While it is higher then XI. 500k subscribers back in 2003 is a lot better then 600-800k now. Still, have to say that 600k+ is good for a game that already failed once.
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how so? FFXI came out when the internet boom had just started and there were not nearly as many MMOs out as there are today. EVERY new MMO released struggles because people either stick to the established games with years of content OR they turn into MMO hoppers. 600k, especially for a game everyone claimed would be horrible until a week before the first wave of general beta invites (phase 2), is amazing. keep in mind we're talking about a game that had already have an extreeemly bad release and nobody expected it to recover from this except for a handful of playeres that never stopped trusting in SE.
so no, 600k in 2003 is indeed not a lot better than it is today. (and it didn't have the 600k in 2003, anyway)
Didn't SWTOR and RIFT started out with higher subs and went f2p? Seems like it's harder to retain customers these days since there's more competition. Also this game lacks fun end game content already that I'm not sure if it will be able to keep players playing for very long.
I'm sure that's what the other two mmo companies thought as well. Seems like these days everyone is hopping to the next big mmo so the numbers start out high but dwindle down when the next big one hits. That's why FFXI was way more impressive because it was at an era most ff fans didn't even give it a chance because it was an mmo.
600k is still big in this time. Most mmo's don't even breach 500k. FF14 has gained more subscribers than it's lost since launch. Most mmo's by now only lose active subscribers. WoW is an anomaly. Not the norm 500k only isn't impressive if it's normal for mmo's to have 500k or more. It isn't.
Still a little off; FF11 didn't break 500k until almost two years after launch, April of of 2004.
http://web.archive.org/web/200406072...vey/index.html
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While FF14 ARR's launch surpasses FF11's subscription gain both in speed and number, there were some pretty big differences in circumstances.
- FF14 AAR could draw from existing and past FF11 and FF14 customers, while FF11 had much less certain target market.
- FF11 was originally only released in Japan. (PS2 only wasn't an issue; there were nearly a PS2 in every Japanese household, not so much for PCs.) FF14 ARR, of course, hit Japan, Europe, and North America simultaneously at start.
Ahh me bad. Used the image on the first page... And read it a bit wrong, eyes not working as they should this early.Quote:
Still a little off; FF11 didn't break 500k until almost two years after launch, April of of 2004.
The extreme Primals that come out in a month are going to keep me satisfied at least until the holidays are over.
It's just my opinion, but I don't think this game will drop below 600k subs within the next 6 months.
Wow who will I play with if it drops below 250k subs ?