FFXIV population decline continues

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Originally Posted by Veritas-Ancora

I've been around for over 10 years in this game and it's never been this dead. I'm actually worried.

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I see people rejecting the current state of the game a good thing personally. High play rates would just enforce them the be complaisant and stagnate which is the whole reason why the game is in it's current state, theirs been no innovation for years, the only "innovation" would be downgrading job design

If they aren't willing to listen to feedback, we shouldn't give this game the time of day until it's a game worth caring about again.

This is coming from someone who adored and loved this game for so long, but in fact I've been actually having fun not being tied down to ff14 being my primary game anymore

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Originally Posted by Rithy255

I see people rejecting the current state of the game a good thing personally. High play rates would just enforce them the be complaisant and stagnate which is the whole reason why the game is in it's current state, theirs been no innovation for years, the only "innovation" would be downgrading job design

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I'm almost fully moved back to Vana'diel these days. I still can't believe how a nearly 25 year old mmo, made by the same company and practically in maintenance mode with a handful of devs still working on it, is the better experience... They are even in the process of going back and redesigning the old lvl 75 content to be more in line with the current power levels and streamlining some of the more rediculous grinds. It's amazing what can be done when you have leadership and teams that not only play their own game, but listen to their community and really care about the game, it's world and it's lore. Which is likely why the population is currently growing at a quite healthy rate.

Things would be a lot better going forward if we had a foray+relic in .1 patches without any excuses or delays. Casual players need goals too, not just hardcore raiders for half the expansion.

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Originally Posted by Raim

Things would be a lot better going forward if we had a foray+relic in .1 patches without any excuses or delays. Casual players need goals too, not just hardcore raiders for half the expansion.

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Doubt it will do that much in terms of keeping player interest, might help a little bit but I really don't see 7.25 (or future patches) as this big ff14 saviour.

Calling it an MMO is misleading anyway. There’s no open world, no interaction that isn’t forced, no cooperative play (‘roles’, strengths or specific duties) or real synergies within a group, it’s made ‘group content’ purely to add artificial difficulty and to stretch the content, and there’s no need to find a specific crafter because everybody can learn all the crafting jobs themselves.

It’s a Japanese fast food, theme park console game with multiplayer support.

If this is an MMO, then games like Diablo II are as well.

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Originally Posted by Raim

Things would be a lot better going forward if we had a foray+relic in .1 patches without any excuses or delays. Casual players need goals too, not just hardcore raiders for half the expansion.

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As someone who has made multiples of all the relics so far, they've stalled for so long, let my DT induced apathy grow so much and pushed me to play so many other games that I am not even looking forward to it and not even sure if I want to bother with it. I didn't even unlock the new raid teir because I just don't care at this point. I'm just coasting until 8.0 when I will make the decision to stay or go, doing the occasional hunt train if I am bored enough, since literally everything feels so incredibly pointless.

Dawnfail has got me down worse than 1.0 did. At least back then we had hope of a better tomorrow.

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Originally Posted by Kandraxx

Calling it an MMO is misleading anyway

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I'll make sure to tell that to the hundreds of people I see roleplaying, advertising for raid groups, and going after hunts in a persistent world.

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Originally Posted by hydralus

hundreds

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what an EPIC comeback white knighting for a MASSIVELY multiplayer online game.

bravo! bravo! the Final Fantasy XIV (Copyright 2025) movement needs players like YOU to mount MORE epic comebacks! You taught those doomers a lesson today! Don't mess with us FF14 fans, or else...

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Originally Posted by JohnConstantine

what an EPIC comeback white knighting for a MASSIVELY multiplayer online game.

bravo! bravo! the Final Fantasy XIV (Copyright 2025) movement needs players like YOU to mount MORE epic comebacks! You taught those doomers a lesson today! Don't mess with us FF14 fans, or else...

