Originally Posted by
Yves
Track record between both XI and XIV for longevity? Keep in mind that the original 1.0 model (yes, I was a CE launch player, never stopping) was built around the premise of revolutionizing the MMO as we know it. Tanaka and his group took a huge gamble and whiffed. That happens. After that, SE showed their experience by reversing, changing the team, and rebuilding based on current models that are successful. To me, that sure seems like experience and not amateur behavior.
EDIT to expand upon previous statement: The big gamble that SE whiffed on was two things: server-side transactions (to counter bots/RMT) and trying to find the grey area between hardcore and casual. The first was just poorly done. As far as I can see there just isn't any way to do this. The latter was, as stated, a huge gamble and a huge whiff. Many games are trying to get the pulse of this area and I'm beginning to think it doesn't exist. But that isn't a bad thing because the market constantly evolves and, when it finally does exist (if it doesn't already), someone will nail it. Some people feel WoW already did but the conversation is so polarizing that it's unlikely.