FF14 player count reached the lowest point in 4 years. We lost 75% of the playerbase.

[Shipp]

What happened to this thread what does this have to do with FFXIV?

It really isn't any harder to read previous posts declaring the problem of DT being "catering to the woke" nonsense than it is to post asking a question. While you asked that, you could have checked the prior page to see what led to that comment and how it related specifically to Dawntrail "criticism" now that SE has moved their crew back to Japan.

[Ajisaii]

It really isn't any harder to read previous posts declaring the problem of DT being "catering to the woke" nonsense than it is to post asking a question. While you asked that, you could have checked the prior page to see what led to that comment and how it related specifically to Dawntrail "criticism" now that SE has moved their crew back to Japan.

I am not reading 45 pages of forum slop sorry.

[Kozh]

The JP playerbase are the people happiest with the overall balance of the game right now, not sure how that’s western audiences fault

I wouldn't be so sure about. JP players just aren't as loud as non JP. They will simply leave the game or suffer in silence. And sh*t talk the game on 2chan (or whatever that forum name is) I guess.


Now as for DT writing, yeah I agree that it's 99% is a matter of bad writing. Though I also feel like yoshi-p has made decisions (unrelated to DT) that is kinda weird coming from JP. By that I mean, typically it's not a thing JP players would complain about.

I do think the rubber bullet in DT is because of western, but that's just me.

[Azurarok]

I do think the rubber bullet in DT is because of western, but that's just me.

tbf Japan did get a Prime Minister shot dead not too long ago.

[RedLolly]

I also think the reason DT was such a weird mess in places was because of the nebulous "modern audience" of the West. SE massively downsizing their non-Japanese studios when basically every bit of media that's been designed by or for that "modern audience" has been a financial or critical failure just doesn't look bad on paper. There's not enough grant money in it anymore, either, though trying to write so that you don't hurt anyone is a noble cause. And the Covid boom is fully dried up. When life returned to normal, the amount of gaming hobbyists went right back to the pre-covid numbers, right when the industry finished hiring thousands to make more games, faster because so many new people were playing games to not lose their minds while at home. They went back to work and went out and did the things they actually wanted to do instead.

Dawntrail had some really great concepts that felt too toothless or underbaked in too many places. But I'm also 100% in the camp that DT's combat design is both peak for innovation and expectation of players while being almost as badly designed for mediocre to bad internet speeds as ARR was. It's both made me a better player and gotten me killed with some of the worst bullshit because the client and servers aren't communicating like the game requires. Dawntrail is such a mixed bag.

[Kozh]

Interesting. I find the french loc to be abysmal. I have a serious problem with how they translate almost everything, and everything reads like cringe to me. And let's not speak about the translation of job abilities. Ugh.

I rather have cringe dialogue (also jrpg by nature can be cringe tbh, so...) than having a localization team that has Main Character syndrome and changing things, or their obsession with "Ooo we make the character said the Thing *pog face*"

[Basteala]

Don't mind me. I'm just here while FF14 is being DDOSed for the...eighth? time this week. I lost track.

[Vhel]

Still can’t win a plot

[0blivion]

The layoffs don't necessarily relate to the Western community at all. They relate to SE's inability to set up functioning remote work, as well as unwillingness to recruit international talent to deal with their spaghetti code codebase.

e/: Also, at least the French dub is mostly in line with the JP script, at least for battle dialogue. It's frankly infuriating how poorly the English loc does on that because Haha Memes. Can't speak for the German loc because hearing the ShB trailer in German made me wanna quit the game before even starting. But afaik the German at least keeps the FF spell naming theme, which is already miles better than the English lmao.

[MicahZerrshia]

It's frankly infuriating how poorly the English loc does on that because Haha Memes.

Well Kate is gone, so maybe we will see some improvement.....that is a biiiiiiig maybe tho. I have no idea what this new lead has done or what kind of job he does, so for now I will give him the benefit of the doubt