FFXIV made it onto a list of healthiest live MMORPGs at the end of 2019

FFXIV made it onto a list of healthiest live MMORPGs at the end of 2019

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2. Final Fantasy XIV
One brings shadow, one brings the light…

Despite the title of the expansion portending a year of darkness, this has been a great year for Final Fantasy XIV. The MMO’s third expansion, Shadowbringers, launched to rave reviews, players are happy and excited, and even the missteps don’t stop people from being enthusiastic about the game and its overall direction. It feels like a steady climb upward, the sort of growth that makes you wonder when it’s going to fall apart even as you enjoy the sheer acumen on display.

I certainly didn’t expect how solid everything this year would wind up being for my personal favorite title on the list. But when it’s going well, you don’t need to fake it, and so it goes in Eorzea and other environs. I wonder what this year’s expansion announcement will be?

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It also won the award for Best Ongoing Game of 2019 from IGN. Good stuff on SE.

i'm not sure how I feel about this... Are they out of touch with the forums? Even Japan's forum voiced how unhappy they were with some major things. xD
I mean, it's not totally inaccurate. We're still paying our subs. #cashcowlife

But I will say, story-wise, it definitely was the best expansion (in my opinion at least. I know others have different opinions). I was very, very happy with the story. Could not put down the controller. I'm really tempted to go back and replay it. (^///^)

(Edit: despite the crapshow that happened throughout this expansion, FFXIV is still the best MMO imo. I've tried so many others and like... none compare for me. So, they're doing something right even if they drive me batty with some other things...)

I have my gripes with the game but nothing is perfect. Regardless it has definitely earned at least some of the praise it is getting.

There's nothing more effective to value the greatness of FF than to play other MMOs and running back to FF while crying.

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Originally Posted by MOZZYSTAR

But I will say, story-wise, it definitely was the best expansion (in my opinion at least. I know others have different opinions). I was very, very happy with the story. Could not put down the controller. I'm really tempted to go back and replay it. (^///^)

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I really cannot deny that, I got to the end and the story is just staggeringly good. And its all the way through.

Originally I would have ranked MSQs like this...
1. Heavensward
2. ARR
3. Stormblood

Now...
1. Shadowbringers
2. Heavensward
3. ARR
4. Stormblood

But after this one I have to slide it in at the top... Even though Heavenward is my personal favorite, I cannot deny the story in Shadowbringer is that good.

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Originally Posted by LeoLupinos

There's nothing more effective to value the greatness of FF than to play other MMOs and running back to FF while crying.

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I used to be subbed to WoW and FF XIV regularly. Nowadays WoW is one of those games that I play when I'm bored of everything else. FF XIV is running circles around WoW even if it doesn't have the numbers WoW does. I might not agree with all the decisions this dev team makes, but they still make better decisions than the WoW devs do most of the time.

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Originally Posted by MOZZYSTAR

i'm not sure how I feel about this... Are they out of touch with the forums?

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The forums are only a fraction of the overall player base. It would be foolish to just cater to the forum users.

I wish the day comes when Square Enix raises the funds by just 10%. How much would that help this game? And a new producer. The game is stable and safe now, but now let the 30 mph cruise control Yoshida get off of the driver's seat..

The game is still lacking in many departments. To me XIV has low soul. It's a big chunk fan service (granted, Red Mage is, too, but now and finally perfected after 3 decades) and more and more external influneces, "cross-over events", are watering down the brand even more. What is special to XIV that makes your mind connect to it? I dislike the lack of passionate background writers. I brought it up in the past, but I will say it again: The Asura in Guild Wars are so fledged out and every species in that realm has weaknesses and strength, and despite permanent bickering, they need each other. It's well interwoven. Here? We all just exist. The lore changes back and forth and stays dumb and flat because Yoshida would have to deliver (e.g. male bunnies), so it's a decision not for the health and quality of the game, but done by the suits that are usually never gamers, but former business college students. Hence the cash shop, the housing desasters (houses randomly collapsing when you don't log in as if this is Detroit) and ridiculously overpriced merchandise shop (taking shipping cost several times of what Fedex would want to keep the surplus money etc.)

FFXIV is something very charming and a great engine running in the back. I remember having 1080p@60fps on my GTX670 from 2012... Now I have 1440p@90fps with a GTX1080.

The PlayStation-caused annoying loading screens are annoying, but the loading is then again also quick. It's really Red Mage and the Lalafell that is the reason why I am here and not on my Asura Deadeye.



