The Downfall of Final Fantasy XIV is a Bitter and Bad Take

[@brandonn161]

The fact that he not only just quit, but deleted his character, to me, says that this is more personal than the people that just quit.

[@skinbartthepirate6354]

kinda cringe , just leave

[@hotsplayer5578]

@@skinbartthepirate6354 yeah, gtho

[@Simmons101]

For sure, tried turning this into a spectacle for clout and for more content.

[@MrZimmerson]

​@@Simmons101What clout? Dude hasn't streamed in three years, nor has he uploaded any content in two years. I think he wanted to get shit off his chest. He started off the video OK but was very bitter by the end of it, and it showed. It's a shame, I liked his content as it was pretty good at the time.

[@Simmons101]

@@MrZimmerson that's fair, I might be a little biased basing that on people who would use their disappointment with FFXIV to get clout or to get something out of it. The deletion of your character is a huge commitment. That is a shame that he's gone from someone who loved the game to someone who doesn't. But I think the game is still valid as is, even with criticism.

[@Teclo25]

"I feel like that this person got done dirty in the game and instead of dealing with it on their own, they're trying to blame the game when it was probably their fault or they had a wrong expectation of the game, that's what I think" I think Xeno nailed it here and it rings true to my experience as well. When my static died shortly after Gordias, I was heartbroken. Soon after I got sick of the tomestone/gear treadmill and took a long break, about 6-8 months. I wondered if it was just me and asked some good friends in my FC if they ever got sick of the game, one person replied with a forceful no stating that the game helps them keep in touch with their friends. After I moved on from my bad feelings about the static, I came back and had even more fun than before my break. Some of these takes are needlessly harsh, like criticizing streamer's emotional response to the story, it strongly suggests that the problem isn't the game, it's him.

[@UberYunSpicyEggroll]

This 1000%.

[@VashimuXIV]

Can I like a comment more than once? Cause this is very well put.

[@ShadowCero]

"I wondered if it was just me and asked some good friends in my FC if they ever got sick of the game, one person replied with a forceful no stating that the game helps them keep in touch with their friends." Ok but this is using the game as a vehicle to keep up with friends, not anything itself with the game. I myself had no problem with the game for years since I kept in contact with my FC and friends but when the DC split happened and people bowing out of the game suddenly my friend circle in game was gone and I was just left with a vehicle that I didn't enjoy much anymore taking me to zero friends to keep in touch with.

[@DustinDFW]

Well said. I went through a similar thing, Living Liquid killed my static and my friendships with those people became strained and I took a lengthy break from the game. Came back later from a perspective of "let's just see what happens" and since returning it's been tremendously more fun (and *gasp* I became better at the game in the process). This guy going as far as to delete his character comes across not like he has issues with the game he'd like to see addressed, but that he has a personal vendetta that he hasn't taken the time to address. A healthy break before making an awful video might've been a better approach.

[@Chelsea_Danger]

I went through the same thing when my static, which was also comprised completely by my FC mates, suddenly disbanded during E4S due to drama. To lose my static and FC in 1 go really broke my heart and I stopped playing for almost a year. Missed the entire end of ShB and didn't think I'd ever come back. Just held onto my sub to keep my house. But now I've found a new static, a new FC, a whole new group of friends that I never would have met if I quit and I'm grateful. This game is what you make of it and sometimes ppl have to accept that this game no longer appeals to them.

[@Lucksual]

He said the reason he stopped playing was because he had static drama and lost his friends, so I do think Xeno is right when he says he feels like he was done dirty and bitter about it. Not to mention that before he quit, he was praising the game like crazy and saying ultimates were the best content in any game he’s played, now he comes back and has completely 180d.

[@ArchieGamez]

He was with Radiance FC b4 so im guessing 🤣

[@MysticLuka]

It's really funny how his stance has completely 180'd even though the only big thing that's changed is class design being more simplified. Everything else is basically the same, and raid design has only gotten more difficult to compensate for classes being easier, as Xeno said. It's obvious as hell Lynx is basically just whining out of bitterness.

[@lovelydumpling]

@@MysticLuka and even the class design simplification started in Shadowbringers which he made his old vid in the tail end of. Things like healer and tank simplification were already a thing in Shadowbringers. Other than specific job overhauls like Summoner or Monk and the 2 minute meta, Endwalker honestly didn't change much from where Shadowbringers already headed.

[@yoyomama99]

2 minute unification is not a small thing tho. It changes the feel and identity of so many classes. @@lovelydumpling

[@xehant7319]

​@@ArchieGamezwhat's about this FC?

[@krae6695]

Xeno said it best: "Whatever gives you that feeling of accomplishment or having fun is no different than what I feel with hardcore content." Thank you for pointing out fun is subjective. Some people love the story, some love the hardcore raiding, others still love just leveling, RP, crafting, or casual content. None of these people are wrong to enjoy a game for what they look for it in. What is wrong is mocking someone for enjoying a game yet not being "hardcore" enough. Stupid ass gate keeping there especially in an MMO where a variety of people finding a variety of things to enjoy in the game itself bring a variety of interactions for you to have with the community.

[@Xehnas]

You know its funny he has a bit about him being a story skipper and everyone having a pitchfork for him but then calls people who enjoy the story cat moms, honestly hilarious how hypocritical that is.

[@Phynastor]

People who say they're scared of blowback from the fanbase really mean that they're scared of getting criticized for their dogshit takes.

[@jotapechan_]

tone. same thing as calling people swaty ass parse raiders, are u insulting them? no, is it an onverexageration, yes

[@strawberrydialectics]

@@fujiyamapanic well, 1) the game has been pretty successful, yeah. 2) they literally design the game so you are able to take breaks. 3) there were many factors that lead to post EW patches to be less quality. its gonna pick up again & will keep being a successfull game lol

[@twigsno]

@@fujiyamapanic is 14 not successful? Pretty sure it's successful lol. Stop coping so hard.

[@twigsno]

@@jotapechan_ see this is exactly what lynx sounds like to me. An illiterate, blathering child who can't spell the word "exaggeration" nor use legible grammar.

[@nexscarecrow]

It really sucks that he occasionally has some decent takes (specifically on 2 minute meta and jobs all feeling the same) and then they get drowned out by him being incredibly bitter and making fun of people who enjoy the game in different ways from him. And he is making fun of them, he can't get away from that by going "I'm not trying to make fun of these people" ok that's great that you aren't "trying" you are! I completely agree with my favorite bald streamer that something clearly happened to him and instead of doing any self reflection he's blaming everyone else

[@MacTaipan]

I have only played five of the easier jobs so far (Paladin, Bard, Samurai, Dragoon and currently White Mage), and I don’t find them similar at all. Yes, they are all using skills on a GCD and weave off-GCD abilities. That’s the basic structure of the mechanics. Apart from that, they all play very differently. And I can’t imagine the harder jobs being more similar. I‘m not a hardcore endgame fanatic by any means, but I don’t think that matters in this context.

[@LightSummoner84]

@@MacTaipan We're talking about how the job of each role becomes more homogeneous and ends up resembling each other. This is the case with healers, tanks, and even to some extent, melee classes have also undergone homogenization. This will likely be the case for casters in the next expansion when they introduce a new one.

[@nexscarecrow]

​@@LightSummoner84was typing basically the same response with less words ty

[@crystalcoffman1042]

@@MacTaipan the point being every tank has upheavel with different effects, every tank except for maybe gnb has a 60 second window where you spam 1 ability 3 times, every melee dps has a sort of shoha/wyrmwind thrust mechanic, every healer has some sort of ogcd (or gcd dmg for sge) ability every 45-60 seconds that does some form of potency, the only roles that are not extremely homogenized are casters and phys range atm

[@GoufinAround_]

It doesn’t suck, it would almost be more impressive for him to have had no good takes alongside all of the massively bad ones

[@younger544]

The absolute contempt that he has in his voice when speaking of ANY other type of player than "his" type of player or when he speaks of "bad players" tells you all you need to know about his headspace.

[@richardshiflett5181]

He skips story and I bet he poured thousands of hours into the game too. The game more than paid for itself many times over and gave him enjoyment for years. Yet he acts like he was betrayed.

[@WindupTerminus]

@@richardshiflett5181 You dont have to bet, he said at the start that he had 12000 hours in the game

[@rhesh2440]

For real. He needs a heaping unironic dose of 'you don't pay my sub' to understand people play games to have fun and not be told what to do

[@sasaki8765]

@@rhesh2440 ...His logic was that you shouldn't be forcing players to do what they don't want to and dumbing down mechanics isn't going to get people to like content... In his video he literally makes this argument....You people are delusional.

[@rhesh2440]

@@sasaki8765 ??? Except he explicitly shits on cat moms, roleplayers, story and lore entushiasts-- literally every other player that are not raiders. If anything, he's the one forcing others to play raids and making mechanics extremely difficult will not make people like the content. He's a bitter hypocrite, simple as that.

[@TheDragonsPit]

Dude literally had a tantrum that other people were having fun in this game and insulted them over it lol.

[@TK_TK811]

Asshole behavior, "have fun the way i want to have fun", all we should say to people like this is, "kick rocks and mind your own business"

[@OmegaEnvych]

for real

[@Steinerman333]

Peak “STOP HAVING FUN” moment.

[@songoku6067]

Hes not wrong tho the game has gone downhill

[@Paraguai123]

​@@songoku6067 you are wrong

[@ShikiRyougi05]

The way he clowned on story enjoyers who get emotionally attacked to the characters makes me so mad. Acting like his way of playing, which includes skipping one of the biggest draws to the game is the only valid one... This guy is so unlikable and petty.

[@KaiserHitoshi]

It's so ironic how he starts off saying that he won't touch on the story since he's an admitted skipper, then bashes story enjoyers anyway as if they're wrong and invalid.

[@light18pl]

It makes sense to bash them from a very self-centred perspective. If all the people who enjoy the story leave, then SE would stop focusing on it and would develop more content he likes. It's not going to happen, but there is some twisted logic to it.

