It is time to rest, Zyrusticae. You've fought hard and long but complaining about raiding on a fan board about role playing is not going to change the tide at all. You'd have a better chance at taking this to the official forums but past precedence for the genre does not speak well on the chances of change.Â
The nature of successful modern MMOs requires a gear grind to keep both casual and hardcore player bases engaged. There have been instances of older MMOs having a more horizontal experience but those simply no longer exist. Catering to a smaller crowd is not successful or sustainable for as an expensive genre as MMO.
XIV is still very much a fairy tale story of a game, from likely the worst launch of any MMO in history to being one of the most successful if not the MOST successful of the post WoW era. Game mechanics were streamlined in a WoW fashion while keeping a distinct XIV flare to it. It's success is largely reliant on what WoW has done right and wrong in the last five years and it shows.
There will be more casual content coming but so will hardcore content. Generally patches alternate between catering to the two styles, from more casual 24 man raids to expanded questlines to new systems. 3.1 will likely give more attention to the casual crowd.
Heavensward is full of growing pains for the community. Many players now were not around for 2.0 when we were in a similar position. There is a ton of time, story and content dedicated to the leveling experience that left the end game hollow for more casual players. This changed during 2.1 and continued to change as time went on.
Give it time or take a break. If the game isn't catering to you, don't play it. Walk away and if you feel like coming back, do so. If you don't then XIV just isn't for you anymore and that's ok. It's ok to outgrow MMOs, game or RP. It's ok to say "I'm done". You haven't wasted time, you've had many hours of enjoyment out of the game and genre. Those are memories and people that you won't forget.
Unless you've been unhappy playing this entire time then you might want to reconsider your life.
The nature of successful modern MMOs requires a gear grind to keep both casual and hardcore player bases engaged. There have been instances of older MMOs having a more horizontal experience but those simply no longer exist. Catering to a smaller crowd is not successful or sustainable for as an expensive genre as MMO.
XIV is still very much a fairy tale story of a game, from likely the worst launch of any MMO in history to being one of the most successful if not the MOST successful of the post WoW era. Game mechanics were streamlined in a WoW fashion while keeping a distinct XIV flare to it. It's success is largely reliant on what WoW has done right and wrong in the last five years and it shows.
There will be more casual content coming but so will hardcore content. Generally patches alternate between catering to the two styles, from more casual 24 man raids to expanded questlines to new systems. 3.1 will likely give more attention to the casual crowd.
Heavensward is full of growing pains for the community. Many players now were not around for 2.0 when we were in a similar position. There is a ton of time, story and content dedicated to the leveling experience that left the end game hollow for more casual players. This changed during 2.1 and continued to change as time went on.
Give it time or take a break. If the game isn't catering to you, don't play it. Walk away and if you feel like coming back, do so. If you don't then XIV just isn't for you anymore and that's ok. It's ok to outgrow MMOs, game or RP. It's ok to say "I'm done". You haven't wasted time, you've had many hours of enjoyment out of the game and genre. Those are memories and people that you won't forget.
Unless you've been unhappy playing this entire time then you might want to reconsider your life.
![[Image: 7h16uc3.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/7h16uc3.jpg)
