Let's talk about your "concerns".

Many players these days are "concerned". They're "concerned" that other games are going to bulldoze little XIV just as it's starting to sprout it's first little petals of life. They're "concerned" that they're going to have to pay for a service in this day and age. They're "concerned" that all the system fixes and changes are irrecoverably destroying the game.

Folks, let me lay something out there for ya. I'm a typical Final Fantasy fan, have been for years, grew up with it, etc. There is something in my makeup that probably exists in the makeup of 99% of other people like me.

When I want to play Final Fantasy -- I play Final Fantasy. I don't reach for WoW, or Diablo, or Tera, or GW2, or any number of console games, or any other RPG, or whatever. Because I don't give a crap about any of their worlds. I didn't grow up with them, and I give them no sentimental value.

People really shouldn't be concerned with their friends and accomplices reaching for Diablo when it comes out. Final Fantasy's fanbase, though wounded, is extraordinarily large. As soon as the developers put more and more Final Fantasy into the game, and it becomes recognizable as such, more will reach for it. The music. The costumes. The monsters. The summons. The jobs. Nothing, nothing delivers a gritty, dark fantasy world the way FF does. Maybe not now. But in one year when the game reaches 2.0 level -- based on what I'm seeing -- it's going to be exactly what I've been waiting for.

I don't care if Diablo or WoW or whatever is a better game. I want to play Final Fantasy. One could say it's like staying committed to a marriage. Sure, it's not as good as it used to be when I was young. But she's there, and she's trying. It's not always roses, but I love her.

Final Fantasy XIV does not need to be the best game of all time. It simply has to be the best Final Fantasy game available. Because when I, for one, want to play Final Fantasy, I don't reach for WoW or whatever else.