JarrenBlake: For me it is just that GG is really close to the other Content creators now in terms of the MSQ. Before they were at a place that was so far back rewatching it again felt fresh. Now, well I have just watched a playthrough from 1-2 others just a few weeks ago. I still watch the GG stream, just not live, I give it a minute then watch the VOD. But can imagine for others they would drop back further still. It is not a DT hate thing on my end. It has its issues but I like it more than I dislike it.
highbrowstonebender7063: I have watched you guys enthusiastically for 2 years through all of the Endwalker MSQ because I knew what you were going to see, and I wanted to see it blow your mind and delight you. Most of us FFXIV folks get to relive the msq for the first time vicariously through other people streaming, and you two were some of the liveliest and most enjoyable reactions. You cross talked, you cooked, you had insane theories that were soooooooo close and yet so far off the mark...and all through it all, the haunting phrase nagging at the audience behind the scenes...

"I sure as shit wont be playing Final Fantasy"

So, thats done now. you've eaten your words gladly with a huge grin on your face, you have described the experience, the rush of that roller coaster, had the highs and lows we all had and now that you're here, the hype has died down.

What makes you guys appealing to me is your bromance. You two are good buddies who interact together in entertaining and engaging ways and watching you geek out about stuff together
serisothikos: I think you captured the idea that it's less that it's a decline and more that the emotional vampirism surrounding 5.0, 5.3, and 6.0 are anomalously high. Not to mention that you're doing parts of the MSQ that are current, meaning it doesn't have the nostalgia factor yet. I enjoyed Dawntrail very much but I understand why it might not have the same emotional traction in certain places as previous stories, but I also think it's fine for continuing games to have ebb-and-flow cycles, which will definitely affect your numbers.

One of the "numbers are down" things is probably also because the streamers/video creators who started playing since the 2021 influx have mostly all caught up, which means there's sort of a glut of people putting out similar videos. More supply than demand, at the moment.
Dreded100: I think a part of it is simply that we are in a x.0y patch. The game itself doesn't have a lot of reason to play it so it is very much a good time for people to take a break from the FFXIV community as a whole.
jonwaller8083: Personally, while I'm also tired of the Dawntrail Discourse
HissyfitPrincess: I don’t control this channel, but I will admit that I miss when they did recap videos, and just thoroughly discussed what they experienced after they played it.

They seem to be doing great with the livestreams, but for me it’s just not the same.
Sithalos: I remember wanting to watch so many reaction videos for XIV, but Dawntrail literally has zero moments that I want to see someone's reaction to. Not a single one.
NotSeger: Dawntrail MSQ is just a bad experience, not many people want to relieve it through content creators.
Itama22: Just spitting the obvious, Dawntrail has been a disappontment for many and way less people engage with the game or are interested in watching content about it right now.
We came from a big hype phase during Shadowbringer and Endwalker into... well what we got right now.
There were a lot of videos during the start of Dawntrail full of critizism and controversy and now people who played FF14 seem to accept it is what it is and they either take a break, quit entirely or stick with it and those people who stick are probably the same who continue watching FF14 content, the others maybe on occasion, the algorithm probably won't support it as much to show that content anyways if the interest fades.
tanakaitoi: I can't speak for others but I will say I sorta stopped watching the main channel because the uploads seemed to have slowed. Streams are fun if you are there for them, but I'm also no longer in a position where I can watch them live. And I don't really find stream vods very fun to watch. I am a fan of more edited content like your analysis/experience videos. In August there were no public uploads so I just sorta went "okay see ya when I see ya". I'm just waiting on videos like the 6.X patch retrospectives. A breakdown on island sanctuary. The ways where variant dungeons worked and didn't work. Even a video maybe talking about other things like GW2, The War Within, or whatever you two want to talk about. I understand and it's totally cool to take breaks from uploading but that's basically what I'm waiting for though. More regular scheduled videos instead of unknowns that lead me to just wait until content builds up so I can just marathon all of it. Still love ya guys though and can't wait for more.

Edit: And yes FFXIV videos are down across the board which can be for many number of things, though don't let that discourage you. "If you build it, they will come" after all.
eollin2097: "I like my private star wars fandom" Garrett, you have found the path to peace
herebejamz: I REALLY liked Dawntrail, and the problems that definitely exist with it would be something I would have previously loved to engage with. Unfortunately, there's been a huge wave of going from unbelievably overpositive on 14 to egregiously hostile towards it. Everyone sane has just like, stepped back in general, and probably a decent chunk of people who were losing it have decided it's a good time to touch grass.
apljack: While I did not hate the MSQ, it never had a 'I really want to see more of this, and how others react' moments. Which is fair, new story new start, etc... we will see how patch content goes.

