The Great FFXIV Exodus of 2024

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Originally Posted by Kohashi

2024 was a great year that saw the release of many awesome games.

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The year the game awards had to add a DLC into the mix because they ran out of good games to nominate would tell me otherwise.

I was a WOW refugee, having quit during Shadowlands, and one of the people in the original quote. My post was taken a little bit out of context, since it was in the context of being able to say goodbye to a prominent forum member before I lapsed.

https://i.postimg.cc/hhKLH6BX/Screen...-Firefox-1.png

I did make a longer post on a different thread that explained why I was leaving. Hopefully for good, because I've been coming back trying to relive something that will never happen again for the last two years now. I have already uninstalled the game, having come back four weeks ago in complete earnest. I even got the Stormblood art book and Yotsuyu minion.

I really did love this game, but now it's literally breaking, it's a hardware issue that was present in the benchmark with black squares in the sky, and I don't have the money to upgrade. My FC has been quite active, but the culture has completely shifted within it to be in parity with the wider community of modbeasts and Second Lifers. Their choice, whatever... It's been a very painful realisation to know that I'll never get back what we had. With those combined, along with also noticing that I was just logging in for beast tribes, I just had to accept that the game isn't for me anymore. I just find it difficult to let it go entirely.

The positive about it is that I've gone back to WOW, and thanks to levelling White Mage a little bit, I've discovered I actually like Holy Priest a lot AND THEY FINALLY FIXED NIGHTBORNE!

As one of the people that have been quoted by the OP i just cancelled my sub so it will not renew in 55 days (had renewed it for 3 months because a couple of friends wanted me to play with them). I had been playing since 1.0 closed Beta with very little to complain about until Dawntrail came out. Since they're deciding to continue with throwing Wuk Lamat in our face and the horrible writing of thr story, I will not be staying. Especially since Yoshi P is really acting like another Tanaka.

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Originally Posted by Greyhawk

I don't believe that we, as players have an accurate capability of doing so. Honestly, SE gives us access to what we can access. Populations, congestion, etc are all part of their statistics that they don't let out of the box unless it's to boast in a Live Letter, or interview from another gaming information media source. We can try and count on our fingers all day long, some people look at Steam numbers and believe it's the most accurate thing which it's not, Lucky's information, which it's not, you name it - we just don't know unless they allow us to be informed. And, they don't have to outside of what they are doing now.

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Problem is statistics about population, congestion, etc.. don't tell anything about how people feel about the game.

The thing about steam numbers is that statistically, it's good enough to be representative. Then all of those hints we can get, being steam numbers or any of the points I mentionned, might not be enough by themselves, but when you take them together they paint a tendancy you connot just ignore. Your whole argument feel like a situation where the soil is muddy, everything is drenched, it smells like it just rained and the sky is still grey, and yet some people say "yeah, we were not there, so we can't say it rained". That's technically right, but the most probable explanation is that it rained.

To me, there hasn't been an exodus yet, but it's still something that can happens if the reaction to complaints continue to be delayed. I feel like were at a stage were the dam is leaking, but hasn't broken yet. And the only reason it hasn't leaked yet is the attachment people got to game. For a lot of us, it's several years of our life, so it's hard to just turn back and leave. MMO are a special kind of game.

We can't just go play other video games and then come back later, can we?

Also, there is grass outside, and air.

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Originally Posted by Sharkie

My post was taken a little bit out of context, since it was in the context of being able to say goodbye to a prominent forum member before I lapsed.

I did make a longer post on a different thread that explained why I was leaving.

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I have replaced the quote so it links to your more detailed post now. In the interest of keeping the opening post somewhat readable I unfortunately had to keep the quotes short but I'll happily make changes if anyone feels like they've been misrepresented. I'd also encourage people to read the stories and context of the linked posts because they are quite interesting.

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Originally Posted by Greyhawk

I don't believe that we, as players have an accurate capability of doing so. Honestly, SE gives us access to what we can access. Populations, congestion, etc are all part of their statistics that they don't let out of the box unless it's to boast in a Live Letter, or interview from another gaming information media source. We can try and count on our fingers all day long, some people look at Steam numbers and believe it's the most accurate thing which it's not, Lucky's information, which it's not, you name it - we just don't know unless they allow us to be informed. And, they don't have to outside of what they are doing now.

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Agreed. Only SE has the full picture. At most we can try to pick on the community's general sentiment.

That requires some work due to you having to try and peek into the general sentiment of groups you are not part of.

Just bc the people I play with are happy or neutral doesn't mean everyone else is happy or neutral. There is some very valid discontentment but time will tell how that will reflect on player count.