[@goldencyclone4984]

It's almost like 14 focuses a lot heavier on the story than other contemporary MMOs. I was sold on this game as someone who was generally averse to MMOs by my friends saying "most MMOs are MMO first, RPG second, but 14 is RPG first, MMO second." And that has been my experience. I'm nowhere near skilled enough to do much beyond the normal tier Raids and ARaids, and don't have the patience to sit down and train myself to be better. But I'm fully invested in the story of this game. The scene in Endwalker with Urianger and Moenbryda's parents still makes me sob when I watch it. And that's what makes 14 an enjoyable experience for me. Guess that makes me a "once a month catmom"

[@captainsavvy07]

If he has quit and deleted his character, I don't think anything of value has been lost and no one will miss him tbh. What a horrible, bitter, nasty person.

[@LuminateTheWorld]

​@captainsavvy07 iq think maybe, he wanted to make content again after two years of nothing, saw the vids circulating on KZbin about 14 and thought hlmaybe he could go viral and Kickstart his return to KZbin. What better way then to join the band wagon that's been going around recently. Is 14 dying? Why I stopped playing 14. 14 is going downhill etc etc. Like xeems said, this isn't new, but to alot of new players it is and they prolly think that.

[@tanakaitoi]

Whenever Lynx pulls that "Not trying to make fun of these people shit" after speaking in such tone and rhetoric about those people that enjoy MSQ or Levelling, I can't help but be reminded of that shit that Leafy used to do to try and get away with calling people autistic slurs.

[@Zadka233]

Not to mention that he's doing the exact same shit that he said Xeno was doing

[@Zakjuh]

it's just preempting so that they can't be jumped for shittalking people, but that doesn't work if you're behaving like a petulant child who deserves to be jumped because you did shittalk people

[@methos4866]

When people use phrasing like that they've already invalidated their opinion more often than not. Dude needs to own up to his nonsense or shut the hell up.

[@solseppies]

literally, the way he talks about people who enjoy the story has a misogynistic undertone. that guy is not only selfish but a dick.

[@necrowolf77]

Bro, the tone alone, even if he didn't add the insults like the ""msq mains" it would still sound like an insult

[@GensouChronicle]

The best way to describe Lynx, is 'A broken clock is right twice a day.' In calling absolutely everything garbage out of bitterness, he touches on a couple of legitimate criticisms. But that doesn't do those arguments any good. The worse thing you can do is to fling a bunch of talking points and hope a couple stick. That will devalue not only your words, but will only serve to muddy the waters for intelligent discussion. He's consistently been one of the most unfortunate content creators I've shared any semblance of a space with.

[@ARandomUser5]

Agreed 100% BTW, I see you are a Touhou channel. I'll have to check out your content sometime!

[@lunamaria8788]

Heeey its you!

[@gabrielyamatoy.matodraw5570]

​@@ARandomUser5oh thanks for mentioning it, you've peaked my interest

[@twigsno]

I'm pretty sure he's this bitter and annoying because his fc disbanded and got dog piled for being sexual abusers? Or groomers? I know there was a huge drama abt it and he basically gave up on 14 bc people associated him with that. He's just stirring the pot now because he feels wrong. Big whiny child that he is.

[@greggreyes6869]

would have been good if his good criticisms are fresh take but we already know them. so his idiotic takes stand out more for me

[@nomight9363]

"im not making fun of anyone" then proceeds to call people cat moms

[@MissKashira]

Not only do I cry about the story, I fight about the story on the forums and under KZbin videos for years... And that's when I'm not leveling all the jobs, collecting all the cards or breeding the perfect chocobo. I'm only five minutes into this video, but I feel a little dogged out right now. What's wrong with how I play?

[@megaultrasonic]

Yeah I have a lot of contempt for how he worded himself there. "Crying because the pixels on the screen said a sad word." It's so blatantly disingenuous it's disgusting. You don't cry at Schindler's List because "The actors who got paid to memorize lines said something sad.", or cry at the first scene of movie Up because "The drawings had sad faces on them." you cry because the characters, story, and themes resonate with you and you're not an emotionless robot incapable of empathizing with these characters who, although fictional, do have some sort of realistic basis behind their emotions and character arcs.

[@MissKashira]

@@megaultrasonic Exactly. He really made people who don't play for the same reasons he does sound so awful. I play to relax. I don't find savages relaxing. I find going through the story relaxing. I find chocobo breeding relaxing. And I don't get why that's not okay.

[@absolutebackhand7294]

I used to be a significantly above average player, raiding in the 95th+ percentile. Now i just play PvP because I graduated and work all the time. I love that this game has always been there to provide enjoyment no matter what was going on in my life. This game is for everyone, even as they transition from veteran back to noob.

[@gigabased4]

Parsing doesn't mean absolutely anything. Doing your dps rotation is insanely easy, what really matters is how early you clear content and your capability to solving the mechanics by yourself, that's what means to be a good player or above average.

[@absolutebackhand7294]

@@gigabased4 your statement is an oxymoron. The higher you parse is a statistically significant factor in clearing content early. Further, if you aren’t successfully completing the mechanics in tandem with your team members, you necessarily can’t parse high as your parse numbers rise with properly executed team mechanics including coordination of burst windows and optimization of strategy. Just a ridiculous statement from you

[@gigabased4]

Most of the fights don't have an actual dps checks, p8s door boss was the only exception this expansion. There's nothing special about doing the same fight dozens of times and getting a high parse, that's the expected after doing the same thing over and over. At the end of the day the only thing that matters is if you clear content early, and I can assure you that people who clear shit early are definitely not worried about optimizing their rotations unless the fight has a tight dps check, which most don't anyways. No one who's actually good at the game cares about the funny numbers on your logs, except you and some casual/midcore raiders. @@absolutebackhand7294

[@Cascada200]

@@gigabased4actually having a higher parse means you know how to play your job correctly lol.

[@Cascada200]

@@absolutebackhand7294yeah what a fool he is 100%

[@tylernunes8248]

i want Lynx to look into my post-overwatch, souless eyes, (i played ow1 since beta and loved it for a long time, and slowly watched it, as my fav game, turn into what it is now) and tell me he knows anything about a game dying.

[@LockelyFox]

Same way for me with Wildstar. What Lynx wants is Wildstar, and despite that game having deep combat (ex. playing full Assault Stalker was like learning to play Rush E with the same cadence), and insanely hard raid bosses (Datascape literally took a year from launch to clear by ENIGMA who was made up of WoW World First Raiders and went on to be founding members of groups like Method and Limit), it lasted three fucking years because it initially forgot entirely that not everyone who plays MMOs is a sweat-monster looking for the biggest challenges imaginable. System Daemons, the VERY FIRST BOSS of Datascape, killed more guilds, raid groups, and subscriptions than the entire Gordias raid tier. And god forbid your group random rolled Water/Logic for one of the elemental pairs that week, else you just give up and come back again next week. What players like Lynx want, and what's healthy for a game overall, are at opposite ends. He's too young to understand it yet, but when Xeno says "FFXIV is for everyone" he also includes those of us who were sweat-monsters in our younger days too. I loved Wildstar. I miss it dearly. I also could never go back to that kind of raiding or class design with how fucked up my wrists are from carpal tunnel/repetitive stress injury, partially gained from playing games like WS when I was younger. XIV still offers me difficult encounter design at a pace that isn't breakneck and insanely punishing. I, and many other folks whose lives can no longer entirely revolve around video games, appreciate that.

[@TheGeekShow]

The fundamental problem with takes like the one Xenos is commenting on, as well as others that have come out recently, is that they for get the business side of things. Square Enix want as many people to play the game as possible, from all walks of life. If I had to make a comparison then it would be the Nintendo Wii, because it may not have been viewed as a "gamer" console, but it allowed anyone to play games, and more importantly a family could play together - grandparents, parents and kids. The problem with people who are only focused on raiding is that thier competitive nature can sometimes blind them to certain realities. If I had to frame the point in specific terms, just look at any streamer who's going through MSQ for the first time and see how many people watch them, then take a look at their viewer numbers when their stream is only about raiding. The majority of players are more interested in the story, fun things that are going on (club nights for example), and generally treating the game as it should be treated - a big virtual theme park where there are some tough challenges in places if you want to challenge yourself, but generally you can just have fun on the different rides. It's there for everyone, not just for raiding junkies - and I use that term very specifically.

[@tyrusdalet]

I think this is part of why Grinding Gears viewer numbers are so consistent. They do Normals and Extremes at the same time as MSQ wherever possible, so their viewers have come to expect it, and some MSQ only viewers end up staying for raids and extremes because they end up enjoying the community aspect. That being said, they haven’t done any Savage from what I recall, but I’d be fascinated to see them do it and go over what they do and don’t enjoy

[@grygaming5519]

@@tyrusdalet They said they are interested in doing Savage but for right now they want to do what any normal player would do through the content. That is your atypical player would most likely do MSQ, Normal Raid, 24 man and EX trial at any point. So it makes sense. The funny thing is GG has probably done more to push people into dipping their toes into harder content through their community. Then trying to be hyper exclusionary. Lynx is just bitter and it shows.

[@cobra7282]

Exactly. Hard core raiders are actually a very niche group in MMOs. He should be happy that they even provide some difficult content because the percentage of the player base that is completing the hardest content is pretty small.

[@Dranart]

Didn't this dude break down crying because they delayed dragonsong to endwalker? It was kind of hard to take him seriously after that, and it's kind of hard to do so now that it really does feel like he is just incredibly bitter and never bothered to give the rest of the game a try.

[@coolyeh1017]

I think several raids like Lynx and Sindalf took a more toxic way (Sindalf called the devs r*tarded for delaying an ultimate despite the pandemic). Others like Arthars, Xenos, Sfia, and the rest of the ultimate raiding community were disappointed but understood because it is a frecking pandemic.

[@naruheme5268]

It has some real Emet Selch "Go back to the perfect thing I liked" vibes. Don'it?

