I am excited to see what happens when subs kick in.

[Orsnoire]

Don't even need a crystal ball to tell how things go with P2P MMOs. Once free month is over, population nose dives..... then comes server merges and if population keeps dropping further then the announcement for F2P. FFXIV is a fun game but competition is really fierce these days and a lot of other MMO offers same and lot more for free or in buy to play package. So it is goign to be tough time ahead for FFXIV.

PVP isn't going to save this game though, i see a lot of people excited about PVP but the FFXIV combat isn't just suited for that. Anyone remember the failure PVP was in FFXI? housing is a nice addition but other MMOS are already ahead in that department too. So yeah more content is always good but i am not foolish enough to believe that all these features will help in boosting subs because they won't.

Even assuming that the game loses as many subs as SWTOR did (unlikely), the current population numbers are promising for a sustainable future for the game.



Bear in mind that any 1.0 players (not just those who were legacy) have already been billed and have already paid for their sub. Even with that in place, the game is still functioning at or near capacity. That means that not only has the game maintained a near-capacity concurrent login amount even after the first wave of subs, but it suggests that many of the players jaded from their experience in 1.0 (and thereafter quit) have stayed with the game. These players alone are enough to keep the numbers that SE was anticipating.

The only real question that remains is what proportion of players will stay of those who came in to the game with ARR. At this point, it's really hard to make that call. The fact is that nobody really knows, and we won't know for sure until the free month is over for new players.

Bottom line is, you claim that you don't need a crystal ball to tell how things go, and then you proceed to prognosticate using one. By the way, it's clearly broken.

[Nikki]

Bottom line is, you claim that you don't need a crystal ball to tell how things go, and then you proceed to prognosticate using one. By the way, it's clearly broken.

Whatever i said is common sense and based on the past trend of post release P2P MMOS and their downfall. That is why i said in beginning that one doesn't need a crystal ball to guess the obvious. FFXIV is just another themepark MMO like its predecessors and i see no reason why it will have a different fate when it is even though fun is as generic as it gets in terms of features. What FFXIV does, every other MMO also does it and more on top of that offers it in F2P or B2P package.

So yeah i already know for sure how things are going to turn out in few months for FFXIV. Again this is not being gloomer or droomer but being practical. I have learned from the past, maybe you haven't.

[Orsnoire]

Whatever i said is common sense and based on the past trend of post release P2P MMOS and their downfall. That is why i said in beginning that one doesn't need a crystal ball to guess the obvious. FFXIV is just another themepark MMO like its predecessors and i see no reason why it will have a different fate when it is even though fun is as generic as it gets in terms of features. What FFXIV does, every other MMO also does it and more on top of that offers it in F2P or B2P package.

So yeah i already know for sure how things are going to turn out in few months for FFXIV. Again this is not being gloomer or droomer but being practical. I have learned from the past, maybe you haven't.

You're comparing apples to oranges. The reasons behind recent P2P games' failures is far more simple than you're making it out to be:

They've all been extremely poorly designed.

This is the first game since WoW that has taken the model, added substantive things to that framework, and produced a game worthy of the AAA title. Are there bugs? yep. Is there a lack of content? Absolutely. The difference is that those two things are openly acknowledged and that we've gotten fixes for those things in the recent past (and there is a major content patch in the immediate future).

So yes, you're being doom and gloom, and not practical. "Practical" includes being realistic about ALL of the factors involved, of which you've ignored several key factors.

[Nikki]

So yes, you're being doom and gloom, and not practical. "Practical" includes being realistic about ALL of the factors involved, of which you've ignored several key factors.

Oh please every MMO that came out before FFXIV had similar amount of content or more. SWTOR, RIFT, Tera etc..all these MMOS had good launches, minimum bugs and had similar amount of content and even more.

All these were AAA titles and have been frequently adding content, RIFT being on the top in terms of content addition. All these MMOS were also following WOW formula. And yet players kept on leaving because it is just too hard to maintain a subscription based MMO due to very saturated market and high competition. Players have way too many choices these days.

Realistic people like me have experienced it all so know how it works. You make it sound as if FFXIV is the first to take WOW model and added substantive things to that framework. But that is the fanboy inside you which is refusing to see the reality. No wonder i look like a doomer and gloomer to you.

Bookmark this post now and visit it again in 6 months. You might think differently.

[Orsnoire]

Oh please every MMO that came out before FFXIV had similar amount of content or more. SWTOR, RIFT, Tera etc..all these MMOS had good launches, minimum bugs and had similar amount of content. All these weer AAA titles and have been frequently adding content, RIFT being on the top in terms of content addition.

Realistic people like me have experienced it all so know how it works. You make it sound as if FFXIV is the first to do something like that and all other devs don't give a damn about their products. But that is the fanboy inside you which is refusing to see the reality. No wonder i look like a doomer and gloomer to you.

I can guarantee I've experienced more in the MMO genre than you have, as long as you want to turn this into a power struggle and a pissing match. The fact of the matter is, games aren't interchangeable. There IS a difference between game A and game B. SWTOR, RIFT, Tera, FF XIV 1.0, etc. are all piss-poorly developed games, and anyone who is objective acknowledges that fact. RIFT, granted, has "more" content, but to claim it's better is just silly. The initial endgame content in RIFT was universally criticized in the industry. And that was the best of the bunch that you mentioned. They were only "AAA" titles (quotes used intentionally) and were despised by the MMO playing audience immediately with most players never reaching the first billing month.

Right now in FF XIV, the only real complaint about endgame is that there isn't enough of it so you have to run the same (generally hailed as well-designed) dungeon over and over. But that changes in 2 months when CT and new dungeons come out.

So yeah, you're being a doom and gloomer. You have no idea WTF you're talking about. Also, LOL at the use of fanboy just because someone disagrees with your wide brush overgeneralization.

[Nikki]

I can guarantee

No i used the term fan boy because you don't even know a simple fact that FFXIV isn't the first MMO to use WOW framework. Wasn't that your original statement? and that is BS.

Only because in your opinion SWTOR? RIFT etc were badly made MMOS doesn't mean it is some universal truth. However what is a universal FACT is that MMO market is too saturated now days and competition is high. Players have more choices and if they don't like a certain MMO they move on.

Could you show me the link of this 'universally criticized Rift end game content'? if not then stop pulling stuff out of you know where.

For some one who claims to know it all you clearly have no idea that MMOS failing these days have more to do with saturated market than the games itself. You think a lot of people are not criticizing FFXIV? or you just willfully ignorant because obviously you don't want to see that. For every player who says SWTOR is bad i will show you equal numbers who say FFXIV sucks.

Welcome to internet where all MMOS are hated. But that is not what we are talking about here now are we? we are talking about viability of SUB based MMOS among this highly saturated market of WOW clones and very high competition.

Long story short: Nikki is a hipster.

Gotcha. Nothing to see here.

In other words 'i have no more stuff to pull out of my behind'.

I don't think 'hipster' means what you think it means.