Communication from SqEx needs to change

[Mawlzy]

Listen, i agree with all of your points here, i really do. I just don't think the "us vs them" attitude as if raiders all evil wallstrest elites is the wrong idea. Even lots of raiders want more casual content and want better casual content, so they aren't you enemy.

I'd suggest some have made enemies of us by words and deeds.

Equally, that can be a two-way street. And such things are much less likely to happen in a healthy game.

[Altina_Orion]

I'd suggest some have made enemies of us by words and deeds.

Equally, that can be a two-way street. And such things are much less likely to happen in a healthy game.

Thats because very little content in this game has any depth at all, but pointing fingers at eachother is sending the wrong message to [both] the community [and maybe maybe the devs if they actually read feedback]. We should be discussing what we want for us, not what we want to take away from others and villainizing each other. We're not children, we're all people who want the game to be better and see its potential. We just want it to live up to its potential, no?

I hate to bring up WoW again, but something to think about:

Wow provides plenty of content for casuals and hardcore players in recent expansions. The systems also have way more depth. Content drops faster, raids have more bosses than a tier and come in four different difficulties. They have m+, crafting, gathering, world quests that are more interesting than fates, solo dungeons in the form of "delves", dungeons that have 3 different difficulties, the third of which has infinite scaling levels (m+). The story is objectively more interactive whether you think its good or not which is subjective. In a way, there are more classes/jobs because there are several different specifications which greatly augment gameplay. Seasonal events come with loads of playable content and aren't a stupid 20 minute quest for an emote or piece of glam.

Why can't SE deliver content that satisfies any of its playerbase when WoW continues to succeed at this. Is it budget like they said? If so, SE needs to provide more budget to CS3 before it's too late.

I deeply, deeply love this game. I want it to be better. I'm not as "hardcore" as people on this forum seem to think. I can't stand progging savage/ultimate for more than 2 or 3 hours at a time before I'm completely burnt out from it (though I do enjoy the experience). Casual content matters to me, but it needs to have some depth and some life to it. We also need to provide difficulty levels that challenge all players, but there should also be playable and fun for those players that can't/don't want to play at a high level.

[Mawlzy]

Thats because very little content in this game has any depth at all, but pointing fingers at eachother is sending the wrong message to [both] the community [and maybe maybe the devs if they actually read feedback]. We should be discussing what we want for us, not what we want to take away from others and villainizing each other. We're not children, we're all people who want the game to be better and see its potential. We just want it to live up to its potential, no?

I agree with the sentiment, but two steps are required to realizing this commendable goal, neither of which I see happening.

First, it requires players to acknowledge that different playstyles and commitment levels are legitimate. While there seems to be almost universal acceptance that those who enjoy high-level PvE are "good players" that are playing the game as intended, that courtesy does not appear to be extended to the rest of us, who are variously referred to as "braindead," "parasites" and worse, not to mention the resurrection of this mysterious Cure-I spamming healer in level 100 dungeons who nobody has actually ever seen.

Second -- and this may be where SE has really finished off FFXIV -- is the recent assertion in the LL that some content could not be made because of a lack of resources. It doesn't matter if that refers to money, personnel, or a director who actually has time to direct. The idea is now firmly placed in the minds of players that content is a zero-sum game, and if "they" get something, that means something has been taken away from "us." Such impressions are extremely difficult to eradicate, particularly when the evidence points to them being true.

It's this second point that I am convinced will reduce the player count below HW levels by the end of 2026.

[Altina_Orion]

I agree with the sentiment, but two steps are required to realizing this commendable goal, neither of which I see happening.

First, it requires players to acknowledge that different playstyles and commitment levels are legitimate. While there seems to be almost universal acceptance that those who enjoy high-level PvE are "good players" that are playing the game as intended, that courtesy does not appear to be extended to the rest of us, who are variously referred to as "braindead," "parasites" and worse, not to mention the resurrection of this mysterious Cure-I spamming healer in level 100 dungeons who nobody has actually ever seen.

Second -- and this may be where SE has really finished off FFXIV -- is the recent assertion in the LL that some content could not be made because of a lack of resources. It doesn't matter if that refers to money, personnel, or a director who actually has time to direct. The idea is now firmly placed in the minds of players that content is a zero-sum game, and if "they" get something, that means something has been taken away from "us." Such impressions are extremely difficult to eradicate, particularly when the evidence points to them being true.

It's this second point that I am convinced will reduce the player count below HW levels by the end of 2026.

The second point is rather concerning, but we should use it as a way to demand more from SE. We know FFXIV is their money maker. I know what they said, but just because they said it doesn't me we should roll over, show our bellies, and say "Oh, no budget? Well I guess we should be ok with SE removing content from X as long as Y gets content!"

I'm not a shareholder and I'm some C-suite executive, I don't care about their budget or resources or in-house problems. Fix your shit and feed us all.

[Mawlzy]

The second point is rather concerning, but we should use it as a way to demand more from SE. We know FFXIV is their money maker. I know what they said, but just because they said it doesn't me we should roll over, show our bellies, and say "Oh, no budget? Well I guess we should be ok with SE removing content from X as long as Y gets content!"

I'm not a shareholder and I'm some C-suite executive, I don't care about their budget or resources or in-house problems. Fix your shit and feed us all.

Sure, there are three possible responses to the "resources" claim in the LL.

