After the next expansion they should consider expanding the F2p experience

To Stormblood.

Going up to Heavensward has been extremely beneficial to FF14 but with the market getting more and more crowded it's gonna get harder and harder to get more new players. Expanding to 2 expansions would be a really big carrot on the stick to get them to bite. Stormblood also introduces a lot of stuff, like Eureka and Bozja, that could greatly benefit from a flux of new players.

Course, like with Heavensward, I do see most players becoming paying players, if they can, before even finishing the expansion or post-game of the expansion. Since if they get through the Stormblood MSQ then odds are they're severely invested into FF14 at that point.

So it's really a win-win situation for everyone just like making up to Heavensward free was a win-win and has helped FF14 continue to grow even as other MMOs struggle to get new players or even retain the ones that they have.

Edit: - I meant with the release of the next expansion, not 2 expansions down.

To me what the free trial is currently is way more than any other games free trials. It's so generous I don't think it should ever change.

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Originally Posted by Tanis_Ebonhart

T more and more crowded it's gonna get harder and harder to get more new players. Expanding to 2 expansions would be a really big carrot on the stick to get them to bite.

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Well, they are moving to support the single-player type of FF fans so not sure if a free trial on its own needs more expansions (still not something to complain about). I would say they could give a bit more recognition to free-trial players that went way beyond the normal gameplay and like farmed relic weapons or something similar :) maybe a bit of housing with some custom apartment option?

They have mentioned being open to this idea in the past.

But it's important to remember it's a free trial. This is not meant to be a free to play game.

If the trial keeps getting increased, then it sets a precedent that all expansions will eventually become free and that allows the free players to wait it out and get everything for free.

The purpose of getting access to Heavensward is for it to be just enough to help you decide if the game really is for you or not. The only reason to go higher is if Heavensward is not a good enough representation of what the game is about. But it does show you a lot of design patterns that are repeated in every other expansion, and has a story that was at least at one time regarded as the best without dispute.

I worry that expanding it to Stormblood would actually make conversion-to-paying-subscribers/retention worse than it is now, because I don't feel like Stormblood's narrative is as strong as Heavensward's. I feel like people would get to that story, kind of shrug and be like "what are people always so hyped about with the narrative of this game, I don't get it," then peace out before it REALLY gets good in Shadowbringers. But then, even in the next expansion, I wouldn't say it should go free all the way through ShB, because that's TOO much of the game, so IDK.

But then again, I'm definitely a story girl, and not everybody else is, so maybe this wouldn't be as much of a factor as I imagine it would be.

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Originally Posted by sharknado

Well, they are moving to support the single-player type of FF fans so not sure if a free trial on its own needs more expansions (still not something to complain about). I would say they could give a bit more recognition to free-trial players that went way beyond the normal gameplay and like farmed relic weapons or something similar :) maybe a bit of housing with some custom apartment option?

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No. Housing is already congested enough as it is, fix the issues for the scarcity for subscribed players of the game by adding a lot more wards, then get to free trial players.

If FF11 hasn't gotten that treatment despite being so old and with fewer players, I doubt they'd pursue it on one of their most popular projects at the moment...

no need.
HW is doing a fine job as is

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Originally Posted by Ardeth

To me what the free trial is currently is way more than any other games free trials. It's so generous I don't think it should ever change.

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Don't fall for that mentality. That's the mindset on why WoW, and its population, are so slow to accept change.

Expanding it to Stormblood wouldn't hurt at all.

End of HW is a great place to stop the free trail.
It ends in a high note with a good cliffhanger.
It is a point of a story were you feel no real urgency to continue it and that gives the trail player the chance to explore the other important content.

Imagine you have to stop after stormblood, with all the scions gone.
The free trail player might rush to buy the game to continue the story without doing side content and then hit a wall with CT because he haven't done it.
It then get rushed and the big EW reveal will have no real impact to them.
He most likely have not done the Alex raid, so part's of EW will also not make sense to them.

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Originally Posted by Curisu

The free trail player might rush to buy the game to continue the story without doing side content and then hit a wall with CT because he haven't done it.

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You know that you can't progress the ARR story without doing the CT raid right?

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Originally Posted by Tanis_Ebonhart

Don't fall for that mentality. That's the mindset on why WoW, and its population, are so slow to accept change.

Expanding it to Stormblood wouldn't hurt at all.

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You are already giving the perspective player so much for free. Trust me it's more than enough. If by the end of Heavensward and getting to level 60 you don't want to buy the game then I don't know what to tell you. That's the point of the free trial. You try it for free and if you like it you buy it. They gave away one of if not the best expansions this game has ever had for free. I'm sorry, but this just stinks of greed on your part. You want more without even thinking what was given for free.