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Unlike some people I don't have stock options in the SquareEnix company so I honestly don't care if the game servers shut down. It's you guys who have this weird almost cult-like fascination with how well/unwell the game is doing. I'm merely a consumer, and if this game shuts down I will go play another. However, I am enjoying this game, so I will continue to play it. The actions of people who seemingly despise the game yet will continue to pay a subscription in order to tell people how awful it is will continue to amuse me.

I merely pointed out that there are plenty of things that make this an MMO and not a co-op game like Diablo II. If you feel that's white knighting you need to calm down a little.

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Originally Posted by MicahZerrshia

Wait that 13% was taken from steam? This whole time the defenders have been saying Steam numbers being so low are meaningless because most of the population doesn't use steam. But now that its an increase instead of a decrease its suddenly relivant? Well well, look at how convenient that is.

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Yeah, I said that with a good bit of intended "look how the turn tables" energy for a reason. Remember, if it says +, the numbers are valid and if it says -, the numbers aren't real and they can't hurt you and there's no proof and FFXIV is doing fine.

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Originally Posted by hydralus

I merely pointed out that there are plenty of things that make this an MMO and not a co-op game like Diablo II. If you feel that's white knighting you need to calm down a little.

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Discord is an MMO by your logic but alright keep it up

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Originally Posted by kajv95

Discord is an MMO by your logic but alright keep it up

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Discord isn't a videogame but nice try bud. Keep it up and you'll have an actual point to make some day. Of course if you could do everything on Discord that you can do in ffxiv then I suggest you use their free service and stop paying your subscription for this one.

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Originally Posted by Raim

Things would be a lot better going forward if we had a foray+relic in .1 patches without any excuses or delays. Casual players need goals too, not just hardcore raiders for half the expansion.

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To be fair, Foray/Relic should start in the .0 patch line... It benefits absolutely everyone, and it benefits raiders just as much as it benefits casual players, to be honest.

I mean, raiders have been the core focus, but, even then, that's like a... Spend a couple hours each week investing after the initial clear, which is disappointing at best for an MMO, and it's kind of sad that we (myself included), actually see this as raiders being a focus

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Originally Posted by Kaurhz

To be fair, Foray/Relic should start in the .0 patch line... It benefits absolutely everyone, and it benefits raiders just as much as it benefits casual players, to be honest.

I mean, raiders have been the core focus, but, even then, that's like a... Spend a couple hours each week investing after the initial clear, which is disappointing at best for an MMO, and it's kind of sad that we (myself included), actually see this as raiders being a focus

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WoW blows this game's raids out of the water, and even then I don't think they are that interesting. If people want good gameplay frankly they should just go play other genres in 2025. The fact that the FF14 community is now coping on its raiding scene when for years people kept telling everyone that you don't play this game for the raids....... I think it has definitely gotten to an utterly pathetic state of affairs.

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Originally Posted by MicahZerrshia

Wait that 13% was taken from steam? This whole time the defenders have been saying Steam numbers being so low are meaningless because most of the population doesn't use steam. But now that its an increase instead of a decrease its suddenly relivant? Well well, look at how convenient that is.

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It's the other way around. Doomsayers were pointing at steam numbers to illustrate their point. Now that their sources prove contrary to their point, they have nothing going for them.

Most sensible people said steam numbers were a faulty metric. That hasn't changed. What has changed is that the projection they were making based on that metric has been disproven by their own resource.

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Originally Posted by Fatch38

you mean when there is actual content to do ppl come back ? who would have guessed ?

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Not the people who were saying the game was crashing two months ago, apparently

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Originally Posted by hydralus

Discord isn't a videogame but nice try bud. Keep it up and you'll have an actual point to make some day. Of course if you could do everything on Discord that you can do in ffxiv then I suggest you use their free service and stop paying your subscription for this one.

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I'm just memeing bud, I don't really care that much.

