The Content Cycle needs to break.

[HyperiusUltima]

I've been sitting around checking on content as well as dailies, Savage, and even checking what Ultimate has in store through VODs - but here's the kicker:

Casual players ain't got s*** to do.

I don't know what Yoshida and his development team are up to, but XIV needs a serious reality check because we're practically in the same state WoW was in a while back. Reasons being?

- Lackluster quest design
- Bad writing(even though XIV is supposed to be very story-focused, DT failed to deliver on launch and 7.1)
- Beast Tribes being dull except for lore(because let's be honest, they've been recycling Beast Tribe Quests for over a decade now)
- Outdated Reward Systems(Alliance Raid, Dungeons)
- Unneeded Restrictions(Savage still not unlocked after content is dead, Tomestone cap not increased, etc.)

There's so much that is basically just grating to people in some way or another that it always makes player count drop abysmally low, and DT is not an exception to this rule. Stormblood did it right once Eureka was released, and one of the things that is a problem is we have no holdover for the next patch.

Yoshida did tell us to go play other games, but why should we come back? New story that may or may not be interesting? Content that is typically one and done with the same old corridor layouts?

The Content Treadmill needs to change. I understand that development time is important, but we really need substance in these patches. People didn't receive the PvP Patch very well because it broke a few jobs, and the community's trying to adjust to the changes to hit detection as is. PvE content suffers under PCT's tyranny over the Caster spot and locking out Ranged Jobs from Savage(not Ultimate currently) along with the milquetoast "everyone is super, so nobody is super" philosophy of homogenization they not only Double-Downed, but Triple-Downed on this expansion.

Shade's Triangle is somewhere off in 7.25 territory or beyond, and in all honesty should've come in 7.1 to hold people over just like Eureka did. The fact that we don't have that as a holdover since foray content tends to keep the playerbase engaged makes it difficult to justify the current content drought.

Dawntrail was supposed to be where the drought ends, not where it gets extended. So, I ask this: Why should we take them seriously anymore when it's just going to be the same spiel?

Shaking up their content cycle is one thing they did slightly with Chaotic on the way, but they need to get rolling FAST if they want to retain people for 7.2; which, mind, should be next tier + story + a lot of other content provided it's not the boring Beast Tribe Combat Quests we got that are barely even combat.

We can't have the same old content cycle anymore since the formula has staled. People want new things - give it to them that isn't tied to high-end content and make it evergreen, since if it's not evergreen, it will eventually fall into obscurity or just flat-out be DOA for a lot of people.

[Kaurhz]

Agreed.

But it's not even a "why should I come back", but a "When should I come back?" - There has been no repeatable content for casual/midcore for nearly 4 years now, arguably for anyone for that matter... That's more than an entire expansion cycle.

Something like chaotic isn't enough since it's not going to have a proper gameplay loop to it. I'm getting my crystal ball out... It's going to be a glorified trial for 24-man, that after the first couple of weeks is going to get relegated to the deepest and darkest pits of Discord to even function for the majority of people.

Edit: This has been a normal multiplayer game masquerading as an MMO.

[Iedarus]

Open world is another issue this game has. It's so bland and empty most of the time because the rewards often aren't worth it. Not to mention the open world events are so barebones, as well. Meanwhile Gw2 has us flying our Skyscales (flying dragon mounts) and shooting fireballs at things while being hundreds of feet in the air because of the sheer verticality some of the maps have. All the rewards feel like they matter, too. FFXIV really needs to take notes from Gw2 just like WoW did when they added the new flying mount system with Dragonflight.

The craziest part is that Gw2 is a one time payment model and there is always so much to do despite being the only MMO with no gear treadmill. Never once did I feel like I had nothing to do when logging in, often finding myself spending a whole day doing content. I've yet to dabble in the housing system since I'm still playing catchup with the last two expansions, but I already know it's leagues better than FFXIV's. Wild how a game can respect someone's time and still be successful.

[Jeeqbit]

Lackluster quest design

They've never really been any different and if anything used to be more tedious. But the one time they made something interesting, In From the Cold, you got all these complaints on the forums. In any case, MMORPGs have never been known for their great quest design.

Beast Tribes being dull except for lore(because let's be honest, they've been recycling Beast Tribe Quests for over a decade now)

I do appreciate that they are quick while also being a story that enhances someone we encountered. If it's going to be tedious it may as well be only 10 mins of tedium that I can fly through.

Outdated Reward Systems(Alliance Raid, Dungeons)

I can agree just on the basis that they've moved away from randomness in many areas of the game but that this is inconsistent.

People didn't receive the PvP Patch very well because it broke a few jobs, and the community's trying to adjust to the changes to hit detection as is.

I'm playing PvP exactly how I played it in Endwalker and having no issues tbh.

