This isn't new or shocking. Content creators are not journalists, and therefore do not have a code of ethics that compel them to cover events with a journalistic standard.But it needs to be pointed out that many of the content creators covering #FFXIVHEALERSTRIKE are covering this in a way that completely distorts the substance of the strike. While they have very little incentive to change*, the community at large should be aware that not everything you hear from content creators are accurate or representative of events happening in the community.
These content creators are irresponsibly spreading patently false or inaccurate caricatures of the strike that suggest that most of them have not sincerely engaged with the criticisms made towards healing design. Many of the streamers streamed their reaction to the healer strike thread, and none of them have read more than one or two pages in that thread. Furthermore, I have not seen any one of them open the healer feedback megathread made four years ago, and yet they feel confident to tell their viewers that this strike is a kneejerk reaction to the 1T3D clear of the DT dungeon instead of a breaking point after 5 years of accumulated healer feedback and criticisms being ignored.
I will not be naming any content creator individually as I do not wish to encourage witch hunts, unlike many of the content creators themselves who show players' names and their FFLogs/Tomestone.gg while mocking regular players.
First, content creators who check people's logs or tomestone.gg and then dismissing the entire strike because they are not "real players" or that they are "bot players" who have "never done real content" are not only toxic but also promoting inaccurate caricatures, as many of the healers in the strike are Savage and Ultimate clearers. Moreover, the game isn't designed for only Savage and Ultimate raiders. In fact, the phenomenon that even players who don't do hard mode content are feeling that healing is now in such a bad state is proof that the class design does not work for players of all skill levels. As an aside, I believe content creators who look up people's logs or tomestone.gg, then using demeaning language like calling them "bot players" (no matter how many times they then claim that they're not trying to be toxic) should get an account penalty for stoking harassment.
Second, it is patently false to insinuate that this strike came out of nowhere in 2024. There are multiple threads in the healer subforums that express discontent over the state of healing, since ShB, such as this one: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...-healer-issues
Third, it is patently false to suggest that people are "drawing the line in the sand" simply because of the 1T3D dungeon run. If the content creators have even bothered reading the second page in that thread, people are quick to point out that the main point is that Dawntrail as an expansion seems to continue the theme of having unengaging healer gameplay in normal mode content based on what we can see from the Media Tour:
Originally Posted by Remember_The_Name
We are just hammering it home that Dawntrail will stay in line with the previous two as yet another terrible expansion for healers. And the fact that ZERO changes were made to help them.
This could change of course, but the development team hasn't always kept to their promises over the history of FF14, and so people are skeptical of any promises of enhanced encounter design.See AlsoThe Sealed Dagger: A Ninja Guide - Final Fantasy XIV DatabaseI technically broke damage cap? - Final Fantasy XIV Database
It being already possible in EW doesn't make it better. It makes it worse.
Fourth, it is patently false to suggest that dungeons were always so easy that you do not need a healer. 1T3D is not the norm in Stormblood, Heavensward, or ARR, though it is possible. On the other hand, it has become far easier to run 1T3D runs than ever before. Even casual players can easily do it now on all tanks except DRK.
Fifth, it is patently false to suggest that people in the healer strike are only focused on normal mode content. The healer feedback megathread explicitly states that healer gameplay has become unengaging in all levels of gameplay. That includes Savage and Ultimate. Most Savage and Ulti healers in the strike also agree that healer gameplay has become dull in high-level content: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...IVHEALERSTRIKE. It is easy to dismiss the 1T3D dungeon run, which is presumably why the content creators laser focus on that particular example. It is far harder to dispute how problematic healing design is when you can clearly see just how flat the gameplay is in high-level content.
Content creators in video gaming spouting all kinds of inaccurate, dismissive, and sometimes even toxic takes is not surprising. However, because many players who watch these content creators are not critically evaluating and thinking about these takes, we have reached a point where the community is flooded with players repeating these content creators' takes, making genuine discussion difficult. It is unfortunate that these content creators can unabashedly mock the strike, then insinuate that the healer strike wants more healing buttons when the very first post of the healer strike thread says that healing oGCDs are now too bloated, and we then subsequently have legions of players who hear that and join the discussion repeating those points without even reading the first post.
There have also been a few content creators who are stoking toxicity and harassment because of log-shaming. Even if you disagree with the rest of this post, I hope the community at least agrees that content creators should not publicly display someone's in-game name, look them up on FFLogs or tomestone.gg in a video or on stream, then make fun of them or dismissing their concerns based on this lookup. There are real consequences as people are being harassed in-game with /tell's.
*I do not think content creators want to farm outrage consciously. Rather, there is no demand for quality journalistic coverage, since it's a video game, not world politics. Therefore, there is also very little incentive for content creators to act like journalists, since that's a time-intensive effort.
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EDIT:
I wasn't going to name names but enough is enough.The people who started the "us vs them" thing are the content creators. Not people in the healer strike thread.
It's the whole "us vs them" thing, isn't it?
In this case "them" is everyone who doesn't believe the sky is on fire, mid earthquake, while the WiFi is down and someone's eaten the last ice-cream. Content creators just happen to fall under that.The whole strike started with some valid ideas, I think, but it's descended into a clown show. Now dancers have hacked their bank accounts and Mr. Happy stole their baby. It's probably all Yoshi-P's 4D chess master plan, because he hates the colour green.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TifoCT5OD3s&t=1018s
I QUOTE:
Did [Yoshi P] take it seriously? Did he read the forums? The black mage one, and then the healer strike problem. I am so happy that he didn't even give a f***. To him it's just like bro, shut the f*** up.
I QUOTE:
https://youtu.be/TifoCT5OD3s?si=3ULnsbdw9s5svkX6&t=996
The first thing I did, I went to this website called tomestone.gg, and then post his name, he has not done a single... he has not even done Asphodelos, he hasn't done a single Ultimate...
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2170924009?t=00h34m30s
I QUOTE:
See what I mean? This is exactly what I mean. These guys are bots. These guys are not really players. This guy think they are playing this game, but they are not.
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2170924009?t=00h38m14s
I QUOTE:
We are just saying right, the way you're playing the game, you are not really playing the game. You are just being put in the game... you are just a plus one. You are just being there because... you make up the game. You know what I mean? It's like it's like it's like it's like... the world. This NPC is there for a reason. You are like one of them. This is why we call you guys bots.
To be clear, this isn't the only content creator doing this. I will link more examples if I have the time.
Originally Posted by Remember_The_Name