Going over all the problems with FFXIV content and why lots of players are frustrated with Endwalker right now. The last patch FFXIV 6.35 has upset lots of players, as there doesn’t feel like there is much to do.
Unless you are super casual or a top end raider, there is very little to do in Endwalker for the last few months, so I wanted to break down what I think is the big problem with FFXIV content as a long time WoW player.
Let me know what you think!
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Will you be making regular Mortal Online content?
Just the other day there was a piece of equipment I wanted for a glamour set so I could look snazzy while leveling healers to 90. I didn't wanna bother any of my friends so I decided "Well maybe I can solo Deltascape 4.0 Savage as an iLvl 519 Paladin."
It took a couple hours of research, practice, memorization and execution, but I eventually made it through and honestly? I think it was pretty fun.
your mom is a content problem; gottem
If anyone feels there's a content drought then that's not the fault of the game. The game was made in such a way that you can put it down after a while.
I mean yeah, there's a lot of fluff content in ffxiv because a lot of us like to play that content? I never go empty of things I want to do. If you're just here for the prog stuff you do what Yoshi-P suggested and you come back to the game when there's something that you want to do. Make sure you play when it is fun for you, and then you do other things or play other games when there's not an update you're interested in.
I'm not a savage raider, and unless something wild happens, I have no intention to be one. As such, EX is my "ceiling" of difficulty, although I intend to "one day" tackle the Deep Dungeon solo challenges, because it do not rely on other people. If I mess up, that's entirely on me.
I started playing a few months before you did, and I still have a lot of stuff to do in the game, even after 6000 hours clocked in. It is possible that you simply run out of content that you want to play. And that fine. Take breaks. The release schedule is extremely predictable. There will be a new savage tier around late May, resub for those and after clearing them, go play something else again.
We all know that FFXIV gives you freedom to pursue only the things that you want to do, but it takes a while for us to acknowledge what it really means. We love this game, we want a reason to login and get some progress or reward towards a certain goal. But the game will not set that goal for you, and that's scarier than it sounds.
Eg, back when you was a sprout, I remember you being hooked by Fishing (pun intended). Did you got the World Class Troller title? Have you started chasing all the Big Fish around the expansions? Completed your fishing log? If not, why did you stopped fishing? Raiding were so much more fun that fishing feels bland after experiencing raid rush?
That's just one example. I don't need to point out to you all the optional "checkmark-type" stuff that is around in the game. If any of those options don't give you the tug to see that thing finished, it's fine too. Don't force yourself to play things that aren't fun. (And it's funny because A LOT of people get genuinely angry at me when I point that out 😆)
Before anyone goes wild. I'm a huge fan of FFXIV and play all content except for the ultimate's. Just wanted to discuss an issue I think there is around the midcore content in the game 🙂 The game is great, but no game is perfect and its healthy to talk about problems and improvements you would like to see.
I do agree with the core of your argument, and as someone who also enjoys extremes but gets a bit burned out by savage in the long run, I would love more challenging, but not quite extreme-level content. Despite that, I think you're overlooking a few things and making an overly harsh assessment because of that.
For instance, you put normal raids and alliance raids in the super casual side, when the actual difficulty of those can vary wildly depending on the fight, like most of the Normal Alexander raids are practically impossible to fail, but the normal raids of later expansions can absolutely kick the butt of a player that's not paying attention. I've literally seen some really casual players say they don't do recent normal/alliance raids because they're too difficult or overwhelming. The way I see it personally, from my experience in the past trying to tackle extreme/savage fights with casual friends, if someone can perform their job well in those harder normal fights, then they pretty much have the core basics needed to approach extreme/savage fights. And since these things are roulettes, they very much have replay value.
And while I agree Criterion dungeons are too all or nothing difficulty-wise (and I don't think putting obscure puzzles in a dungeon and making them required to unlock all the story was a very fun idea), there's another middle-ground thing I don't think I heard you mention and that's Eureka Orthos. I don't even like deep dungeons myself, but I think Orthos absolutely qualify as a middle ground in terms of difficulty with its insta-kill mechanics and the dread beasts which require some sort of plan to tackle them (Is the buff worth it? Can we avoid it? Do we have a pom to take care of it? Etc… All kinds of questions one spawning asks of the party). It's not quite as involved as the Bozja it's replacing, but I think it does speak of an intent by the devs to provide this middle ground.
