Dear Community what even holds you in this game

[Voidmage]

My main anchor is the story.
7.2 was good and showed me that they still can tell a good story if they get slapped in the face a bit and get down of their high horse. A good story makes me want to do quest and all to find out more and keeps me interested.
I also like things like mining to calm down, doing my roulette and just pushing my BLM gameplay even though I have fallen out of love with the raid design.
Then there is my character who after so many years is just important to me and I spend way too much time with glamour.

The game itself is mostly still the old one minus a good amount of the charm points sacrificed for streamlining and over reliance on DDR gameplay as well as an overbearing amount of raiding at the cost of other things right now.

The biggest reason for my dissatisfaction is actually how the community has changed and the devs respond to it.
Instant pulling tanks, a far more arrogant attitude in high end raids or the overly annoying guide war in PF to a point where even blind runs devolve into guide raiding after a few tries because the raids are designed with statics and guides in mind it seems.
Content creators who are so outside of normal reality in their static bubble they have no idea what they are talking about in parts minus a few and the devs completely catering and only listening to them.

Times have changed I guess where streaming and content that is marketable in videos is the most important thing nowadays.
I have honestly fallen out of love with video games as a whole only playing this one and some few others that are not AAA nowadays.

Also hot take but Hrothgar we’re a mistake and should have never been implemented.

[Musashidon]

the game overall holds me, i like the gameplay, the story, and it being an mmo, i also like how casual and easy going it is overall without having to worry about a lot and when i want to play less i just do and when i want to play more there is always tons of stuff i can do.

the only way an mmo will be able to tear me off this is if SE gives me a new mmo that is more action based like tera/BnS as i would love a more modern action mmo final fantasy.

WoW has never been my style even though my whole family has played it (they play 14 also) and most new mmos are just so terrible or even worse than terrible at end game plus with nothing else to do, so most mmos are like a flavor of the week type deal for me i try it out and quit once i hit end game.

[Inputnamehere]

There is no replacement game. I don't feel like swapping to those equally old games, and most of the newly known MMOs suck. There is no game that could give me the same feelings as FFXIV did in the past 10 years.

When I finally leave this game I'll be giving up the MMO genre entirely. Which, can be pretty soon.

If by some miracle I discover another game with the same vibes but fun designs that FFXIV would never incorporate, I'd ditch Yoshi without a first thought.

[Moomba33]

Lots of things keep me here. Affection for the world. Affection for the Final Fantasy series as a whole. The overall presentation, I love how they sync up the mechanics and music of the fights at times. Playing with friends. And of course, habit. Eorzea has basically been a second home to me since a Realm Reborn launched.

I participate in most content in the game and enjoy it. I do wish the content release schedule was faster and SE would stop sanding down systems and jobs. But when I don't have anything to do in XIV I just log in a bit less often and play single player games.

[MitsukiKimura]

Playing with a friend
House
Currently not raiding and taking a break since this tier's raid gear will not be used for any meaningful content and don't like the glam.
Been playing other games mainly highly recommend Expedition 33

[Rinoa_353]

First and foremost, my love for the game and series is my primary driver for playing for nearly a decade now (since Fall 2015). Then my friends is another major reason I still play the game along with some light rp once in a while. My homes also keep me anchored since I worked very hard to get them and I immensely enjoy decorating my homes often where I'm changing things constantly such as decorating for the game events/holidays. I also enjoy collecting glams, crafting, doing hunt trains and S rank hunts and such.

[AvoSturmfaust]

Because i still enjoy the Game, and have plenty to do, even if its only clearing the raidtiers with 4-5 chars, and when there a time comes and the game feels really boring i just quit and play something different heck i mean thats what 11€ in a month, thats nothing not even one hour of work so im fine with staying subbed even if i dont play

[YukioKobayashi]

Mostly raiding. This raidtier now is imo the best since edens gate. A raidtier where every fight is at least good.

[ThaCa]

Story and PvP mostly. I used to play most of the content but have been doing it less and less while taking longer breaks lately.

Most of my friends were PvE focused and have quit the game during late Endwalker patches, most of them said they would really love to play but the game currently isn't enjoyable to them. Lots of Stormblood nostalgia.

[TheInsomniac13]

Heared that a lot it apprears gemeplay wise FF14 peaked with Stromblood and is in a constant decline since then.