What if (PS4 and PC become seperated)

What you think would happen to the game?
This mostly couple of stuff i been talking about with friends. Wanted to hear you guys opinion.

My is the game will become "meh".

Well that would screw with communities more than the excruciating effort of such a change would be worth, for one thing. If I stayed on the PS4 then it would separate my boyfriend and me on the game that we have both felt less inclined to play of late, so... I can only imagine how many people would take off from the game at that point.

Yoshida and the XIV team refuse to separate the community by platform. That's the main roadblock to getting the game onto more consoles since they need Sony and Microsoft to agree on allowing PS4 and Xbox players to play together. The console guys aren't relaxing their policies and S-E will not compromise to make Xbox Live-only worlds disconnected from other players.

Will never happen. The whole pitch with XIV is it's cross plattform.

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Originally Posted by LastFireAce

What you think would happen to the game?
This mostly couple of stuff i been talking about with friends. Wanted to hear you guys opinion.

My is the game will become "meh".

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Communities would fracture, the PS4 version would likely die off outside of Japan, and the PC version would likely die off in Japan.

If the game survived these immediate short-term consequences, I don't really think there would be much of an impact. My personal 'Top 10 Things I'd Like to Change' list for FFXIV doesn't feature anything that would be somehow limited, or even influenced by, multi-platform support. I mean, sure, I'd love HD textures, no loading zones, and some bigger maps, but none of those factors are pushing me away from the game, nor would changing them lessen the feeling of 'bleh' I have surrounding the next expansion cycle.

I will, however, put forward one caveat: if splitting the game across platforms meant Yoshi-P stepped down from his role for one or both platforms, I think we'd see potentially tremendous improvement for the version under a fresh set of eyes. I cannot recall any supposedly-premium MMO with less ambition than FFXIV has featured for the past four years or so. It feels to me like Yoshi-P and team brought the game back from the brink of death, only to turn it into a virtual bubble boy. Not that I think a split would be good even under this scenario, but in this case, I could see an upside if it survived the inevitable community fracturing.

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Originally Posted by Rufalus

Yoshida and the XIV team refuse to separate the community by platform. That's the main roadblock to getting the game onto more consoles since they need Sony and Microsoft to agree on allowing PS4 and Xbox players to play together. The console guys aren't relaxing their policies and S-E will not compromise to make Xbox Live-only worlds disconnected from other players.

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Fixed it for you ;) Sony has been the primary roadblock for years in terms of cross-platform play (see: Minecraft, Fortnight, etc.). It's arguable that's understandable given their status in the console world, but cross-platform play definitely isn't a Microsoft problem right now.

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Originally Posted by Kirsten_Rev

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I don't get this thing that people have been doing where they say "If Yoshi-P steps down it'll improve." God no. Changing out major roles is far more likely to lead to catastrophic failure. Only reason it was successful with FFXIV was because Yoshi-P generally had a vague idea of what players wanted and was able to rally the team and get them all to see his vision. Doing that again right now from one person to an unknown is far more likely to start causing miscommunications between departments like there was during 1.0 pre-Yoshi. The FFXIV change of head was a miraculous recovery, one that is rare to replicate or even come close to the stability afterward. Especially given how rigorous they want their release schedule to be.

If anything, they need to slow down or take a break from developing the game. They need to stop right now and give more time between SB and the next expansion. Only reason I say this is because they're working themselves into a corner with the rigorous patch cycle they want.

Why would they ever decide do that though?

It’s one thing if it had never been cross-platform, but what could they possibly want to achieve by splitting it afterwards? The community backlash would be massive, and rightly so.

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Originally Posted by LauraAdalena

I don't get this thing that people have been doing where they say "If Yoshi-P steps down it'll improve." God no. Changing out major roles is far more likely to lead to catastrophic failure. Only reason it was successful with FFXIV was because Yoshi-P generally had a vague idea of what players wanted and was able to rally the team and get them all to see his vision. Doing that again right now from one person to an unknown is far more likely to start causing miscommunications between departments like there was during 1.0 pre-Yoshi. The FFXIV change of head was a miraculous recovery, one that is rare to replicate or even come close to the stability afterward. Especially given how rigorous they want their release schedule to be.

