My first 72 hours since being gone for two years...:(

[Selsix]

I don't even know if this is bait or not. What do people even think Dark Souls plays like when they say stuff like that?

They think having to move out of the way of an attack makes it like Dark Souls. It's delusion, really.

[Daralii]

I don't even know if this is bait or not. What do people even think Dark Souls plays like when they say stuff like that?

I've seen people seriously argue that needing to watch an enemy for a telegraph instead of just watching for a marker on the floor is a Dark Souls mechanic. This would also make something like FF4 a Soulslike, because even the tutorial boss changed sprites to show when you shouldn't attack it.

[Brandr]

Yet, since I’ve already mentioned I was a big fan of Shadowbringers, one of the first things that really got me potentially trying the game again was the hint of new open zones, similar to what we had in Shadowbringers with the Bozja and Southern Front content. But I came to discover through other websites and videos that yet again, Square Enix has decided to copy an old and, in my opinion, archaic notion they once did in Stormblood: a completely distinct and separate leveling system.

Sincere question, Square Enix: Why? Why give us nearly two expansions and three and a half years away from some of the best content you have ever created at the peak of your subscriber base? That content in Shadowbringers was one of the driving factors that kept me subscribed. Yet, for another expansion and another two and a half years, we have to rely on doing nothing more than dungeon grinding or FATEs—the same repetitive formula over and over again. Do you guys not comprehend that this is one of the driving factors of why people went away, and for small other tidbits, tend to be the final nails?

You didn't even played the content and is judging based on game journalists?
Bro...

... all they want to do is copy things like Dark Souls or Elden Ring

Now, this is straight up a lie.
This game has nothing to do with souls-like. FFXIV has many, oh God so many, problems you could have cited as valid reasons to quit.
Either you got this impression by following the most unreliable and stupid source of all time (game journalists) or you simply have no idea what you are playing.

Btw, this whole texts stinks AI. A

[TaleraRistain]

I'm a bit confused. You say that a distinct and separate leveling system like Eureka had is archaic. But then you praise Bozja which had...a distinct and separate leveling system?

[Selsix]

I'm a bit confused. You say that a distinct and separate leveling system like Eureka had is archaic. But then you praise Bozja which had...a distinct and separate leveling system?

Apparently he doesn't consider ranks in Bozja to be a leveling system (it is).

[TheRealMadruck]

I have several points to address and will do my best to respond to everything since I posted this yesterday.

First, allow me to clarify some of the apparent confusion regarding my issue with Dawntrail's exploratory missions versus my example with Shadowbringers and Bozja.

Yes, Bozja and the Southern Front had its own type of leveling system with ranks that granted specific buffs to your health, damage, and so forth. However, let me be very clear: You cannot level up a normal job in the current expansion using this content like you could in Shadowbringers. I thought I had made this clear in my original post, but I should have provided more clarity. The only ways to level jobs from 90 to 100 are dungeon grinding, FATEs, or the same routine we had during Endwalker.

Dawntrail has nothing like the Bozja system. The leveling system built into this exploratory mission is self-contained, and those levels/buffs do not carry outside of that instanced zone. You simply cannot level any jobs from 90 to 100 as you once could from 70 to 80 in Shadowbringers. This is a fact! That was my original point.

This expansion's exploratory mission is identical or very similar to the one we saw during Stormblood, and they did not need to bring it back again. You may disagree, but I can guarantee there are countless players who do agree that it would have been nice to have alternative leveling content, similar to what we had in Shadowbringers, as that content was massively popular, and the subscription numbers during that time prove it.

Now, let me address the comments I made regarding how FFXIV is emulating Dark Souls or Elden Ring. This article, from June 2024, shows Yoshi-P himself directly stating that the influence for Dawntrail was heavily inspired by his crew playing both Dark Souls and Elden Ring. Even if the game is not 100% as hard as those titles, they factually influenced many of the fight designs in this expansion, and to say they did not is disingenuous.