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Originally Posted by Sharkie

I was a WOW refugee, having quit during Shadowlands, and one of the people in the original quote. My post was taken a little bit out of context, since it was in the context of being able to say goodbye to a prominent forum member before I lapsed.

https://i.postimg.cc/hhKLH6BX/Screen...-Firefox-1.png

I did make a longer post on a different thread that explained why I was leaving. Hopefully for good, because I've been coming back trying to relive something that will never happen again for the last two years now. I have already uninstalled the game, having come back four weeks ago in complete earnest. I even got the Stormblood art book and Yotsuyu minion.

I really did love this game, but now it's literally breaking, it's a hardware issue that was present in the benchmark with black squares in the sky, and I don't have the money to upgrade. My FC has been quite active, but the culture has completely shifted within it to be in parity with the wider community of modbeasts and Second Lifers. Their choice, whatever... It's been a very painful realisation to know that I'll never get back what we had. With those combined, along with also noticing that I was just logging in for beast tribes, I just had to accept that the game isn't for me anymore. I just find it difficult to let it go entirely.

The positive about it is that I've gone back to WOW, and thanks to levelling White Mage a little bit, I've discovered I actually like Holy Priest a lot AND THEY FINALLY FIXED NIGHTBORNE!

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Yeah this is more understandable, especially in terms of hardware. I know my FPS has went from 70 to dipping down around 40 ever since the graphical update.

Have fun in warcraft.

Not sure if I count, but I left at 6.5 because 7.0 looked like it was going to be more of the same in a rough direction I thought kept scraping 'good enough'. I tried WoW for a bit, liked it, subbed, thought to see how FFXIV was doing since there were some systems and concepts I was missing, and am now at the point I'm not sure which I'd like to carry forward. My heart twains for FFXIV, but when I play it I feel a bit like the game doesn't maintain the same magic. I have used breaks in the past to help with that, and I have played for a long time, but I have some things that I particularly point out as not helping 'experience' the game. Like roleplay.

Primarily WoW makes me concerned due to FOMO they like to use, which I greatly appreciate SE does not. But I am also enjoying a much richer RPG (strong R) experience, where in FFXIV its narrative driven sure but I don't really feel like it's an /R/ PG. A feeling that has grown over time, for a long time, and honestly each patch I watch happen over here the more I feel it gets worse even though they've made comments that make it seem like they heard players (but from appearances seems like "heard you, don't care, but I did hear you" lol). Things to like more or less about both, like I think FFXIV boss fight visuals, music, and mechanics tend to be done better, but I also feel like I'm slowly being put into FFXIII corridors of content.

The thing that drew my attention to WoW recently was that the devs made note that they're going to do better respecting player's choice / and time, while also adding one of my most beloved MMO features (in a sense) via the Warband. If they continue to empower the warband, oh man... Like as an aside example I wouldn't say that dragonflight is BETTER than GW2 flight, but I would say its pretty good and the races are still quite fun (I'm partial to the mastery options earnable in GW2 that are really cool).. like they copied interesting elements and made it their own. Meanwhile I'd point at Island Sanctuary and say it was our Garrison; however, I look at WoW's Garrison (which I've played recently, not when it had more issues new) and I have to say the Garrison is WAY MORE FUN. Like, massively. Sure maybe that one was quite problematic at launch, and Island Sanctuary caused less problems at launch. So like you look at our Squadrons, WoW has had Squadrons in multiple expansions, and in terms of mission boards is quite a bit more interesting. More recently they had follower dungeons, and those guys are substantially more impactful and AI intelligent.. Like I decimated dungeons on my own, while in Trusts I watch paint dry. When SE does something outside of it's core (music, graphics, boss fights, MSQ for the most part*) they seem to really aim for 'good enough' and not 'good'. I * MSQ because while I think FFXIV MSQ tends to be better, some of the story cinematic I've seen in WoW are pretty cool so.. They're just far more rare lol.

I think the thing that makes me sad / worried for FFXIV is I feel WoW has a path "forward" like they're improving, growing, striving, they certainly are looking at other MMOs and picking up choice items again (which is fantastic for them, the mount systems are fun)- and in FFXIV.. it feels quiet.

I would note that they still maintain the things done well, pretty dungeons / bosses, music, but... when you release Island Sanctuary and the most gamed system is an excel, or you can't make an interesting normal job (because that wouldn't be homogenized enough) that you have to make them separate, or the housing and glamour issues are still present years upon years later.. its doesn't leave one to feel very dreamy. The future doesn't feel limitless for FFXIV, like there isn't light at the end of the tunnel (but at the /moment/ I'm feeling there is for WoW). I feel the future isn't horrible, but it is extremely predictable. Like I could go mentally play FFXIV's future without actually having to buy a time watch.

