This game isn't for hardcore players

[Ptolemy]

People stop playing games when they're no longer fun. That has nothing to do with players ruining games, it's to do with the fact that the game lacks retention in the first place. You get on the themepark ride, and then stop playing when you've exhausted content, or just stop playing because the grindathon to get to the next bit of content is just not worth it. Unlocking things and playing through the story is fun, but people move on because they're looking for new experiences.

XIV proves the first part wrong, that has alot more power then they think.

People want fun and they also want retention without the "time requirement" (i.e prolonged content, "XI type" gear progression (waiting for a monster drop) etc.) they can't have both, which is why many MMOs fail (not really fail, just doesn't see much success)

that is why they MMO-hop to the next "popular" release, push for changes (if it isn't the type of game they like), and leave when it fails to meet their standards


Casuals are the playerbase companies want because of the "popularity" boom of the genre WoW caused, they aren't a bad thing but the need to cater to every whim they have is, We can have a balance (Horizontal progression can bring it (What XIV originally was, just need to add modern tools (Duty finder etc.), the majority (the "standard mmo" BS crowd) would rather see the powerstruggle between casual & hardcore