PS2
Are we currently in a rut, or is there a chance for fresh ideas to emerge again?
Yes, and the problem is low standards. AAA games have resources, but no creativity. Indie games have creativity but no resources.
Back in the PS2 era, AAA games had resources and creators were making decisions instead of the people who went to business school.







There’s also just playing on community servers or hosting you own.
I’m not sure if it’s been figured out how to do that for FFXIV yet, but there are others.
You can try the 2009scape single player mode, join the official server, or host it yourself.