I obviously, from a forum perspective, am quite perturbed on their Roleplay ability, since I'm very much a play and experience kind of person (like our open worlds are really bad compared to WoW, in terms of content and just "vibin'", and GW2 does great in that aspect too but they're far more open world focused where WoW is more a horizontal comparison), but.. if I had to put it another way. It feels like the programmers made the kit for the dev team and then left, and show up for minor DLC additions. Like in EW you got the companion follow system which was cool, but that's one system lol. I have to imagine when the quest designer gets to making quests they have all these cool ideas that get put into 'location' and 'story' but when it comes to gameplay they're given 5 permutations of possibilities total. So you just get the same quests time and time again.

They muster up for very specific contents, but they don't put it into the soul of the game, they put it into the limbs (exploratory content, deep dungeon, variant, limited jobs, etc).. SE is afraid to let limbs touch the core, where you were getting gear and cool items from WoW squadron missions in FFXIV they're "I can give you some FC buffs I guess". Where FFXIV says you can't dodge damage as a mage, unless you're limited, WoW just gives that to the mage (which no other job can do). The hunter gets hunter pet stuff cause they can, while SE is preparing to make that side content. So you're left with like a vanilla ice cream cone with vanilla ice cream with a vanilla flavored spoon and sometimes in certain corners of the game you get to put sprinkles on but when you're in those corners its the same sprinkles every time. "This is the oreo sprinkle bar", and that bar never talks to another. So you're vanilla ice cream and one other thing, ever and only.

Or because I love bad examples, as I described before taking the break- it feels like SE is making a stainless steel kitchen with stainless steel floors, walls, ceilings, and objects, you lose context even if technically everything has a purpose, I'm going texture blind over here lol. I want to note that doesn't mean I think they're lack of intelligence or something, it all takes a lot of skill to make these games.. just describing how it feels to engage the game (and I'm sure some of it is due to familiarity with the game, but I want to argue it's not entirely due to that).

I think its a bit hyperbolic, but hopefully explains the 'feeling'. I don't think the game will die, but I feel less shiny about it each time I play and currently I'm feeling more and more shiny about WoW even though I'm really worried they're going to be the toxic relationship and going to hit me with a bunch of FOMO garbage lol.

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Originally Posted by Sharkie

I was a WOW refugee, having quit during Shadowlands, and one of the people in the original quote. My post was taken a little bit out of context, since it was in the context of being able to say goodbye to a prominent forum member before I lapsed.

https://i.postimg.cc/hhKLH6BX/Screen...-Firefox-1.png

I did make a longer post on a different thread that explained why I was leaving. Hopefully for good, because I've been coming back trying to relive something that will never happen again for the last two years now. I have already uninstalled the game, having come back four weeks ago in complete earnest. I even got the Stormblood art book and Yotsuyu minion.

I really did love this game, but now it's literally breaking, it's a hardware issue that was present in the benchmark with black squares in the sky, and I don't have the money to upgrade. My FC has been quite active, but the culture has completely shifted within it to be in parity with the wider community of modbeasts and Second Lifers. Their choice, whatever... It's been a very painful realisation to know that I'll never get back what we had. With those combined, along with also noticing that I was just logging in for beast tribes, I just had to accept that the game isn't for me anymore. I just find it difficult to let it go entirely.

The positive about it is that I've gone back to WOW, and thanks to levelling White Mage a little bit, I've discovered I actually like Holy Priest a lot AND THEY FINALLY FIXED NIGHTBORNE!

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Hardware issues absolutely suck. Sorry to hear about the changes in the communities you're part of. I personally never saw the appeal in second living and mod beasts and yeah the way patches have been structured it leaves people feeling left out if you aren't interested in wtv content is meant to be the main thing.

Maybe we'll bump into each other in another game. See you around. :)

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Originally Posted by Reinha

I have replaced the quote so it links to your more detailed post now. In the interest of keeping the opening post somewhat readable I unfortunately had to keep the quotes short but I'll happily make changes if anyone feels like they've been misrepresented. I'd also encourage people to read the stories and context of the linked posts because they are quite interesting.

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No problem, thanks very much.

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Originally Posted by Chasingstars

Yeah this is more understandable, especially in terms of hardware. I know my FPS has went from 70 to dipping down around 40 ever since the graphical update.

Have fun in warcraft.

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I have a Ryzen 5 1600 and GTX 1070 with 16GB of RAM. I'm also on 3440*1440 ultrawide - the actual in-game performance for me was fine, even at that resolution, though the benchmark was plagued by flashing black squares.

Thanks. The 20th anniversary brought back the Night Elf Mohawk, so it's all been worth it.