The communities are both great. FFXIV's is warmer, but also more mentally fragile people than in GW. If the funds we invest would go into the game here, I'd not be so negative, but right now am not super happy. Also, there is a lack of "competition" within a group. You know, an official parser that shows me how I compared as in a tally screen AFTER the dungeon. It all feels so meaningless in the end which is the reason why I come back every 3 days only. Daily gameplay would be too "meh".


Sincerely,
https://imgur.com/9mjol58.png

Makes sense, especially after ShB.

Issues here and there, some of them a bigger thorn than others (housing system would be mine, not the objects/visual, just system limitations), but even still FFXIV is a great mmo with awesome presentation, music, interesting dungeons, and FF fun content like the must have job system (I don't really want to play an mmo without one to be honest lol), with a very consistent content schedule (which is nice). Makes for a good combo set :3.

I have some beef with elements of the game, though as far as MMO's go it's the best of the lot in my opinion. I would like more time and effort to be spent on character customisation and this very site, though.

The main story and music is what puts it above its rivals, I reckon.

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Originally Posted by Silverquick

I really cannot deny that, I got to the end and the story is just staggeringly good. And its all the way through.

Originally I would have ranked MSQs like this...
1. Heavensward
2. ARR
3. Stormblood

Now...
1. Shadowbringers
2. Heavensward
3. ARR
4. Stormblood

But after this one I have to slide it in at the top... Even though Heavenward is my personal favorite, I cannot deny the story in Shadowbringer is that good.

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I like it when a story gets a little dark, and man it felt good to have our character be the main focus of attention. I also love it when we get a little insight into our characters, which is why I also adored the lvl 50 DRK storyline (which was written by the same person who did ShB's Story :D)

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Originally Posted by MOZZYSTAR

#cashcowlife

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Leave that term to the F2P games. Try to play competitive there to understand what a real cash cow is.

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Originally Posted by Noitems

It also won the award for Best Ongoing Game of 2019 from IGN. Good stuff on SE.

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Wow, that wasn't posted? I just assumed so, or I would have lead with that. Good stuff :)

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Originally Posted by MrKusakabe

I wish the day comes when Square Enix raises the funds by just 10%. How much would that help this game? And a new producer. The game is stable and safe now, but now let the 30 mph cruise control Yoshida get off of the driver's seat..

The game is still lacking in many departments. To me XIV has low soul. It's a big chunk fan service (granted, Red Mage is, too, but now and finally perfected after 3 decades) and more and more external influneces, "cross-over events", are watering down the brand even more. What is special to XIV that makes your mind connect to it? I dislike the lack of passionate background writers. I brought it up in the past, but I will say it again: The Asura in Guild Wars are so fledged out and every species in that realm has weaknesses and strength, and despite permanent bickering, they need each other. It's well interwoven. Here? We all just exist. The lore changes back and forth and stays dumb and flat because Yoshida would have to deliver (e.g. male bunnies), so it's a decision not for the health and quality of the game, but done by the suits that are usually never gamers, but former business college students. Hence the cash shop, the housing desasters (houses randomly collapsing when you don't log in as if this is Detroit) and ridiculously overpriced merchandise shop (taking shipping cost several times of what Fedex would want to keep the surplus money etc.)

FFXIV is something very charming and a great engine running in the back. I remember having 1080p@60fps on my GTX670 from 2012... Now I have 1440p@90fps with a GTX1080.

The PlayStation-caused annoying loading screens are annoying, but the loading is then again also quick. It's really Red Mage and the Lalafell that is the reason why I am here and not on my Asura Deadeye.



The communities are both great. FFXIV's is warmer, but also more mentally fragile people than in GW. If the funds we invest would go into the game here, I'd not be so negative, but right now am not super happy. Also, there is a lack of "competition" within a group. You know, an official parser that shows me how I compared as in a tally screen AFTER the dungeon. It all feels so meaningless in the end which is the reason why I come back every 3 days only. Daily gameplay would be too "meh".


Sincerely,
https://imgur.com/9mjol58.png

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Another rant from a runt please tell us why do you keep playing and have to tell us once again about your game rig and blaming playstation you know nothing about your ridiculous

Can't argue with Shadowbringers msq being great. Hell, better than great: excellent even.

And that's the problem I have with the game, to be honest. It feels like msq is the only area that they do excellent in and everything else falls either on the average side of things or less and I really wish it wasn't so.

