The fans will be here when it's all said and done

[Steeled]

Most of the MMOs you list OP were expected to endure the trolls, hate, flaming and unsubs as the fans here claim. Most are free to play or have slid into level of subs where many aren't sure if they're still online.

MMOs play the same because they insist on making them the same. It's a stretch to say that FFXI played the same as WoW, RIFT, or FFXIV unless you boil it down to "attacking a monster with weapons".

[Tupsi]

Weeeeeeeeeeeell...

The Fans were still playing 1.23 yet they still chose to redo it as ARR despite the fact people still payed to play FFXIV 1.x - So yes, fans will always be in MMOs no matter the situation, but MMOs these days can't be sustained by 'fans' alone - They wouldn't have made ARR so generic if they weren't trying to cut into a bigger slice of pie. FFXI for example maintains because it has a following of almost 11 years. New MMOs are literally going day by day praying people don't just drop it very early on.

It's a very different market now. And a Steeled said, it's a stretch, especially considering XI came first compared to the "giants of modern MMOs", heck WoW didn't come out until 2 1/2 years after XI and the same year as it's CoP expansion pack (2nd expansion btw.)

[Arriverderci]

Some people are not happy unless they have something to complain about.

Others, most often teenagers and young adults complain for sport. They have been raised to believe that people actually care what they have to say. Its usually about 24-25 when they realize no one cares.

As we all know; it is impossible to make everyone happy but there is a difference between out-right saying...
"This game sucks balls. QQ cry I hate everyone fanboys, WoW noops" and "I think the game could have...."
aka Suggestions or state why this game isn't appealing to them, which should be taken into consideration.
Of course, here we have people having their guns ready. If people didn't have feedback and left, it would make the game worse in the long run
as no one knows why people left. I think the Dev's and the whole SE team should care...who care's if you don't care, you're not the creator.
So people does not think this game grade A is teenagers? That makes sense...Jebers.

So, at the end of the day, sure fans will stick, some will not. But as Tupsi said, they can't sustain this game alone.
See 1.0 for more details. Even fans leave games no matter how bad it is. Game will grow. Just needs really "worth coming back to." material.
We shall see.

[Yurikitty]

Thanks OP that was a good post. It really made me think, and you know I dont think this game is much different from any other that launches and is still going or, is already dead. I like you have played many a MMO, and really all of there boards are filled, to the same extent like ours are. WoW boards cry the end of the world when classes get respeced, people hate on blizzard, the producers, the players, you name it (just not the customer service lol). In the end they are all the same, its only the players perspective that changes how they think and feel. I love the FF series. I started playing FF8, I played 11 for 7 years, I met my husband on my server, I met friends I still talk to. This game is about community for me. And its the community I am happiest in despite the problems with the game. People can cry white knighting or whatever else they want but its not. I like apples, maybe you hate them, it doesn't mean apples are bad, its just my perspective, it doesn't make me right or you wrong.

[Ksenia]

If CCP ever fix Black Ops battleships I'm out. I won't say for how long but I will return to EVE for that.

I don't know what the percentage is of ARR players that have that level of priority loyalty. That really does determine the base you are talking about.

I see FF14 as having around 50K true base. The 50K that played 1.00

[Terius]

Yes the fans will stay. It won't be anywhere near enough but they'll stay. Game will go down, but they'll stay...

/comfort

[Evenstar]

The main problem is that the majority of the posters here are divided in two equally blind groups.

Group 1: Everything Yoshi or Square Enix does is fine. Never want to say a negative word about the game.
Group 2: Everything Yoshi or Square Enix does is wrong. Never can say "good job" when something is added or changed.

As long as we don't stop belonging to one of those groups the forums are useless.

I have the feeling lots of players are comparing the subscription amounts of this game with WoW. No game will pass WoW within the next 5 years. Final Fantasy XI was not popular at all. However it managed to be the game Square Enix made the most money with! Even after 11 years it is still going strong, bringing out patches every 2-3 months and they even released another expansion a few months ago.

Final Fantasy XIV doesn't need 1.5 million subscriptions to survive for 10 years. Square Enix will keep supporting it for years to come even if the amount of subscriptions will go all the way down to 300.000-400.000.

Give the game some times for crying out loud.

[Mags]

The only thing I ever dislike are the words 'vocal minority' - there is nothing that I feel discredits something more than when someone uses this phrase. It is the wording of someone who has no substantial evidence, who insists that only their view on things are correct - more often than not..

Let me clarify what I meant. Those that post on the forums in general are the vocal minority. Most of those that play the game never post on the forums at all, for complaint or praise. More would visit the forums, official or fan-based, but to simply read up on current events. Myself personally, I would not come to the forums to lodge a complaint or even to make a suggestion. The in game feature I believe would receive better attention.

That's not to say what is posted here is folly. I am saying it's not where the game's developers would rely upon for suggestion on how to possibly improve the overall gameplay. It's only logical to think that they would use in game server tools to view all that they need. They can see how many are online, when, where, for how long and what they do during their time spent in game.

I did not mean to leave the term vocal minority as a label to insult, as one would use such terms as fanboy, or white knights. Only to say what the term implies. Those that post here for any reason are a minority for the overall player population in game.

[Doo]

I speak for the majority the music is terrible in this game and puts me to sleep.

[Elim]

Those who complain are a "vocal minority"

Yes. This is the term that some people use when they feel like riding around on their high horse to spread their opinion, but don't or can't provide actual statistics to back it up. When I see it used seriously I generally stop reading a post. It's hard to swallow anything afterwards.