[@Wastingsometimehere]

"Look at me. I have played a thousand, thousand MMOs"

[@WijaVT]

OH GOD NOOOO LMFAO EW!Emet would be ashamed of him

[@BL33NB]

@@Wastingsometimehere"ive did all the trials, all the savage, even the Ultimates!" thanks now im hearing him saying that lol

[@atelierbagur3831]

@@WijaVT Definitely getting pre-EW Emet Selch vibes from him lol

[@holo_val]

He wouldn't know, he didn't do msq 😂

[@sgtass1]

It's amazing how Lynx complains about cat moms crying, but he's the biggest crybaby right now...

[@obamaorb7426]

This person is like 60% bitterness and trying to devalue parts of the game he doesn’t care about and 40% raising actual good points, but ones that are so lukewarm that nobody would really disagree

[@JonathanJoestarJuicefest]

Depth in this now themepark mmoshit died after Heavensward

[@toametru]

ratio is more like 80% to 20% but yeah I agree

[@ninjaone1]

40% is WAY too generous on good points. The majority of this was him being outright wrong or shitting on the game for appealing to audiences that aren't him.

[@vaidenkelsier7757]

@@JonathanJoestarJuicefest k

[@sasukeuchiha998]

@@JonathanJoestarJuicefest Naw, it died after the OG FFXIV. Now everything has fewer polygons.

[@methos4866]

My fun in the game is crafting and seeing my gil stack get bigger. Currently i am leveling Warrior as my first tank after years of playing MNK and actually loving it. I also just love to hang out in the game. I sometimes go back to Central and Western Thanalan and sit there on my mount just to watch new sprouts run by. It makes me nostalgic about when i started out back in 2017. Everytime new MSQ's come out i get excited to see where i will go next. This game is alive and well. The doomers can take a hike.

[@Chriskelly19067]

the hardest part is having 7 actual friends so you don't need to use pf....

[@MrCharly780]

I'm new to the game and I progged UWU, Ucob and now TEA in PF. I love PF, I don't need to coordinate shit, if I like the group I stay, if I don't I leave, I can prog at any time and in the end skill will carry you to the clear. I would absolutely hate being in a static where if someone doesn't perform you have to drag them for weeks for a clear while you are ready. I have seen people still setting up partys for prog weeks after I cleared.

[@Chriskelly19067]

​@@MrCharly780yes but I'm the guy that needs to be dragged through lolol

[@Shyverin]

@@MrCharly780 PF is based, I started raiding in 5.5 and cleared all ultimates except TOP via PF. Charly is totally right, and its not even an elitist thing. Sometimes YOU are the bad guy, and you need more time on the mechanic than the average person would. For example, I SUCKED at DSR Phase 3, and took much longer to prog it than others, but that was ok because I could just keep joining p3 prog groups instead of having 7 people who are phase 5 ready while I was stuck messing up dives half the time. You are your own limit in PF.

[@Shyverin]

@@Chriskelly19067 If you spend enough time and reflect on your own play, eventually you will be the guy that can drag others

[@cannoli2442]

​​@@MrCharly780I'm over here trying to give myself a perp talk to prog TEA in pf. 40 parties to get 1 uwu reclear and being trapped alot of times in savage both in prog and reclear just demotivates me

[@TipsyTurtle24]

I love when people bring up the auto demo timer as if SE put it in the game to force people to stay subbed. If you were here before the timer you knew this was a heavily requested feature by the players because of limited housing. People would buy a plot and then quit and that house would be gone forever. Or they would buy a house and never actually use it. At the time SE couldn't just add more housing so the timer was the solution.

[@mana-azir6808]

you cant expect that guy to know this when he joined mid SB and skipped through everything

[@Diandredofus]

Housing still serves as a primary form of sub retention. But housing isn't empty enough (and never has been) for the timer to be the primary means of ensuring that retention.

[@Arnveld]

We still don't have enough houses. And honestly. Buying house just to let it stay empty is good. To piss off people and bait them.

[@supersonicgamerguru]

​@@Diandredofusthe amount of houses is nowhere near to even put a slight tiny dent in the retention of the game. It's not even close.

[@Diandredofus]

@@supersonicgamerguru That is horseshit. LuckyBancho estimates the active population any one of the largest worlds at around 10-12K characters. A world has 5 districts x 30 wards x 60 plots = 9K residential plots. And housing is next to impossible to find on those servers, other than the sporadic empty plot with 30+ entries. Want even more fancy math? There are 81 worlds across all DCs. And that excludes China/Korea. That's 729K residential plots. Even if we were to be generous and say only 75% are occupied, that's around 550K retained subs. At $12.99 a pop, that's $7.1M of guaranteed dinero for Square every month. Housing wasn't added to this game as an afterthought. SE knows what it is doing.

[@HiroesX81]

Lynx is one of those guys who longs for HW Gordias days

[@Zapphiren]

"I just want the game, that I once loved, to be good again" Deletes character with all his, most likely, limited time achievements and gear he'll have to grind again when the game gets good again- only to complain that it hasn't get good again, just a portion of it.

[@Peanuts1000]

Yeah, it felt like he said that only because he thought it was the right thing to say, not because he actually believed in it himself.

[@isaacsantos6200]

I appreciate Xeno's react sections because he actually takes the time to discuss the video and the points they make rather than just saying "I agree" or "I disagree". Even if its 4+ hours, its a quality 4+ hours

[@NuminorTheFool]

Over 12,000 hours over 6 years, or to put it simply roughly a year and a half of those 6 years doing nothing but XIV. Now throw in the fact that something happened to him while playing that caused him to fully delete his character. Which isn't just burnout because I've known a shit ton of people over my 10 years of playing who have burned out and almost all of them leave their character around because they know they can always come back to it later. So I'm thinking something drama related happened, which is the real cause for his bitterness and his character deletion because he sees the casuals having fun and just sounds angry that they get to enjoy the game which he feels he was probably forced out of to the point it made him delete 1 and a half years of his life.

[@Karbonblade]

I think he realized he has a gaming addiction and needs to convince himself that the game now sucks in order to stay away from it.

[@ignavis]

@@Karbonblade nah there was drama with his static and close friends that caused him to no longer enjoy the game as much

[@Auesis]

It did. Radiance, his FC, was a massive drama blowout with him in the centre.

[@Armydillo62o]

This video seemed so awkward and off to me, and I thought about why that may be. I’m a writer. And in school I had to bullshit my way through a lot of essays when I just didn’t get the topic. It got me through school, but it was painful to read whenever I clearly didn’t know what I was talking about. And that’s what this guy reminds me of. So either he’s awful: like titanically terrible at expressing his opinions, or he just doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about. And after hearing him praise cross class skills I could’ve sworn it was the latter. Well it turns out he had a Rank 1 Warrior in E4S. So no, he doesn’t suck. He’s actually pretty damn good. Which is even more baffling to me. Like you said, it feels bitter. A huge chunk of his complaints aren’t useful for discussion at all, and needed to be cut in a video like this. Rather than really think about what problems the game faces and express concerns, he just suggests an entire upheaval and replacement of the combat because he finds it boring. I’m honestly pretty satisfied with the game at the moment, but understand that others aren’t, and I’m always down to support suggestions as to how it could be better. Why wouldn’t I want the game to be better than it is? But if I’m a game dev, if I heard this guy say “here’s all the problems with this game that I haven’t played in 2 years” then I’m taking none of those opinions seriously.

[@aeveryhawk3036]

16:45 I gotta say I started around this time frame as a free trial player and yeah, the game is overwhelming. This dude has been a high end/end game player for so long he completely doesn't understand the new player experience, and he never will truly understand the new player experience because he literally can't wipe his mind of memories of this game and experience it all for the first time. When I started, I was overwhelmed with level 30 Lancer/Dragoon rotations!!! It sounds silly now that I'm maining Samurai at around level 65 now, and I love pressing my samurai buttons, but I gotta say I kind of appreciate how "Simple" some of the jobs are for now. I think my favourite thing as I've been playing is moving around the dungeons and trials and avoiding the funny little damage circles. It's literally my favourite part of the game when the whole floor lights up, and 4 other players get lit up with targets, and I'm here trying to stand at the very edge of a venn diagram trying to still stab with my katana while not getting blasted. Also Cone AoE's can be fun in terms of moving my character around to make sure I hit all the mobs in a wall to wall pull, but i feel it's in the same kind of vein as like, a positional, where it's fun for me to try to go for as a melee DPS, but sometimes I kinda don't bother, yeah. Maybe my opinion will change as the sprout falls off and I actually put my sub money down and go into shadowbringers and endwalker, but the game so far has been one of the best experiences I've had in a video game in a long long time. Also Heavensward's patch quests made me fuckin' tear up at some points, fuck u, if that makes me a cat mom then so be it!!

[@everyonethinksyoureadeathm5773]

He was a high end player first. So his pool of fun was limited to savages and ultimates. Everything that restricted him from not doing those two things were a waste to him. To a new player, 14 is your oyster. Lynx just so happen bought the tiniest of oysters for a very expensive price...called it good because he spent too much. Then looks at everyone else eating larger oysters but paying less as poor.

