The game needs to open up

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

I played elden ring, everyone I know that plays FFXIV played Elden ring, except 1 person actually. Plenty of older MMOs didn't have quest markers either as people have pointed out. Did you play elden ring?

We can extrapolate the following information from this:
1. Elden ring appeals to a similar demographic of fantasy RPG players since even Yoshi P released Dawntrail by 1 week after Elden ring so his playerbase could have time to play it.
2. It's clear players are no longer enjoying FFXIV being so accessible it no longer has any difficulty or engaging content or interesting jobs
3. Things have changed, QOL features no longer make this MMO attractive and instead players are clamoring for gameplay and depth

Simply put, they have made the game so "convenient" you don't even have to play it most of the month you pay your subscription for it. Nothing is static, and tastes change, even in the MMO world.

OK, here's a counterpoint. I played Elden ring. 1 of my friends played Elden ring. The friends I have who played XI did not play Elden ring.



Therefore, players who like old school mmos didn't like Elden ring.
Same line of thought.

[Bellybell]

I played elden ring, everyone I know that plays FFXIV played Elden ring, except 1 person actually.
We can extrapolate the following information from this:
1. Elden ring appeals to a similar demographic of fantasy RPG players.

Erm.... ok so....my Elden rings friends are literally ALL played Amongus as well. According to your logic, Elden ring and Amogus sharing the same demographic now?

That's literally not how you make demographic bruh

[Ath192]

OK, here's a counterpoint. I played Elden ring. 1 of my friends played Elden ring. The friends I have who played XI did not play Elden ring.



Therefore, players who like old school mmos didn't like Elden ring.
Same line of thought.

I think we both know that's not true. There are a lot of similarities between Elden ring's medieval dark fantasy and MMOs of any age who have a medieval or at least semi medieval fantasy feel to them that would attract the same crowds. You are free to disagree of course but most people with common sense could make that connection even if you don't see it.

This is the same reason why the person that posted underneath you is making an outlandish take.

Also, your friends who do play XI like it right? Doesn't XI also not put markers for quests? I guess they like that sort of quest style too. Regardless of whether they played Elden ring or not.

[Darko]

Just because they game has followed a format for a decade doesn't mean it has to remain this way. Everything in this game is too compartmentalized and on rails.

How hard would it be to try out an expansion where zones aren't locked by MSQ,
-where quests don't have braindead markers telling you where to go
-where dungeons are nothing like the stale formula we have
-where underwater isn't just a pretty landscape and combat/breathing mechanics are tried out.
-Where exploration and open world events are tried through the entire introduced zones instead of designated exploration instances like Eureka and Bozja.
-Where some side quests are just damn hard
-Where some open world dungeons are introduced, and the mobs are just lethal

Sure, not all of these systems and things will be hits with everyone, and people are going to complain about them but no one will be able to point the finger and say they've given up just like we all feel they have in DT.

It's obvious to me the current method to the game will just drive it to the ground sooner rather than later. It's time to break the shackles and explore another path for this MMO.

This game needs to work on producing:
1. Shock
2. Awe and wonder
3. Curiosity
4. A feeling of freedom

It would be great for the game for once to release content that doesn't feel like the same junk reskinned, for the 100th time.

I agree with your post OP, except one thing, removing quest markers. I think instead there should be an option to have them be visible on the map or not. More thought should be put into making the difficulty level more customizable, so everyone can have the experience they want.

I'll add

5.more variety in the character creator. It's been ten years with the same extremely limited amount of faces. Only male Midlander got an extra face and that was just an existing face with a stubble added. We need more faces, more body type options, more cosmetics options. Also, all Viera and Hrothgar need to be able to wear every hat. It's embarrasing that it still isn't sorted.
6.do away with all genderlocks for gear. It's a completely arbitrary and inconsistent thing. Luckily, the game is moving in the right direction on that.
7.make it possible to transfer ownership of an estate between characters of the same account on the same world, with a 90 days limit between switches if need be. This is a must, considering how limited certain types of houses are, how limited houses are on certain worlds in general, and house ownership having become dependant on RNG.

I will say that I have no complaints about the beauty of the areas, the quality of the music and the recent innovation in dungeon fight mechanics and boss design. But the story quality has taken a nosedive since Shadowbringers, and there is nothing exciting to find in zones, exploration yields no rewards except map achievements. It's beautiful, but boring.

Square can of course ignore feedback, but imo it is as you said, going on like this will drive the game into the ground sooner rather than later. And I don't want that, I want it to flourish. It makes me sad to think what FFXIV could be with sufficient resources allocated to it and a dev team willing to innovate game design and bring storytelling back up to Heavensward and Shadowbringers standards. My goodwill is running out. Glamours and QoL updates don't take away from the fact that my WoL feels like an NPC in a pretty but empty world filled with simplified characters and dumbed down stories.