1 million subscribers

[Alhanelem]

As of right now the official word is that all 3 games have 1 million subs combined (which is very generous given the company is using old figures), they would not of used old numbers when trying to speak to share holders if they had ballooned since then.

You say this as if you think they're trying to mask lower numbers but in fact they implied the number has increased given the change from "nearly 1 million" to "over 1 million".

[Pixela]

You say this as if you think they're trying to mask lower numbers but in fact they implied the number has increased given the change from "nearly 1 million" to "over 1 million".

Well the important part is that it's around 1 million combined, whether they are trying to hide lower numbers or not is another matter really. It is still fishy that a CEO would talk to the media and share holders and use figures from last march when he has no real need to do so (there is no way in hell that he could not get more recent figures), the reason he did so it up for personal opinion.

It's possible the over 1 million is adding on the chinese release numbers (from what I gather XIV flopped pretty badly in China) to give a total but we don't really know for sure other than currently it's around 1 million for everything.

As I stated before though the real thing to take away from this in regards to FFXI is that it's still important and still brings in a large share of their monthly revenue. Many have the mindset that XIV is a juggernaut and XI doesn't really matter anymore, this pretty much stomps on that idea and shows why XI is still incredibly relevent to the company.

[Alhanelem]

I doubt that he would use figures that haven't been officially released in a financial report that isn't due out for another 2 months.

[Pixela]

I doubt that he would use figures that haven't been officially released in a financial report that isn't due out for another 2 months.

Why? If the reality was 3 or 4 million he would of cleared it and used those figures, you act like it's hard to get current figures for the CEO of a company talking to share holders at a very important time. This is the CEO addressing a very important crowd, if the company had significantly higher numbers he would of used them. If they were greatly better than last March there is no way he would of not used them or given far better numbers (even with the SE norm of being vague).

You may not like the numbers but they are what they are, all their titles together have around 1 million paying users as of last week.

[Alhanelem]

Why? If the reality was 3 or 4 million he would of cleared it and used those figures,

Why? because if a new financial report is due out soon, it would make a lot more sense to wait for that to be released to make any sort of announcements or proclamations regardless of what the numbers are.

[Kimble]

Hmm IDK, FFXIV's main page a few months back advertised having more than 2.4 million subs. So I'd like to think FFXIV was a little higher.

I believe FFXIV has been off and on with subs. I, myself, subbed every month. After beta on PS3 and moving to PS4, I subbed every month when they began subs (about September or October 2013) until I stopped in December 2014 in favor of FFXI again.

Many people in chat on FFXI also mentioned how they let their FFXIV subs expire.

[Pixela]

Why? because if a new financial report is due out soon, it would make a lot more sense to wait for that to be released to make any sort of announcements or proclamations regardless of what the numbers are.

The statement the CEO made last week was at the end of year financial report to the people he answers to, the shareholders and keep in mind that the current guy recently took over because the last one failed.

If the figures were higher he would of stated them at this point and it's frankly stupid that you are arguing he wouldn't just because they want to hold the numbers back for the official report. There is no way in hell he would of not painted the best possible picture he could at this event, if that required him giving paying users numbers a little early he would of done it.

This was not a press release only, it was an end of year announcement to the shareholders at a time when the company was reeling from massive losses that lead to the last CEO quitting in disgrace.

[PlumbGame]

I believe FFXIV has been off and on with subs. I, myself, subbed every month. After beta on PS3 and moving to PS4, I subbed every month when they began subs (about September or October 2013) until I stopped in December 2014 in favor of FFXI again.

Many people in chat on FFXI also mentioned how they let their FFXIV subs expire.

I no longer play FFXIV either, and the last time I did, there did seem to be a lot less pop than normal.

[Alhanelem]

If the figures were higher he would of stated them at this point and it's frankly stupid that you are arguing he wouldn't just because they want to hold the numbers back for the official report.

I dont think he would be holding anything back, because as we've noted, they have a financial report coming up in two months (as stated for the 328479324th time. It is unlikely that report is actually already completed, and therefore unlikely that the numbers he is using in the quotation are very recent.

I no longer play FFXIV either, and the last time I did, there did seem to be a lot less pop than normal.

There isn't less pop but more people stacking on the most populated servers- there are many that are currently at official capacity and are locked down to CC at most hours of the day (you have to make a character early in the morning to get on). Even though these servers are technically over capacity as a result, you have this syndrome of everyone wanting to be on the most populous server even though 1) that's not necessary for a good game experience and 2) too many people on a server is not always a good thing. The Duty Finder system in XIV enables players to get their boss fights etc. done regardless of their own server's population.

Also it is very common, especially with power gamers, to play the crap out of a game when a new patch comes out, and if they conquer everything there is to conquer before the next patch comes out, they gradually play less. It happens here too, and it happens in every big MMO, thus you see higher pops when a patch is new and lower pops late into the patch before the next one comes out. The only bad thing that can say is that it's taking them longer than optimal to release patches (but they're only human and can only work so fast)

I currently have active subscriptions to both games and often am playing one during downtime in the other.

[Pixela]

I dont think he would be holding anything back, because as we've noted, they have a financial report coming up in two months (as stated for the 328479324th time. It is unlikely that report is actually already completed, and therefore unlikely that the numbers he is using in the quotation are very recent.

There isn't less pop but more people stacking on the most populated servers- there are many that are currently at official capacity and are locked down to CC at most hours of the day (you have to make a character early in the morning to get on). Even though these servers are technically over capacity as a result, you have this syndrome of everyone wanting to be on the most populous server even though 1) that's not necessary for a good game experience and 2) too many people on a server is not always a good thing. The Duty Finder system in XIV enables players to get their boss fights etc. done regardless of their own server's population.

Also it is very common, especially with power gamers, to play the crap out of a game when a new patch comes out, and if they conquer everything there is to conquer before the next patch comes out, they gradually play less. It happens here too, and it happens in every big MMO, thus you see higher pops when a patch is new and lower pops late into the patch before the next one comes out. The only bad thing that can say is that it's taking them longer than optimal to release patches (but they're only human and can only work so fast)

I currently have active subscriptions to both games and often am playing one during downtime in the other.

They don't have vastly more players now than they did in March, the CEO does not need a financial report to be finalised to be able to know how many paying players they have lol These are numbers he can work out within days at any time if he gives the order for them to be calculated. He gave the numbers he did out of choice.

It's kinda silly to assume an mmo would have more players now than it did last march honestly anyway, that's not how these games work. Even if it makes people feel better to think it is, it's just not reality.