I get that you people need content for your videos and streams but I fear that your continuous complaints may end up ruining the game for the rest of us.
EDIT:
Although I'm not against some more mid-difficult content. I thought this was about adding more grind again. L for me I guess.
Problem about wow players is that you come to FF expecting it to be like WoW when they're 2 different games
Spot on.
This is very spot on and what I’ve been saying for so long. It’s like what’s the point of paying a sub, paying for an expansion when there is nothing that’s fun midcore to do or work towards. There is no reason to actually play the game whatsoever and it’s so strange that they develop it that way.
They ask us to take our time in the new areas to appreciate the work that got put into them but never give us a reason to do them.
We can play any job but can only gear one and they all feel the same now.
The issue is, there is nothing I can just hop into and test my skills in. I don’t have the time to dedicate to savage raiding or progging, so it’s like I want to do something with my character I’ve dedicated time to that’s meaningful and gives them purpose.
The game keeps simplifying and refuses to try interesting things. And don’t tell me that it’s designed to be able to take breaks like, no. It was designed so you don’t feel pressured to play the game and fall behind.
People that are midcore wanna challenge themselves and play with other players like an mmo.
I’m currently playing guild wars 2 and I tried a dungeon for the first time with experienced players that have been playing for a long time. And my gosh that was hard and challenging but also fun.
A normal dungeon that was rewarding and was fun to play.
Imagine that
Honestly, I agree with you. I'm a huge 14 player, but I think there is a content problem. The only way to get the most out of the game is to engage with everything it puts out, but it means casual players, or non-savage/ultimate raiders have very little to do patch to patch. Even at that, once you clear that harder content, you are right back in that drought.
Criterion was a great first step in addressing the problem 14 has with how easy dungeons are. I hope they can take this further. My dream would be a mythic-like system, but even after constant demand, the devs don't seem willing to implement it.
More overworld stuff is a must for me. Outside of hunts, gathering, or raising the shared fate level, there's no reason to go back to an area unless a quest forces me to. I wish every zone had a world boss and not just 2 zones per expansion.
THANK YOU. I don't know why 0 of all the ffxiv content creators never bring this up. For normal people you really only get extreme trials as like "normal" difficulty content. ONE FIGHT per patch THATS IT. Everything is either baby mode or sadistically hard. If we had a mythic dungeon system like WOW that would ATLEAST make dungeons not so brain dead to complete at least and give them replay-ability.
The issue is people want to play this game in their little niche 7 days a week. This isn't that game. It never was that game. People coming over from WoW or other MMOs and now talking about THE ISSUE WITH XIV are entitled as hell. This content schedule isn't a drought, it isn't lack of content or a problem. It's simply what the devs of this game have said many times this game is. If you want that game, play wow or w/e. Can we please stop complaining about this shit and asking SE to turn XIV into some time gated WoW clone? Thanks.
Deep dungeon is harder then you think, you should try them solo and see
Same with PvP
It doesn't matter what lvl of player you are, EW is just a lill lacking in content in general, both for casuals and tryhard players, people saying they don't like grind… all the game needs is more side ways progression, stuff like Eureka/Bozja ect, not required but helpful to give those who wish to do more something to do. It doesn't hurt you, and it keeps players subbed to make the game more money, money that can then be put back into the game.
I feel they did try to this expansion but most of the stuff kinda just… fell flat, island sanc, variant and criterion dungeons where all very quick to complete content, leaving massive gaps for players who wanted something more to do, at least previous expansions you had Eureka or Bozja as something to fill that void.
Biggest thing Endwalker is missing for me, is the relic quest zone, "trails", and raid. Bozja was a great multiplayer enviroment.
Another issue is that theres no rewards for doing some of the really grindy stuff like fish or achievement collecting. Its not just what there is for content but is there a actual reward tied to them worth doing. If not, players just dont ever touch the content.
Things this game need:
– Alot more Golden Saucer content
– New frontlines map for EW
– Mount reward for collecting all the fish in the game.
– A new gameplay mode that isnt based around GCD.
– Player generated content inside xiv. (Think Mario Marker)
– Bluemage content.
– Overhaul & expansion on many, many things. Bluemage, Chocobo Racing, Companion leveling, Triple Triad, Eureka, etc,
– Group & solo speedrun achievements under mim il.
– Major rewards for huge amount of Achievement credits. 5k per reward tier.
– Overhaul on the moogle event system so objectives arent based on just playing the game normally.