I stopped paying a while ago. I'm only here because someone else paid for me to be here and wouldn't take no for an answer. Dw, I'll be gone again at the end of the month :)
Unfortunately means I'll not be able to participate in the relic stuff, but I'm not too bothered.

I still don't think a multiplayer game that just so happens to have a chat room attached to it is an MMO. Your metric makes Monster Hunter Wilds an MMO.

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Originally Posted by Exmo

It's the other way around. Doomsayers were pointing at steam numbers to illustrate their point. Now that their sources prove contrary to their point, they have nothing going for them.

Most sensible people said steam numbers were a faulty metric. That hasn't changed. What has changed is that the projection they were making based on that metric has been disproven by their own resource.



Not the people who were saying the game was crashing two months ago, apparently

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You do realise the fact that play rates are now slightly higher is due to patch, you will always get more players when a patch is new this is generally regardless of how well the game is doing, I also don't think most if any of these so called "doomsayers" were saying the patch wont increase player numbers for a short time. This follows the trend of literally every game even ones that are losing players when theirs new stuff there will be a short spike. If you compare 6.2 to 7.2 (a pretty fair comparison), you can see actual decline in play rates very clearly, it will be over time we will see spikes of players when new patches come out, but the nature of decline for a game like ff14 doesn't happen over night.

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Originally Posted by Rithy255

You do realise the fact that play rates are now slightly higher is due to patch

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Yes, obviously. When patches come out, players resub. When there's a lull in between content, player count drops. This is normal expected behavior despite what the "FFXIV is dying" crowd is saying.

Not worried in the slightest.

Natural course of an MMO, the game isn't gonna die until it costs them more than they're making.

FFXIV accounts for 68% of their total revenue.

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Originally Posted by Exmo

Yes, obviously. When patches come out, players resub. When there's a lull in between content, player count drops. This is normal expected behavior despite what the "FFXIV is dying" crowd is saying.

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I wouldn't go far to say ff14 is a dead game (I think this sort of statement is disingenuous, it ignores the bigger picture)

But theirs been obvious decline in playrate compared to endwalker, both in peak and when a lull happens that the player numbers are lower in comparison which does show player interest over time slowly decling, this does show that the expansion and choices made as of recent have been unpopular, I do think if it carries on play rates will go down further.

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Originally Posted by Rithy255

I wouldn't go far to say ff14 is a dead game (I think this sort of statement is disingenuous, it ignores the bigger picture)

But theirs been obvious decline in playrate compared to endwalker, both in peak and when a lull happens that the player numbers are lower in comparison which does show player interest over time slowly decling, this does show that the expansion and choices made as of recent have been unpopular, I do think if it carries on play rates will go down further.

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I really like the direction 7.2 MSQ is taking, if they can continue with that level of quality and release more content to do for all play styles, players will return.

it wouldnt be as bad if you werent required to dc travel to raid...

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Originally Posted by kajv95

I'm just memeing bud, I don't really care that much.

I stopped paying a while ago. I'm only here because someone else paid for me to be here and wouldn't take no for an answer. Dw, I'll be gone again at the end of the month :)
Unfortunately means I'll not be able to participate in the relic stuff, but I'm not too bothered.

I still don't think a multiplayer game that just so happens to have a chat room attached to it is an MMO. Your metric makes Monster Hunter Wilds an MMO.

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You don't care and are memeing but you're still arguing like you do care. Strange!
Anyway, monster hunter wilds doesn't have a shared persistent world (which if you bothered to notice was an important part of my metric of what an MMO is). So wrong yet again.

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Originally Posted by hydralus

You don't care and are memeing but you're still arguing like you do care. Strange!
Anyway, monster hunter wilds doesn't have a shared persistent world (which if you bothered to notice was an important part of my metric of what an MMO is). So wrong yet again.

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Hey man, I'm getting value out of the sub this way atleast :)

Love that you're actually embodying this image word for word though.
https://iea.org.uk/wp-content/upload...4-9faefa-1.jpg

Anyway sure, FFXIV has a shared world with nothing in it. Go into a resetting timed instance to do literally anything. Truly the peak of mmo, 11/10. Shared world so cool! Wow!

