does anyone else not play xiv as much as before after dt?

[ForteNightshade]

This has been the least active I've ever been since starting all the way back at the end of 3.0. Even when I took occasional breaks from raiding, I still logged in frequently enough. Outside of a brief spell where a new friend I met wanted to do roulettes, I pretty much raid log. I still cap and run my weeklies because it's something to do, but if it weren't for FRU, I'd serious consider unsubbing for the first time in nearly ten years. The sheer lack of content has gotten ridiculous at this point. Which is a bigger issue for me despite how much I disliked Dawntrail. When I'm actually fall asleep during the MSQ, that speaks volumes to just how disinterested I was--not at all helped when I'm coming off from player Cyberpunk and Baldur's Gate 3. The level of storytelling and character depth in those games just made Dawntrail feel like even more of a slog to get through.

What's sad is I'm not entirely bored with XIV. When I run Jeuno or even Expect, I'm enjoying the game. I just feel very... indifferent towards it, if that makes any sense. I never used to feel that way, but the spark just isn't there anymore. I'm excited to play through BG3 again or look forward to my current Total War: Three Kingdoms campaign. Whereas with XIV, I enjoy FRU and Chaotic, but I'm not excited the way I used to be.

[Azurarok]

One of my friends drifted away from it pretty noticeably after 7.0, mainly because of the DRG changes. I've been playing considerably less as well. It's just not nearly as much fun to use a good lot of jobs compared to EW or ShB.

[Zelda206]

I saw a thread that folks were headed back to FFXI because of Dawntrail being the last straw for FFXIV. Gameplay has been on the decline since Shadowbringers and when you take the magic of grand storytelling away from the game, you see the barebones minimum that is being pumped into the game with a handful of months in-between patches and sparsely any content other than exhausting legendary/relic grinding (and coming from GW2 and WoW when I say this, that is not fun content; I've explored both extensively, so I'm not putting it lightly) and maybe going back to help newer players through Eureka, Bozjan, et cetera. The 'vacation' I'm getting is away from FFXIV, which acts as an antithesis to staying subscribed to the game. Simplifying and homogenizing tanks, frontlining the Savage/Chaotic material with barely anything for 92% [or so] of the playerbase (3% being hardcore raiders, much respect to your grit, 4% being to omnicrafters/gatherers with even more respect to that grit, and the remaining 1% being the roleplaying community who fill the void with immersion) apart from gem-and-gil farming. With that in mind, it's not a wonder why the community is in an uproar and the hiatus that took players from other games TO FFXIV [in ShB] are now bleeding back out to the games they left or even on to newer things. What on earth is Square thinking? "Mobile", yes, I know, but still.

[Kuroka]

Yes, cause grinding Ex trials whose mount i cant buy until the fight is nerfed 3x just feels like a huge waste of time, so many friends stopped playing - it feels a lot less active unless your part of certain communities...

And yeah, the story just felt worse then even, the 6.1-6.5 mess was already... a very mixed bag for something that should have been its own expansion or at very least Turncliff(?)/bozja style, where we get some new story zones to actually travel too. Like how do they justify doing Zeros realm if we cant even revisit it after being done?

Wuk did suck - i dont need to be the center of attention but it was.. just too much. But i admit our german dub did save er at least a bit. On english i whould have stopped i guess lol

[Hycinthus]

With seemingly a lot being burnt out, maybe it’s a good time for SE to just take the game offline for 2 years and upgrade its engine. Make it more long lasting for another 15 years. Everyone will be back more energized and it’s a good investment.

[Kaurhz]

I'm still playing fairly regularly with friends, but that's mostly hanging out, and mostly taking it as an opportunity to work on my other character.

With seemingly a lot being burnt out, maybe it’s a good time for SE to just take the game offline for 2 years and upgrade its engine. Make it more long lasting for another 15 years. Everyone will be back more energized and it’s a good investment.

It's a good investment, but it's also a massive risk, taking a game offline for over a year will just encourage more people to move on completely, since they wouldn't really be bound to the game.

and honestly, they can update the game into oblivion.. But it's the content that matters and if they're just going to stick to the same rigid schedule then all it will amount to is those people that do return, inevitably getting bored and burnt out again.

[DPZ2]

With seemingly a lot being burnt out, maybe it’s a good time for SE to just take the game offline for 2 years and upgrade its engine. Make it more long lasting for another 15 years. Everyone will be back more energized and it’s a good investment.

A Realm Reborn Reborn?

I'm not sure about how many people are actually burnt out. I still continue to play, but I've tempered playtime with other Real Life(tm) activities. Things like tabletop RPGs, reading, binge watching an enormous number of Chinese donghua, trips abroad and, of course, work.

Be truthful here. If any game went offline for 2 years and came back, would you really feel 'energized' and subscribe again? Or would you have already moved on to something else?

[Hycinthus]

It's a good investment, but it's also a massive risk, taking a game offline for over a year will just encourage more people to move on completely, since they wouldn't really be bound to the game.

and honestly, they can update the game into oblivion.. But it's the content that matters and if they're just going to stick to the same rigid schedule then all it will amount to is those people that do return, inevitably getting bored and burnt out again.

A Realm Reborn Reborn?

I'm not sure about how many people are actually burnt out. I still continue to play, but I've tempered playtime with other Real Life(tm) activities. Things like tabletop RPGs, reading, binge watching an enormous number of Chinese donghua, trips abroad and, of course, work.

Be truthful here. If any game went offline for 2 years and came back, would you really feel 'energized' and subscribe again? Or would you have already moved on to something else?

People did with A Realm Reborn. I think they would subscribe again.

While upgrading the engine, they can just do a whole rebranding. Take this time to re-think of new ways on how content updates would be delivered. Revamp the whole 'rigid schedule' format. Introduce new things, revamp how the overworld zones work. Get a new writer.

To be honest, if they ever want to ever upgrade the engine, is there better time to do it than now? Do they want this to last another 15-20 years? I cannot think of a better time than now.

[Kaurhz]

People did with A Realm Reborn. I think they would subscribe again.

While upgrading the engine, they can just do a whole rebranding. Take this time to re-think of new ways on how content updates would be delivered. Revamp the whole 'rigid schedule' format. Introduce new things, revamp how the overworld zones work. Get a new writer.

To be honest, if they ever want to ever upgrade the engine, is there better time to do it than now? Do they want this to last another 15-20 years? I cannot think of a better time than now.

I'm not saying nobody will return, but just a question as to how many really. Like, if I am honest, I probably wouldn't

To be honest, it's a nice principle, but they have already had a long long time to look at the patch schedule, they know there's a constant fall off between patches, they know people are dissatisfied, they are already asking "Why aren't your friends currently playing", they have been asking this for a long time. They shouldn't have to ask it, they should understand why, and given how long it has festered for, it really does tell me that they aren't really that interested in doing a rebrand in any hypothetical scenario.

[sindriiisgaming]

i do but only because of a combination of farming for alpha wolf and sunken cost fallacy and having nowhere else to go