While I don't think the mobile game is taking dev time away from XIV proper because it's 100% outsourced to a Tencent studio, it is almost certainly being funded with our sub money; and the fact that SE would rather use that money to try (and probably fail yet again) to tap into a mobile audience that may or may not exist than improve their game that does actually have an audience who want to play it is disappointing to say the least.

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Originally Posted by BigCheez

While I don't think the mobile game is taking dev time away from XIV proper because it's 100% outsourced to a Tencent studio, it is almost certainly being funded with our sub money; and the fact that SE would rather use that money to try (and probably fail yet again) to tap into a mobile audience that may or may not exist than improve their game that does actually have an audience who want to play it is disappointing to say the least.

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The biggest issue isn't so much devs being removed to deal with the mobile port, it is that the mobile port has been influencing game design decisions in FFXIV for the past while. Dont believe me? There is a post in a different thread that describes this:

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...825&height=321

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Originally Posted by Aidorouge

After the mobile version announcement, I might join the exodus myself, as that was all the proof I needed that Final Fantasy 14 (PC) is never going to actually improve.

That was where all the time, money, and resources for the PC version was going apparently, that's why we got the 7.x patch series we have so far (though some would say they were getting anemic before then). *THAT* was apparently where all my subscription fees and cash shop purchases were going and I'm finally fed up with this loathsome lack of priorities and general lack of quality with THE MAIN GODDAMN GAME.

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I'm going to quote Daeriion from another thread because this is a very common misconception on how mobile games work with existing IPs

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Originally Posted by Daeriion_Aeradiir

SE itself isn't developing it, Lightspeed is, none of our money is realistically going into this version.
Speaking from experience working in the industry, more than likely Lightspeed sees opportunity to get some major $$$ off a mobile version of FF14, they approached Square for licensing deal, Square approved it, now Square either got paid a handsome sum for the deal, or they'll collect some royalties the mobile port makes. Or both. Either way, Square is/just made a ton of money for doing basically zero work. From the time I worked at Ubisoft, we had plenty of mobile game studios pitching mobile game ideas that involved some of Ubisoft's bigger IPs for licensing deals.

Either way, this is effectively entirely disconnected from actual FF14 in any development sense. If anything, it might even benefit FF14's development, if Lightspeed adds features/QoL that become extremely popular that could be translated to the main game, putting pressure on the main devs to implement them.

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To put it simply, this is a licensing opportunity for LightSpeed and a marketing benefit for SE, nothing more. Our sub fees aren't funding it nor does it have any impact on Dawntrail's current patch lulls. Heck, we saw this exact same drought during Endwalker and even Shadowbringers, albeit to a lesser extent in the latter's case. The lackluster patch cycles are entirely due to the dev teams refusal to expediate content, partially attributed to the belief it will "overwhelm" players. While I do genuinely believe that's a part of it. The other reason is extending patch content keeps people subscribed. Maybe not those on this forum but the general masses afraid they'll miss the initial rush. Don't get me wrong though. I hate it as much as you and most others on this forum but that doesn't change their logic. Whether it's flawed or simply disappointingly pragmatic is up for debate.

A thread on the discussion reddit made an apt comparison; saying FFXIV is essentially McDonalds. It's easy junk food that the general mass eats knowing it's not great but still satisfying enough. That's the target demographic XIV cares about. And it's undeniably profitable. After all, McDonalds has the highest mark up of any fast food chain in the world; more than four times than inflation standard. And yet, people are still going. Heck, they've even reported the first major loss of customers not unlike XIV losing interest. Evidently, it's not enough for anyone to care because nothing has changed.

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Originally Posted by ZavosEsperian

The biggest issue isn't so much devs being removed to deal with the mobile port, it is that the mobile port has been influencing game design decisions in FFXIV for the past while. Dont believe me? There is a post in a different thread that describes this:

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...825&height=321

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From my reading I'm not 100% sold there are not other interpretations of that, but overall if it is taken in the most negative and decently likely way... that they nerfed gameplay to make it work on mobile.. gross lol.


I'm not sure what I'm going to do with FFXIV in the immediate term, its almost like a close friend / family member due to time spent lol, and the journey from being a 1.0 player has been really cool.. but if they ruin the roleplay* further in 8.0 I'm just 100% out. A) Means they definitely "heard" and didn't care, and B) We're already substantially worse than other MMOs on that element, and we were already on my last straws in terms of thinness.


*(class identity, gameplay roleplay, not balmung eRP roleplay)

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Originally Posted by Aidorouge

Lesson learned I guess, you just can't trust Square-Enix with any service-based game because they'll always find a way to get spit into the food.

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Have you not been paying attention to what SE has been doing in the past... I'd say decade at the very least?

Like the whole premise of the final fantasy franchise was that square messed up so bad that they were about to go bust. They have always lived in this weird cycle of hitting it big and then pissing it all to the wind until they almost go broke again and then somehow get something that makes them money again.