Do you also consider every game with text a visual novel or what?

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Originally Posted by Rinoa_353

I really like the direction 7.2 MSQ is taking, if they can continue with that level of quality and release more content to do for all play styles, players will return.

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I skipped the msq this time around I'm completely not wanting to deal with DT story, though I have heard good things from it I'm just very checked out with the current msq that even now it's a bit of a hard sell.. maybe ill give it a try but I have been so done with DT's story.

For me they will have to up the quality of content, I'm most looking forward to 7.25 and i think ill be more invested for a while but I don't know if it will retain my interest for more then a month, they will have to really pull off something worth while.

My main concerns with replay value is that if theirs no job variety like as of current I feel theirs no real reason to repeat content itself, as I think jobs should offer me a unique gameplay experience to each content, but currently I do not feel that at all, I feel like all content is just designed around dance fights, which can be fun but don't offer me any reason to replay it once it's done.

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Originally Posted by Rithy255

I skipped the msq this time around I'm completely not wanting to deal with DT story, though I have heard good things from it I'm just very checked out with the current msq that even now it's a bit of a hard sell.. maybe ill give it a try but I have been so done with DT's story.

For me they will have to up the quality of content, I'm most looking forward to 7.25 and i think ill be more invested for a while but I don't know if it will retain my interest for more then a month, they will have to really pull off something worth while.

My main concerns with replay value is that if theirs no job variety like as of current I feel theirs no real reason to repeat content itself, as I think jobs should offer me a unique gameplay experience to each content, but currently I do not feel that at all, I feel like all content is just designed around dance fights, which can be fun but don't offer me any reason to replay it once it's done.

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I understand and I agree that 7.0 and 7.1 were very lacking compared to the quality we have been used to for years. But I still would recommend you play the 7.2 msq as the story focuses on us, the WoL once more and that's one of my biggest gripes about 7.0 in general where I felt the WoL was a background character. There is also great character development that felt good too and I also enjoyed both the new dungeon (gave me FFXIII Fifth Ark vibes) and the trial.


Yeah, I hope they keep releasing diverse content for all different playstyles and I also have high hopes for the rest of the 7.2x patches as well in terms of content and hope it keeps improving going into 8.0.

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Originally Posted by Rinoa_353

I understand and I agree that 7.0 and 7.1 were very lacking compared to the quality we have been used to for years. But I still would recommend you play the 7.2 msq as the story focuses on us, the WoL once more and that's one of my biggest gripes about 7.0 in general where I felt the WoL was a background character. There is also great character development that felt good too and I also enjoyed both the new dungeon (gave me FFXIII Fifth Ark vibes) and the trial.

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For me, my problem with "7.2 is good again" is that the damage is done for all of DT pretty much. At this point, no matter how good any story told in Tural/S9 is, the setting itself is so utterly unbelievable and devoid of meaning to me that, as long as the story is set in these places and as long as it relies on factors from 7.0/1, it's never going to hit for me no matter how hard it tries.

That's not to say you can't enjoy it. We're different people. But I would highly recommend against recommending that people who are checked out with the story return to something they're actively disliking right now, because it creates nothing but bitter feelings if they end up not enjoying the story they were told "is better now". That's what happened for me with 7.1 at any rate.

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Originally Posted by hydralus

I'll make sure to tell that to the hundreds of people I see roleplaying, advertising for raid groups, and going after hunts in a persistent world.

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Feels more like a multiplayer game when the numbers of players is so low that you have to change data center to find a group lol.

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Originally Posted by Rinoa_353

I understand and I agree that 7.0 and 7.1 were very lacking compared to the quality we have been used to for years. But I still would recommend you play the 7.2 msq as the story focuses on us, the WoL once more and that's one of my biggest gripes about 7.0 in general where I felt the WoL was a background character. There is also great character development that felt good too and I also enjoyed both the new dungeon (gave me FFXIII Fifth Ark vibes) and the trial.