However, as others mentioned, the lackluster story does sap my interest in pretty much the entirety. Other people that I sometimes raid with are only interested in gameplay for their time, but I didnt even care too much for the story of the raid series, and no great mechanics will hold my interest if the story doesn't hook me first.
alibutterfly82: I still greatly enjoy YOU GUYS specifically, but I'll be real: my lack of enthusiasm for the Dawntrail narrative has basically sucked my enjoyment of the game overall out of me. I find myself very apathetic towards a lot of FFXIV stuff now, compared to how I felt immediately post 5.0 or 6.0. Sure, the discourse is exhausting, but I disliked the narrative SO MUCH that regardless of discourse, it ruined my enjoyment of much else about the game at this point.
akurei123: It might be partly due to the story. I did not believe it myself until this expansion, but the story is really what connects me to the game and it being so unrelatable and badly written, to the point where it feels like the scions have been replaced by body snatchers, has damaged my connection to eorzea as a whole, i think. I still log on whenever friends wanna do stuff or to do side content like housing but the drive i used to have is gone. At least for the moment.
stevenalvarez2924: The nicest way to describe DT without going into spoilers is that DT isn't even the foundation of a house or even the blue-print of a house to talk about what can work and where. DT is just graph-paper, stencils, ink, and a compass on a table and everyone is just told to be excited. We have some people painfully over-hyping this from what I have seen since there is just almost nothing to chew on right now. Thus the heavy disappointment from the community about DT right now and almost no excitement for the coming patches.
drjfunkmasterdeluxe: It's simple for me. I don't watch ARR videos before the chalice moment or early StB levels, and I don't want to watch the Dawntrail story again.

I do want to watch playthroughs of other Final Fantasy games!
KatyWhitekavkj: I know I'm still looking forward to seeing you hit a few beats - certain raids, I'll be excited to see you play and enjoy, I was thrilled to see you do Barbariccia, I'd love to see you try Savage or dip your toe into an Ultimate. I'd also give a lot to see you both try some of the other FF games, or just branch out generally to other things in the same way Preach did after moving on from being solely a WoW streamer. I think you could both be very successful in that area in the same way. :)

I hope you don't get too worried. There are still a lot of folks just like me who love your work. I'm not planning on going anywhere (actually I have an alt on Coeurl in the GG FC that I'm trying to level so I can join in a few raids in future). And excitement about FFXIV will go in waves - this is just one of the troughs. The peaks will come back and you'll always have a core steady audience.
Joe-it2dh: I didnt enjoy Dawntrail and so I dont engage with much content about Dawntrail. I still watch lore discussion videos but I have my opinion and noone can change that.
stevieblunder2656: I think, at least for me, a LOT of DT related content has been overwhelmingly negative/click-baity. Which is a trend I really don't like and am not used to seeing with XIV generally. If I don't like something I tend to just avoid anything related to it and move on. So, I'm really only watching you guys (also Preach and Jesse) when it comes to DT MSQ related stuff.

I'm one of those people who has criticisms but enjoyed it overall and yes, it's just not worth getting into arguments with people who can't accept that their opinion isn't universal canon and that not everyone has to share it. Ain't nobody got time for that.
retolia: That comment about people liking Dawntrail and not wanting to talk about it because of the fan base and what responses/reactions you would get is very true. I like this expansion. Dawntrail has its issues, but I do like what has happened and where it could go from here in the Msq. I just don't want to have to justify myself every time I would put my thoughts out onto a public forum, so I don't (except this time).
Ekineko: I think its 2-fold, I don't see many FFXIV videos these days, but I also got really tired of all the negativity post on it. I do love the game and for example I saw the primal time stop and I am like man I want to go to the Primal's again.
XainRussell: The wave has passed. When Endwalker came out, FFXIV was the hottest shit. People outside of FFXIV were interested and wanted to see what the hubub was. After that, a ton of the momentum was carried by “new players and streamers experiencing it for the first time.” With Dawntrail, there isn’t enough of an external push towards the game to drive further engagement, it’s mostly just XIV’s existing fanbase, and unfortunately Dawntrail just so happened to be super controversial. So you have a limited pool of people, that isn’t being bolstered anymore by another game imploding and sending its playerbase elsewhere, further limited by a lack of interest from specific groups.

I am not surprised in the least that engagement is down.
iantaakalla8180: Unfortunately, the issue is Dawntrail. Unless Dawntrail is massively reevaluated virally such that there is a reason to enjoy it, I sincerely think that the expansion itself is the issue. Also, it should be noted the hype around the game was around the Ascian arc and Endwalker patches, while foreshadowing of the massive dips in quality people note or think they note, was still Endwalker, so they were willing to watch. Another thing that helped is that you happened to finish Endwalker patch content just as Dawntrail was coming. Now that Dawntrail is a disappointment, FFXIV as a whole does not draw people in.
heylookitsnana: I actually don't usually watch your react videos and tune in usually only for these sit-down videos where y'all reflect.

Sep 29 2024

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