The suits have always overpriced their merch. The gachas have mostly failed bc they don't understand the concept of cheaper more consistent paid packs over the ridiculously expensive stuff and all the questionable decisions that include: following fads when it's way too late (I'm looking at you 16 and your wanna be global release which has an ONE YEAR GAP and you didnt even optimize well for pc); betting on stuff that never went anywhere, promoting good devs into management roles and keeping them there when they are obviously bad at the management side of things, chasing the mobile market moneis and that's all I can think of atm.

SE is greedy and their suits are way too much into gambling which so far has not paid off. Even worse they are doing a Blizzard and are too proud or naive to think they won't hit rock bottom like Blizzard did.

I feel like 14 only did well because yoship had to do a spacex and block the suits from meddling into gameplay decisions. I think he threw the mogstation at them and let them chew on it.

The vibe I get from DT is that there is an absence of proper quality control. Heck even the sound department which is amazing is letting stuff go through which is making me raise my eyebrow. Why is the shake emote so loud. Why are we missing oomph from quite a lot of new skills?

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Originally Posted by ZavosEsperian

The biggest issue isn't so much devs being removed to deal with the mobile port, it is that the mobile port has been influencing game design decisions in FFXIV for the past while. Dont believe me? There is a post in a different thread that describes this:

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...825&height=321

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My understanding of this is that YoshiP is talking about the mobile game and purely the mobile game. They of course have to tweak mechanics to fit it, but I don't think it has an affect on the retail game. I don't want to say it, but I think you're reading into it too much.

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Originally Posted by Aidorouge

THEN. WHERE. ARE. THEY. AND. WHAT. ARE. THEY. DOING. WITH. THEIR. TIME. INSTEAD?

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You can call me cope, but I stated this elsewhere that YoshiP is running a ship that cares a lot for the welfare of the development team. If this was any other company they would have shifted timelines and schedules to fit the needs of the userbase (ie. push up the release schedule of the exploration zone), but they opted not to. Between the team constantly having to recode the game to make sure they have space for new systems and not break existing systems (dependencies of dependencies, ad infinitum) and making the actual new content, talking to a lot of my game developer friends and my own experience with production (in the advertising industry), the timelines kind of add up.

You trade a "happy" player base for "miserable" devs and a rushed realease or a bit of the playerbase for "happy" devs and a quality release. Another cope is I prefer the latter over the former. I'm burnt out as heck from constantly having to shift gears and rush things out, and the quality what comes out suffers too (some things that would better be served with handcrafted assets are just chucked into Canva to save time). It just comes down to once the content is here what is the quality of it, then I would say it is a fair time to judge.

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Originally Posted by ZavosEsperian

The biggest issue isn't so much devs being removed to deal with the mobile port, it is that the mobile port has been influencing game design decisions in FFXIV for the past while. Dont believe me? There is a post in a different thread that describes this:

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...825&height=321

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To me, this reads that the mobile version of the game needed to be simplified so that it could be enjoyed more casually in a shorter period of time; and Yoshi-P oversaw that process (he almost certainly did not).

I guess it's open to interpretation though.

The vast majority of gaming is going through a rough time right now. If you check FFXIV's competitors, none of them are doing any better. Every gaming and tech company is going through catastrophic job losses and decline in profits. That's not to say that FFXIV is worth a subscription (it's not), but the grass won't be greener on the other side. It's rare to find a live-service game that's actually doing better now than it was last year. Online gaming wasn't a transformational change, it was a brief fad. When end of service comes, we're all going to have touch grass, go to the bar and "rizz". It's unfortunate, but we don't run our society, the companies do, and they alone decide when to pull the plug. Yoshi-P has made his decision and we have no choice but to deal with it.

It's the game dead? well in terms of actually playing FFXIV and doing content yup, long queues for everything, trials, dungeons w.e even at peak hours or weekends.

The player base that keeps numbers high and queues for logging at any hour are the ones involved in RP/Mare/Venues, people who are in the game but don't do anything besides hard modding and dragging people in to it.

A lot of people I know have unsubbed from the game, I'm pretty much back to playing this game solo.

One of the people quoted, and here's my take.
What I know:
(1) Steam numbers show a decline.
(2) The 30 million number is total accounts created, not active subs. Maybe alts too?
(3) A lot of people left in FC, friends list, and discords. Also content creators I follow, which probably influences others.
(4) Reddit, the Forums, Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube sentiment seems to be negative as of the past year and a half.

Background: my forum start date is different but I technically started at the beginning of Stormblood. Note, I have done a bit of research into the past patches and forum(s) sentiments.

