What happened to the community

[Ashpd]

I've been playing since 2.2. The community hasn't changed. So look for the problem in yourself and why they started treating you like that.

[Evergrey]

I've been playing since 2.2. The community hasn't changed. So look for the problem in yourself and why they started treating you like that.

This.

Sure, people can run into one or another troll who just enjoys being rude for fun.
But if it happens on a more regular basis then chances are it's the player itself that is the common cause for it.

[Dzian]

A. I think the rose colored glasses are fading for many (.

I was going to say years of toxic positivity is wearing off. People who were once quick to jump down the throats of even the slightest criticism and defend the game at all costs are becoming burnt out. It's becoming harder to defend it as the cracks are getting larger and larger and larger.
But maybe rose coloured glasses is a better and more polite way of saying it.

I've always held a theory that the harder (I'm talking wipe after wipe after wipe) the content is, in a group reliant setting, the more likely it will turn a community toxic over time. Those guild breaker contents, IMO

In contrast I've always held the opposite view. Content being so easy and dumbed down is the guild breaker as there's no reason to wait for others or build those bonds MMOs were once renowned for.

Overcoming difficult challenges or hurdles together tends to build bonds and a sense of team work / camaraderie amongst players. But I also think super strict compositions has been a big guild breaker for many years. 4 8 or gtfo. No content for 3 5 6 7 9 10 11 players to participate in.

This means you either leave someone out or rely on pug / outsiders that wont allign with your objectives.

The more you push single player experiences the less you promote community, bonds and teamwork.

[Oizen]

The MSQ being good is basically the Load bearing Krusty the Clown poster that keeps the house from falling down.

[Nero-Voidstails]

in question on content I see no change in the slightest but I did see one in the RP community tho.

Often it's mod related like over the top mods like you wanna mod go ahead but no one should be forced to acknowledge your mods because you feel a way.

I am on Xbox and even on PC I was vanilla so I never acknowledged those but now if you don't you get legit harassed or simply remove and blocked from the venue's.

so I just think mods need to be dealt with but other then that it have been the same since shb.

I miss cleric stance and double tank stance tho ;-;

[Nero-Voidstails]

ok I just got to think about it the only thing I can see in dungeon being toxic is everyone forcing a tank to pull bigger to skip part of dungeon to go faster because "my time matter" or "you shouldn't waste people time" like you play a MMO so you have to understand that if one person want bigger pulls and other are just chilling maybe you should que with a group of friends>~>

[Absurdity]

*snip*

I'm not even sure if it's because the casuals are leaving or simply because people have become so apathetic that they no longer bother with keeping up the friendly mask and if it gets them suspended for a few days then so be it, not like they're going to miss much.


I started the game in either late ARR or early Heavensward but never stayed for long since WoW was still my main MMO. When I finally got fed up with Blizzard's terrible ability pruning and class simplification (deja vu anyone?) during Legion I decided to give XIV another try, that was during early Stormblood patch 4.1 and before they introduced the new TOS.

The community honestly felt no different from WoW's, you would have people bitch at each other over failing mechanics in savage or even dungeons, kicking people from the party after telling them their DPS was shit, the usual stuff in content where performance actually mattered. But you would also have people go absolutely mental in alliance raids over the most benign things. Not that it really ever bothered me, I was one of those people at some point during my 11-12 years in WoW, it was just kind of a part of the MMO experience.

Then when they introduced the new TOS this seemingly went away, but in a clearly unnatural way. Instead of people barking at each other, which was at least occasionally entertaining, you would just have silence in dungeons, silence in the hubs, silence in entire alliance raids, it was almost unsettlingly sterile.
Because it didn't actually ever go away, the TOS just forced people to pretend that everything is sunshine and rainbows. Instead of people talking shit openly they would go behind each other's back or talk shit privately, people were still kicked from savage parties and everyone knew exactly why, you just no longer said it out loud.


Maybe it was different in ARR, I doubt it but who knows?
From the time I've been here however the community has never been better than any other MMO community, it was just hidden behind a pretty facade.
Maybe I'm "oldschool" but I honestly prefer if someone just called me an idiot to my face, I call them an idiot back and we go about our business, instead of everyone playing nice and two weeks later you hear from some 3rd party that someone called you an idiot when you weren't there to hear it.

[Sylpharia]

The game lately caters mostly to raiders, so naturally you see more toxicity now, further made worse by the fact everything in this game is based on dps. There is also the fact people are just... done. Done with the game, yet sticking around, done with the developers 'were listening but busy, ask again 10 years later, done with the immense content draughts that SOMEHOW get passed 95% of the community.

I also wonder, since WoW is known as a game where mods are needed to raid how people in this game feel about the necessity of mods to raid. I still remember a 'certain youtuber' saying that 'noclippy is ESSENTIAL' and I am just curious how many raiders actually run mods these days(not just a dps meter but stuff like rotation solver and other aids in either mechanics or rotations or the camera one).

When I joined this game I, like everyone else was promised that this community was not like other games and way more positives. I would say up until my first ex attempts, this was true. Personally the biggest spike in toxicity I have seen has been the end of Endwalker and the entirety of DT,(especially Cloud) and I don't just mean ingame. On youtube, reddit, forums and also ingame it has gotten a lot worse.

I am also sick and tired of reporting in this game doing absolutely nothing. I have a bigger chance for a report to do something in League ffs XD

All in all I would say that everything the WoW community is known for(toxicity, exclusion, witch-hunting) I saw more in this game in 3 years of playing with around 15 years of activity in WoW.

And I am very happy people are waking up to the developers sleeping on the game being the 2nd most popular mmo on the market aswell. They have put so little in and it's REALLY starting to show, like the graphics update only applying to 5% of the game after so long.

[chozobo]

mr. president, another sugar and spice thread has hit the forums

[Jeeqbit]

wonder, since WoW is known as a game where mods are needed to raid what state this game is in for that

They are not and it's ridiculous to suggest that they are. There are actually people who play on Playstations that clear all these things. Most likely as our Xbox sprouts become more experienced they will as well.

I still remember a 'certain youtuber' saying that 'noclippy is ESSENTIAL'

They obviously mean "desirable". You may occasionally clip an ability due to ping but it's not exactly going to mean you can't clear things. There are so many ways to increase and optimize damage (not to mention RNG) that going crazy over a 0.01 second delay is... a bit silly. They could also try a VPN to improve it.

the graphics update only applying to 5% of the game after so long.

All the work prior to 7.0 release was actually backend stuff: shader changes, graphics code, supporting for dynamic resolutions, FSR and DLSS, Player Characters and new expansion gear/areas.

The old stuff was meant to be done in patches. But it is hard to see evidence that anywhere else was changed other than Western Thanalan that they showed in the patch notes. I hope they are doing a lot more than 1 area in the other patches, or it'll take years to get through the ARR areas alone.