Do you think the game will ever get better and if so when?

[MoofiaBossVal]

It's a corporate franchise product and thus subject to the same corporate franchise death IP cycle that they all face. See Star Wars, Star Trek, Pokemon, every MMO, Kverwatch, gachas, etc. Game won't substantially get better or make a turnaround.

First phase: creation. Original book/comic/movie/game/whatever is created and is an unexpected hit, usually has a fairly low budget.

Second phase: explosion of popularity. The corporation begins to heavily invest in sequels.

Third phase: milking. Content is continuing to be made, but the corporation wants to increase profits by lowering costs, so the new stuff is lower budget. A lot of the original creators and writers have disappeared, usually because they've been making the same thing over and over for years and want to move on, or are being stifled by the suits behind the scenes. Writers and producers leaving is the first sign of the end. Visible people like actors leaving the show usually comes deep into the decline. FF14 has been here for several years, arguably since Stormblood when people left to go start working on FF16.

Fourth phase: death. Audience interest has disappeared.

Fifth phase: reboot. Time has past and now it's time to cash in on nostalgia/brand name recognition.

[AllenThyl]

Just quit lmao, there's no point of playing ff14 hoping it will get better

Yeah, much more productive use of time and money to just stay subscribed to spend your limited life time on hating this game on the forums. After all, no subscription = no forum posting

Even if it does get better you can just come back later it's not like they delete your account

Ohhh? Then why do YOU constantly need new accounts?

[Nero-Voidstails]

honestly the game in itself is fine what is not fine it's the patch cycles and the content drops is kinda wacky because they often release all the big content midway thro the expension instead of the start of it. but again I also roleplay used to do savage now I don't because my schedule isn't the greatest for that

[ElysiumDragon]

Since we're doing Other Game comparisons.

Genshin Impact for most of February had for all intents and purposes a non-existent banner. The game still made $25 million off the back of their equivalent 'sub fees' alone, because there was enough of a core audience to meet operating costs.

Once a game becomes entrenched and has a core fanbase, that fanbase isn't going anywhere. FF11's still going 20+ years later after all, the same goes for OSRS, so why wouldn't FF14 be the same way? Heck, in keeping with the gacha comparison (a genre notorious for shuttering games the second they don't print money), FGO is almost 10 years old, but still routinely shows up at a respectable spot in earnings charts, solely because of how entrenched the playerbase is.

Devs know they can take their time, because, even at "Literally the lowest point ever in the game, dead game, game's dying, I need to make 50 Youtube videos about it", the game's player count is still more than healthy enough to keep the servers on and queues running.

But to answer your question: A lot of people, like me, might have our grumbles about one thing or another (Savage should unlock sooner), but they're just Not Enough to warrant dropping the game off a cliff.

[AvoSturmfaust]

I recently took a vacation off ffxiv to broaden my horizons. i've always been a 1 game andy and desperately afraid of being on my own for more than five minutes... so the idea of not playing ffxiv was like having a part of myself gutted. i kept making excuses why i should keep playing the game
- my friends are here (yea like all 3 of them)
- how will I function without my wol for FIVE minutes
- new games are scary and I cba learning the controls
- there's no other good MMOs on the market rn that fill in ffxiv (greetings from MHWilds)

but after finally cutting the umbilical cord i was able to take a look at the game in hindsight (and yea, a week isnt enough to form that but its been something i've been thinking about since 6.3)
- I noticed when playing wilds what REAL gameplay felt like and its great to see a game that CARES about its lore!
- I noticed when watching sonic 3 what GOOD compelling storytelling looks like.
- I noticed when replaying some of the older title like kingdom hearts how good boss battles and combat systems can look!

it all got me thinking.. im looking for something.. that i just DON'T find in ffxiv. i'm even starting to wonder if i EVER found it. SEGA listens to its fans, CAPCOM listens to the feedback, SQUARE used to put quality and ingenuity first... but with ffxiv.. i don't feel hopeful things will get better.. im dreading they just always stay the same, because that's all we've ever seen. And so i put it to you, what do YOU think? is there hope or is ffxiv an unavoidable sinking ship
- if the latter, what's keeping you around

I love Monster Hunter more then any other Game BUT seriously MH was NEVER that Game for "Lore" or long Content to compare it with Final is kinda meeeh take as example now Wilds im completly done and when i say done i mean done, my builds are done, my artian weapons are perfect and done and i got every deco i need as a multi deco version so what do i do now? i can pointless hunt or do something else, so really comparing it with final fantasy is not great at all

[CaptainLagbeard]

I don't know if it will get better, but ultimately for it to happen the developers need to actually acknowledge there are problems that need improving upon.

[NaoSen]

I think we'll only know come 8.0

[Kaurhz]

No I don't think it will get better. As Red Thunder says, it's the fast food of the genre.. It's THE McDonalds equivalent. Some people like it, and some people may go another 4-5 years without noticing, but those whom have been around since, say HW/SB or arguably even ShB, then the formula is very obvious.

Too many decisions have been made which is essentially a contradiction of depth, complexity or engagement.

This MMO is the kind of MMO where you play, not because you like MMOs or because you're seeking a rich MMO experience.. It's because you want to experience a world where there are people around, where the world feels somewhat... 'lived in' -- Granted XIV barely do these now-a-days... But you also have plenty of single plater or co-op games which can emulate the same experience.

[ZoeEudestand]

no, but breadcrumbs scattered every 4+ months amongst a famine will make you think it is

[EmeraldSerenade]

They could easily rejuvenate the game by releasing player-created content. Put out a tool-kit, give people the ability to create dungeons with existing assets, then release a new one every few weeks based on ratings. Could reward tomes, exp, w/e.