Final Fantasy XIV Isn’t Grindy Enough

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home January 11, 2025 9 Views 7 Min Read
Final Fantasy XIV Isn't Grindy Enough



Summary

  • FF14 player count is threatening to dip below a million after Dawntrail, with many players complaining it’s due to lack of engaging content.
  • Content updates focus on hardcore players, leaving casual and solo players with little to do.
  • Players need new types of content regularly to stay subbed and engaged, such as new minigames or relic weapon grinds.

Final Fantasy 14’s player count has steadily grown over the years, with each expansion bolstering its numbers. Until now. In the wake of Dawntrail, the player count is threatening to drop below one million for the first time since the pre-Shadowbringers era, so what’s the real problem here?

While it could be easy to pin the blame on the mixed reception of Dawntrail, the issue goes much deeper than that. What players want now is what they have wanted since before the launch of Dawntrail: more long-term content to keep them busy. Once you’re up to date with the Main Scenario and have your favourite jobs at max level, there’s not much left to sink your teeth into.

A warrior of light getting an omikuji in Final Fantasy 14.

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Not Everyone Is Hardcore

Shiva from the Futures Rewritten Ultimate in Final Fantasy 14.

One of the main issues is lack of variety. Given how diverse FF14’s player base is, with people playing for PvP, housing, crafting, or any of the other numerous ways to pass your time, the additional content needs to reflect that. Naturally, there isn’t enough time for the team to deliver something for everyone with every patch rollout, but lately, it has felt very hardcore-focused.

Post-Dawntrail patch updates have added new story content, the Arcadion, Jeuno: The First Walk, and other side quests, and while good, these haven’t taken long for players to complete. Sooner or later you are back to simply logging in to complete your dailies and weeklies, and ultimately left feeling a bit stagnant and lacking that feeling of accomplishment.

Most of the new content added, such as Savages, Chaotic Raids, and the Future Rewrittens Ultimate, targets hardcore players only. Many players, especially casual players, don’t have a group of friends to do duties with, leaving them joining up with randoms via Party Finder, which puts plenty of players off as you never know how efficient or reliable your group will be. Perhaps they worry they will be the unreliable one, and so don’t attempt new duties for fear of being the one who keeps costing the team the win and being berated for it.

Casual And Solo Players Need Something To Grind Too

The player winning at a round of Triple Triad in Final Fantasy 14.

We desperately need some different content to shake up the gameplay, something that casual or solo players can get stuck into too. We’re long overdue for a new Gold Saucer minigame. Pre-Endwalker, Square Enix announced it was planning a new minigame that would rival the size of the mahjong addition, but we still have yet to see it. At this point, even a medium-sized addition or overhaul to an existing minigame would be sorely appreciated too. Why not update Chocobo Racing? Or add some fresh rules or mechanics to Triple Triad?

Players are particularly keen to have a new relic weapon added, with many wishing for relic weapons to be introduced with expansion launches rather than much later, as that’s a grind that will definitely keep them occupied for some time. But even relic weapons are part of the same old pattern. We’re stuck in a bit of a rut when it comes to the cycle of content we’ve had before countless times. It’s hard to get as excited for new content when really it’s old content with a fresh face.

Players Need A Reason To Stay Subbed

Final fantasy 14 player at their island sanctuary.

It’s natural for the player count to dip after Dawntrail. It was undeniably a weaker expansion in terms of story, though that’s to be expected given it’s setting up a new arc. But this isn’t about Dawntrail’s story. This is a concern players have voiced for a long time now, which unfortunately has been exacerbated by the less exciting expansion launch, as players are more likely to focus on what makes them unhappy. It’s time to shake things up with something entirely brand new.

We can’t just snap our fingers and get more content. The FF14 team is incredibly hard-working – we’ve all seen those live streams and photos of producer and director Naoki Yoshida looking incredibly tired. But perhaps Square Enix needs to re-evaluate its content release pattern, or at the very least, which content it focuses on.

I wouldn’t mind expansions having longer gaps between launches if it meant the team had time and energy to spend on other projects to implement a wider range of content. I don’t expect a perfect world where every year we get something meaty that appeals to every type of player, that would be impossible. But we do need a brand new type of duty or content added more regularly, maybe once a year. Something similar in scale to Triple Triad, Island Sanctuary, or Eureka.

It needs to be something that players can invest their time into and that gives them a reason to resub and start logging in more regularly. My vote’s on Blitzball, but Yoshida already shot that idea down.

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