The reason why FFXIV is so boring and not fun to play anymore is because

[Voidmage]

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Sorry I won't respond to anything. Not because I don't want to engage but because the forum is terribly designed for that.

Sure there are pieces when a semblance of wanting to do a good job sparkles through like flying in ARR zones.
But that was done outside of Yoshidas knowledge.
Same as with the hats. You have ones that just cut away Miqo'te ears and ones that don't. That for example doesn't have a technical excuse and either showes extreme fluctuation in quality or that certain devs seem to make a bigger effort than others.

The interviews, blogs and so on are PR. Of course no one goes on stage with mouth down and says "yeah actually I don't really care for all this".
The whole thing is also always painfully obvious in that it is scripted. Not a criticism in itself because everyone does it but I don't see it as a point to defend them.

If they play it themselves and enjoy it despite numerous feedback on all sides of the ocean then that seems to me even more a case of them not knowing how video games work anymore or even worse they completely ignore the feedback just so they can have their own way.

I will defend things that I think are good like the music, the graphical update (and especially the handling of feedback) or fight design in parts.
But I will absolutely call out things that don't have any defense and Viera hats are part of that.
After all those years they have absolutely no excuse for it other than lazyness or unwillingness same with gear cutting of racial features. We are talking about professionals here who design gear for a living.
If they want to do better and are called back by whoever then that makes it even worse in my opinion.

Island sanctuary as well I will not defend despite me being probably being one of the few who enjoyed it to an extent.
The engine as an excuse is completely overused because when they want they already showed that they can do it like with the graphics update or the Hrothgar hair/ear issue. It is also no excuse for unengaging gameplay.
I give them kudos for the rewards there but none other.

So no I stand by my point.
Either they have an engagement issue with their work, are restricted by a complete overplanning from Yoshida or have terrible quality control.

There is one point where I defend them though.
It all needs the final ok from Yoshida and in the end he is the one responsible for everything and not the devs themself. That's why he get's a bunch of money and the duty of the boss.

Keep in mind, this is not an MMO disguised as Final Fantasy. This is Final Fantasy wearing an MMO skin. It's a Final Fantasy game first.

They market it as an MMO.
That defense is correct in the story department in "MSQ and story comes first" and yes I agree that this is a good thing that probably made the game as big as it is.
But let's not excuse everything with that mentality.
I am absolutely in favour of teh MSQ being easy to get into and even to be completely soloable but the rest should still be an MMO.

[Jeeqbit]

The interviews, blogs and so on are PR. Of course no one goes on stage with mouth down and says "yeah actually I don't really care for all this".

I feel that some of the things I've seen them say wouldn't be said by someone that wasn't enjoying the work and the challenges it entails. But you can also tell just by the way they say it.

or even worse they completely ignore the feedback just so they can have their own way.

Mostly that, really. I think there is too much feedback and noise. I think the most common way they are deciding what to do is just from things they encounter when playing themselves, viral videos/memes or discussions that come up in interviews. You can see because a lot of things that see action follow from one of these things.

The engine as an excuse is completely overused

I'm not saying it is an excuse. It doesn't excuse it. I am saying it is clearly a reason and that to make things better than they are, they should be trying to push or extend the capabilities of the engine.

Either they have an engagement issue with their work, are restricted by a complete overplanning from Yoshida or have terrible quality control.

Second one clearly. But there are pros to it, not just cons.

It all needs the final ok from Yoshida and in the end he is the one responsible for everything and not the devs themself.

Exactly and everyone should remember this point.

[Lilapop]

The engine as an excuse is completely overused because when they want they already showed that they can do it like with the graphics update or the Hrothgar hair/ear issue. It is also no excuse for unengaging gameplay.

Overused excuse but totally valid...? What does making a few models have more depth, polygons, better textures etc. have to do with the limitations on actual gameplay? Cutting a few holes in the models of a few hats is an entirely different beast than new gameplay for the player to enjoy.

[Voidmage]

I feel that some of the things I've seen them say wouldn't be said by someone that wasn't enjoying the work and the challenges it entails. But you can also tell just by the way they say it.

Who can say? Yes I don't deny that there are some of them who have fun like Ishikawa in her works but I also don't think everyone of them is like her. That's just human in the end and the whole things stays PR.

Mostly that, really. I think there is too much feedback and noise. I think the most common way they are deciding what to do is just from things they encounter when playing themselves, viral videos/memes or discussions that come up in interviews. You can see because a lot of things that see action follow from one of these things.

Than that is the wrong approach though.
I won't deny that it is important for a video game developer to make what they themself want to play but the feedback of the players is as important if not even more.
That's why we got ARR in the first place.
Taking feedback only from interviews or memes is terrible and they actually should have a team just for going through feeback.
Maybe they have but it absolutely doesn't feel like it because things like DRK "living dead" took years despite outcry.