Giving access to Stormblood would be brilliant from a story-rich gamer's standpoint. Most people gush about how good Shadowbringers is, and the lead-up in the 4.X series is also great- and much more enticing than the lead-up in 3.4 and 3.55. Get prospective subs hooked on the cliffhangers leading into 5.0 and they'll be salivating for the story of Shadowbringers.

Heavensward is a good spot to stop for the trial. It is just a trial after all. Something to try to get you interested in the game and right now is easily over 100+ hours of free content, loads of classes to get to 60 and what not. Giving away Stormblood would basically make 70% (at that rate) of the game free and at that point it's not just a trial, it starts to dip heavy into the free to play market.

I'm still surprised they even gave the free trial Heavensward.

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Originally Posted by sharknado

Well, they are moving to support the single-player type of FF fans so not sure if a free trial on its own needs more expansions (still not something to complain about). I would say they could give a bit more recognition to free-trial players that went way beyond the normal gameplay and like farmed relic weapons or something similar :) maybe a bit of housing with some custom apartment option?

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Why would a free trial deserve special treatment over a paying customer who did the same content and if not more..? This is honestly not a good idea and I would hate to see free trial players being offered bonus goodies for playing the same game as a paying customer.

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Originally Posted by Caddo

Why would a free trial deserve special treatment over a paying customer who did the same content and if not more..? This is honestly not a good idea and I would hate to see free trial players being offered bonus goodies for playing the same game as a paying customer.

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Not really a special treatment but rather achievement based that both free trial and normal players can achieve. And as some achievements are way harder when you are locked to level 60 and no MB it could be cool to see such players and how much sanity they put into the game. There are free trial legends out there, you sometimes see them on reddit on YT but you can't check for such people on your world or DC.

I do find it pleasantly funny that none of the FT players can reply here and give their viewpoint on if they find the trial adequate...

Just NO. The Free Trial we have now is good enough. If Players wants more, buy this Game like everyone else.

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Originally Posted by RobynDaBank

I do find it pleasantly funny that none of the FT players can reply here and give their viewpoint on if they find the trial adequate...

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Because the trial is more than adequate. They get around ~420 MSQ from 2.0 up to finishing 3.5

This is not counting job quests.
This is not counting crafting quests.
This is not counting gathering quests.
This is not counting side quests.

They also get access to 13 Combat Jobs they can get to level 60 on.

.... This is a lot for a "trial".

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Originally Posted by Tanis_Ebonhart

with the market getting more and more crowded

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List of MMo closed in 2022:

Eternal Magic
Halo 3 (online server)
Mu Origin
Kritika Reboot
Element Quest
Proving Grounds
TitanReach
Warhammer Odyssey
Bethesda Launcher
Elite Dangerous (console version)
MMO Marvel: something with daybreak, in development.
Survarium
Atlas Rogues
Heroes of Newerth
Divergence Online
Otherland
Spellbreak
EVE Valkyrie
TERA
Shadow Arena
MMO Neptune: World of Warcraft mobile.
Babylon’s Fall
Google Stadia
Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier
Scavengers
Aura Kingdom
Crowfall
Forsaken World
Bless Unleashed (console version)
Elyon: Ascent Infinite Realm
The Repopulation
Rumbleverse
Knockout City
Apex Legends Mobile
Battlefield Mobile
Crossfire X

More than a crowd is a graveyard, or are you afraid of a zombie attack?


Putting this aside, I don't think we'll have more players with another free expansion: I'm levelling an alt in these days, and I'm first-hand touching what SE changed in ARR 49+ MSQ and MSQ dungeons.
If a player doesn't like the game after all the content SE gives as a trial I don't think stormblood could change his mind.

Man can we just cut with the Karen-esque "Im a paying customer" talk? Do you guys not listen to yourselves how stuck up and cringey you sound just even acting like this?

Anyway, I dont agree with the mentality shown here but I do think the current trial is good enough for free players to test out the game.

They are probably already considering it. Actually extending it though is an entirely different question. They could easily judge it enough. Or they could extend it so that trial players arent too far behind current content if they do decide give money. Expansions arent being sold individually anyway.

I don't think it's as simple as this.

For sure SE will have data at which point people play, which point players drop off, how soon people convert from free trial to subs.

For example, if they have really good amount free players converting before reaching the end HW of trial, AND, those who quit do quit before ending ARR, then they have no reason to change it. Because this means that HW itself is already enough to convince would-be subs players to convert, and it's enough to convince would-be quitters to quit. Extending that to SB doesn't benefit the company in any measurable way.

In another scenario, they may have data on how many players quit during SB MSQ. If they know a lot of quitters during SB, they will not open this up to free trial. Better have people pay for subs and then quit during SB, rather than free all the way to SB then quit at SB, basically, all of those playtime ARR>HW>SB provide 0 net conversion.

