So, even Wildstar is going f2p...

[h0tNstilettos]

I'm actually shocked to see a thread like this considering FFXIV is the second most popular big name MMO of all time behind WoW and did it in just 2 years, which makes me quite happy as not only an MMO veteran of 15 years, but a FF fan as well. A pay to play MMO is typically considered stable enough to not go F2P if it has at least around 500k active subs. FFXIV at the end of 2014 had over 4 million accounts registered (not including free trials or free months), and only 1.8 million of those active, which is incredible for a pay to play MMO in this day and age. And given that during 2015 we've had many returning and new players due to Gold Saucer, and returning players for Heavensward plus the mass influx of new players from other MMOs, especially WoW, then there really isn't any reason to worry.

If you go to other MMO forums, even WoW's battlenet official WoW forums, and you'll see that here and there are numerous threads of players from those other games praising FFXIV and even saying it's better than the game you would think they'd be bias with, and the thread and any comment for FFXIV has tons of upvotes. One thread topic had over 100 upvotes. That's almost unheard of in any other MMO being praised on another MMO's forum as most tend to bash the other MMOs. Some have even called FFXIV the new WoW, and WoW's only competitor.

Sure, not everyone likes FFXIV just like not everyone likes WoW, and I doubt FFXIV will ever reach the same sub numbers as WoW considering today's MMO playerbase is more divided among many more MMO options than when WoW was in its glory days.

While everything I said might seem like an exaggeration, it isn't. In fact some people that aren't up to date on these things may reply to this and tell me I'm wrong or accuse me of being a fan girl. I actually keep up to date and do heavy internet research on what's trending with MMOs and popularity. I have even seen a poll on an un-biased forums to vote for the MMO they think is the best/like, including WoW, GW2, SWtOR, FFXIV, etc, and was shocked to see FFXIV won the poll as I actually thought more people would vote in favor of World of Warcraft. I also saw another poll asking for players to vote for which expansions from 2015 they were most looking forward to between GW2 Heart of Thorns and FFXIV's Heavensward and FFXIV won by a huge distance, and no this was not a biased poll posted on a FF site or forum. WoW's WoD was not included because the poll was after WoD and WoD was considered a major disappointment to the majority.

Basically to sum it up, you do not have to worry about FFXIV going F2P. I can say that with 100% confidence. If for whatever reason it did, it would not be for the same reason many other MMO's go free to play. Not to mention, Blizzard and SE actually use their own money to pay for their games without having to worry about investors, which means SE has a little more leeway anyways.