Stormblood did it right once Eureka was released, and one of the things that is a problem is we have no holdover for the next patch.

Shade's Triangle is somewhere off in 7.25 territory or beyond, and in all honesty should've come in 7.1 to hold people over just like Eureka did.

Right, but Eureka was released in 4.25. Just like is happening here. The very same lull happened in Stormblood prior to it. Maybe people would like something similar to it earlier on, but it's always had this delay.

why should we come back? New story that may or may not be interesting?

Could say the same for any game. You don't know for sure if it's good until you actually play through it.

[ovIm]

Ah Jeeq. Not surprised how quick you are to fight back against criticism towards Square Enix. Ever the apologist.

They've never really been any different and if anything used to be more tedious. But the one time they made something interesting, In From the Cold, you got all these complaints on the forums. In any case, MMORPGs have never been known for their great quest design.

"Oh no, people disliked when we tried something, better to never try anything new ever again" is definitely not a way to innovate and possibly find new exciting things.
Also, other MMOs have much more interesting quests that go beyond "go to X and talk to Y.". FF14 Quest Design has been lackluster for years, and now its actually felt harder than ever.

I'm playing PvP exactly how I played it in Endwalker and having no issues tbh.

So you are saying you are playing PVP very casual? Cause let me tell you, even with a short ping, the new hit detection makes for some very jank moments (jankier than in previous patches).
Class balance is also super weird, Viper is borderline useless, while Astrologian is a glorious golden god. Its headscratching at best. Maybe check the PVP forum for write ups by people with much more in depth knowledge of PVP compared to me.

Right, but Eureka was released in 4.25. Just like is happening here. The very same lull happened in Stormblood prior to it. Maybe people would like something similar to it earlier on, but it's always had this delay.

Except back then, patches were shorter, so waiting time was not as awful.
Patch cadence has increased, so Square Enix needs to bring long lived content earlier.

Could say the same for any game. You don't know for sure if it's good until you actually play through it.

In a live service game, wanting to keep people excited for whats to come, engaged for the patch duration, and interested enough to want to come back later is critical for the health of said live service game.

--

As for the OP, I fully agree. We need things to do earlier, because right now, unless you like square/circle Room with a boss, there is very little combat content to do.

[ThaCa]

I'm only occasionally coming back and currently only for PvP.

The game needs more player centric evergreen content. Most of Saucer games like Lords of Verminion are old and janky or have practically no rewards like Mahjong which could just have big lump sum of MGP based on game time.

I would stay subbed more just for PvP too if only it had better reward structure. If you play even somewhat actively - you are done with the Series in no time. The currencies have mostly garbage rewards and all the decent or better are one and done with very little cost.

Everyone and their mothers have Wolf Marks and Trophy Crystals overcapped and while Commendation Crystals were a step to better direction (should have been from lower Ranks with vastly more gained at higher instead) you use them to get a shiny weapon or two for Jobs you like and then they just collect up too. Even collectors that hit diamond probably have most of their weapons by now.

There's so much they could do be it PvE or PvP. Despite a lot of suggestions it seems they aren't too interested unless they get tons of bad rep about their design choices sadly.

[NaoSen]

What's sad is players, content creators etc... been going on about these issues for years and yet here we are, still trying to get them to listen.

[Hyperia]

What's sad is players, content creators etc... been going on about these issues for years and yet here we are, still trying to get them to listen.

Oh they know, you can see it in their faces during interviews. The main issues is that they don’t have the funding to fix it as all of their revenue is going to keep other SE projects alive.

[HyperiusUltima]

Patch cadence has increased, so Square Enix needs to bring long lived content earlier.

Glad that someone got it. 4.5 Months is a pretty damn long time for a major patch, and your base's enthusiasm isn't going to be as high if you don't bring the content. They either need to have the next major patch bursting with content(which it will for a while until 7.25 due to Savage) or they need to do mini-patches like they are doing now with continuous content that will keep the player base engaged. Ultimate was for the tip of the iceberg, and honestly we have yet to gauge the difficulty of Chaotic since it's a 24-man. They were aiming for "1st Floor Savage" difficulty, so essentially it's a DR Savage raid if you think on it with extremely good rewards that drew people's eyes not only with glamour, but also the mount.

[CapaxInfiniti]

It's absolutely not going to break or to change until leadership changes.
That's all there is to it. You can say otherwise all you want, but the problem lies with leadership.

When the leadership is completely out of ideas and has nowhere to bring the game, thinks characters like Wuk Lamat are great, and sees nothing wrong with the direction things are going, it's time to change leaders.

XIV was saved because leadership copied wow, and turned this game into something better than wow.
This time they have nothing to copy, and are just actively making the game worse.

It's time for a new head. Period.