I think in general they need to revise what they considered a 'F2P' experience, to be frank.

Edit: To give further insight into what I mean - If a person purchases the full game and then continues with this, they cannot go back, e.g., cannot go to a free trial. I would like to see it possible to go to a F2P experience regardless of the account, - and just retain many of the restrictions.

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Originally Posted by Kaurhz

I think in general they need to revise what they considered a 'F2P' experience, to be frank.

Edit: To give further insight into what I mean - If a person purchases the full game and then continues with this, they cannot go back, e.g., cannot go to a free trial. I would like to see it possible to go to a F2P experience regardless of the account, - and just retain many of the restrictions.

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I tried FFXIV back in Stormblood (months before ShB release) when free trial was 7 days. I didn't even reach level 10 because I was so busy with real life, it gave me no time to explore the game. I gave it another go in ShB when they increased free trial to level 35 with no limit and that alone gave me the desire to continue playing the game because the lore was interesting to me.

Free trial as is now, is good enough where it should stay for another 2-4 years, once we get more expansions. The reason the game is so successful is because it's not only subscription, but because it provides a massive amount of content that caters to different people. You want to do savage? There's players who do that. Crafting? Yep. RP? No problem. Giving players to try the game up to level 60 with 1 free expansion is as generous as it can be, even WoW limits you to level 20.

Making the game more "free to play" means sacrificing what we have now and getting ready for having more problems created in game, then selling the solutions on Mogstation -- this is the lead cause of most MMORPGs these days. No one wants to play a game with a huge RNG/gacha/lootbox system.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaurhz

I think in general they need to revise what they considered a 'F2P' experience, to be frank.

Edit: To give further insight into what I mean - If a person purchases the full game and then continues with this, they cannot go back, e.g., cannot go to a free trial. I would like to see it possible to go to a F2P experience regardless of the account, - and just retain many of the restrictions.

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I've seen this done before in Everquest 2 and I'm not a fan of this kind of system. One will likely end up not playing with all the restrictions that would be in place. If they do hang around, they're likely the type of person just taking up space. We already went through this whole thing of having free trials locked out during peak times (all times?) around Endwalker launch.

Housing would have to be addressed as a restriction. It wouldn't be fair to anyone if people could just ride the free trial all the way with their house they picked up while subscribed.

Overall, I feel like the current free trial gives people plenty to work with if they want to get a proper feel for the game. There are lots of hours of playtime to be had and lots of jobs to sample. The devs don't need to spend any more time on this part of the game.

Unlike many things.
There really is no sound reason to increase the Free Trial.

60 cap gives you a good idea how the combat classes can morph/change with the later expansions as a Normal Account.

You see the sidecontent available.
<excluding newer additions that they cannot like EZ, V/C Dngs, etc etc.>
Whilst having access to some things while limited. basically free reign.

They gain access to the feedback loop of crafters that they themselves will build for themselves.<while limited, it is more than enough.>

A free trial doesn't need exclusive things like achievements or etc. as a Free Trial in short Is a disposable sample[for lack of better description]
so any special addition/permanence for said players that the Trial is meant to convert to Full Player.[which I have high confidence in its % chance to do so] if it does not, their progress is null and void by their decision. as they decide how long they bother to keep progressing.
[that said, it's impressive that some do decide to all cap within the restrictions. but there is no permanence in its action. just like if one was to level to 30 before doing class/job quests or any other personal goals. or only using certain things once one personally feels earned]

[One cannot bring any point of Relating to SE gaining or losing money to this topic, as, regardless if we know where it goes or how much they do invest or not into XIV. we should and will always ask better from them. Improvements to the Full game trickle down to the Trial. The Trial benefits from the full game growing. Just like Duty Support being available to Trial Players. or Graphical upgrades and etc in the future.]

Tldr: There is no need for an increase or change to the Trial.
and if there was any, it'd be a change that improves the full game overall.

[Like new lower level content or changes. kinda like that neat upper la noscea change.]

Is it actually necessary? Is there anything in SB that is going to set the tone for ShB+?


HW is necessary because you really don't get to play most of your jobs until level 50, so that gives you 10 levels of content where you can actually experience things. You spend most of ARR building up to the point of having an actual rotation, even if it's on the small side and HW gives you somewhere to use it. That's more of the game's fault though.

Free trial is already too generous. There is no need to expand it. The free trial folks if they want more need to pay a sub and help support the game. Simple enough they'll get access to everything just like the paying customers.

Bots could become a bigger problem.

Botters could spam free trail accounts to reach and finish the lucrative Eureka.
The botted accounts that not got caught could then just farm there and get rich.

Because it is a lot easier to create a free trail account, then it is to buy the game with false credit card informations.

It's a Free Trial, not a F2P mode.