[@Delicioushashbrowns]

The game is so overwhelming that experienced players shield sprouts from the rest of the game and I know sprouts have had this happen to them. Remember how many players just say “just focus on your msq for now” 🤣 the thing I was overwhelmed by when I started was the yokai watch event. You know how pissed I am that people told me to just do my msq!!! I missed out on that! 😭😭😭

[@thesunthrone]

Yeah, that's the curse of knowledge a lot of smart people suffer from - they assume that everyone has their knowledge base, when in reality, almost nobody does! It's something I had to learn the hard way when working IT design - what I thought was common sense was arcane magic to people that simply never interfaced with any kinds of code or IT systems aside from a web browser and some MS Word. Every time I thought something in the UI we were making was clear, I had to clear my assumptions and try to picture what it is like for someone that has no knowledge of it - and since I was in charge of teaching these people the new systems, how to effectively make them grasp them in an efficient manner. It changed my perspective on games and especially MMOs. MMOs have so much assumed knowledge that it's insane to consider. Whatever an MMO, it is always someone's first MMO. Whatever game, it's always someone's first game - so what is the new player experience like? We all meme about the graveyard cliff of EVE Online learning curve, but to an MMO rookie, that's all MMOs. And I'll be honest, FFXIV now stands as one of the best learning curves out of most MMOs. I'm not talking Savage prep, that is still a great leap to make - but baseline ability understanding, learning combos, recognizing markers and boss patterns and the game guiding you through dungeon and raid content as part of the core story experience? No MMO does this, let alone does this well and makes the new player feel good for getting it right. And then you have these hardcore kids like Lynx be like, oh man I have played this game for 6 years, 12k hours and it's sooo easy. Like, yeah dude, you've put as much time into this thing as people put in DEGREES, you better be good at it! But that also means that the game simply cannot by definition feel hard to them anymore - because a veteran by definition can handle anything a rookie can't. Of course a veteran looks at a mechanic and goes 'oh yea, it's like x in y but with z on top", that's pattern recognition that any veteran in any field will develop with time, easily resolving matters that even to intermediate workers will seem like gargantuan challenges. So really, I appreciate Xeems level headed take because it's clear he has accepted that fact - that he has played this game for so long that it's only natural for him to be bored by majority of it, by not being challenged by most of it - and that it's completely fine. Hopefully more people can see this for what it is, rather than start throwing dumb buzzwords like "toxic positivity" whenever you try to suggest that them being unfulfilled by the game has to do more with their level of expertise in it than the quality of the work the developers have put in.

[@joannanhluttrell]

I love you for being able to tell the difference between "things I like" and "things that are good for the game". Clearly we all want what we want, and getting those things makes up happy.... but as you say the game is for everyone. Making me 100% happy would be good for me... but not necessarily good for the game because everyone is not me.

[@richardshiflett5181]

That and it's working out for FF14. It's only getting more and more popular. Which is what's angering Lynx as despite his claims, the playerbase is growing and most players are happy with the game. He wants to be the Main Character and wants the world to revolve around what he wants and thinks. That's why he's so spiteful.

[@joannanhluttrell]

@@richardshiflett5181 Exactly! They clearly know what they are doing. Do I wish some things were different? Sure. Could it be even better? Also sure. Reality is though, population keeps increasing for a reason.

[@mikloskoszegi]

This guy opened a salt mine, but nobody went for work, so he had to mine all the salt himself.

[@bernardo.bridon]

GREAT BALD ONE ACKNOWLEDGING HIS CHARACTER GROWTH, I'M HERE FOR IT

[@juanroman71]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who caught how they sh!t on so many groups in the ff 14 community but then tried to downplay by going "but im not trying to"..... That's what did it in for me when watching the video... They are bitter the game isnt what they want it to be and they blame everyone else for it...

[@xuriiee]

This dude hasn't realized that he's simply outgrown the modern MMO formula. Its just that simple.

[@Maria_Erias]

Honestly, he sounds like a modern WoW fanboi. The kind of WoW superfans who defend the fact that endgame with raiding and Mythic+ are the only two things that ever get any real attention, and who criticize all the "filthy casuals" who are "ruining" their game by demanding things like a good, coherent story, evergreen side content, increased social functionality, or anything else that isn't "the true endgame content". Nevermind the fact that those "elite, hardcore content pushers" have mods like DBM that basically solve every fight for them, tell them what's coming, where to move, and even what abilities to use when.

[@Salt_Mage]

Even WoW has moved away from the daily grinds with the most recent expansion. Because it’s not fun for the majority of players

[@everyonethinksyoureadeathm5773]

It's not that, this guy clearly has an addiction problem . It's not just the modern MMO although Josh Strife Hayes does a better job of explaining it. Lynx is clearly an addict who is pissed off that his drug of choice is no longer giving him the same hit. The more he consumes the less it works. Now he's in that phase between withdraw and usage.

[@metalface_villain]

i think most of his points weren't good, he did have a few decent points and imo there are plenty other reasons to criticize ff14 and ew in particular that this dude didn't even mention, he was mostly GaMe NoT hArD EnOuGh and stand and let resolve xD imo the difficulty and the raid mechanics are perfect, the real problem is that the game is dated, for example the server lag and the rest of the spaghetti code from the old game and that there was very little content and the content that we have isn't rewarding.

[@Malacite]

A lot of people have I would argue, which is why a lot of eyeballs are on Ashes of Creation. It's also why 22+ years later 11 is still making bank :P

[@Incbuba]

The new player thing is wild. I’ve been playing for a year, just dipping my toes into savage and still feel new. There’s so much to do

[@tyrusdalet]

For real. I’ve been playing for 2 years now. Still haven’t finished a relic, only just wrapped up the last bits of Coils, Omega and Eden. Reached Zadnor but haven’t progressed further, haven’t touched Eureka. Only cleared up to floor 70 of PotD, 30 of HoH and haven’t started EO, or any of the Variant/Criterions. Not long ago cleared the ARR, HW, and StB EX trials, and recently beat Titania, but haven’t even attempted any others besides a few stabs at EW EX2. The only Savage raid I’ve done is E4S, solely for the Skyslipper. Yet despite this I’ve spent hundreds of hours crafting, gathering, running Treasure Maps, going to parties, and doing funny Alliance Raids with my FC (100k gil every time you cause the death of the FC leader or any admins). I recently got a small plot and spent 4m gil decorating it for me and my wife. There’s so much content I have yet to do, and eventually I’ll get there, but I have no immediate interest; I love my chill pace, hanging out with friends, goofing about, and enjoying the MSQ. To Lynx, that makes me a bad player it seems. But yet I seem to be eking out far more fun than he was. (Besides, staying away from hardcore raiding means no static drama. But my wife is a completionist, so maybe I’ll get into it when she catches up! Who knows?)

[@greggreyes6869]

yeah. after ignoring eureka. finally tried it and that was 4-6 weeks of content for me. and it was interesting cause there is a community attached to it in our DC and it was fun mingling with them

[@strawberrysundaes]

It'll be like that for a couple more years tbh. Assuming you decide to dip your toes into every single bit of content and not stick to just one side of things only.

[@volrag9785]

I have 20 thousand hours of World of Warcraft and whenever I think about the game, I think about how much fun I had. It's strange for me to see someone treat an mmo they no longer like, like a company they went bankrupt. (English is not my first language, sorry for the grammatical errors)

[@inuclearpickle8628]

It shows man is in a very unhealthy mindset and probably is having issues irl trying to use this kind of content as an outlet for it.

[@aeolussvichi7680]

That dude in the video seems to be the kind of person that is only able to enjoy his accomplishments in game if he knows that others struggled doing the same or failed to beat it all together. He wants to feel SPECIAL and doesn't like seeing others being catered to and made to feel special too. He must have been an only child.

[@WiessWinters]

It's not being an only child it's a person that's so disconnected from real life that he wants to be the protagonist in his own world so he wants no life a video game

[@CinohXub]

@@WiessWinters We cant all be Bobby :(

[@WijaVT]

@@WiessWinters aha! so he just has the Main Character Syndrome

[@WiessWinters]

@WijaVT bingo! Watchs one too many op protag animes and is like "I'm that guy!"

[@reijikogarashi1867]

@@aanloix Yeah, 20-ish years old is the age where the rookie thinks he's a mature adult ready to tackle life, only to get hit by a relentless chain of tank busters called "Reality check" as time goes by. I know that too well, it happened to me.

[@KamiSlayer86]

"Who is this game for anymore?" Me rofl I've played on and off since 3.2 and while I agree that the stormblood changes to tanking and healing drove me a way for a while because the wieght of responsibility felt removed, I have come around to making it more accessible. Dps Qs used to be much worse. Nowadays im 37 and running a business, taking care of family and all that adult life stuff. Ffxiv is something I can flex into if i have time and back away if I don't. Yoshi P saw this coming and is being rewarded for it. MMOs just don't give players enough breathing room for life or other games. This one does. So thanks Yoshida, I stay subbed to support even if I can't play. Even if im still ticked off about that A11S mount being in the cash shop. 😂🎉

[@youtousim]

12000 hours in 6 years. An average working year of 40h/week is 2200h/year. So it's been a full time job, basically. Hard to not get bored at some point.

[@redcpt3791]

I kinda feel like people forget WoW exists with these videos. You want a world where XIV took a left instead of a right, WoW is right there. It has the grind, it has the lopsided unique class design, it has jumping into a hole to do a mechanic. Just sub and play..

[@JJJ42069]

He came from wow too, he wants it to turn more into wow so he'll want to leave the game again.. He really is just being a dumbass kid.

[@ArchieGamez]

but wow doesnt give viewers!!!

[@coolyeh1017]

Even WoW has been moving away from the endless grinds and FOMO (or at least less than it was in the old school days). If Lynx wants to reexperience those times there is Classic WoW. Most hardcore MMO games or games that focus primarily on PvP tend to not do well. Of course PvP has its place and is very successful in other genres just not in MMOs, if you want to make money.

[@thesunthrone]

@@coolyeh1017 See, what Lynx wants isn't some kind of "challenge" that he's talking about. What he *really* wants is recognition and status through being good at a game, any game. Everything else is just a casualty to this need. Just today I watched Scripe, top raider in WoW and co-owner of Echo, die multiple times in THALEIA, the "easy peasy" Alliance raid. And dude just laughs it off and haves fun with it because his ego is not tied to a perception of being good. He already is, he knows it, he owns an esports team that takes world firsts in WoW. And he looks at FFXIV and keeps praising it for all the various things it does right, simply because his perspective is untainted by a need to be recognized. He just looks at it as a game and nothing else. A 24 year old dude that boasts he has spent 12k hours in a game and seethes about it... It's clear to everyone that he wants the game give something he can't get anywhere else, and everyone is just catching strays from this dude's bitterness about their own life choices.