And as someone pointed out in the first page, to paraphrase, it's basically one of the very few mmorpgs on the market I can tolerate. Sort of like the last bastion against the sea of f2p crap infested mmos out there and we all know how easy it is to fall into complacency and let some upstart come and blow us out of the waters.

They only won, or had the chance of winning, because other mmo's are absolute trash. They are better than others, but at it's current state they shouldn't have won either award. Not since Shadowbringers at least, in my opinion.

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Originally Posted by SenorPatty

Can't argue with Shadowbringers msq being great. Hell, better than great: excellent even.

And that's the problem I have with the game, to be honest. It feels like msq is the only area that they do excellent in and everything else falls either on the average side of things or less and I really wish it wasn't so.

And as someone pointed out in the first page, to paraphrase, it's basically one of the very few mmorpgs on the market I can tolerate. Sort of like the last bastion against the sea of f2p crap infested mmos out there and we all know how easy it is to fall into complacency and let some upstart come and blow us out of the waters.

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That and music for sure. The actual "MMO" aspects are kind of poor, and I think they have only been streamlining the game and giving us less since Shadowbringers. Or rather, I feel like this is the route they are heading. Granted, maybe, just maybe, they have something that is eating up all of their resources, maybe we will see some huge, good patches or something, but that's just me with my hopes up.

#2 is nice, but as for the title of the thread itself I'd be absolutely surprised if it managed *not* to get on a list of the 10 healthiest MMOs. With some of the entries on there, I wouldn't be surprised if even 1.0 would end up on that list, there just aren't many traditional MMOs nowadays after everyone realized copying WoW's success was harder than it looked.

I love this game, don't get me wrong...but after I finish leveling all of my characters, I don't know what I'll be doing. The gameplay is good and all, but the raids are incredibly boring to the point where I don't even want to do them. PvP is, and always will be(in any game), trash. So all I have is a single hour worth of new quests every 3-6 months until a new expansion comes along. It's kind of the same problem SWTOR has: great story, but everything else is either mediocre or outright terrible. I used to think max level end game content was the best part of an MMORPG, but now, leveling through the story is the only part I like these days. Guess there is always New Game+.

Oh I don't know about that,

The only Raids I don't like is really Crystal Tower. But not necessarily because it wasn't cool originally just that it doesn't have the actual appeal the others do.

Coils of Bahamut is actually for real. Unfortunately its kinda broken after Heavensward, so if you go into it over level 50, you can break it as some of the mechanics failures that are supposed to kill you won't because they weren't designed to handle someone with that much health and it will lock you in the instance and never go to the next stage. Also, while its got a good story, a lot of it you won't necessarily understand unless you're an old 1.0 player.

Void Ark Series: This one has a really cool story behind it, though it reverts you back to kind of a plain old adventurer joining a band of sky pirates rather than a Warrior of Light. The first one Void Ark is pretty easy, but Lost City of Mhach and DunScathe are for real. Shockingly the Final Diablo boss still manages to wipe entire raids.

Alexander: Great story behind it, and kind of fun little series of raids, but I've just played this one too much at this point.

Ivalice Series: Wow... ok this one is for real. This one is still so nasty its wiping raids. While the other ones can be overgeared at this point. This one still gets seriously wicked. I personally love the storyline behind this one. But then again I am familiar with the original FF Tactics and War of the Lions story... so while I was playing through this I could feel the undercurrent of sadness and despair as the music played, as I knew what really happened under the surface even when the characters around me did not. I actually run this one just for gear for my Grand Company Squadron as I would love to Glamer the entire team as an old FF Tactics Unit. Lol still can't believe a frigging Choco Meteor killed me during one of the side story quests... I was just dumbfounded going... no way.. did that just happen?
Honestly even though I could not stand the MSQ for Stormblood... I found the Ivalice Raids and Storyline to be one of its few redeeming qualities.

Omega Raids: Well they kinda play like the old Alexander Raids, but the criticism is correct, they're kind of disjointed. Even if a lot of fun. I still like the Train from FF3/6. That was so cool to go play again in 3D. Its kinda like taking on Ultros in the Hildebrant Quests. Again probably one of the few things about Stormblood I liked other than Red Mage.

Haven't been to the Neir Raids yet but I'll get there in time.

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Originally Posted by LalaRu

Leave that term to the F2P games. Try to play competitive there to understand what a real cash cow is.

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It's still a relevant term here with how loaded the Mogstation is with items, even if they are largely cosmetic.