That said, I am an MMO player first, and I have seen the game remove RPG elements and focus less on general battle content which is what I play the game for. Gearing sucks, idk what else to say about it. I hate dailies, and how all of the content is instanced, hallways, or one off fights. I know it's a topic now, but I have been saying for years that the game was starting to feel like a mobile game. Hunts and fates are mind numbing and hunt trains are just one taps. Gold Saucer is cool once in a while, but I could absolutely care less about island sanctuary. I like Blue Mage stuff and wish there was more to do with it, and wish the open world was more utilized.

This isn't my first time quitting and I’ve only been more vocal as of recent because I think it’s valuable for others feeling the same, and for the team if they care. I saw the writing on the wall back in Endwalker, quit in 6.15, and didn't come back until the Blue Mage update, to which after that month I didn't come back again until a week before the expansion. I found it funny, I missed nothing because the day of the expansion I could literally hit EW max ilvl AND get a relic via the lowest currency, poetics. I then quit again for a bit until this patch.

The game just doesn’t have enough focus. I was pretty invested in the story so maybe that did more heavy lifting than I gave it credit for. That said, I always thought single camera angle, emoted character motions were garbage, along with the yapping dialog that would rear its ugly head. People say that's a DT issue but I think they recognize it more now because they care less about the characters. Funny enough, I thought the story writing in the Arcadian, and FFXI raids seemed much better than DT msq. Maybe it'll be better in other patches, but I've just decided back in EW that i'm going to put my money where my mouth is and until they give me, the paying customer, a reason that entices ME personally to come back, then I'm not gonna waste my life/money away. SE has no loyalty to me and I have no loyalty to them.

Take my account how you will. If SE decides that they don't want my target audience anymore then no worries. I like this place, but I’ll move on. And honestly im of the mind that once the mobile money starts coming in, we're all cooked anyways lol. But hey I would love to be wrong.

Most of my casual friends left, only few of my hardcore friends remain. I came back to play the updated PvP but unless they are going to put in something to strive towards for it, I'm probably gone in a month too, as it's the only thing I still find fun in this game.

lol. Haven’t looked at the forums for a couple months and the first thing I see is “THE GREAT EXODUS OF 2024”

Yeah, judging by the queue times I'm still getting on Primal at like 1am, it sure seems like a massive exodus, that's for sure. /s

FFXIV is still the second largest MMO in North America. A quick Google search reveals that. Having said that, I'm just now really getting back into it. My issue is not with the game itself, but rather the story. After the 10-year arc wrapped up, I'm having a hard time getting back into it. Same thing I went through with the MCU and Game of Thrones. The story is over for me.

But I'm still enjoying the game and love my character.

The final straw for me was doing the new dungeon and watching the flying rocks overlap with the golem mob to form a floating sperm. I'm there fighting a giant testicle with a tail sticking out...

The story is still garbage and will remain garbage it seems until dawntrail is over. I am not happy to pay for another year and a half of it.
I am sick of sphene and lamat. They just need to be put in the closet and left to rot.


My idea was to make solution 9 like dalaran (moving city) in wow and we just have an experiment with the azem key that moves the city to meracydia.
We leave sphene and lamat far behind. We start fresh with some baggage being the city itself and its issues but we move away from most of the garbage plot. With how the patch ended that is going to be impossible. Where is this story going when will the suffering end?
Even the alliance raid is more evil lizard person global domination nonsense plot. I don't like lizard people. I don't like lizard people attempting global domination multiple times. Enough with the lizard people and their megalomania. If I wanted that I would watch C-SPAN or a WEF summit.



Spending the next year with sphene and lamat playing this is like doing time in a federal prison or being in an abusive relationship. I'm sure we have many more lizards that are planned to get a turn at global domination by 8.0 We can expect a cobra/spectre/dr.evil/shocker/insert random evil org/ crossovers.

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Originally Posted by Ephremjlm

One of the people quoted, and here's my take.
What I know:
(1) Steam numbers show a decline.
(2) The 30 million number is total accounts created, not active subs. Maybe alts too?

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30 million is accounts created yes, it's not active players.

If we count all the platforms XIV is on, Player count is probably around a million in my guess.


The worst takes are when people look at Steam and say "Oh my god game is dying".


People also forget there's 4 other types of License.

Windows, Mac, Playstation, Xbox.

Large majority of players either have a console license or non-steam license.

No one likes being locked out of a game they pay monthly for if Steam ever goes down.

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Originally Posted by Kohashi

Game exodus no, much quieter forums yes weeeeeeeee ;D.

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You mean more echo chamber forums, since you need a sub to post here.
Just like reddit with its downvote system

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NightHour

30 million is accounts created yes, it's not active players.

If we count all the platforms XIV is on, Player count is probably around a million in my guess.