[@greggreyes6869]

@@thesunthrone my reaction to people complaining the alliance raids especially EW ARs are not challenging is me personally idgaf cause i had fun. its fun seeing people die and being clumsy and not being punished hard for it. if i want that then ill do savage.

[@andrewclear8905]

His focus on raiding reminds me of Asmongold some what. I watched a video recently where Asmongold was talking about how WoW needs more content that isn't raiding and how an expansion should not be judged by raids alone. Then someone in his chat said MoP was the best expansion, and Asmon then said that it wasn't because MoP only had 1 good raid.....

[@blazewardog]

I saw that stream/clip. I think that is because the first is his current opinion on game design, but he judged MoP way back and sticks by that assessment. If you saw Asmons house tour video this week you can see he is very... attached to the past and I wouldn't be surprised if that includes being stuck to old opinions he made back then.

[@chocololz123]

asmon is braindead but people eat his reaction videos up

[@Zakjuh]

@@GoatOfWar try doing some non-raid content i guess

[@senspideyfan]

@@GoatOfWar Then try being a cat mom for once you might enjoy it. If not, Spider-Man 2 is coming out soon and Baldur's Gate 3 is literally on track to be GOTY. You literally just watched a video criticizing your very attitude right now.

[@Zakjuh]

@@GoatOfWar Your loss. It might be fun to try something new other than sweaty parsebraining once in a while. Oh well, it just means you get only a fraction of the content, while I get 85-90% of it. 😎

[@ver_fluffy]

Really appreciated this Xeno. Like you said, "this game was trying to made for everyone not one type of players only". Honestly 5 years playing until this day I never participated in Ultimate or other high-end raid (even if I would probably do it only for glamour). I'm more into housing, msq, and player interaction, and hey, just hanging around without doing anything is also fun for me and I always has high expectation for every new content. When I think about it, this kind of thing wont be found on other MMORPG where here you basically can have fun doing what you want. I am not worried about people that said this game is "dying" the facts is those who said it never loved/invested much to understand this game fully at all. Meanwhile people that had play this game for as long or longer then me didnt even realize that the game is on its "downfall" like those people says. I mean of course there will be a time this game will came to an end, but not right now. And when the time comes, I believe I will really appreciated each and every things I had spent on this game, even though I hate SE very much for making FFVII Remake into "Parts"

[@zer0ballz]

RACT (HQ) +3 hour video length +10 Bald -20 Bitterness

[@ARandomUser5]

A level of RACT that would make Asmongold proud!

[@thesunthrone]

@@ARandomUser5 Honestly I don't think Asmongold has ever turned a 15 minute video into a 4 hour react. This is the power of pulling with Unmend vs Plunge. This is what aligning your GCDs gets you, all bald and all beard, no compromises.

[@ARandomUser5]

@@thesunthrone lmao you right

[@-cat-..]

​@@thesunthroneLMAO

[@WantonSky]

Dude literally says fuck story enjoyers, level roulette enjoyers, rp enjoyers and whining about it’s not for everyone anymore. LMAO Also he mentioned he wants more content in the game which I think we all agree but the truth is it’s already more shit in the game, whether you like it or not they try to implement something new every expansion like island sanctuary and criterion dungeon in Endwalker. And lastly he thought bringing back “old job designs” would make people invest more time in the game, but that’s just so wrong, even if we brought Heavensward class design back, how long do you think a turn would last? A month? Two month? No, it’s still gonna be lasting a week only now with less people choosing the same comp for each fight. Just look at WOW, it’s literally a more “complex” version of xiv, and to a certain degree it’s fun but it also isn’t. The only way to keep “everyone” in the game 24/7 is endless grinding like Korean MMOs, and trust me no one that plays ffxiv would want that kinds of shit.

[@boanoah6362]

What isn't in the video but the guy in question quite literally cried on stream because Dragonsong Ultimate got delayed. That's the only content he wants in the game,

[@InfluMySoul]

Lynx talking shit about people who actually enjoy the story and play the game for the story helps prove my point that his video is just toxic as hell and holds no value. He really hates casual content and doesn’t see the value in it. Just say it’s not for you and move on. It doesn’t make the game bad that casual content exist.

[@hellwaker153]

He ends the video by saying "he desperately hopes the game will be better in the future" but, didn't he outright delete his character so thats the end right there isnt it?

[@Nelogenazea]

Well, what did he really lose by deleting a character? If he hears good things about Dawntrail and wants to come back, he can just buy a skip or breeze through the MSQ on his preferred class. Everything else, the grinds, the mounts, the minions, the glams, all of that really isn't that important if you just want to experience the endgame like this guy wants. Just need to get to max level, skip through all the MSQ and start the gear treadmill.

[@D-Havoc]

​@Nelogenazea Nah, it liked flexing his ultimate titles and weapons, too. So deleting his character essentially deletes his achievements in that area too.

[@Wastingsometimehere]

So right away he attacks that Swedish woman who enjoys MSQ, one of the top DJ's and even me for doing dungeons. How could I not have an internal reaction of "what a dick". I'm not a high end raider and I don't want to take anything from raiders. Should be happy Yoshi values everyone or the game wouldn't have made it this far.

[@ARandomUser5]

I felt the same way; that was so uncool shitting on other players that enjoy the game their own way. I don't do high end raiding either but I don't want that being taken away from the folks that do raid. As Xeno mentioned in the first video, it's all about getting a bigger cup so that ALL of us get more content.

[@atelierbagur3831]

Lynx - "I just want the game I once loved to be good again. It has been in the past and I desperately hope it will be in the future" ........well, I guess wont he probably feel like a jackass if he does indeed comeback to when the state of the game gets better huh

[@atelierbagur3831]

@@fujiyamapanic what about all the achievements, mounts, minions and gear? Yeah still stupid for him to delete his character

[@amandalindsey7741]

@@AZodiacCancer they will only do it ONCE

[@mr.gamingz]

That character deletion is pointless. It doesnt add anything to his statements he made full of anger. He just made it for the "drama effect". Ridiculous.

[@snow-ss1qi]

Did I hear it correctly? 12000 hrs in 6 years. There are 8760 hours per year and 8 x 24 hr periods plus few 3hr periods for server maintenance so that leaves ~8500 hrs per year when servers are running. So 12k/6 =2k hours per year or ~25% of yearly server uptime, or ~6 hrs on average per day EVERY DAY. Talking about unhealthy addiction

[@Auesis]

Which begs the question, what game, or hobby in all of existence, could occupy this guy with fresh new content for that whole time? Absolutely none, save for DnD where you're just making your own the whole time. He did the equivalent of a sugar bender and now the huge crash has come.

[@ArchieBlacke]

@@Auesis Yep, content creators fall into this trap too by trying to make a single game a full time job for years on end.

[@cobra7282]

WOW is a good comparison because they have made it feel like something you have to do everyday. What happens because of that is people burn out completely and never play it again. FfXIV might not always have something for you to do, but it is a game you can take breaks from and keep coming back to.

[@albertobarberacampos451]

16:45 I started a month prior to the whole WoW refugee thingie, and since I used to play harder iterations of WoW's rotations, I got used to job optimal rotations pretty fast (in some cases harder, obviously, but guides like yours for each individual tank at that time helped me a lot for example). HOWEVER! it is true that the whole idea of alliance raids + extremes + savage tiers + ultimates, it was waaaaaay too much to handle for my tiny ass brain when I finished the MSQ, fortunately for me I am in a very welcoming FC where they helped me out by bringing me on a lot of that content. - We went for Seat of Sacrifice Extreme, since they asked me which extreme I wanted to try first. - Me, a couple of other new players and a bunch of our FC cleared E9S, which helped me A LOT, that fight is amazing at teaching a lot of your everyday routine fights. After these two things happened, I started joining them on their extreme runs for mounts on the werlyt series, so over time I got used to how the game flows for endgame content. All in all yeah, the game is BIG, like REAAAALLY FUCKING BIG to the point you can spend DAYS of play time going through all of that content from older expansions, but I'm glad that it is that way though because as you say it means that there's different ways to challenge yourself for a time, and enjoy the game in more ways than just one, even if for example I can get bored on the new alliance raid, at least I can get hopeful that the new mechanics of say Zeromus will be a sign of what is to come later down the line.

[@thesunthrone]

I feel like WoW players are best positioned to understand just how good FF players have it. How much there is actually to do in the game (and yeah I know Endwalker bad, wait til you're a veteran and run out of content etc etc), how the game actively teaches you to be better at raiding because all raids share the same design language rather than be some tic tac toe puzzle one tier, then a game of Clue the next, then a basketball minigame the third??? There are so many great things about FFXIV, but you really have to come from the cold dark abyss before you can notice them - because FF players instead often act like Lynx, seeing only the things they have lost, and taking the things added to better the game for newer players for granted. Simple example. Do you know how incredibly wicked sick it is that Gaius in Praetorium now does a simplified version of the Emerald Weapon mechanics? Do you know how cool it is that Nidhogg in the dungeon now acts very similar to how he is in the trial? How cool it is that Livia in Castrum gives the new players a lightly hitting gauntlet run of dodging mechanics and learning the patterns on where to go and where to stand? On and on, all these reworked dungeons from ARR to SB are incredible not just at teaching mechanics, but also reinforcing already great boss fights. They do so much to amplify what's great about the game even more, and that guarantees that new players will stick through to see the whole thing. FFXIV has many strengths, and its boss encounters is one of them. Not in terms of difficulty, but how cool they are, how immersive they feel, how easy it is to learn and understand what you did wrong. In WoW? Unless you have DBM blaring airhorns and a ton of timers on your screen telling you that something's gonna happen and a 144p swirly appears on the ground in the same color for "immersion", well, good luck buddy. Better go watch some guides, download a bunch of addons and prepare your tax returns for the RIO council. It's really easy for veteran players to get lost in the sauce of the minutia of their own game. But the fact is, without new players, there will be no veteran players either. You need new blood for the game to grow, and you need new players to want to learn and get good at the game so that the veterans have a better time achieving their goals, too. And while the leap from normal to Savage still needs work, I think Endwalker has put some great grounds for preparing many fresh players to learn while doing and have fun improving.

