The Double-Edged Sword of Final Fantasy 14’s Current ‘Slump’

Alright, picture this: 2020 hits and suddenly, Final Fantasy 14 is like, the coolest kid on the block. Shadowbringers expansion? Total banger. Then there’s this pandemic thing, and bam! Everyone’s home, and they’re all diving headfirst into this MMORPG biz. World of Warcraft? Oh geez, they’re having, uh, issues. Lawsuits, controversies—just not their year. So yeah, FF14’s popularity is like, skyrocketing. Literally, with Endwalker. No joke.

Fast forward a few years, toss in two expansions. Is FF14 still the crowd favorite? Sure, but eh, not quite with the same sparkle, you know? Meanwhile, WoW’s dusted itself off with some shiny updates. But FF14? Some grumbles here and there. Slow updates, rinse-repeat gameplay, storylines that some love and others just… don’t. “Slump” is the word on the street, but hey, that’s not all bad, especially for newbies.

So, FF14—it’s massive. Seriously, the game’s got more layers than my grandma’s lasagna. Five expansions, a mountain of quests, not to mention the OG stuff from A Realm Reborn. Hironobu Sakaguchi, the guy who brought the Final Fantasy series to life, he marathoned the whole thing in just over a month. But for mere mortals? We’d probably take a bit longer, right? And in this “slump,” it’s like, the perfect time to catch up without feeling overwhelmed. Less FOMO, more chill.

There is a catch though. For the veterans, this slow patch cycle? Total bummer. Nothing much in terms of fresh content, and the excitement meter’s kinda low. But hey, if you peek over at WoW’s history, these ebbs and flows are kind of par for the course. Every game has its peaks and valleys—FF14’s no different.

Let’s talk shop about FF14 and WoW’s lifecycles. Dawntrail drops 11 years post-reboot for FF14, roughly aligning with WoW’s Warlords of Draenor era—a tough period for WoW fans. Sure, each game has its own rhythm, but they’ve both seen their ups and downs. So, who’s to say FF14 won’t bounce back sooner rather than later?

In any case, FF14 remains a storm of fun despite its little dip. So for new players dipping their toes in—now’s as good a time as any to get cozy, and maybe even be at the front lines when it all starts buzzing again.