The worst takes are when people look at Steam and say "Oh my god game is dying".


People also forget there's 4 other types of License.

Windows, Mac, Playstation, Xbox.

Large majority of players either have a console license or non-steam license.

No one likes being locked out of a game they pay monthly for if Steam ever goes down.

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I would just like to mention you're right about steam being the minority of players, but lol i think ff14 will die way before steam does. that thing prints money by doing nothing

Well, speaking personally, the friends I have left from when I first started (very early ShB) have all had negative sentiments that started from post Endwalker, I share them too.
Ever since I've started playing I've been in love with the game, the story and all else, I could say I was a FFXIV shill having come from Bugwars 2. The concept of Live Letters and devs actually communicating with us felt hmm... personal I guess. I never cared much about my character, the story or NPCs as much as I did in this game and I think it's really unique that they managed to create this kind of experience...

After EW, I've essentially been playing this game solo, all the people I'm familiar with are gone. My close friend whom I met in this game and known for years is considering quitting for good and I know how much we both love this game. DT was the first time I started contemplating leaving the game, every memory felt like it was tarnished, one way or another. Perhaps I haven't been around for long and perhaps the rose tinted glasses and the honeymoon phase of ShB wore off...

I've been pretty sad everytime they sloppily change something, I've been fearful of playing the MSQ and/or unlocking new content out of fear of eyestrain that I never had in any game before prior to the 7.0 Graphical Update.

Not that I'm missing much, the quality of the MSQ has taken a nose dive since post EW and honestly the only reason I don't skip (though I really want to) is to see it for myself.

All this could be meaningless, perhaps their target audience is the new green player who just has so much content to do and give em a few years and cycle out the old and bring in the new.

The gates of WoW classic classic opens today. Perhaps an additional incentive to quit FFXIV

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Originally Posted by Rueby

Well, speaking personally, the friends I have left from when I first started (very early ShB) have all had negative sentiments that started from post Endwalker, I share them too.
Ever since I've started playing I've been in love with the game, the story and all else, I could say I was a FFXIV shill having come from Bugwars 2. The concept of Live Letters and devs actually communicating with us felt hmm... personal I guess. I never cared much about my character, the story or NPCs as much as I did in this game and I think it's really unique that they managed to create this kind of experience...

After EW, I've essentially been playing this game solo, all the people I'm familiar with are gone. My close friend whom I met in this game and known for years is considering quitting for good and I know how much we both love this game. DT was the first time I started contemplating leaving the game, every memory felt like it was tarnished, one way or another. Perhaps I haven't been around for long and perhaps the rose tinted glasses and the honeymoon phase of ShB wore off...

I've been pretty sad everytime they sloppily change something, I've been fearful of playing the MSQ and/or unlocking new content out of fear of eyestrain that I never had in any game before prior to the 7.0 Graphical Update.

Not that I'm missing much, the quality of the MSQ has taken a nose dive since post EW and honestly the only reason I don't skip (though I really want to) is to see it for myself.

All this could be meaningless, perhaps their target audience is the new green player who just has so much content to do and give em a few years and cycle out the old and bring in the new.

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That appears to have become their strategy since they analyzed the success of Shadowbringers.

I think if anyone stop and analyze the previous expansions they will notice this too. Heavensward and Stormblood were mostly focused on pleasing the players they already had. When Shadowbringers' changes were developed there was a little more concern about the experience for new players, and when they saw how many newcomers joined, they have since doubled down in form of patches and then EW/DT in their entirety.
We don't get much in terms of "midcore" because all they do for veterans is add more high-end content. The so called midcore isn't an audience they care to keep around, because for the past 4~5 years the design they came up with has been compensating those players leaving with new players who will take their time to finish the MSQ and alliance raids... Possibly stay for the roleplay and fall to the housing trap.

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Originally Posted by ReynTime

That appears to have become their strategy since they analyzed the success of Shadowbringers.

I think if anyone stop and analyze the previous expansions they will notice this too. Heavensward and Stormblood were mostly focused on pleasing the players they already had. When Shadowbringers' changes were developed there was a little more concern about the experience for new players, and when they saw how many newcomers joined, they have since doubled down in form of patches and then EW/DT in their entirety.
We don't get much in terms of "midcore" because all they do for veterans is add more high-end content. The so called midcore isn't an audience they care to keep around, because for the past 4~5 years the design they came up with has been compensating those players leaving with new players who will take their time to finish the MSQ and alliance raids... Possibly stay for the roleplay and fall to the housing trap.

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This whole things seems to me like the companies trying to create a hero shooter to get some part of that juicy hero shooter market, but fail one after the other because a few titles are well installed, and why play the game that try to be Overwatch or Valorant when you can play Overwatch or Valorant.