[@Daecoth]

"I don't say it to shit on people, but..." argument does not mean you get to shit on people and get a pass. HAVE YOU SEEN TALADEGA NIGHTS???

[@jessjohnson1569]

I think it's very telling when Lynx called the FFXIV he loved a "niche substitute for World of Warcraft," specifically calling out class design such as Manashift and Palisade as things he considers good game design. While that was FFXIV back in the day, it's no longer a niche substitute for WoW. It's its own game now. It has its own systems and battle/raiding system. It feels like Lynx wants a WoW lite, and that's not FFXIV anymore. Is he right about some things? Yes, of course. But this game does not cater to only one type of player. WoW has done this and it sucked. Is FFXIV spreading itself too thin? Maybe. But at the end of the day, Xeno is right, this game is for everyone and the changes Yoshi-p and his staff make to the game are always in service of that philosophy. Just my two cents.

[@trustytrest]

13:15 I really appreciate Abyssos just for showing people how well balanced the game HAS to be for it to be fair. How even the slightest % can swing the game too hard one way or the other. I still wish for more job variety and less homogeny, but I can appreciate now just how difficult that is to ask of the devs. And Abyssos was mainly just P8S! While Gordias was half the tier and Midas was arguably half or 3/4ths being too much for the average group.

[@SinisterPlauges]

Started during Shadowbringer and yes it was very overwhelming and daunting. But the design of the game does a good job easing players in and not making them feel left out. Makes it nice for players like me who like to take their time with games and take it all in.

[@ellamir1979]

I started with ARR after hating 1.0; I’m glad we get a playable game with story not walled behind endgame/ceiling content. As a social/exploratory driven gamer, cross playability, adding more consoles, all that is super valuable too. I used to gonraiding and I just don’t have the man-hours or the stomach for the drama involved 😂 Also the fact that I can return after a break and still enjoy it speaks of great design. Hech, I used to be bitter even when I lost some even fluff crap, I can now expect that if i REALLY want something I can cash-shop it eventually (I never do). This game is a love letter to Final Fantasy in general and it does work for me -10 years on FFXiV, cant even remember real hous on FFXI, and overall 30 or so years playing the franchise. I’m happy to keep supporting it.

[@pforgottonsoul]

i think a point that hasn't been brought up is that difficulty is different depending on the person an encounter you thinking is easy that you can clear in one lockout might take some statics weeks or even months to clear.

[@MacTaipan]

Seems like he expects the game to grow with him. Maybe at some point it’s time to realize that a single game won’t entertain him for the rest of his life.

[@TenchiSawada]

@@MacTaipan Everyone wants that one game they can delve into for hours and hours and hours and get lost in every day. However, MMOs kind of have a target on their back. Because of the subscription and content cycle, You can get lost for hours. However, stretch those hours over months and you're going to find ANY MMO hard pressed to fill in the gaps. I dont even know if there IS an MMO that doesnt have a content drought. Some Class issues, Some Fight issues etc. Every MMO has its fair share. FF certainly has it's downs but It's also a game i come back to because it's easy to get back into.

[@trustytrest]

Tbh, that's more an issue of skill level than actual encounter design. Not to be that "skill issue" guy, I just mean the fact that if you struggle hard with, say, an EX that everybody else called easy, you'd have MASSIVELY more trouble with something like P10S, a Savage that everybody calls hard. In other words, the difficulty is pretty proportional to your skill level, regardless of what that level is. It's not like the guy who struggles to clear Barb EX for weeks is suddenly going to have a really easy time with UCoB and clear it in one lockout. So whatever your skill level is, encounters are generally proportional in their difficulty.

[@thecthuloser876]

@@trustytrest This isn't necessarily true. It's likely to be true... But there's absolutely cases where one person could find a certain mechanic very difficult, even if everyone else finds it difficult... And find something simple that other people find tough. I don't raid in FFXIV but this is pretty much me in Souls like. "Easy bosses"? I'm dying thirty times to that fucker and cause something just doesn't click for me... Meanwhile, some "difficult" bosses are killed in one go. Difficulty tends to be a weird thing in games.

[@pforgottonsoul]

@@trustytrest some people are just better at certain mechanics than others, might not be because it's "harder" but because it's different. Honestly most of the time what makes mechs harder in Savage over something like EXs is just because just about everything is a body check so there is very little room for error.

[@MacTaipan]

Wow. The emotionally captivating story is probably the single most attractive feature for most players. It‘s also what sets it apart from other MMOs and what draws new players to the game. To talk about this and the players who enjoy that in such a derogative and disrespecting manner completely invalidates him and his opinion for me.

[@Gofr5]

Especially since he admits at the very beginning to being a story skipper, so it's not like he even experienced it to be able to hate on it. Pure hypocrisy.

[@coolyeh1017]

Also there were rumors that he lost one of his statics was because he kept raging about the story and trashed talked anyone in his static who said that they like the story. If true he is the toxic "story skipper" like Quin.

[@chillidari-9392]

The story is mid asf. I swear most FF players have just never read a good book or watched a good movie 😂

[@MacTaipan]

@@chillidari-9392 Games are very different from books and movies, though.

[@chillidari-9392]

@@MacTaipan good writing is universal though

[@jf4156]

Listening to a scoreboard obsessed dopamine fried zoomers take on an mmo is hilarious

[@SweetyMiki]

I'm glad Xenosys did this for us KZbin Frogs. I might've disagreed with him at some points, but I still value Xeems's opinion a lot and can agree with him enough to change my mind a little bit.

[@Reruro]

Xeno I just have to say, I'm *really* impressed at how well you carried yourself in this series, and point by point breaking down these (admittedly really bad) arguments with logical counters.

[@TaniaRavenYT]

I love this game but whenever I feel bored or jaded I take breaks. Atm I am taking a break until 7.0. I love leveling. I occasionally play a new character on another server to meet new players and clear the story, unlocks, do content fresh. Feels great each time. I had a hard time logging in once a week to cap tomes. That was the boring part. I didn't necessarily find the new MSQ 6.1+. Hopefully 7.0 is better. I probably will be playing on Xbox series x when I return.

[@Sovek86]

Im debating if I want to come back soonish or wait for 7.0. I may just log in for a couple days and run the MSQ of 6.5 and the last EW AR. The problem is Ill probably get hooked and I have a ton of other games to play

[@aidang217]

I'd just like to take a second to acknowledge that Xeems has mastered the Art of Asmongold - making multiple videos about 1 drama. You are on peak content farm mode, keep it up bro

[@xbree_]

I really respect Xenos level headed takes. Great video. Nothing will ever be perfect but we all love it for our own reasons. It’s a game I will always come back to and never fully leave.

[@xxomega702buzzalini8]

I played in 2.0-2.55 I did the coils and coming back in Endwalker the game made so many good steps for everyone. Raids are so much more crazy than coils ever way. What made the game hard back in the day was the delay from the server to my potato PC and bad netspeed land of the living would just go off and than I saw the cast bar, twisters was just know when they happen and move and hope.

[@TeaMMatE11]

why are we trying to take Lynx seriously? This is the guy that took shots at Meoni in the past, and complained about the content drought in mid-shadowbringers right after CBU3 announced that their content will be delayed/cut because of the pandemic. His only claim to fame was being the top parser in shadowbringers and deleting his character after clearing ultimates hundreds of times (who does this?). He also admitted that he treated FFXIV as a WoW replacement. Dude comes off as entitled and honestly, a prick.

[@kohlicoide2258]

Tbh what makes me most skeptical about Lynx.. you find almost NOTHING about him while hes playing WoW, he claimed he was Hardcore Raider back.. but where?.. Where did he play? I enjoy when Scripe etc talk about FF14 because they are Big Players in WoW and has a shitton of Experience... but Lynx? There is only one hint i found and well.. if he was a "hardcore raider" then i was a World First Raider when i see his logs etc.

[@artjom94]

@@kohlicoide2258 He quit ff14 when he was around 22. The latest he could have been "hardcore wow raider" would be what 14-16 years old? Yeah fucking right lmao.

[@Karn0010]

I agree it just comes across as bitter with the majority of the takes. I had a good laugh with the attribute part. Overall I hope Dawntrail addresses the 2 minute meta, job design, and how we gear our jobs. To say the game is in its downfall is a bit melodramatic and speaks to them trying to justify why they aren't playing anymore.

[@skivvac]

It really just feels like he dislikes class simplification (not necessarily a bad thing) and that's driven him to despise the entire game and cry about dumbing down; despite how, as Xeno describes several times, they have increased the complexity of encounters to attempt to maintain the difficulty of the game. He says beginners will eventually become veterans and become bored with the game as there is nothing to master, but from what Xeno describes, the focus has simply shifted from mastery of one's class to mastery of each separate encounter. This is where I want to ask people who played XIV back in the day: were classes really difficult enough to warrant this revered deep level of understanding and mastery? Was any of the content even difficult enough to necessitate attaining such a high level of understanding in the first place? Could it not be said that even in the scenario where classes are as complex as they've ever been, a veteran player could still become bored with the game because they've mastered everything there is to master about their class? I think some level of mastery is important, and I think jobs could do to be a bit more complex than they currently are (in some cases more than others), but the raids themselves are quite enjoyable and I don't really see any massive issues with the combat in this game. The difficulty currently comes from learning each fight, and I don't necessarily see a huge problem with that with the way FFXIV is structured.

[@TheWickedMessenger3]

It’s really weird take this guy had. I personally agree with him as only care about raiding too, and I just got to the point where 4 or 5 fights for 3-4 months worth of sub money just wasn’t a good value for me. Did I become a bitter cry baby? Did I shit on people that enjoy other ways to play? No, I just I moved on like a damn adult.