The game's success is definitely well-earned, in my opinion. It seems to be one of the few MMORPGs since WoW to have garnered a broad appeal, outside of just hardcore MMO players.

Speaking for myself, I have played a LOT of MMOs over the years, because I am always drawn in by the prospect of an ever-expanding game world and story, and not so much because I really care for playing with other people. In other titles, I usually bail when I realise that any story content I have left to do before the next patch/expansion drops will require manually grouping up with other players (something I find way too much of a hassle).

While it frustrates me that some of the precious story content in the game is locked away in this fashion (e.g., Eureka's story), the fact that most of it is accessible with the DF helps a lot. Heck, I'd even go so far as saying that the game, eventually, turned me around on group content, and I actually enjoy some of it now, and will even team up with other players in preference to playing with Squadrons or Trusts—if only because said players are generally more efficient.

So, yes, while I'm sure that we can all think of ways in which the game could be better-suited to our own preferences, I think that it generally does a good job at appealing to all sorts of players. There is some content that is almost-universally reviled, like BLU and Eureka, and that is the only real threat I see to the game's long-term health: when they have tried to innovate and offer new types of content on top of the standard offerings, it usually hasn't turned out well.

My approach would be to make both BLU and Eureka entirely soloable experiences, and to make the deep dungeons more PUG/DF oriented. I'm fine with Savage, Ultimate, and Extreme for the hardcore players, because those modes don't, to my knowledge, gate any story content. Everything else should be pretty accessible, in my opinion, so that people have options for varying what they do in order to progress in the game.

My approach might not be the right one of course, but I fear that unless they're able to score a few successes with these experiments, more and more people are going to tire of the current formula. I hate to end on that sour note, because I really do love the game, I just want it to continue on an upwards trend and stick around for a long time. :)

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Originally Posted by MrKusakabe

[FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium][SIZE=3]I wish the day comes when Square Enix raises the funds by just 10%. How much would that help this game? And a new producer. The game is stable and safe now, but now let the 30 mph cruise control Yoshida get off of the driver's seat..

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You want to get rid of the guy who single-handedly saved the game? Damn, I swear your posts just get more stupid.

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Originally Posted by FedoraTheExplorer

You want to get rid of the guy who single-handedly saved the game? Damn, I swear your posts just get more stupid.

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I like Yoshi P because he does seem to genuinely care about what he does. I think he could use some fresh ideas though, or a fresh set of eyes on current ones.

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Originally Posted by FedoraTheExplorer

You want to get rid of the guy who single-handedly saved the game? Damn, I swear your posts just get more stupid.

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Avoid that potato. He burns the report button like crazy lol.

FFXIV is still winning the awards it very well deserves. I thank everyone who developed the game and the community for making FFXIV a welcoming and fun experience.

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Originally Posted by MrKusakabe

I wish the day comes when Square Enix raises the funds by just 10%. How much would that help this game? And a new producer. The game is stable and safe now, but now let the 30 mph cruise control Yoshida get off of the driver's seat..

The game is still lacking in many departments. To me XIV has low soul. It's a big chunk fan service (granted, Red Mage is, too, but now and finally perfected after 3 decades) and more and more external influneces, "cross-over events", are watering down the brand even more. What is special to XIV that makes your mind connect to it? I dislike the lack of passionate background writers. I brought it up in the past, but I will say it again: The Asura in Guild Wars are so fledged out and every species in that realm has weaknesses and strength, and despite permanent bickering, they need each other. It's well interwoven. Here? We all just exist. The lore changes back and forth and stays dumb and flat because Yoshida would have to deliver (e.g. male bunnies), so it's a decision not for the health and quality of the game, but done by the suits that are usually never gamers, but former business college students. Hence the cash shop, the housing desasters (houses randomly collapsing when you don't log in as if this is Detroit) and ridiculously overpriced merchandise shop (taking shipping cost several times of what Fedex would want to keep the surplus money etc.)

FFXIV is something very charming and a great engine running in the back. I remember having 1080p@60fps on my GTX670 from 2012... Now I have 1440p@90fps with a GTX1080.

The PlayStation-caused annoying loading screens are annoying, but the loading is then again also quick. It's really Red Mage and the Lalafell that is the reason why I am here and not on my Asura Deadeye.



The communities are both great. FFXIV's is warmer, but also more mentally fragile people than in GW. If the funds we invest would go into the game here, I'd not be so negative, but right now am not super happy. Also, there is a lack of "competition" within a group. You know, an official parser that shows me how I compared as in a tally screen AFTER the dungeon. It all feels so meaningless in the end which is the reason why I come back every 3 days only. Daily gameplay would be too "meh".


