Mystery

[Jeeqbit]

Then how are we supposed to know what content has been added in a patch or how to do it?

Well if you've played long enough...

• 8.0: 8 dungeons, 3 trials, 2 extremes, MSQ, pvp series, 6 new zones, new hunts, new FATEs, new role quests
• 8.01: 4 normal raids
• 8.05: 4 savage raids and associated tomestones/crafted gear
• 8.08: Job Adjustments
• 8.1: 1 extreme, 1 unreal, 1 dungeon, 1 exploratory area (this varies a bit), master role quest, mentor cert period ends, Job Adjustments
• 8.11: Job Adjustments, 1 ultimate, pvp changes
• 8.15: 1 chaotic?, hildibrand, custom delivery, beast tribe
• 8.18: savage restrictions removed, alliance raid coin can be used to upgrade tomestone weapon, pvp changes
• 8.2: 4 normal/savage raids and associated tomestones/crafted gear, MSQ, 1 dungeon, 1 trial, 1 extreme, 1 unreal, job changes, pvp changes, new pvp series
• 8.21: any emergency job changes
• 8.25: Hildibrand, beast tribe, 1 variant/criterion, new relics/field operation
• 8.28: Job Changes, pvp changes
• 8.3: MSQ, 1 dungeon, 1 trial, 1 extreme trial, 1 unreal, 1 alliance raid, new map, exploratory area update, job changes, pvp changes, new pvp series, new custom delivery, random QoL we've wanted for 12 years
• 8.31: 1 new ultimate
• 8.35: Hildibrand, deep dungeon, beast tribe, relics
• 8.38: savage unlock, purchase tomestone weapon upgrade with alliance coin, pvp changes
• 8.4: MSQ, 1 dungeon, 1 trial, 1 extreme trial, 1 unreal, 4 savage/normal raids and associated tomestones/crafted gear, job changes, new pvp series, frontline adjustments, ocean fishing route
• 8.41: add echo to 8.2's savage (I don't report all the echo's they add, but assume they add it to anything once it's not the latest version of the duty type)
• 8.45: Hildibrand, 1 variant/criterion, blue mage update, relics
• 8.48: pvp update
• 8.5: MSQ, 1 dungeon, 1 trial, 1 extreme trial, 1 unreal, 1 alliance raid, job changes, new pvp series
• 8.51: crafter relics, new variant/criterion, pvp changes
• 8.55: MSQ, hildibrand, final relic upgrade, allied tribal quest, misc trial often used at fanfests, pvp changes, frontline changes
• 8.57: savage unlock, alliance raid coin can now be spent on tomestone weapon augment, any pvp fixes, weekly tomestone cap doubled
• 8.58: everything completely unlocked and non-weekly. pvp changes.

I didn't include all the little things (housing items added every major patch etc but if you like those, can expect all that at the intervals you're used to).

I predicted most stuff that's in prior expansions because of how consistent this is. Even right down to which patches have minor pvp changes or a new gold saucer GATE added...

[Jangles]

Biggest problem is this sentiment is carried over to the game's world aswell. There is absolutely no mystery left in the world of ffxiv, every single thing including the goddamn power of friendship as "dynamis" has been given an explanation. Even the twelve, the gods of the realm have been given a solid no questions left explanation there is not mystique about them anymore. Every single damn thing in this game has a mostly lackluster "scientific" (lore-wise) explanation given to it leaving nothing of intrigue. Nothing is just magic or their own special thing, everything is tied to some boring thing.

[Akonyl]

FWIW I do agree to a small extent, namely that they should probably not show *too* much in their trailers. Though specifically with DT, I always assumed that them showing off S9 was to avoid people complaining about the tone shift, which does make sense (as someone in this thread's already shown when they didn't know about it), though they probably could've hinted it a bit more lightly.

