Just A Rant

I stopped giving SE money until they release something substantial. Early in the year, I figured that I was only playing out of habit and because I lead a group of good people who I didn't want to leave, but I also needed a long break. Before I went, I got us Dynamis-D wave 3 clears because that was the last, true achievement to be had for the group outside of Odyssey. The system for augmenting in Odyssey is not friendly and I quickly got sick of grinding segments. And then they released master levels, which is nothing but grinding jobs we already ground to master.

I appreciated SE answering some of our questions and explaining the difficulties behind the development side. I get that we'll never have proper updates anymore and new battle content takes a while to implement. However, the one thing the game desperately needs is diverse battle content. Not only that, but the game needs other reasons to keep interest outside of those events. Neither crafting or fishing is what it was. There's an unbelievable amount of things that could be done to spice things up, but SE is incapable or unwilling to do so. The only interesting thing about Sortie is the multiple objectives, but the bosses don't seem so. One of the cool things about Vagary was the zones had unique gimmicks, required teamwork, and in one zone you needed some luck. Omen had Caturae bosses who all looked alike, but worked very differently and encouraged other setups.

The lack of alliance content that is not locked behind an excessive wait time is what hurts the game at the moment, along with diverse content. You either grind a ton of trash mobs, or you spam the same NM over and over. The game needs to encourage the blending of the two, while also thinking outside the box to bring mechanics we haven't seen before, otherwise, it's rehashing. There are only so many times a player can do the same thing over and over before they get tired of it. I would love to see more interesting content in FFXI. Something that makes me want to reach into my pocket and pay the sub fee every month. Instead, they brought us new wardrobes like they were doing us a favour. No one wants to pay more for this game in 2022, because it's not equipped to be anything but a slow train that trundles along while other games deliver better content, offline and online. It doesn't deserve a higher price tag.

FFXI is an experience that will keep a player interested for a very long time, especially if they get help from others. But veteran players, most are only around out of habit. Odyssey might have been fun at first, and Sortie may be fun at first, but it won't sustain for long. They only artificially sustain us because of their limitations and random augments. I love this game, but I also hate how pointless it has become to me. The only saving grace of FFXI is having a group of friends who make it bearable. Fingers crossed that Sortie becomes something we enjoy for a long time so I can return next year and enjoy FFXI again with friends.