I'm not saying it is an excuse. It doesn't excuse it. I am saying it is clearly a reason and that to make things better than they are, they should be trying to push or extend the capabilities of the engine.

Don't missunderstand me. I don't say you use it as an excuse but them. The engine is something Yoshida likes to hide behind with his "too hard".

Second one clearly. But there are pros to it, not just cons.

I'm sorry but here I absolutely disagree from my work experience over the years alone in there being pros.
Engagement issue is a huge problem in a company because it spreads and it's the job of the boss to counteract it through motivation or through for example a bonus for outstanding work.
Overplanning can destroy a company and doesn't allow any flexibility. I am not saying planning is bad but overdoing it.
Quality control needs to be good because it is the final check of the product and if bad can lead to huge catastrophes.
You don't have to believe me here but Iworked in those positions and saw how companies can fall down because of it.

Don't missunderstand me. I don't disagree with you on the fundamental principle in dev motivation but I honestly think they do have a problem there. Either in the case of the devs or Yoshida himself and I don't know what is worse tbh.

Overused excuse but totally valid...? What does making a few models have more depth, polygons, better textures etc. have to do with the limitations on actual gameplay? Cutting a few holes in the models of a few hats is an entirely different beast than new gameplay for the player to enjoy.

No an excuse loses it's valid point when there is nothing done to solve the problem.
You tell me the engine was at fault for island sanctuary being boring? That farming material is even more bland than normal gathering or simple things like upgrading the houses couldn't be done by us planting down housing items?
That click on NPC is because of the engine despite us already having more engaging gameplay like actual crafting?
I don't ask them to reinvent the wheel there but to use what they already have ingame.

It doesn't matter if hats or gameplay. Both often use that excuse but if pressed enough they find a solution (glamour dresser upgrade? midlander beard stubble despited them telling us that it wouldn't be possible because the character editor is "full").
I can understand if they say "it's hard because of the engine" but Viera hats have absolutely no excuse nowadays anymore after all those years.
But just throwing up the hands saying "engine" and then ignoring things for years? No.
They already showed that they can implement new gameplay things (most often in fight design) so no I don't acknowledge that excuse anymore.

[Shougun]

To be completely honest, almost everything they removed was annoying jank and needed to be removed because it wasn't working or was flat out useless. I at least felt that way until Warrior and Samurai's cones got changed to circles, which is when the changes really began to go overboard.

The problem is just that they didn't replace it with things that did work, making the game feel simpler and more shallow.

Definitely meant to infer that. For example the warrior pacification that forced warriors to either do nothing or pray on their healers to remove it, which turned into warriors just binding that skill to a macro that begged to be esuna'd on a countdown... That was kind of bleh. While this isn't always a good idea, I think many of these moments could be be examples of "think of the opposite" can sometimes be a fun way to solve a pain point.

For example, Dragoon's jumps have slowly become more and more like a regular spell, nothing interesting / special except the animation. Rather than do that, imo, they might have considered something like wind bristled scales passive which gives them an x% hp on use- in addition all, if not just most, jumps gain the ability to press the ability again to 'jump back' (able to choose to jump to a target, and leap back to casting position- optionally). Making Dragoons hyper mobile on abilities, which would be unique compared to other jobs which have different methods of mobility (or expression in general). The leap back itself could also trigger a small hp %, adding a further, minor, level of depth.

So instead of a skill that is normally making you floor tank, you might, like FF Tactics, jump to dodge damage (or in this case at least alleviate it). Honestly I might even suggest a jump that does literally dodge damage (like the PvP limit break skill dragoon has, where they leap into the air, can control where they land and can trigger the land, which, I just want to point out was a skill I had previously mentioned would be cool on dragoon... prior to it being in pvp... >.<;;... lol). I would say in general PvP does a bit of a better job representing jobs in a way I find interesting (though of course in PvE you should have a larger kit then 8 skills, if we are 'translating' PvP skills into PvE).

Taking that theory back into Warrior's pacification, rather than losing the ability to control your character.. @_@.. you might gain 'clouded rage' on enrage use, which simply holds the BUFF for that skill; however, if a healer removed clouded rage with esuna it becomes galvanized rage, which is slightly better AND will 'auto' esuna the next three debuffs. Perhaps later in Warrior's progression one of their target heal skills can be used on themselves for that benefit (or used on another at the cost of slight dps / utility to self). So now you have a bit of fun interplay, which isn't end of the world if healers didn't use and also doesn't totally feel like hot garbage as the player. Blue Mage self stun is also terrible and should absolutely be adjusted, still. Massively strong opinion on that, one I don't think anyone can convince me otherwise of. DO NOT SELF STUN in a multiplayer, single unit, controlled game. Full stop.