If anything, they need to slow down or take a break from developing the game. They need to stop right now and give more time between SB and the next expansion. Only reason I say this is because they're working themselves into a corner with the rigorous patch cycle they want.

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From my perspective, the pace they've set is also Yoshi-P's responsibility. He's the director, after all - it's his call whether or not they slow down the pace of content releases.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't know the full picture. All I do know is that the game is no longer grabbing at me, personally, nor is it appealing really to most of my friends. I and my friends are all hungry for something fresh, but nothing has been delivered - for years now. While it's certainly possible that Yoshi-P is not at fault here, all available evidence - and his position as both Director of the game and an Executive Officer at SE - suggests he's at the root of what I feel is bland, unambitious development.

As to the risk of things getting worse... well, yeah, it's certainly possible. But again, speaking personally, I don't feel I have much to lose. I'm not planning on continuing into 5.0 unless I see major changes, and once my house gets demolished, I'll have precious little reason to ever return again down the road.

I can't speak for others on the forums, but that's why I'd welcome a change at the top. I'd happily suffer through a period of chaos if it meant I had hope for the game to meaningfully evolve.

I think a much better question is, what would be the benefit? This isn't the PS3 - the excuse of PS4 limitations doesn't really apply insomuch as the limitations are with the FFXIV servers themselves and the lack of quality/innovation by the devs. I don't think SQEX would be too pleased with having their profits chopped by such a huge margin. I'd imagine that this would severely hurt FFXIV far more than the housing/Pagos/Companion App issues combined into one. Given how SQEX is slowly starting to push towards getting as much profit as they can, I don't see any tangible benefit whatsoever for anybody in them doing this.

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Originally Posted by KaivaC

I think a much better question is, what would be the benefit? This isn't the PS3 - the excuse of PS4 limitations doesn't really apply insomuch as the limitations are with the FFXIV servers themselves and the lack of quality/innovation by the devs. I don't think SQEX would be too pleased with having their profits chopped by such a huge margin. I'd imagine that this would severely hurt FFXIV far more than the housing/Pagos/Companion App issues combined into one. Given how SQEX is slowly starting to push towards getting as much profit as they can, I don't see any tangible benefit whatsoever for anybody in them doing this.

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I suspect the OP was intending to engage in a hypothetical thought project, rather than making a realistic suggestion. Sort of along the lines of 'what would happen if the Half-life IP were released to a devoted mod team so we could finally get HL3'. It'd never happen, but still potentially interesting to discuss.

ESO does it and it is beautiful. Esp since they prioritize us PC gamers giving us patches earlier and the versions are optimized differently. It makes the console players a little salty but generally if they switch to PC they realize why its done.

I would rather have a game optimized for PC with a few extra features they cant do on consoles. Doesn't have to be anything major but could be as minor as textures, draw distances, add ons, etc.

When it comes to community I don't really think its that big of a deal, I mean how social is anyone in this game anyway. Its mostly Hi and Bye if that. Guilds can and do exist on PC and Console only servers and can be just as big. You can't always play with your rl friend but you can't if you own different consoles either since console companies cant even play nice with each other.

As a PC player there is nothing more irritating than being told we cant have something because of console limitations. It's like being told you can't have a car and you need to just walk because your little sister can't drive yet. Different machines should have different versions. But as we know the East is incredibly behind the times when it comes to PC gaming so there is no way SE is going to even consider this making it moot.

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Originally Posted by Kirsten_Rev

I suspect the OP was intending to engage in a hypothetical thought project, rather than making a realistic suggestion. Sort of along the lines of 'what would happen if the Half-life IP were released to a devoted mod team so we could finally get HL3'. It'd never happen, but still potentially interesting to discuss.

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Though if there is no positive reason to separate platforms (either for us or the company), why do we discuss it?

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Originally Posted by MicahZerrshia

ESO does it and it is beautiful. Esp since they prioritize us PC gamers giving us patches earlier and the versions are optimized differently. It makes the console players a little salty but generally if they switch to PC they realize why its done.

I would rather have a game optimized for PC with a few extra features they cant do on consoles. Doesn't have to be anything major but could be as minor as textures, draw distances, add ons, etc.

When it comes to community I don't really think its that big of a deal, I mean how social is anyone in this game anyway. Its mostly Hi and Bye if that. Guilds can and do exist on PC and Console only servers and can be just as big. You can't always play with your rl friend but you can't if you own different consoles either since console companies cant even play nice with each other.