But for this part:

This feeling is absent from FF in its entirety. The CBU3 team seem to surgically make sure that literally nothing remains unknown to us the audience through patch notes and live letters from Yoshi P. Not to mention that we know the formula of 4 raids per major patch, 2 ultimates per expansion, 2-4 side pieces of content etc.
This means that there's nothing to discover, nothing that could start rumours among players, no "there's a city deep under the sea nobody has found yet" or "if you /dance on the highest peak near Ishgard you receive an emote". The search for the undiscovered is fun, it creates chatter and makes people work together to uncover new things.

I think this game could benefit from not playing with all of its cards revealed. Give us a hint of where something begins but don't tell us what that is.

It might sound defeatist, but you're basically never gonna get this in a popular MMO anymore. Ever since the days of thottbot (and probably before then), datamining's been rampant in big MMOs to the point where if the game client has data for something, it's not a secret. And for the majority of things in the game, the client's gonna know about it, because streaming data for everything isn't efficient. So a "hidden city under the water" is going to be known about from the second someone pulls the map data, you won't have people just stumbling across it unless the game is specifically built from the start to allow for items to be hidden until people find something (at which point the data gets streamed to them). But even then, that sense of discovery only *really* exists for the first person, because at that point the information can be disseminated + datamined just the same. So unless you think you're really gonna be that first person to discover some secret, you'll get the same experience just by not reading the info SE puts out, despite everyone else viewing it.

[Gwenkatsu]

As it stands, not looking at the patch notes or looking at the live letters - I would likely never have discovered the new role quests, the chaotic raids and so on. Logging into the game doesn't really present you with any sign of anything new that has occurred. With how little I go to Tuliyollal - if it was suddenly demolished in a patch cycle - I'd probably not discover it for several months.

IMO the game is very good at directing you to new things. Whenever a major patch drops, I just go to both main hubs and look out for blue quests - port to hub 1, open map, port to hub 2, open map. 30 seconds and I know if there is anything new, and where to start it.

[Kazuke_Miso]

How can they set up a mystery when they haven't changed their formula in a decade

[Asari5]

isnt that the point though? discovering something you didnt know exists?

not like there are a lot of places in this game.

you really need a hint to go checking out the main city after a patch?

[Basteala]

Biggest problem is this sentiment is carried over to the game's world aswell. There is absolutely no mystery left in the world of ffxiv, every single thing including the goddamn power of friendship as "dynamis" has been given an explanation. Even the twelve, the gods of the realm have been given a solid no questions left explanation there is not mystique about them anymore. Every single damn thing in this game has a mostly lackluster "scientific" (lore-wise) explanation given to it leaving nothing of intrigue. Nothing is just magic or their own special thing, everything is tied to some boring thing.

Ehh Dynamis was--I felt--a concept that had been floating around in the past without a name in the past: DRK Role Quest, DNC, Omega...it's even somewhat quantifiable in HW PLD. That said I hate what they did with the Twelve.

[Ajisaii]

It's like watching the star wars prequel trailers

[Basteala]

It's like watching the star wars prequel trailers

I don't know--Dawntrail might have been more the Sequels.

[Absurdity]

Biggest problem is this sentiment is carried over to the game's world aswell. There is absolutely no mystery left in the world of ffxiv, every single thing including the goddamn power of friendship as "dynamis" has been given an explanation. Even the twelve, the gods of the realm have been given a solid no questions left explanation there is not mystique about them anymore. Every single damn thing in this game has a mostly lackluster "scientific" (lore-wise) explanation given to it leaving nothing of intrigue. Nothing is just magic or their own special thing, everything is tied to some boring thing.

It's even worse than just "some boring thing", it's mostly the exact same boring thing.
Lost ancient civilizations and technology, the gods, major disasters and conflicts throughout history, even the different races...all just caused or created by Ancients in the end.
And I wouldn't be surprised if that is going to be the explanation for all future mysteries as well.

Ehh Dynamis was--I felt--a concept that had been floating around in the past without a name in the past: DRK Role Quest, DNC, Omega...it's even somewhat quantifiable in HW PLD. That said I hate what they did with the Twelve.

Even if Dynamis existed as some unexplained force in the past, it should've stayed that way. We did not need "the power of emotions" to be literally confirmed.