For me the massive grinds have been killing the game. The time to fun ratio has been increasing with every patch and I don't want FFXIV to be the only game I play, which is what massive grinds create.
I'm also unhappy that Heavensward is exactly like ARR whereby you have to be in a static to progress. I realised in June that I can no longer commit to raiding on a schedule as it was affecting my personal life too much.
I've barely logged in since and have yet to complete the story. Turns out I've even been booted from my FC for inactivity. SE needs to bring something new to the table to regain my interest.
Look, seeing those 100+ days of inactivity next to member names makes people uncomfortably aware that there's nothing to do besides slam your dick in the AS door, and hope Airship Exploration isn't a massive failure.
So you sort of Streisand Effect it by kicking them and having the act show up in the log. lol
I don't blame them to be honest because inactives don't look good on the member list. I joined a hardcore raiding FC just before Heavensward with the intention of raiding with them. Shit happened in my personal life and I had to quit raiding before Alexander was released, meaning I never even got trialed. I hold nothing against them as they were quite understanding of my situation. They probably thought I'd quit playing when I hadn't logged in for a month.
I'm just unhappy with SE for being so lazy with Heavensward. ARR was fun but I wanted something fresh with the expansion and they didn't deliver. I can't actually quit the game however, the joys of running a FFXIV website. :D
Well my guild is part of a larger gaming community so sometimes people go play another game. We send them a PM or email when we kick usually and let them know they can come back of they're just gona altogether. We have a high retention rate with quitters in that regard.
The grind has been the biggest issue for me. leveling from 50-60 is not fun since its 2 fates zones and dungeon grind that takes 10x to level when compared to fates. Top off the fact that they added a grind to gathering and crafting and its meh... and then the savage wall is stupid when there is literally no middle ground (i.e., normal coil) and SE has effectively made Heavensgrind alienate 99% of the game population. Why SE thought that a 20% Coil completion ratio was too high and then made it savage exclusive makes no sense to me.
If it was the same old from ARR I would of been happy tbh, but so far they have done the same old but made everything worse
We're a smallish group and we kick people out after 100 days unless we've heard from em. We do make it clear if they come back to the game they're welcome to rejoin. Most do.