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Aye, it's an improvement for sure, one I was very pleased to see, but I remain skeptical about them rescuing the story for Tural at this point. Even Stormblood (which objectively had a weaker story due to the split between Ala Mhigo and Doma) didn't evoke the reaction I've had to 7.0 and 7.1. There's a part of me that is hoping they can pull it off, but there's another part of me that is just ready to hit Meracydia or whatever the name of fantasy Iceland was lol.

I suppose we'll see what 7.3-7.5 bring...

The decline continues:
https://luckybancho.ldblog.jp/archives/59200105.html



Cheers

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Originally Posted by kajv95

For me, my problem with "7.2 is good again" is that the damage is done for all of DT pretty much. At this point, no matter how good any story told in Tural/S9 is, the setting itself is so utterly unbelievable and devoid of meaning to me that, as long as the story is set in these places and as long as it relies on factors from 7.0/1, it's never going to hit for me no matter how hard it tries.

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I absolutely agree, I'm tired of all this sci-fi/technology stuff, I'd love for us to just go back to areas like Eorzea/Ishgard again, because I just can't vibe with the sci-fi stuff with Solution Nine/Alexandria.

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Originally Posted by Larirawiel

The decline continues:
https://luckybancho.ldblog.jp/archives/59200105.html



Cheers

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Wonder if we can get back to Stormblood population levels before the end of the year.

Only thing to to make the Lucky Bancho link complete is if the white knights come in here saying the population drop is completely normal and doesn't show the whole picture because Yoshi once said we should all play other games too.

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Originally Posted by MisterNublet

Wonder if we can get back to Stormblood population levels before the end of the year.

Only thing to to make the Lucky Bancho link complete is if the white knights come in here saying the population drop is completely normal and doesn't show the whole picture because Yoshi once said we should all play other games too.

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The rate of the decline is shocking and unprecedented. But yeah, no doubt we're about to be told the data is flawed, despite the methodology being broadly consistent over all expansions.

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Originally Posted by Mawlzy

The rate of the decline is shocking and unprecedented. But yeah, no doubt we're about to be told the data is flawed, despite the methodology being broadly consistent over all expansions.

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Probably by the same people who would tout Lucky Bancho as proof when the game is doing well

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Originally Posted by Mawlzy

The rate of the decline is shocking and unprecedented. But yeah, no doubt we're about to be told the data is flawed, despite the methodology being broadly consistent over all expansions.

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Something something COVID. Something something WoW exodus.

I think we'll hit Stormblood levels of activity this expansion, given we aren't really seeing anything except regression

Just going by lucky bancho, were already below shadowbringer numbers and are currently at the peak stormblood levels of player count. So by next quarter we either rise, stabilize, or sink more.

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Originally Posted by Kaurhz

I think we'll hit Stormblood levels of activity this expansion, given we aren't really seeing anything except regression

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We've already hit Stormblood. We're headed back to Heavensward.

I feel like we'll be sinking until 8.0. Maybe we'll hit the floor of 'people who will never unsub no matter what' before that though.

I haven't really noticed population drops but even if that is the case I'm not really going to concern myself with what other people are doing.

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Originally Posted by Nadda

I haven't really noticed population drops but even if that is the case I'm not really going to concern myself with what other people are doing.

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Sure, the issue is a drop in sub numbers means a loss in revenue at a time when expected content is being skipped because of "costs." The term is vague, but it would be unusual if less income produced more content.

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Originally Posted by Fawkes

I feel like we'll be sinking until 8.0. Maybe we'll hit the floor of 'people who will never unsub no matter what' before that though.

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If SE's data look anything like LB's, I imagine they're terrified. The mid-expansion bottoming-out isn't happening.