dresser without wasting slots with the new set feature.

[Daralii]

Out of all of those the fact we didnt get another set of rewards for crystal trophies confuses me the most. They didnt even give us any level 1 recolours of old sets. Could have given us lvl 1 glam versions of various crafter and gatherer sets aswell. But it's just nothing new there. I guess I can feed more into the glamour dresser without wasting slots with the new set feature.

New items are things that could instead be put in the cash shop, and old things... uh...

[Alyx-Greywind]

What I get from this patch for casuals is that they want you to run fates till you drop dead for the new plates.
Gather a lot of orange scripts until you can buy the new mount with tokens, even more if you hadn't managed to get the Rroneek yet.
Run 500 maps until you finally get to the last floor(because door rng is abysmal)and very maybe roll a weapon coffer.
Pvp for the series reward and just let everything cap, because there isnt nothing new to get.
Go back to Eureka?

Back to Eureka again?! Atleast now I can put all the armour sets in the Glamour Dresser instead of hoarding it on Retainers. Yay Outfits?

[BabyYoda]

Why are you disappointed of the current XIV direction?

there is no direction really it is just same old mindset and it will be like that.

They didn't show us roadmaps, guidelines or any clear sign of any direction for the game for the next 10 years,

[DynnDiablos]

After 11 years I am pretty much done at this point. They are shifting to cater to the raiders and 5% of the population that like hardcore content, while fun and casual things to do are left in the dust or pushed way too far back in the patch schedule. I finished everything I needed to do in 7.1 first evening. Now what? Run a horrible and unfun alliance raid weekly? Why? I have all 720 gear.

At this point, it wouldn't be an unsub. It would be a complete character and account deletion. No looking back. No temptation to return. Wipe out the eleven years of history and leave it behind forever. And I think I'm honestly ready. Way better games out there that respect your time and provide a healthy amount of content consistently.

[Hallarem]

I think they should look at forums. Reddit is spouting the same things.

And just like one of old friends taught me. "Just because something feels complete there is always something to improve." Even if people are coping that its just some minority percentage that thinks Dawntrail is weird and that they need to add more innovative stuff in game and improve their systema.
Sometimes feedback can be rude, but have the thick skin to pick out the "good suggestions" from it. Instead of being like "this person is rude. Ignore everything lalala"

[Bonoki]

One of the biggest betrayals in FFXIV's supposed identity is how it's touted as the ultimate social MMO, yet to me, it feels more anti-social than ever. The community and dev team prioritize fostering social interaction, but where? Finding an active Free Company that RP doesn't consume feels like searching for a needle in a haystack. And once you find a group, what can you do together? Raiding and treasure maps – that's about it. Beyond that, the game practically plays like a single-player RPG, with Limsa Lominsa reduced to nothing more than a glorified AFK lobby.

Party Finder is overrun with what can only be described as businesses masquerading as community activities—venues more interested in boosting a DJ's Twitch viewership than creating real, meaningful connections. It doesn't feel like community bonding; you're just another number.

Social platforms like Twitter/X and Reddit don't help either. Instead of fostering discussion, they're dominated by echo chambers where you're either fully aligned with the hive mind or silenced for fear of stepping out of line.

Even raiding, the supposed pinnacle of community collaboration, has become a mixed bag. Statics fall apart when content is cleared, leaving behind a trail of burned bridges. Most of the time, I never see those people again—because we're too busy resenting each other. Maybe I killed their parse. Perhaps they think I dragged us down. It doesn't matter; the result is the same. FFXIV feels less like a social haven and more like an isolating, segmented experience where connections are fleeting and shallow.

FFXIV is starting to feel shallow in its single-player aspects, which used to be its saving grace. Patch cycles are growing longer, yet the content we're getting feels like a downgrade, getting less per patch. The story, once the game's crown jewel, is starting to falter with questionable writing and pacing. Even something as simple as hairstyles isn't appropriately handled when we finally get a new style.

Jobs? They're being gutted and oversimplified, stripping away the depth and complexity that once made them engaging to master. This isn't just a gameplay issue; it's an identity crisis. The game offers plenty to do, but there's little to no incentive to do any of it. Take Extreme Primal mounts, for example: why should I bother grinding them now when I know that by 8.0, the drop rates will increase, unsync will make it trivial, and patience will reward me more than effort ever could?

This creeping sense of hollowness in both multiplayer and single-player experiences is undeniable. For all the game's talk of being a vibrant, dynamic world, it feels like the soul that once drove it is slowly slipping away.