1. Shrug.

2. Demand SE allocates more resources.

3. Unsubscribe.

My guess is 3 has a better chance of causing improvements than 2, but even if I'm wrong, at least I don't feel I'm being scammed.

[SkankyRoe]

Sure, there are three possible responses to the "resources" claim in the LL.

1. Shrug.

2. Demand SE allocates more resources.

3. Unsubscribe.

My guess is 3 has a better chance of causing improvements than 2, but even if I'm wrong, at least I don't feel I'm being scammed.

I hate to say it but if we go by Squeenix's track record, 3 has a high chance of causing the game to be officially killed. We the players are kinda stuck in a lose-lose situation where staying subscribed sends the message that things are fine, but unsubscribing sends the message that the game is a flop and needs to be done away with.

[Kandraxx]

I hate to say it but if we go by Squeenix's track record, 3 has a high chance of causing the game to be officially killed. We the players are kinda stuck in a lose-lose situation where staying subscribed sends the message that things are fine, but unsubscribing sends the message that the game is a flop and needs to be done away with.

You also have to wait and see how many people will hop over to the mobile version. Everybody knows that A LOT of players are here not for actual gameplay but just for house parties & chill with a fully customizable avatar so the mobile version is gonna be much better suited for them. Western YT reviewers who made their way onto the chinese servers are already showering the game with praise...

[Jeeqbit]

Sure, there are three possible responses to the "resources" claim in the LL.

1. Shrug.
2. Demand SE allocates more resources.
3. Unsubscribe.

They already said they are doing #2.

Then don't bring it up, anyone and I mean absolutely ANYONE can clear ANY content in this game, Ultimate, Savage and whatever out there, given the time is spending time on it, and that is a fact, there is no actual difficult content in this game at all, unless you are suffering from handicaps in real life.

This is true. The reason it's true is because many streamers are not actually very good at the game, especially if FFXIV isn't their main game. Yet, given enough time, they clear Ultimates. Time is the key for them - they get paid to play games, so they can spend 16 hours a day until, despite their lack of knowledge of the game, they learn the fight script well enough to get the clear.

this is about SE making casual content and bar it in, in a way so only the 'elite' think they can beat it

Sorta. It's about SE making it require more coordination and planning than 24+ randoms are going to bring. It's about SE giving a very limited time window to find 24 people, despite that it often took 30 minutes for Delubrum Reginae to pop in Shadowbringers. All of which forces discords to solve these problems in advance of the "time window".

in which they probably found the streamer/content creator dorks or something to fill in with and forget to actually taking the actual players in on the bandwagon.

Is still a myth that normal players don't clear these things. Pretty sure I've seen people in CWLS and my FC that have cleared. It's fair to say that a lot of people (20,000 per data center) find themselves able to join discord servers for this sort of content. If I compare this with the active level 100 population of each data center, it's about 25% for EU, 25% for NA, and oddly almost 40% for Aether (probably due to everyone using DC travel to Aether).

But there are many players that are afraid of discord despite that, don't understand the discord processes, or don't have the time or desire to deal with signing up and being available at a certain time, and for them there should be a raid that doesn't require that sort of thing. Most people were expecting a version that is easier to enter and complete casually.

[Mawlzy]

Sure, there are three possible responses to the "resources" claim in the LL.

1. Shrug.

2. Demand SE allocates more resources.

3. Unsubscribe.

My guess is 3 has a better chance of causing improvements than 2, but even if I'm wrong, at least I don't feel I'm being scammed.

They already said they are doing #2.

Yes, they implied that, and it would be a wonderful opportunity to "earn back the trust of the players." We will see.

But one issue is the bizarre approach they take to resource allocation.

Going back to at least company chocobos and Grand Companies, SE has acted as if resources are almost unlimited, by first developing complex systems, then completely abandoning them.

Island Sanctuary is the classic example. That was a huge chunk of content that must have soaked up resources. It annoyed many (I personally liked it), in part because it appeared to take resources away from other areas of the game (simplified relics, nothing Bozja-like).

So how do the devs take advantage of this massive resource investment and build on it?

They don't. Get the island to level 20, thanks for playing, you're done unless you want to set your weekly workshop to farm dyes. (The only purpose of which is to generate gil, which is useless because there is a massive overabundance of gil.)

Net result: those who liked the content are sad because it dies, and those who didn't can point to it being a colossal waste of time that took resources from content they like.

[Themarvin]

Is still a myth that normal players don't clear these things. Pretty sure I've seen people in CWLS and my FC that have cleared. It's fair to say that a lot of people (20,000 per data center) find themselves able to join discord servers for this sort of content. If I compare this with the active level 100 population of each data center, it's about 25% for EU, 25% for NA, and oddly almost 40% for Aether (probably due to everyone using DC travel to Aether).

But there are many players that are afraid of discord despite that, don't understand the discord processes, or don't have the time or desire to deal with signing up and being available at a certain time, and for them there should be a raid that doesn't require that sort of thing. Most people were expecting a version that is easier to enter and complete casually.

It is not a myth, if you take content like Forked Tower then the clear rate should be closer to 60-80% of the population going to that place alone due to it is not savage/ultimate and nor even Ex.

So you are still in a bubble on that part, what people was expecting was maybe stuff alike Castrum, the need of discord should not even be a thing for content like this, unless it is years old content that no one is doing anymore and need to be player revived for a clear.

It merely seem like you, yourself and possible others in the same bubble, is far off from reality of the actual playerbase.