Would you be upset if the game went offline?

[Rowyne]

Gary Ganon is an idiot. He didn't even bother to mention that that video was a work heavily under construction -- something that was clearly pointed out in the letter. The only good thing about his old XIV Podcast was the hawtness that is Kenzie. Don't lose any sleep over a jackass talking about that vid as if it were the final version.

True, they didn't explain the details (and I sighed when they insulted the 'slide' animation between active/passive mode because it hasn't been rendered yet). But, unfortunately, that's beside the point.

Anything you release to the public is subject to public scrutiny and criticism. And it has been officially released, no matter how many apologies SE makes or how many months of free playtime we get. No matter how many supporters on the forums say we should wait because we should view the game as an open beta, it's still in development, etc. The simple fact is that it is not officially a beta product, it has been released.

Even worse than the reviews is the growing dissent and negativity you here see on the forums from the remaining playerbase. If we had a meter to measure faith and morale around here, you would see it drop daily. Even the loyal fans are having a hard time defending the game nowadays. The natives are restless for changes and content, but a watched kettle never boils. If we were playing as official beta testers, the attitudes would be different. But we're not.

[_C-a-e-r-i-t-h_]

Anything you release to the public is subject to public scrutiny and criticism.

... except scrutiny and criticism are in violation of forum guidelines....

But back on-topic.

This issue is a house divided, I can't stand it.

There are people who still want to play the game. There are even some who think it's a great game and has really made a lot of progress. Okay fine.

There are people who think it's a terrible game, that change is coming too slow, and that when the change finally does get here it won't be enough to make the game even halfway decent. Perfectly valid viewpoints.

Neither side agrees with each other. Ain't nothing going to help that.

Side A wants the game to keep going. They'd probably even pay for it.

Side B is very disappointed and what they want varies.

Here's my proposal:

Give every purchaser of FFXIV a choice:

1. Start paying a subscription fee as of 1.20. Servers will be merged as necessary, PS3 release might never come. Work on FFXIV slows as it is handed over to a skeleton team.
2. Cancel your FFXIV account and get a voucher for S-E's next MMO, for price of purchase and 6 months comped gameplay. The ~200 people working on FFXIV now get put to work on this new game, which is called just Final Fantasy Online, to come out in 24 months. S-E decides in the next 3 months whether Crystal Tools can be salvaged or whether to license a functional engine like Frostbite.
3. Cancel your FFXIV account and get your money back for both the initial purchase and any Crysta you bought.

Everyone gets to choose.

There are a lot of people who bought FFXIV and don't play it. They're the majority, not the people on the forums and not the people playing. Those people, the ones who aren't playing, are pissed off and resentful-- moreso even than those on the forums who at least tolerate S-E enough to post here. How many people bought FFXIV on release? 300k? How many still play? 100k tops? So that's 200k people pissed at S-E, 200k subscribers who will never come back to S-E. S-E should heal the breach and offer them a refund or a voucher.

Won't happen.

But that's what they should do.