I fully endorse players getting as much out of the free trial as far as it goes, its been a selling point every time I've recommended the game to other people, but I'm not sold on players feeling pressured to play for 70 levels without the ability to interact with other players, join FC's or buy/sell on the marketboard. It's a significant a trade off, and I think 60 is at a decent balance right now. Most people I know who play the free trial end up buying the game before they finish HW anyway.

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Originally Posted by Curisu

Bots could become a bigger problem.

Botters could spam free trail accounts to reach and finish the lucrative Eureka.
The botted accounts that not got caught could then just farm there and get rich.

Because it is a lot easier to create a free trail account, then it is to buy the game with false credit card informations.

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If they give Trial players Eureka, expect the bunnies to be nerfed.

See: Demicrystal change when the trial was changed to allow HW to go in. Lost a very easy way to get 80,000 for 2,000 Poetics without tax and was guaranteed cash.

Stormblood is kinda like a low point for the game so I wouldn't really showcase that and it's a free trial and including Heavensward is pretty generous.

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Originally Posted by SillyCrow

Stormblood is kinda like a low point for the game so I wouldn't really showcase that and it's a free trial and including Heavensward is pretty generous.

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Lol not really when theres already the huge gate for a lot of people being base ARR itself.

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Originally Posted by Curisu

Bots could become a bigger problem.

Botters could spam free trail accounts to reach and finish the lucrative Eureka.
The botted accounts that not got caught could then just farm there and get rich.

Because it is a lot easier to create a free trail account, then it is to buy the game with false credit card informations.

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isn't there a Gil cap for trial users.
just asking to re-clarify if I remember that correctly.

Had a consideration. Rather than expanding the free trial, I'd propose they ought to expand on what the "base game" offers. As is, if you purchase the game, without any expansions, you get... pretty much exactly the same content as the free trial. Sure, a few minor inconvenience restrictions are lifted. But otherwise, there's almost no reason for that "base game" to even exist, it's just extra money you have to throw at them just to be able to purchase expansions.

Let free trial players actually feel like they're getting their money's worth by giving them access to more content when they decide to purchase the game, without requiring an additional purchase of the latest expansion to be able to do anything new.

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Originally Posted by GTK0HLK

isn't there a Gil cap for trial users.
just asking to re-clarify if I remember that correctly.

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I'm not sure how they would transfer the items, but there's a lot of raw items you could sell for money. Again I'm not familiar with the free trials limitations, but it would be safe to assume they will find some loophole to move said items.

If I can give a player untradable furnishings by putting them in their storage I can imagine there's got to be some kind of loop hole for the bots. Or using my alts gold chocobo feathers to buy black dyes and have a friend trade daisy chain the item back to my main dyed in black.

And those are just two off the top of my head.

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Originally Posted by Seraphor

It's a Free Trial, not a F2P mode.

I fully endorse players getting as much out of the free trial as far as it goes, its been a selling point every time I've recommended the game to other people, but I'm not sold on players feeling pressured to play for 70 levels without the ability to interact with other players, join FC's or buy/sell on the marketboard. It's a significant a trade off, and I think 60 is at a decent balance right now. Most people I know who play the free trial end up buying the game before they finish HW anyway.

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Then expanding it to Stormblood wouldn't be an issue then as I'm sure most will sub before reaching 70 or finishing Stormblood.

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Originally Posted by SillyCrow

Stormblood is kinda like a low point for the game so I wouldn't really showcase that and it's a free trial and including Heavensward is pretty generous.

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The MSQ isn't that bad, IMO. Ala Mhigo got the short end of the stick but the post game of Stormblood is amazing.

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Originally Posted by SillyCrow

Stormblood is kinda like a low point for the game so I wouldn't really showcase that and it's a free trial and including Heavensward is pretty generous.

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It absolutely wasn't a low point gameplay and content-wise. Problem is, that gameplay doesn't exist anymore so you're really left with a mediocre MSQ and good trials and raids.

Dont forget that it is a "Trial" not a "Free 2 Play" experience, like other games like EvE, Destiny, etc. The idea behind it is that you try it (like a demo) and then pay the game plus the sub. The trial is really good and imo the best one out there without becoming a F2P game.

Could they add the next expansions? I think so, there is A LOT of content left already to make you buy the game, but i doubt they will. Currently FFXIV is one of the top MMORPG in the market so they dont need to add it as a "Please try our game!". And on the other side, Square Enix havent got a good year. Yes, games like FFXIV become a hit, other RPG that they have released have been well received as well, but dont forget that they sell stuff (and probably buy stuff too) to make NFT just when everyone drop them. They also released 3 live services game that flopped hard, and they last big AAA, Forspoken was... well you know.

They are not in financial problems ofc, and FFXVI is on the horizon that will help them a lot, but I doubt they would like to take decisions that make player pay later (aka buy the game and pay the sub after Stormblood)