Sincerely,
https://imgur.com/9mjol58.png

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Trying to take Yoshida off the Producer/Director role doesn't really benefit FFXIV IMO. Trying to "innovate" stuff in FFXIV just for the sake of it is a very major double-edges sword (points to the mixed-reactions of the current WOW expansion.)

By virtue of a number of great Shadowbringers reviews FFXIV is also one of the highest rated PS4 games of all time on metacritic.

I have enjoyed the game since ARR and I have been happy to see the positive reviews for Shadowbringers, which is an excellent expansion. It is also great to see how far the game has come since the very rocky start of 1.0 some 9 years ago.

Of course the most amazing thing about FFXIV is its massive soundtrack. Probably something like 300-400 tracks by now.

At this point in FFXIV's life honestly large changes are not a good idea, it would be way too risky. That and they are tapping into the WoW fanbase successfully atm. If WoW's next expansion blows as much as the current one you can expect to see another massive boost in playerbase most likely. This is the best WoW style mmo on the market... potentially better the actual current non-classic WoW atm.


I wish they did not choose the path of a linear themepark, I wish Item Level and Throw Away Gear was not the core concept of progression, and I wish XIV had alot more focus on guilds outside just social channels. But that is not Yoshida's vision of what makes a good mmo. And the majority of the playerbase at this point is in line with Yoshida's vision. Most those who really wanted direction change quit in heavenward / early stormblood.

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Originally Posted by tinythinker

FFXIV made it onto a list of healthiest live MMORPGs at the end of 2019

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I dunno about that list... They put WoW at the top of 'healthy' and not only that game, but it's entire company is in sellout fiasco mode... Does WoW still have high numbers? Likely... but they're rapidly shrinking... it's like we're watching an explosion of a star in slow motion - we start with a massive enough object and even when planet sized chunks peel off what you have left is still big... but it ain't healthy and it's getting obvious things are headed in a bad direction...

They call Guild Wars 2 healthy because the company is in the black... but then proceed to describe things as 'train wreck on the deck of the Titanic, but hey... the captain's still got a bucket in his hands...'

I don't know the first thing about ArchAge but their description of it sounds like "this guy broke every bone in his body in that crash, but the doctor says he still has a heartbeat...'

Do they understand what the word 'healthy' means?

I agree for FFXIV and ESO... I lack knowledge of the others... I used to play Neverwinter which they basically put as 'number 11'... I'm actually curious about that one... it was a solid game, I only left because I had to cut something... which is also why they left it off their list... but given how they describe some of the others... I feel to make 11 you have to have basically had your game's code eaten by the dog... How badly could Neverwinter have possibly screwed up to be lower than ArchAge, Guild Wars 2, and WoW on the 'Healthy' meter?

How bad does ANYTHING have to have done to be more unhealthy than WoW? Sell out to not just Red China but -ALSO- ISIS AND lose 103% of your players? I mean come on...

If they had used a word other than 'healthy'... a word such as 'profit', but NOT 'activity'... I might be with them... But just because you're still strip mining a meteor that's on a path to burning up in the Sun... doesn't mean it isn't on a path to burning up in the Sun.... Especially when you just strapped rockets to it to speed it up on that path...

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Originally Posted by Xatsh

At this point in FFXIV's life honestly large changes are not a good idea, it would be way too risky. That and they are tapping into the WoW fanbase successfully atm. If WoW's next expansion blows as much as the current one you can expect to see another massive boost in playerbase most likely. This is the best WoW style mmo on the market... potentially better the actual current non-classic WoW atm.


I wish they did not choose the path of a linear themepark, I wish Item Level and Throw Away Gear was not the core concept of progression, and I wish XIV had alot more focus on guilds outside just social channels. But that is not Yoshida's vision of what makes a good mmo. And the majority of the playerbase at this point is in line with Yoshida's vision. Most those who really wanted direction change quit in heavenward / early stormblood.

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Yeah. I don't really have an issue with character/gear progression. My issues are generally with the side content that is supposed to fill the void between patches and keep people busy. Either they release something too grindy (Eureka Pagos or BLU to some extent currently) or it has no longevity at all (also BLU). Some content was simply dead on arrival, like LoV and Diadem. They just can't seem to find their happy medium there. Relics pre Stormblood weren't perfect, but they kept people busy. They are just too delayed to matter in whatever form they decide on, and when they do get released they are obsolete from the get-go. Relics should be included in the launch patch, or at most delayed until the first major patch.