As a PC player there is nothing more irritating than being told we cant have something because of console limitations. It's like being told you can't have a car and you need to just walk because your little sister can't drive yet. Different machines should have different versions. But as we know the East is incredibly behind the times when it comes to PC gaming so there is no way SE is going to even consider this making it moot.

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No offense but you want to be the spoiled child. You say we get salty yet you seem more salty in your post. Why would you want extra features "they can't do on consoles"? Other than you know, making yourself feel special?

And sociality is a personal thing. It is normal i limit my sociality with random people because people can be toxic to everything, so yeah saying hi to random people can be enough most of the time, but i had many runs with random people sooo fun too. But i am very social within my FC and friends so, knowing i may not play with them because PC deserves better(?) would make the game unpleasant for me.

Also, most PC players don't have the car you mention as well. Most people don't earn top money so maybe they don't have a 2018 model car but 2010 ones, if you know what i mean (i don't understand cars at all). So making a ultra 4k game for PC so only %2-3 of PC players may experience really seems like a good strategy for a company, yes. Like i said, most PC players i know play at normal or low res settings. Maybe i have poor friends idk (joking, no offense :p ).

Anyway, this topic is not meant for "pc master race" in my opinion. I think everyone would agree the game is fine as it is and separating the consoles would make the game divided. Well, unless you want to brag for things console people or pc people may not get ofc.

In the same logic, i want specific rewards to ps4 players please because they play on a lesser platform. ty SE. :p

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Originally Posted by Kirsten_Rev

Fixed it for you ;) Sony has been the primary roadblock for years in terms of cross-platform play (see: Minecraft, Fortnight, etc.). It's arguable that's understandable given their status in the console world, but cross-platform play definitely isn't a Microsoft problem right now.

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admitedly i'm a little out of touch with the absolute latest info on cross play but..

It's All of them. not just one. if you look beneath the surface hype at least. one of the issues preventing cross play is developers on ps4 aren't required to gate there game behind psn plus for online play even though many choose to (for various reasons) which is why many of the indie titles out there don't need it. nor does 14.

on the microsoft side online play has to be locked behind xbox gold it's a mandatory requirement of there t&cs and also one of the big things that stops ffxiv going to xbox

a big part of the underlying disagreement between them is (or was maybe its changed) Sony won't make PS+ mandatory and Microsodt won't make Gold optional...

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Originally Posted by MicahZerrshia

ESO does it and it is beautiful. Esp since they prioritize us PC gamers giving us patches earlier and the versions are optimized differently. It makes the console players a little salty but generally if they switch to PC they realize why its done.

I would rather have a game optimized for PC with a few extra features they cant do on consoles. Doesn't have to be anything major but could be as minor as textures, draw distances, add ons, etc.

When it comes to community I don't really think its that big of a deal, I mean how social is anyone in this game anyway. Its mostly Hi and Bye if that. Guilds can and do exist on PC and Console only servers and can be just as big. You can't always play with your rl friend but you can't if you own different consoles either since console companies cant even play nice with each other.

As a PC player there is nothing more irritating than being told we cant have something because of console limitations. It's like being told you can't have a car and you need to just walk because your little sister can't drive yet. Different machines should have different versions. But as we know the East is incredibly behind the times when it comes to PC gaming so there is no way SE is going to even consider this making it moot.

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It would be more damaging to split now, 5 years into having pc and console community and console community is very large in japan

Most of my friends on here are PC players. I’d miss them a lot...

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Originally Posted by MicahZerrshia

When it comes to community I don't really think its that big of a deal, I mean how social is anyone in this game anyway. Its mostly Hi and Bye if that. Guilds can and do exist on PC and Console only servers and can be just as big. You can't always play with your rl friend but you can't if you own different consoles either since console companies cant even play nice with each other.

As a PC player there is nothing more irritating than being told we cant have something because of console limitations. It's like being told you can't have a car and you need to just walk because your little sister can't drive yet. Different machines should have different versions. But as we know the East is incredibly behind the times when it comes to PC gaming so there is no way SE is going to even consider this making it moot.

