In your opinion, what causes most “bounce offs”?

A weak endgame and ARR for most people i tried to get into the game.

Some of my friends have left and don't intend to return until there is rewarding and engaging 4 man savage content
More than what the variant dungeons currently offer and more similar to mythic dungeons from wow

and of course the drag that arr is

I originally planned to move over to FFXIV with a small guild I'd been part of for years through Everquest, FFXI and WoW.

In the end I was the only one that stuck through the betas and carried on into live. Everyone else mainly cited either dull overly simplistic jobs or the slow GCD and combat pacing as reasons for not enjoying it.

1. ARR is still a slog.
2. Playing through ten years of MSQ takes forever even if you're enjoying it, and it's not really something you can experience with your max level friends beyond them helping you with a dungeon here and there.
3. Combat is slow and boring until way down the line.
4. ERP weirdos.

I haven't heard of it myself but the current DC travel issues probably aren't helping either. If I were a newer player these days and saw PF was totally dead except for ERP clubs I'd probably quit.

The MSQ was a big hurdle for me as a new player. I couldn't play with friends because they would be ahead of me or because I'd have to do a solo duty. Dungeons were a high point because I could run them with other people, but they seemed few and far between compared to story quests.

ARR also wasn't that interesting to me and in addition low level classes felt simple. I didn't find gameplay very engaging until I took my first class to level 60 in PoTD, which was the cap at the time. The complexity of max level jobs was preferable to the simplicity of low levels even as a novice player, that's not a universal opinion but it is something that I occasionally hear recent new players echo.

MMOs are just not for everyone. Enthusiastic as you may be about trying to get a friend to play, always remember that it just might not be their thing. Shouldn't diminish your enjoyment of the game though,

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Originally Posted by SargeTheSeagull

All of us have heard stories about people who tried 14 and just couldn’t get into it. Or even some people who’ve tried multiple times and just “bounced off” the game. In your opinion, what’s the main culprit of this? And what could be done to address it?

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its different for everyone tbh and none of us can ever guess. if youcome from wow, youre already likley to dislike the combat, especially healing. this alone will cause dropoff

I imagine one of the biggest turn offs for new players is the length of the MSQ and most of ARR is kind of a slog. I wonder what's the average time it takes for a new player to reach from the start to Heavensward?

I almost quit due to our wonderful community, actually, before they reworked Castrum and Praetorium. I was a wide-eyed Sprout and I got constantly left behind and told off because I didn't know how to speedrun the dungeons and I made the mistake of queuing into them as a healer. I saw multiple cases of horrible abuse being hurled at newbie tanks there, too. And sure, I reported them but that doesn't make the Sprouts un-quit the game.

I actually enjoyed the MSQ and dreaded endgame. I was, unfortunately, correct. There just isn't much content at endgame that I would find fun.

Another issue is solo instances, I have a family member who can’t use one hand and some of the solo instances, they just can’t do. I’m not sure if a GM can skip them through but thankfully I can do those for them. Otherwise, they would have to quit because remote friends can’t help.

For the solo instances, they should have: normal, easy, very easy, watch the cutscene

If they want Dawntrail to be succesful in grabbing new players, then new accounts should come with a Story and Job Skip potion. Then on login recommend these players that New Game + is available to do the story to catch up on some of the recurring characters they will meet. I'd also limit the amount recurring characters show up for a time in the main story.

With the end of 7.X story, the major story line has ended and this is their best time to grab new players without them having to slog through 10 years of content just to play the new story arc. They wont do this however and people will srill be forced to pay extra just to play with their friends.

As for Story Skip / Job Skip and Race Change potions themselves, as a developer I would not launch these at the same time as the expansion, but rather one week prior. New Race and ability to max out story and job if you choose to buy these should be available earlier so it reduces the load on launch day so people aren't relogging several times a day. When the new expansion comes out, people who have not logged out naked in an inn room will need to join a massive queue to take the required potion for race swap or just take the story / level potion, then log out and rejoin the massive queue. If doing more than one at a time that's several long queues. As a developer I would want these lads out of the queue asap so do it a week earlier.

This also gives them the financial advantage of people subbing a week prior, giving them only 3 weeks with the new expansion likely drawing out an extra month from people. It's a win win.

Broadly speaking, I would guess that a new player needs at least one of the following to not bounce off:

• A friend who is also playing the game.
• A nostalgia for the Final Fantasy series and its monsters, spells, classes, etc.
• A void in your life that you're hoping to fill.
• You want to play a console MMO that doesn't use crosshairs.

But if you're playing alone, can take or leave Final Fantasy, and just want to play a good game, I imagine it's easy to bounce off of ARR. The story is paint by numbers "good fights bad", the characters are shallow if not obnoxious, and the world-building is convoluted if not alienating. Due to a decade of reworks, the gameplay for most classes doesn't take off until after ARR. So there's a lot to potentially rub players the wrong way before you get to the places where the story and gameplay and world start to feel more rich and rewarding.

Anything can be fun with a friend. If you love Final Fantasy games, just seeing a Tonberry or a Morbol can tickle a part of your brain, as can casting a Fire spell while wearing that pointy hat. And for me, I only game on consoles, and with my arthritis FF14 is the only console MMO I've found that has a control scheme that is conducive to my physical needs. These were all great reasons to keep playing in spite of aspects of the game I found sub-par....and eventually I was rewarded with Shadowbringers.

And I'm sure there are other reasons to stay too, ones that I haven't identified or are more personal and subjective. But that's what I can add to the idea scape.