The article is here: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/ff...brutally-hard/

This is the intellectual dishonesty I've come to expect from many of the hardcore defenders of the game who dismiss any criticism of the current design. No, FFXIV is not an exact one-on-one copy of either of those games, but these defenders try to play it off as if this latest expansion was not designed with these influences, running counter to what we've previously seen with FFXIV over the past 12 years. Again, we have Yoshi-P's own words as evidence, but they seem to be ignored simply because the new content is not at the same extreme difficulty level as Elden Ring or Dark Souls. Every game has telegraphed attacks, yet to pretend that Dark Souls or Elden Ring isn't on a completely different level of telegraphed attacks is astonishing.

Let me also be blunt: on the very server where I currently reside, I would say almost 75% of the Free Companies (FCs) that once existed are no longer there. If you want to argue that this is due to people moving servers, or all these FCs just collapsing, or some other potential reason besides the state of the current game being a problem... again, I don't know what to tell you. I am reasonable enough to accept that a few of those indicators might play a small role, but when +/-75% of the FCs on my server disappear, and you can actually check the formation dates of many of these companies and see that they are post-2024... I'm sorry, all potential reasons should be considered, but I would argue they are not the primary reason for what I have experienced.

[Gwenkatsu]

Imagine leaving in Shadowbringers, then returning to Dawntrail I hope you like Tacos!

Then again, I'm not quite sure what you're trying to prove here.
Population is down, most people will agree on that. Your guild being gone or not is just anecdotal evidence, other guilds may strive right now - who knows?
Dungeon mechanics have changed, whether that's for the better or the worse is up to anyone playing the game.
And throwing random terms around (souls-like, or the ever popular hardcore/midcore) will never get you anywhere, and is a certain way to have any discussion derailed in 0-time.

At the end of the day, FF14 is a game like a lot of other games out there. Find one that you like, and enjoy it.

[CCheshire]

Yoshi-p says alot of things, and he's an expert at talking about vague but hopeful ideas for FFXIV.

Also, I've actually played through EW and up to the current patch update in DT and there's nothing "souls-like" about the gameplay and they are even planning to add buffs for the Duty Support that will boost the player if they die too many times instead of forcing you to restart the battle but it will reset with each new boss.

Yes, you can read tons of negative reviews and doomer content instead of playing the game, I guess. Also, is the "intellectual dishonesty" where I point out how you based your thoughts on articles but refuse to engage with the actual content that you paid a sub for and claiming 75% FC are gone on your server meaning the end of times for what seems to be the 110th person with this unique thought here.

[Hanzz96]

Now, let me address the comments I made regarding how FFXIV is emulating Dark Souls or Elden Ring. This article, from June 2024, shows Yoshi-P himself directly stating that the influence for Dawntrail was heavily inspired by his crew playing both Dark Souls and Elden Ring. Even if the game is not 100% as hard as those titles, they factually influenced many of the fight designs in this expansion, and to say they did not is disingenuous.

The article is here: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/ff...brutally-hard/

So your proof is a game journalist sloppy article about something Yoshi P said about the game that has been translated out of his native language? Hmmm...

Even then the article clearly states that Yoshi P thought the game was too stress free and that the development team wanted to add a sense of accomplishment after a hard earned victory into casual content and compared it to the feeling you get when beating a minor Elden Ring boss. To say he made the game souls like is disingenuous and just factually wrong.

Someone asked what point people are trying to make here? Yes player numbers are down and DT wasn't the best but everyone knows that. The thing is every MMO has a bad expension or two its a fact of life. WoW had Warlords, BFA and Shadowlands that all weren't great. Nothing is perfect forever and long term games will stumble. But its very annoying to people who still love the game when people come here to complain about absoutley nothing (such as leveling in OC and Beastmaster) and harp on about how the game is sooo bad. If you don't like it fine. But I'm sick of hearing these bizarre complaints. If you don't like it no one is making you be here.

[Valence]

I sympathize and also think there is style inspiration taken from souls games, if just from memorizing attack patterns and reacting to them accordingly in gameplay that's not dissimilar to action games - dodge, stand where you have to stand, else you take damage or die. But that's not the whole picture either.

I also can understand why people would get annoyed by the clear lack of creativity and innovation from the dev team that seems to be hellbent into serving the same formula. And I do understand that when you pay for a service live game you also kinda expect to see your favorite type of content come back every expansion though. So ultimately it ends up being whether or not you're disappointed with said content and want it to change or not.