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We aren't in the ps3 era anymore, so what console limitations are you talking about? Better yet, has anybody from the dev team mentioned anything about being unable to implement something due to some ps4/ps4 pro limitations? I've never heard of any news about that.

As far as community goes, you may have experienced that in your personal view and what you have seen on here and reddit, but there are indeed social people around.

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Originally Posted by MicahZerrshia

ESO does it and it is beautiful. Esp since they prioritize us PC gamers giving us patches earlier and the versions are optimized differently. It makes the console players a little salty but generally if they switch to PC they realize why its done.

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ESO does this actually extremely badly, they neglect their console player base very harshly (late fixes, few patches, unoptimized gameplay, no QoL improvements). Which is surprising, considering that 2/3 of their player base (by their own admission) plays the game on consoles.

I was pleasantly surprised when starting this game to find a PS4 version running as well as the PC version. I don't want that to change and, seeing how popular the PS4 is in Japan, this will probably never change.

I'd quit the game over this.

Not out of protest, just because my PC's too old to run the game at a reasonably playable level.

I'd quit the game if this would ever happen.
I'm a PS4 player, but the other 7 people in my static play on pc and so do most of the people in my free company. And I don't want to play on my computer, I prefer playing on a big TV screen on a comfortable sofa instead.

I would quit the game for sure.

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Originally Posted by Kirsten_Rev

Fixed it for you ;) Sony has been the primary roadblock for years in terms of cross-platform play (see: Minecraft, Fortnight, etc.). It's arguable that's understandable given their status in the console world, but cross-platform play definitely isn't a Microsoft problem right now.

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This isn't true in this instance, one of the main issues with the XBOX in addition to the gold requirement was Microsofts demand the xbox live (or whatever they call it) players have the option to only play with other xbox live players. From what we have been told they haven't even got to stage where they are involving Sony. People really need to stop bring this game in to issues with other games.

If they split the games I'd stop playing, too main of my friends are on the PC and I am very social in this game and it is the main thing that keeps me playing.

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Originally Posted by Kirsten_Rev

From my perspective, the pace they've set is also Yoshi-P's responsibility. He's the director, after all - it's his call whether or not they slow down the pace of content releases.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't know the full picture. All I do know is that the game is no longer grabbing at me, personally, nor is it appealing really to most of my friends. I and my friends are all hungry for something fresh, but nothing has been delivered - for years now. While it's certainly possible that Yoshi-P is not at fault here, all available evidence - and his position as both Director of the game and an Executive Officer at SE - suggests he's at the root of what I feel is bland, unambitious development.

As to the risk of things getting worse... well, yeah, it's certainly possible. But again, speaking personally, I don't feel I have much to lose. I'm not planning on continuing into 5.0 unless I see major changes, and once my house gets demolished, I'll have precious little reason to ever return again down the road.

I can't speak for others on the forums, but that's why I'd welcome a change at the top. I'd happily suffer through a period of chaos if it meant I had hope for the game to meaningfully evolve.

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I pretty much fully agree with you here. The game has stagnated badly. I can't get invested in logging in to grind through leveling up yet another class for no reason. I can't be bothered to care about the story that is fed to us bit by bit. The dungeons are so easy that you can easily 1-shot them on the day of release without a wipe and then just turn into speed-run things that are boring as can be. And the only reason to do the dungeons is to get tomes to buy gear so you can run more dungeons.

The game needs a shake-up. It needs harder content, it needs a different progression system. It needs anything that gives it a fresh coat of paint right now. I truly believe that the only reason it is continuing to do well is because there are no other options out there besides WoW at the moment if you want a truly complete AAA mmorpg. The environment is ripe for a well-constructed and fresh MMORPG to swing in full-force and steal the populations of both games.

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Originally Posted by Kirsten_Rev

Fixed it for you ;) Sony has been the primary roadblock for years in terms of cross-platform play (see: Minecraft, Fortnight, etc.). It's arguable that's understandable given their status in the console world, but cross-platform play definitely isn't a Microsoft problem right now.

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Except for the reason Xbox players are not playing it is because of Microsoft? They still are sticking to the idea that they want their own servers...
They have not changed their stance on this.

As for the actual topic at hand i too would unsub, most people i know are on PC and just a few of us on PS4

PC would Cross play with Xbox. AS the bring hold back on FFXIV going to Xbox is PS4 will not let cross play with xbox. SO... Sony drops cross play with PC and SE could release XBOX version..
After a While SE gets tired of updated PS4 and Xbox and PC.. and PS4 support gets dropped.

