Players in Final Fantasy XIV believe that the events have become worse

Those who finished Final Fantasy XIV can regularly look forward to new in-game events and playable items, mounts and outfits. Again and again the accusation occurs that the events in the MMORPG are worse today than before. Meinmmo editor Sophia Weiß can even prove this.

In Final Fantasy XIV, the cultural highlights of western and Japanese culture are celebrated with events over the real year. For example, there are events for Valentine’s Day, Easter or the relaunch of the MMORPG. If these temporarily limited quest series are completed, there are unique items, outfits, mounts and companions.

For a few years now, however, players have repeatedly complained that the events have become worse. In a Reddit thread, for example, players currently compare the events of 2014/2015 with those of 2024/2025. Also in the official forum of Final Fantasy XIV, players keep running their anger free.

I wondered if there was something about the concerns of the players and went into the data hell. Now I can say: Yes, the events have become worse and I have the data to prove it. But it doesn’t look quite as dark as one or the other paints.

From running quests and buff food

In order to get light into the dark data thicket and find out what really is about the quality of the events, I went through it with the help of the list of the Final Fantasy XIV Console Games Wiki. I have viewed specifically the same events since the relaunch:

In order to preserve the comparability, I have excluded the newer events and collaborations.

For the evaluation of quality, I divided the events into four different ways: quests, fates, events and dungeons. Open the menu to show the explanation.

Event species

Quests: The traditional running quests, in which one speaks to NPCs, sees cutscenes, has to perform Emotes and freely play small mini -games. This is the worst kind of event because you can usually not play them several times and player interactions are minimal. You can also do these events alone.

Fate: Some of the seasonal events require that you complete a fate-combat content, which can usually be done with friends and joy again and again.

Event: As an event, content is specially implemented for the celebration, such as the jump puzzles of the Feuermond-Siege or the labyrinth from the 2023 version of the Valenttion Day. Cooperation is often required here and interactions with other players are promoted.

Dungeon: In this category it falls when there are pour-area events in the game, such as the conversion of the Haukke-Herrenhaus for all-protected saints. Here you rage together with other players.

My second assessment basis is the rewards that can be free. I differentiated between items, companions, mounts, emotes and (glamor) outfits. For more details you can also show the explanation here.

Event rewards

Items: Items can be decorative items for the apartment or your own house, buff food or chocobo bridal stuff.

Companion: This means the minions that can be summoned and let go next to you.

Mounts: At some events, mounts could also be unlocked.

Emote: In the course of some quest rows, certain emotes had to be used to end the task and maintain the emote.

Outfit: The most sought -after rewards alongside mounts are the thematically suitable outfits such as Santa Claus costumes or swimwear.

With these framework conditions, I started comparing about 13 years of event history-from the relaunch with a realm Reborn to Dawntrail in 2025. I finally summarized the data on an extension basis: there were eight comparable events per year, with an update cycle of two years each there are 16 pieces per extension-with the exception of Shadowbringers and a realm reborn.

Only running quests for over 1.5 years

The events have not only changed in recent years, they also seem to be less complex. This is what the distribution of the event types has been reluctant:

Very few events were available in A Realm Reborn. The first event was the 2013 fire moon. Most events, on the other hand, were during Shadowbringers. Since the release of endwalker due to the Covid 19 pandemy, more events fall in the time frame of this extension.

The Wonderei Search 2023 was the last event with a fate. Including the Feuermond range in 2023, there were only running quests-these are successive celebrations until the release date of this article.

The rewards are on the other side. The path is the goal, accordingly important what you do during an event. At the same time, of course, you also want to have a great incentive to participate. This is what the distribution over the extensions looks like:

After the reward peak in Shadowbringers, the waste in Endwalker does not feel good. Dawntrail, on the other hand, is still too new to be evaluated.

So if you look at a realm reborn to endwalker, you can see that there were fewer outfits recently, but there are more qualitative rewards – like companions and Emotes.

Great rewards, deserved quickly

The players are not wrong with their feedback: since mid-2023 there have only been quest events-the most boring type of in-game celebrations. The players have the most fun with the things that can be done together.

A good event brings the players together and trumps with creative challenges. That is currently missing.

It is not known why the standard events are currently less complex. Presumably, jump puzzles, labyrinths and Co. need more developer power than i.e. with NPC X-quests. Exactly these tasks are incredibly boring in the long run and were recently a big criticism of the players of the Dawntrail main story.

More focus on cooperations instead of routine?

But there are also positive things to report: Square Enix seems to neglect the well-known events, but at the same time they fill the MMORPG calendar with more, more various and more fun adding events. Currently even more than before.

Since the end of 2023, for example since the standard events have been just quests, there has been the case-Guys collaboration. This is a large event in the in-game casino where obstacle courses have to be overcome.

After the release of Final Fantasy XVI, where Naoki Yoshida and parts of the Final Fantasy XIV team helped, they published their own crossover for the new game in the MMORPG. There was a companion, a mount and an outfit – if you managed to defeat a new version of IFrit.

In addition, the Mogmog collection tasks and the gold saucer festival or the repeatedly implemented final fantasy XV collaboration with a new Garuda fight start.

The regular events are currently being designed and are processed quickly – but also the developers for the players. In between there are always big, like to repeat repeating events that bring really nice combat content and rewards.

So it may well be that the focus of the developers was not on the regular festivities recently, but rather to get the collaborations on their feet. However, if you have completed the special events, you can usually not play them again. If the rewards remain the same, you have no incentive.

If Square Enix wants the players to continue to participate in their events and decrease the resentment among the subscribers, they will not be able to avoid more fates and special implementations. Since the team around Naoki Yoshida is known to consider and implement player feedback, the chances are not that bad.

A sticking point for the many regular events is that there are often decorative objects for in-game living space. Everyone can have an apartment, but outside decoration can only be used with one house. We’ll tell you exactly how you can get to a house here: I knitted the contested housing market in my favorite MMO with mind and math