What’s the secret to success in this game?

It's the community. It's very polite and generally friendly. It's also unique. Most of the "successful" MMOs have established brands but none are really based on Japanese stuff as much as this. And Japanese culture has integrated a lot in the past few years in the West, so I guess that helps. Events help, like the Fan Fests and the devs are a lot more open than many other companies.

I value people connections above all else. I've got some amazing friends that I've known many years from both here and its XI predecessor. real meaningful friends as well not the superficial friendships people seem to form these days like the op. or at least is the impression I get from him.

Over the years I've been on holidays with friends I've met in mmos. seen many new places and tried many things. skiing, kayaking, rally driving, even some long ass hikes and climbs. I've been to there weddings and couple of funerals. visisted them in hospital when they were sick. had several of them come and stay for a while. one year had 31 people squashed on the floors of my house for a new years linkshell party. in which we all spent a day playing paintball.

to me all of those people are more valuable than anyting else in xi/xiv. and its the few that still play xiv that are the only reason I stay subbed.

friendship seems to have lost its meaning as well these days. it's like people who go hey I got 1,000 friends on facebook im so cool and popular.. really. then why are you depressed and lonely all the time??

you cant really measure success on progression or levels either really. if you got more level 70 jobs than I do that doesn't make you more successful. it just means I have no interest in playing some jobs. my drg has never been touched since slotting fire on it in 1.0 natalan parties.. the 3 hw jobs are still locked I really don't care for them. and progression is largely worthless anyway. it's incredibly common to hear people say they're sick of the endless treadmill grind because gear has no value and as such it can't be used as a measure of success.

in a more analytical approach though is FFXIV really a success? expansions pull in new players and things sure. but they don't stick around very long. player retention is horrencous. the game technically has tons of content yet players feel theres never anything to do.. weekly raid drop few tomes... that's it bored now till Tuesday...

I'd almost envision it to trying to fill a bucket with loads of holes in it... you might be able to pour enough water in to fill the bucket but have you really succeeded when it'll be empty again in a minute...

it seems a growing opinion that the game really isn't good. it's not terrible either but its not good. see more and more people saying the only reason they stay subbed is for there social connections... my social circle used to be around 50 people in this game. now it's probably a dozen tops...

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Originally Posted by Dzian

in a more analytical approach though is FFXIV really a success? expansions pull in new players and things sure. but they don't stick around very long. player retention is horrencous. the game technically has tons of content yet players feel theres never anything to do.. weekly raid drop few tomes... that's it bored now till Tuesday...

I'd almost envision it to trying to fill a bucket with loads of holes in it... you might be able to pour enough water in to fill the bucket but have you really succeeded when it'll be empty again in a minute...

it seems a growing opinion that the game really isn't good. it's not terrible either but its not good. see more and more people saying the only reason they stay subbed is for there social connections... my social circle used to be around 50 people in this game. now it's probably a dozen tops...

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Depends how you're going to define success of a game. Successful for whom? The publisher? The developers? The players? (which players?)

Short term success? Long term success?

This is always such a tricky question because there are so many metrics to measure it by.

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Originally Posted by MomomiMomi

Depends how you're going to define success of a game. Successful for whom? The publisher? The developers? The players? (which players?)

Short term success? Long term success?

This is always such a tricky question because there are so many metrics to measure it by.

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Yeah that's kinda what I was getting at :-)

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Originally Posted by Super_Bee_Brian

I measure success through three gauges. These are… Wealth, Technical Progress (Level), and People Connections. Let’s examine them one by one…

So tell me, dear friends, what is the secret to success in this game with regards to the aforementioned “gauges”?

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For wealth, I am the type that likes to earn the rewards when I can reasonably get them. If there is an "Adventurer in Need [role]" bonus on a daily roulette, I'll take it. If I commend someone to encourage then and get some small rewards from the challenge log. I'll take it. I'll do side quests for the gil and exp, even if some don't view such rewards as significant. I am the type who believe that a little goes a long way. I have wonderful Moogle-themed houses for my active Excaibur and Gilgamesh characters after making use of the Gil I earned throughout the months I sated my thrills of combat and sold some stuff from the MB. And I am the type that like to earn the mounts from the Extreme trials. At the end of the day, as the saying goes: "How bad do you want it?"

For technical progress, as long as one learns the basics and applies them in combat, it should be sufficient enough for the normal cases. Examples include tanks keeping aggro on enemies, healers healing when big hits happen, and dps using their sequential combos. However, there is going to be an overlap in most cases with the next gauge because going beyond the basics requires teamwork to output more dps and make fights end faster. For example, tanks and healers supplement more dps using their additional tools to support their offensive and defensive capabilities. Also, DPS should use their tools to lower their own enmity when necessary to keep the dps high for the whole team. I put myself in the middle, I know the basics of each role and apply them in most dungeons, trials, and normal raids as usual. However, I only go further to apply more dps if the rest of the team is good enough to handle and survive the more dangerous mechanics. I don't have the will to break out of my own comfort zone that often to go further in harder content. But I'm satisfied with what I learned and contribute with what abilities the role I use contains.

For people connections, it is kind of iffy because it is up to the players how they want to communicate with each other and work together. I am antisocial in real life. However, I make an effort to say hi to others, encourage my allies, give advice when necessary, and work together as a team in the FFXIV game. The best raiders in FFXIV really push their limits of how to work as a team gameplay wise (and sometimes even as real friends.) I like and respect that. At the end of the day, are you satisfied with your teammates and how would you communicate with others in future battles to improve yourselves and enjoy the game at the same time?


Aside from the three gauges, I have one that personally and professionally applies to me. I try not to take things for granted and take advantage of any significant opportunity I see or earn. As a song and a saying goes, "you don't know what you've got until it's gone."

At this point in writing, I personally think Character Development is the key to success, or which I feel most satisfied with. i.e. from a rookie adventure to a expertise in whichever role he/she plays. And if you RP, your backstory and character progress in the story from that would probably made some RPers happy.

But of course there are other aspects for different players who regards them as success (Content clears, gil accumulation, social aspects etc)

In short, different players have different goals in this game.