As now Xbox as inbreaced cross play for this gen.

I'd probably quit. I have several friends on PS4, including my EB partner, whereas I'm on PC. It would cause too much fracture. Also, what would become of housing and such? They'd probably have to merge servers together as a result of the fractured playerbase.

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Originally Posted by Kirsten_Rev

I suspect the OP was intending to engage in a hypothetical thought project, rather than making a realistic suggestion. Sort of along the lines of 'what would happen if the Half-life IP were released to a devoted mod team so we could finally get HL3'. It'd never happen, but still potentially interesting to discuss.

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This^ just a "what if" though. It will hopefully never happen.

Thanks you guys. \o/

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Originally Posted by MicahZerrshia

I would rather have a game optimized for PC with a few extra features they cant do on consoles. Doesn't have to be anything major but could be as minor as textures, draw distances, add ons, etc.

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You don't need to separate platforms to optimize for them. Back when PS3 was in the mix, there were quite a few features that worked differently on that than they did on PS4/PC. There aren't many differences now, because the capabilities are pretty much on par, but I think the PC version has multiple options for high res / low res, where PS4 doesn't need them.

probably wont. its a major selling point and a lot of people (my self included) have made friends across platforms. The time to divide player bases is at the launch of a new game not during its life cycle.

Honestly though I don't really see the consoles as a hindrance to gameplay. if anything its a boon to have such a large community.

What is with this kinds of post? I see em over all sorts of sites.

"What if we threw new born babies into the ocean? I don't think it's a good idea but I want to hear you guy's opinions."

Obviously it will never happen.

Aside from the obvious community separation issues this would cause, the sheer technical implications of such a thing would be staggering, if not outright impossible without completely reworking the game itself (again). Just the logistics behind delegating servers between PC and console on its own would be a nightmare to implement. Do you keep all the existing servers on one platform while creating brand new ones for the other? Or do you then have to decide which servers go where? Either way, many players would end up displaced and forced into a server transfer. That's a fair amount of inconvenience, to be sure, especially if you've established yourself in an fc or linkshell local to your original server, and then get ripped away from some, if not all of the people you've played the game with because you're forced into another one with no means of interacting with your old sever aside from either external options or setting up an alt and having a game license on both PS4 and PC, which isn't practical for many people. In short, even if it were possible it would be wildly detrimental in many regards.

And where would people who play on both PS4 and PC end up? Would their characters be duplicated? So for instance, I'd have a PS4 copy of my Y'kayah Tia character and another copy of him on a PC server, with the two diverging as separate characters from the time of the split on? Or would we divy up our characters between each, so I might only be able to play Y'kayah from PS4, but only play my Navarre alt on PC? Either way seems really awkward.

Yea no thanks. Several of my friends play on PS4 while I'm on PC. If they seperate it, I won't be able to play with them, that would suck.

Folks who think ditching PS4 would open up a wonderland of PC features are fooling themselves. FFXIV caters to a broad playerbase, not just a handful of l33t powergamers with liquid-cooled monster machines. I'd reckon that the performance level of PS4 is actually ABOVE the average level of the PC SE would like to target.

So what would happen if they were to be separated now? A lot of heartache and broken communities, and NO improvements to the PC version whatsoever.

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Originally Posted by PerrinTaveren

Though if there is no positive reason to separate platforms (either for us or the company), why do we discuss it?

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There is no positive reason to split a community. The reverse really should be true, where the Xbox and Switch players should be able to play the same game with the same visuals, and unfortunately the weakest system dictates the visuals for the others. Just no port is available because Sony.

Like, imagine if SE decided they would make FFXIV for the iPhone/iPad. The android users would be going "where's mine", and SE would have to go "sorry your platform is too fragmented to support", this is the same reason why we got a bad Mac "port" of the PC version. It would be too expensive to support different versions that fragment. Either you play with a configuration comparable to the weakest system that can be supported, or you just don't bother.

For what it's worth, FFXIV absolutely melted weak GPU's when the DX11 version came out, and there won't be a DX9 version at some point in the future, so those people who don't want to invest in a 1000$ PC may get a better experience from the console version.