Lately I feel like SE see the success of Genshin Impact and Honkai star Rail (Yoshi-P has mentionned them on a few occasion, and even the quote given last page can be understood as talking about those kind of game), and want to somehow get that kind of player on a game that not thought for that. So you tray to attire players that will prefer playing those games, and at the same time alienate the players that are there. Worst of both world.

Anecdotally, I have had a number of friends unsub and uninstall. My FC had about 30(ish) active people before and During Dawntrail and now it's down to 3.

I've considered unsubbing for a couple of weeks, now that I'm done with Savage reclears and helping friends etc etc but I want to see how Chaotic turns out.

Dawntrail's MSQ has been a huge bummer for me. It's not bad but it's so mediocre compared to precious expansions it hurts. I really hope they're able to pull me back in.

I cancelled my extra retainers' subscription. This game is boring, content is lackluster and it's filled to the brim with ugly modbeasts. The community regressed to the one of Second Life 2 and IMVU.
All there is left to do is check my submarines and roleplay with my friend. Outside of that the game is dead to me.

If you want to utilize Steam Charts as your bellwether on how well a video game is doing, World of Warcraft is on its last legs, as there are zero players on Steam.

There won't be an Exodus of any kind, simply because generally most people do not care to the same degree, or do not have the same level of investment towards the state of the game.

Now that's not to say that I don't think there is a problem, because I do think there is a problem, but it is the same problem we've had for the past 7 years.

Saying that Steam doesn't matter is such a cope lol

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Originally Posted by DPZ2

If you want to utilize Steam Charts as your bellwether on how well a video game is doing, World of Warcraft is on its last legs, as there are zero players on Steam.

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Creates a strawman argument by using a game not on steam to try to make a point...i would be surprised, but bad takes are a normal pattern for you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rueby

Well, speaking personally, the friends I have left from when I first started (very early ShB) have all had negative sentiments that started from post Endwalker, I share them too.
Ever since I've started playing I've been in love with the game, the story and all else, I could say I was a FFXIV shill having come from Bugwars 2. The concept of Live Letters and devs actually communicating with us felt hmm... personal I guess. I never cared much about my character, the story or NPCs as much as I did in this game and I think it's really unique that they managed to create this kind of experience...

After EW, I've essentially been playing this game solo, all the people I'm familiar with are gone. My close friend whom I met in this game and known for years is considering quitting for good and I know how much we both love this game. DT was the first time I started contemplating leaving the game, every memory felt like it was tarnished, one way or another. Perhaps I haven't been around for long and perhaps the rose tinted glasses and the honeymoon phase of ShB wore off...

I've been pretty sad everytime they sloppily change something, I've been fearful of playing the MSQ and/or unlocking new content out of fear of eyestrain that I never had in any game before prior to the 7.0 Graphical Update.

Not that I'm missing much, the quality of the MSQ has taken a nose dive since post EW and honestly the only reason I don't skip (though I really want to) is to see it for myself.

All this could be meaningless, perhaps their target audience is the new green player who just has so much content to do and give em a few years and cycle out the old and bring in the new.

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I know that stories like this are only anecdotal, but I've had similar; most of the people I played with during ShB largely went away by the middle of EW, and few of them came back for DT, even fewer have stayed for 7.1. At this point it's only a handful of FC members that I play with that still log on, the others only come back when there's a free login campaign.

The use of Steam charts can only tell part of the picture since it's only part of the playerbase, but it's still a rather large sample size we can work with, and as such shouldn't be dismissed out of hand because it doesn't include PS4/Xbox/etc. Barring major port issues, if 10% of Steam players up and left the game, there's a good chance that around 10% of the other platforms also lost players (give or take some margin of error) because of similar reasons to those Steam players.

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Originally Posted by TheDustyOne

I know that stories like this are only anecdotal, but I've had similar; most of the people I played with during ShB largely went away by the middle of EW, and few of them came back for DT, even fewer have stayed for 7.1. At this point it's only a handful of FC members that I play with that still log on, the others only come back when there's a free login campaign.

The use of Steam charts can only tell part of the picture since it's only part of the playerbase, but it's still a rather large sample size we can work with, and as such shouldn't be dismissed out of hand because it doesn't include PS4/Xbox/etc. Barring major port issues, if 10% of Steam players up and left the game, there's a good chance that around 10% of the other platforms also lost players (give or take some margin of error) because of similar reasons to those Steam players.

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Not necessarily, I would argue that there are other factors that make it more difficult to extend from one platform to another - age/ gender/ gaming history, income etc can also affect the platform that someone selects- so the 10% of Steam users isn't really a reliable indicator.

For my part- that doesn't mean that I'm dismissing out of hand anyone's stories that they know players who have negative feedback, or have un-subbed.