The tittle is earned, but there isn't much competition to begin with. The MMO market is kind of dead / stagnating. And I don't see that changing any time in the future, so I guess we're here for the long haul...

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Originally Posted by Omymy

Avoid that potato. He burns the report button like crazy lol.

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Put that potato on your ignore list and life gets a lot less irritating

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Originally Posted by LalaRu

Leave that term to the F2P games. Try to play competitive there to understand what a real cash cow is.

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You are not wrong, infact you are right with this statement however.
I fail to see where the competitive gameplay is in our game tbh. You could do absolutely nothing and it doesnt matter really apart from savage content. There is very little reason to do anything in the game once you get your i460 set. FC are barely ever alive also.
Compare it to BDO which is a pay2win game, but a game that makes you want to progress with your character further and further.

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Originally Posted by Elladie

Put that potato on your ignore list and life gets a lot less irritating

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Exactly, gonna do that asap.


Thanks.

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Originally Posted by MOZZYSTAR

i'm not sure how I feel about this... Are they out of touch with the forums?

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Is there an active MMO that doesn't have a forum where a lot of people complain?

If an online gaming company conducted thousands of polls on every single aspect of their game to try to do just what most people wanted, there would still be a lot of complaints. It's just human nature.

It reminds me of those YouTube videos that show puppies and kittens in adorable situations where you think to yourself "Awwwww" every few seconds. Those videos still have downvotes. People just like to complain.

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Originally Posted by MOZZYSTAR

i'm not sure how I feel about this... Are they out of touch with the forums? Even Japan's forum voiced how unhappy they were with some major things. xD

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Forums are a poor reflection of what the majority of subscribers think.
For one, only a small percentage of players actively uses forums and those are usually people who analyze and nitpick more than the majority of people who simply plays the game and leaves it at that. So naturally, the forums are overall fairly negative. And of course, you have several people who simply like to complain.
And people are generally more willing to agree to complain than to defend what they like. So if someone opens a complain thread, you'll generally find more people agreeing with the op. Coming in and disagreeing, defending their opinion etc. is too much of a hassle for many so they keep silent and let the complainers complain.

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Originally Posted by Vahlnir

Yeah. I don't really have an issue with character/gear progression. My issues are generally with the side content that is supposed to fill the void between patches and keep people busy. Either they release something too grindy (Eureka Pagos or BLU to some extent currently) or it has no longevity at all (also BLU). Some content was simply dead on arrival, like LoV and Diadem. They just can't seem to find their happy medium there. Relics pre Stormblood weren't perfect, but they kept people busy. They are just too delayed to matter in whatever form they decide on, and when they do get released they are obsolete from the get-go. Relics should be included in the launch patch, or at most delayed until the first major patch.

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I know it's probably a sin but I enjoy messing around in LoV.. but I wish there was something tighter (that I can fill my hotbar up is a bit silly, I think it'd be better if there was some need for kit building), and perhaps some more variants. Like if people played wc3 I feel like a good maul / line tower / tower defense mode could be fun use of the assets, maybe a castle siege.

I guess I just feel like it has potential still lol.

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Originally Posted by Nedkel

You are not wrong, infact you are right with this statement however.
[snip]Compare it to BDO which is a pay2win game, but a game that makes you want to progress with your character further and further.

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Until you get your perfect gear, which is all buy-able (costing around $100 per piece if you REALLY want to skip the RNG fiasco that is that enchanting system and get PEN) and you have nothing to do. Once you're there, all you can do is squabble and PK each other over favorable spots to grind for ... what again? Oh, right, nothing.

There's a reason BDO is joked about being the best character creation game out there.

I think the only reason WoW is still up there is because of WoW classic and its positive reception.

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Originally Posted by RokkuEkkusu

Trying to take Yoshida off the Producer/Director role doesn't really benefit FFXIV IMO. Trying to "innovate" stuff in FFXIV just for the sake of it is a very major double-edges sword (points to the mixed-reactions of the current WOW expansion.)

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Taking risks and constantly innovating is why WoW is still the top MMO 15 years later. Not everything works, and not everyone likes every change, but shaking things up periodically is how you keep people interested for so many years. FFXIV is now in version 5.x and things are still pretty much the same as they were in 2.x. This game is incredibly solid, but it's also incredibly safe and predictable, and that's not great for keeping people engaged over long periods of time.