[Jeeqbit]

So instead of a skill that is normally making you floor tank, you might, like FF Tactics, jump to dodge damage (or in this case at least alleviate it). Honestly I might even suggest a jump that does literally dodge damage (like the PvP limit break skill dragoon has, where they leap into the air, can control where they land and can trigger the land, which, I just want to point out was a skill I had previously mentioned would be cool on dragoon... prior to it being in pvp... >.<;;... lol). I would say in general PvP does a bit of a better job representing jobs in a way I find interesting (though of course in PvE you should have a larger kit then 8 skills, if we are 'translating' PvP skills into PvE).

I always thought that Jump should just do what Hallowed Ground does. That would have solved a lot of the problem with it. Similar thing to what you're saying overall.

Now they made it not technically travel the distance and the animation super fast. I think it would have been better actually dodging it because if you play FF9, the jump ability causes missed attacks since the character literally isn't there to receive them, so it would be consistent with Final Fantasy games.

[Lilapop]

No an excuse loses it's valid point when there is nothing done to solve the problem.
You tell me the engine was at fault for island sanctuary being boring? That farming material is even more bland than normal gathering or simple things like upgrading the houses couldn't be done by us planting down housing items?
That click on NPC is because of the engine despite us already having more engaging gameplay like actual crafting?
I don't ask them to reinvent the wheel there but to use what they already have ingame.

It doesn't matter if hats or gameplay. Both often use that excuse but if pressed enough they find a solution (glamour dresser upgrade? midlander beard stubble despited them telling us that it wouldn't be possible because the character editor is "full").
I can understand if they say "it's hard because of the engine" but Viera hats have absolutely no excuse nowadays anymore after all those years.
But just throwing up the hands saying "engine" and then ignoring things for years? No.
They already showed that they can implement new gameplay things (most often in fight design) so no I don't acknowledge that excuse anymore.

That isn't really how an excuse works. Considering boredom is one of the most subjective things on the planet? I fully believe you find it boring. I fully believe (and personally know) people who have really enjoyed Island Sanctuary. Just because you don't like a bit of content doesn't mean the content is bad. If farming/gathering in the sanctuary was anything like gathering for the gathering classes, you'd then complain about how "lazy the developers are because the systems are so similiar," so I don't really understand why that's your take to die on. Same about Island crafting vs actual crafting. Again, making new fight mechanics is a different beast than something entirely new that an engine developed for a game over... what? a decade old? now might not be able to do easily. Why do viera hats have no excuse? What's changed since the last time they said it? Because you say so? Yeah, okay.

[NamiRocket]

Keep in mind, this is not an MMO disguised as Final Fantasy. This is Final Fantasy wearing an MMO skin. It's a Final Fantasy game first.

What a nothingburger of a thing that you've said about a dozen times now.

[Shougun]

I always thought that Jump should just do what Hallowed Ground does. That would have solved a lot of the problem with it. Similar thing to what you're saying overall.

Now they made it not technically travel the distance and the animation super fast. I think it would have been better actually dodging it because if you play FF9, the jump ability causes missed attacks since the character literally isn't there to receive them, so it would be consistent with Final Fantasy games.

Yeah that would have been cool, because then it would double as a feature while being 'different' and by god would a Dragoon feel different than another job if they can just 'lol nope' damage with a skilled timed ability. I can see these things becoming painful for strict balance in hyper hardcore content, but in a DF setting where you get what you get and honestly you can clear with half your party afk... so its fine in that scope. I have thoughts for the hyper strict side, but currently just talking about that 80% of the game content .

[Voidmage]

That isn't really how an excuse works. Considering boredom is one of the most subjective things on the planet? I fully believe you find it boring. I fully believe (and personally know) people who have really enjoyed Island Sanctuary. Just because you don't like a bit of content doesn't mean the content is bad. If farming/gathering in the sanctuary was anything like gathering for the gathering classes, you'd then complain about how "lazy the developers are because the systems are so similiar," so I don't really understand why that's your take to die on. Same about Island crafting vs actual crafting. Again, making new fight mechanics is a different beast than something entirely new that an engine developed for a game over... what? a decade old? now might not be able to do easily. Why do viera hats have no excuse? What's changed since the last time they said it? Because you say so? Yeah, okay.

So there is no other argument but “no you are wrong because I think it is subjective?”

IS was nothing much even if some few people liked it and absolutely could have been much more. I honestly don’t know what the defense is here.
No I wouldn’t have called them lazy if they used a form of crafting or from the housing system.
If you like it cool but don’t pretend it wasn’t pretty much the gameplay minimum they could do.

And Viera hats… do you honestly think that after all these years they couldn’t have found a way to solve the problem?
Like seriously?
They absolutely can find solutions around the engine limitation and have shown so again and again.
Even your gameplay argument doesn’t hold true because they absolutely can implement new gameplay like blue mage, minigames, several fight designs like the soul extraction or even things like Bozja, it’s raids and the logos actions.

I don’t care if you like the state of the game or how they handle all this if you do cool more power to you.
But defending practices like Viera hats even after all these years? Seriously?