[@VioletElite4]

I think a lot of this just confures up unnecessary negativity about the game and FF in general has had some drama for a little while now when it seemed things have been looking up for the franchise. Final Fantasy 16 felt such a glow up compared to 15, and they brought FF14 back from the literal dead. I think there's just some uncertainty because we just finished this giant story arch with EW and if people are choosing to opt out O feel like they should be able to. It reminds me of after Avengers Endgame came and went a lot of people started losing interest in more Marvel films because it's like the story arch is done and anything else would just be too much

[@Demon_Tiem]

Of course he's afraid of the backlash. He even said it, he was waiting until someone else complained to voice his opinion.

[@messiahnyx971]

Here's the thing: you can't make a video like the one he made and not expect some kind of backlash.

[@saladv3028]

Bruh I forgot Lynx even existed

[@Irisfantasies]

I didnt even knew he existed 🤣

[@x101xghost]

think ppl are forgetting a lot of the other changes thatve happened in EW, like reworking arr-SB content and PVP, new servers and datacenters. all of that takes time and money too, doesnt affect all of us that much but they were really great changes overall. doesnt change the fact that shuffling around development isnt ideal, but they have been hiring, all the live letters have had positions available at the end of them so, team is growing and they already announced a lot more content for DT.

[@VForceWave]

I think his point at the end, which I agree with this take of it, is that the game's mechanics should not be dumbed down to cater to players who don't intend on interfacing with the game's mechanics at a higher level when it comes at the cost of the enjoyment of the players who do. I've experienced and seen players who have

[@nxcrxfxntxsxx]

Holy mother of sane comments, and I'm not being sarcastic. The issue as well is that when these issues and valid points are pointed out, it's usually met with a very obnoxious, "You're being an elitist/tryhard" or, "Parse is just a colored number" OR, "You're taking it too seriously when it's just a game" or all the above. It's just simply how it works, I do not want a gray parsing floor addict join my groups, or a healer that is allergic to clicking a single dps gcd, or anything like that but of course, I'll get viewed as some sweaty notice tryhard for wanting competent people and not wanting to accept ANYONE to an endgame group.

[@grygaming5519]

The problem with this argument is, if you weren't there at the start then you just do not understand why things were removed to begin with. Lets for a second put aside the class issues and focus on player and game mechanics. In ARR, It was more of just things hurt and everything was clunky. ARR raiding was also unoptimized from both a player perspective and Development team standpoint. Was it the wild rest, yes was it fun depends on what you classify as fun. If you weren't in the raiding scene of Heavensward then again its a failure to understand. The fight designs were simpler but the class complexity as well needing to manage TP/MP more efficiently was an issue. You could easily run out of TP in some of those fights (it was a regular) and MP was a typical issue for your summoner and healers. Again Cleric Stance was also a massive issue due to how the servers back in the day interacted with the player. Half the time the stance wouldnt trigger so either you'd be doing noodle dps or your biggest heal would be a trickle. The classes in Heavensward wouldn't be able to clear current EX's/current raids...P10s alone would have made A4S when it was current look like an EX fight. Class homogeneity started happening in Stormblood, they moved some of the White mage kit into role class, this gave scholar and astro's access to Divine Seal (a white mage exclusive skill). Then again white mage was never bought in to raid unless you were progging. Again, Tanks themselves similar operated the same (as they sort of did) Dark knight was the only unique one, then SE decided to change how damage worked in Stormblood bringing Dark Knight in alignment with Pali and Warrior. The only big difference I could think of was how Storm Path operated as it applied a damage down to the boss. The removal of blunt, piercing, slash and not allowing combo breaks is good for the game, it honestly made it so your Bard didnt suffer if there was no Dragoon, and you needed Dragoon for Bard. This stopped the exclusionary issues that were happening in Stormblood. It stopped restricting what comps were viable, also with how many times the current bosses jump and faces the rear of the party before turning back to the tanks....imagine how many melee dps would just walk away over the frustration. Healing alone has always been the Devs vs the Players. Yoshida has been on record multiple times that he envisioned Healers to be pure healers only with their damage skills being in there so they could solo content. Then player decided that they could just use those skills in game. So its not so much the players but the Dev's themselves conditioning a section of the player base [then other games putting emphasis on supports only supporting over damage dealing]. The other issues that's not the game but the players and its always up to the players themselves to filter other people out of their groups. Its not SE's nor Yoshida's prerogative to make these players better. Bad players will always exist no matter the game or genre.

[@ancientspark375]

I find it so goddam hilarious that Lynx tries on jump on the hatewagon with a "this game has gotten too casual and you can't handhold someone into getting better" take. When the person who started the bandwagon, Zepla, had an entire second video dedicated to "actually, this game has divided hardcore and casual way too hard without midcore and the game needs to be more even for helping casual people get better or generating more constant content". Somehow missed the ENTIRE POINT of the bandwagon, jesus.

[@richardshiflett5181]

Zepla's first video was a bad take, that's why she made a second one to try and back pedal. The damage is already done.

[@mana-azir6808]

ever since her freak out during the harry potter game shes been back pedaling on a hill@@richardshiflett5181

[@TheDreddedOne]

In the end, this video Xeems is watching is very much rage bait with a sprinkling of good points.

[@viridianloom]

Lynx had some valid criticisms but its the framing of how he presented them, which was deleting his character as a statement, snidely regarding the community and using them as his shield for why he couldn't voice his opinion earlier (which, to me, has the same energy as those people wearing facemasks that read "silenced") just makes me question how much of his argument is actually coming from a level heading criticism or if he's just mad that he doesn't enjoy it anymore. Particularly that "Stand and let things resolve" take is more of a existentialist take that some gamers go through when the veil of what a game is starts to dissolve. Like for me personally, I used to enjoy sandbox games until it occurred to me that most of them don't have any real tangible goals, that it's simply there to eat up your time until you don't find it fun anymore. If he's been playing MMOs like a full time job and the magic of those games fades and they aren't fun anymore, that's a huge hit to your dopamine. I think that's a contributing factor for where his anger comes from and why he's redirecting it at people who enjoy the story or the social aspect of the game.

[@philbern6772]

I like how his examples of other MMOs is GW2, which is such a completely different game than any other mmo. Lost Ark, which gates people out of endgame content. And a WoW fight majority of the raiders hated. This dude had a chance to add to the conversation, instead he just said surface level bullshit with zero examples and let his emotions get in the way, and from reading the comments, he was an asshole when he played, and seems like an asshole now, unfortunate. Also the two biggest MMOs on the market are WoW Classic and FF14. Two games that are new player friendly, community focused, and are easy and casual as all fuck. SE knows if they lose some high end raiders or content creators, they'll get 4x the players back as sprouts. Do I want more challenging content? Of course. But I'm not delusional, I'm in like the 5 to 10% of people who actually raid in this game. If I leave, the game will grow, if I stay, the game will grow. And it's a game, so if it affects your personal and mental, just step away from the computer as a whole.

[@Auesis]

The comparison to GW2 amuses me the most, because the high-end PvE endgame has been a constant source of player resentment and disappointment since it released. GW2 is possibly the most casual MMO on the market right now, moreso than FF14. It does what it wants to do well, but Lynx should hate it.

[@kevlepuff]

I find it funny that while he thinks that making the jobs simpler doesn't help players want to get better at their job his solution is to make jobs even more difficult and demanding thus ostracizing any mid core for even casual players from entering harder content as skill discrepancy will likely not be tolerated

[@undercoverspy123]

Lynx is so painfully delusional and even some of the broader community wants to just "group" players, ie You are a "raider", you are a "RPer" you are a "Crafter and gatherer" you are a "rouletter" when in my experience 90% of those people dabble in every aspect to some degree. The entire first tier of EW I (best of my ability first raid tier) Orange parse the entire tier for myself, while running a RP venue on the weekend, I'm also one of those cat people who cry and teared up during MSQ.

[@nerothos]

"People in party finder groups are still floor magnets that do 1 dps." Okay, Jan. Tell me you don't play the game whatsoever without telling me you don't play the game. Literally cleared this savage tier solo PF-ing exclusively with randos the first two weeks of release and have kept doing the same for reclears. The quality of PF savage nowadays is pretty wild IMO. It's obviously easy to tell who has just cleared once or twice and isn't yet 100% consistent on a reclear but that's entirely fair. Those who have been clearing for weeks now make close to zero mistakes in terms of mechanics generally.

[@user-ss9me7se5q]

To awnser your question, im a new player (2 months now) and feeling really overwelmed, a lot of the stuff blends in and u get introduced to it but then u still gotta figure it out, and crafting.....holy hell thats on a different lvl all together. ps i like your videos and your comments are spot on! ty

[@ifaeriewraith]

This person hasn’t played in YEARS as far as I know. This game has been been a damn masterpiece in my life. Not only IN the game, but also irl. It’s driven my confidence up like nothing else. It’s put me in amazing situations I wouldn’t have experienced had I not played… the list goes on and on. Being able to learn at your own pace and not feeling like you’ve fallen behind is incredible. Slowly feeding myself to the harder content is something I’ve done BECAUSE of the way the game is designed and I know that many people can see that in their own progression as well. This is an MMO. It is FOREVER evolving and it will continue to evolve for as long as it’s around, and believe me, this game isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

[@richardshiflett5181]

They made Summoner super easy as well, and it's one of the most popular jobs now when before very few played it. This shows that making the game easier, or at least the option to, works as most players aren't trying to be a hardcore sweaty player.

[@cobra7282]

@@richardshiflett5181not to mention a lot of players want to master multiple jobs and that is much harder to do when the jobs are very complicated.

