One week after the release, two surveys from the Japanese and English-speaking Final Fantasy XIV communities show the reactions to the controversial Eureka content.
Ask ten people for their opinion on something and you will get twelve different answers. Particularly in the gaming industry, fan reactions can often be extreme.
Shortly after the release of Eureka, it seemed like a shitstorm was brewing in the FFXIV community, as many were dissatisfied with the implementation of the content.
Was it really the opinion of the vast majority?
Divided Opinions in the Western Community
The feedback for the Forbidden Land Eureka was not exactly rosy in the first few days after the release.
The new content introduced new relic quests for weapons and armor that are expected to be “best in slot” after several upgrade steps at the end of the expansion.
However, many fans complained on Reddit and in the official forums about the monotony of the grind and especially the seemingly incredibly high amount of over 5,000 crystals required for a full set of relic equipment.
However, after the first guides for efficient farming were released, the community’s tempers began to cool.
And despite the many negative comments about the grind-heavy content, there were increasingly more voices over time that described the new content as “not as bad as everyone says” or even as “fun.”
Accordingly, the results of a community survey on Reddit were very mixed.
Of the total 7,664 players (as of March 21, 2018, 4:20 PM), 30 percent chose the “I hate it” option.
Considering the initial reactions of the community in the forums and on social media, this number is actually lower than expected.
Close behind are the players with 28 percent of the votes who responded with “I like it a lot.”
The option “Meh, it’s OK” tops the poll with 42 percent, signaling that a large portion of the players have no strong opinion about the new instance.
The general perception seems to be that the Forbidden Land is a good idea with poor implementation. The hope is that the development team will incorporate the feedback into the next area of Eureka.
“The Japanese Love Leveling”
In response to the Reddit thread, a survey of players was also conducted on a Japanese FFXIV blog with equally interesting results.
Of the total 1,764 surveyed players (as of March 21, 2018, 4:20 PM),
- 57.5% responded with “It’s fun”
- 28.1% responded with “It’s boring”
- 14.7% responded with “Neither”
The Japanese community seems to have received the content much better than their fellow players in the West.
According to the statement of the director and producer of FFXIV, Naoki Yoshida, in his book “Yoshida Uncensored,” the Japanese love leveling. And there is enough of that in Eureka.
A large part of the community has brought most of the available jobs to max level, representing a stark contrast to the European and American communities, where only a small percentage has multiple level 70 jobs.
Moreover, the fact that the Japanese community is better organized and farms in Eureka more efficiently than the Western players leads to less frustration.
Whether the Eureka content was actually primarily developed for the Japanese audience cannot be determined by this, however.
Overall, the community’s reaction seems to be rather positive.
If you have no idea how to get started with Eureka, check out our guide on it:
Final Fantasy XIV Eureka Farming Guide: How to Get the New Relic Weapon!