[@happyhealsgaming7614]

While I do want jobs to be difficult again, definitely not to teh level of Heavensward. If anything, I would love if they go back to Stormblood Levels of difficulty for jobs again, albeit with some tweaks here and there. I would love them to bring back a SENSE of job "Management" back again, rather than just "building up bars/stacks and go ham every 1 to 2 minutes." I missed atleast having 2 to 3 Important buffs/debuffs through out the fight, and I also miss jobs having different cooldown timer between all the jobs. I know they can't bring all of them back, but I would love them to bring back one thing IF possible: Remove 1 and 2 minute buff windows. Please have jobs all of have different cool-down timers from 60, 90, 120 and 180 second. Make everyone job have a different burst window to play around with. I actually miss having 90second B4B, 120 second Dragon sight and 180 Litany. Sure it felt a bit bad when I hardly ever lined up with Trick attack? But when I realized I was actually doing VERY good DRG damage? It felt GOOD to pull off my rotation every fight. Now? It sucks when I know I'm doing "What I should be" when I press my buffs every 1 and 2 minutes. And it sucks knowing my DPS is going to SUFFER because I missed one of the buff windows because I died, or because I lagged. =/

[@everyonethinksyoureadeathm5773]

The funny thing is, I never once had to manage when I healed or tank....why because it became second nature. Managing MP and threat was brain dead. Even managing aetherflow and cards wasn't an issue. I think people forget that complexity leaves once you play something for a set amount of time and it becomes rudimentary. In stormblood you had to get your class management down to a rudimentary feel first and optimize second...and even optimizing wasnt that hard. Let's just face it as we have played the vets who raid have gotten better at what they do so things feel easy. The funner thing is people like Lynx complained that FF needed a 2 minute window. It's self inflicted, it's pretty much "thanks, I hate it now". I'm at a take it or leave it for a 2 minute window... because I know either side won't be happy.

[@happyhealsgaming7614]

@@everyonethinksyoureadeathm5773 Oh yeah I absolutely get that too. Definitely not saying that "Job should be SO difficult that every run is a challenge" kinda thing. It's more, I definitely felt more satisfaction pulling off my rotation on my job and seeing good damage back then compared to now. Since buff-timers were different for everyone, I felt more of that "Ok, I did my rotation perfectly!" feeling. At the moment it doesn't feel as satisfying getting a rotation down since it's more important you're doing your 1 and 2 minute properly and in time just because that's when everyones buff is also up. But because that's when everyones buff is up, to me it feels like I'm doing the "Basic thing I need to do" rather than "I did my rotation perfectly" kinda feel. Hard to explain, sorry.

[@KornOil]

Classic narcissistic take. "I" bought the game so "I AM" the target audience. Cater to ME.

[@Xyrenos]

Comparing how Xeno reacts to this and how arthars reacted to this is like night and day to me

[@FehrIsFair]

I joined this game in HW, and I really had a hard time with the GCD and oGCD stuff, because MMO was a genre I had basically never played before. And not only that I had a really hard time controlling the camera, and then the end-game grind while trying to continue doing the MSQ. I had a hard time with everything. While the latter two were just getting used to it and getting introduced to the Roulette system in StB, The Job Design in HW was overwhelming in a bad way. StB was when the only max-level job I had (NIN) finally made sense! Simplification is good when done well and StB was when it was done well, at least for me.

[@andrewclear8905]

Yeah, the relics were always the casual way to get a good weapon. Of course, people have co-opted the term "casual" to mean less time consuming content, but that isn't what it means. Vanilla WoW was the casual MMO, that is what made it so popular, and it had some seriously time consuming casual content, lol. I am salty that my optional grind was removed this expansion. I would be less salty if the content they replaced it with was actually more successful (Variant/Criterion), but at least they made a new system that can carry forward, and hopefully provide me with my optional grind next expac.

[@Boonoojootoo]

Guy legit sounds like an MMO addict. He MUST play, he MUST always have content that HE enjoys in this singular game. Otherwise why does it even exist? This is probably the mmo with the least addiction cycle possible and he is still absolutely absorbed to a point where it makes him upset other people are enjoying things in a healthier way.

[@abood1341]

For someone who barely have 2hrs a day to play due to work & stuff i cant imagine prog where my job is hard to play AND perform mechanics while I can't even talk from how tired i am. Rn just focus on mechs cuz can't really mess up my job (almost) not everyone is lifeless & can spend 2000hr a year raiding in one game

[@ifaeriewraith]

Oh, and Xeno, you need to do more of these reactions in parts. I really enjoyed this “series” and I was excited waiting on what you were going to say next regarding this video.

[@usamimi-no-majo]

"I'm not trying to shit on these people", he says after dropping a wildly sexist comment. Players can be nuanced; just because you're immersed in the story and characters doesn't automatically mean you can't also enjoy challenging content. I think some people forget that hardcore story enjoyers and hardcore raiders are just the extremities of the spectrum, with a wide array of casual players in the middle.

[@foxypoxi]

His whole 'point' in this part is that SE is not making game the way he wants because others have fun in game. And they should NOT! If only they did not have that stupid fck fun! His needs would have been taken care of...

[@fraserfarmer1557]

Take a sip of water every time Lynx says something super mean-spirited followed by "Im not trying to shit on these people!" 😂

[@Peanuts1000]

Yeah, hydration guaranteed. Hearing all that misguided hate mixed in with some actually valid points made me wish he made a vid after he's processed that big ball of bitterness inside him. The boi's clearly not scripting with a clear head. Clearly not when he started by showing him deleting his character. That part actually reminded me of how as a teenager I uninstalled League of Legends in anger and went to rant about it online, thinking that a great injustice had been dealt upon me, when I merely had lost my temper. Really emotionally immature.

[@jewii3824]

In the last video (part 2), when bro talked about attribute points and cross-class abilities/skills and all the other janky shit in ARR and HW as if these were good things just made his opinion garbage to me.

[@coolyeh1017]

There was a reason why XIV, heck even other MMOs moved away from those design systems.

[@vaidenkelsier7757]

Right? What are the point of attribute points when everyone serious just looks up the optimal build online anyway and the only function is a n00b trap?

[@lunaticmode638]

3:50 bad argument, because people spending money while there is no content makes square release less content cause they get the money anyway

[@Velrikk]

Damn cant believe CBU3 is making less content than other expansions now, why didnt anyone say that before?

[@AdamBrinkmann]

Square Enix made 10 years of entertainment while telling a good story. Now they are working on a new story with a brand new expansion. They are working on making the game available on Xbox. They are working on a graphics update which includes new ways to generate vegetation in zones and lighting. They are investing in the game for another 10 years. If you think that this expansion series was a bit light on content, then it could be in part to the fact they are doing so much more than they did in some previous expansions. They didn't do a graphics refresh between Stormblood and Shadowbringers or add another possible console to play the game on. They are also doing updates to the dye system for players who are really into glamours which probably means updates to every piece of dyable gear (which is a lot of items) The guy who made the downfall video very much likes one type of content and if that person doesn't get enough of that type of content then it is a let down. Many people on party finder and roulettes are casual players just looking to complete some sort of content. I agree with Xenos that this game is made for a wide variety of different types of players and if you are only expecting that they cater to your preferred content, then you are going to be let down.

[@MainUkraine]

If you want more to grind play Lost Ark. As a former hardcore gamer who branched out to sports, I enjoy casual games that require little time investment. As we get older, our priorities shift and our opinions change accordingly.

[@irategazelle]

As much as I want to go back to how jobs used to work back in hw-sb, current design of harder fights and easier jobs is so much better for majority of players. Most people I know don't find reading 70 pages long guide and hitting dummy for tens of hours trying to perfect your rotation before you even get to raid fun. Being able to enter fights and seeing real progress toward clearing a fight without putting an insane upfront effort has got so many former casual friends into raiding scene.

[@Speedshot55]

my friend and I started raiding in HW, and we were talking about how so many classes just had a bunch of jank. A lot of classes felt directionless with their buttons which im glad SB and beyond started to fix. The only thing I miss from each class is some dot management, but I would blast my brains out if I needed to play HW NIN in TOP or DSR lmao also makes me realize how much harder stuff is now, UCOB was such a beast when it dropped but now its the ultimate where you go in and hang out with the boys and a have a good time, because the mechs are fun but not hard at all compared to what we have now

[@sandewr_pally]

final fantasy 14 is , hm its hard to explain. To me its a comfort that final fantasy 14 exists. i can come back and play a little here and then. its a comforting thought that even if i have a bad day at work i can come and sit down log on and just go and do some old dungeons to level, or decorate my home ( if i had one), or even variant dungeons. I have come from WoW and let me tell you its a whole different ball game. I can enjoy the game and so can you by doing what you want. also i just feel sad for NamesLynx and thte fdact he has to go go go

[@blazewardog]

People complain the content cycle is predictable. I've played this game since 2.0 as the content is predictable so I can play one of the many other games I want to play and know I'm not missing out. I've been a working adult the whole time (I remember telling my old boss week 2 of work how nice it was after he said he used to play WoW) and don't have time for dialysis logins and grinds without end. I have 3 gatcha games and if one didn't only have 5 minutes of dailies and the other have essentially full auto; I would drop them even though I enjoy the story of the first and the collection of the second.

[@Redcomet3375]

Speaking as someone who used to play when FFXI first came out and went thru the bitter sweet 1.0 and wow'd from 2.0 til now only occasionally logging because I am now a responsible dad :P and can't really spend my entire time grinding and looking to be the leet gamer... I'd say, FFXIV is still my favorite and I can understand the thrill to play on the top tier at the expense of spending major time in the game. As I grow up thru the years, this game and the people in it gave me so much memory that I hadn't experience in any other game. I can imagine I'll talk like him if I am young and have so much time to spend. But to a more reasonable average player now, I am still getting a super wonderful game that is fun and full of memorable moments. It is truly a game for everyone, on all levels and no longer the super grindy , life sucking game that FFXI used to be. Anyone here still remember Camping a Genbu with an average linkshell and get stolen by some high level guild and that soar feeling that made you feel? I don't think the majority of us sees that as fun anymore. The game is more a game now than a remake of real life in a fantasy settings :D

[@thomas00129]

the funniest thing to me is he deleted his character and that bassicly made all those 6 years worth of time and progress be erased i feel like that was the dumbest thing one can do for you have nothing anymore its gone your progress your time its all gone it became truly meaningless in some cappacity