NOV 10th. That date sounds so familiar...

[Iromi]

I don't understand this argument. Yes, numerous games are releasing for the holiday season. FFXIV isn't going anywhere, you're free to come back and enjoy it after you're done with Fallout 4. Or you could play FFXIV and just wait for the GOTY version of FO4, whichever suits you.

and I don't understand this argument. The whole point of a MMORPG is to retain subs, from the company PoV, is it not? I can't get over how many people are saying oh take a break, oh unsub..and come back. People usually don't come back. This game needs to start retaining subs, and having a large gap in content from Jan - June (HW delay) and June to November is questionable...

Let me tell you - My entire FC unsubbed (And it is a large FC) and they are telling me that none of them want to come back. See why this is a bad thing? But eh, it's not my game, not my money..SE does not pay my bills, so if that's what they want, then so be it~

[Garlyle]

and I don't understand this argument. The whole point of a MMORPG is to retain subs, from the company PoV, is it not?

So... what? Should they jump to stop Fallout from releasing somehow? Corporate sabotage, maybe?

They can't just magically have something done in one month that isn't going to be done until a month and a half from now. That's not how development works, unless you want really buggy, unrefined content (You really don't). They could wait later if need be... but why spurn those players who aren't interested in those games simply because another company's doing something as well?

The thing is that the people who'll stop playing XIV briefly to go play Fallout/Starcraft instead would do so anyway.

I don't get where you get the idea that people who unsub don't come back. They do. Yoshida's even fully acknowledged it - there's lots of players who only come back for one or two months out of each patch's lifespan, because in a content-centric game that's what's required to keep people's interest. And they're completely fine with it.

[Iromi]

snip

Naw, I never said they should stop other games from releasing..but okay.

Also, no my fc isn't coming back...wanna see a pic of how long people been gone? 400+ days , cuz they took a break for another game. And I can bring them here to post or post screens of them admitting so, this is a lot of people too. But hey, it's fine, it's cool.

I never said everyone, and some people (again not all!) think not retaining subs all the time is good, alrighty then.

[Nadirah]

Naw, I never said they should stop other games from releasing..but okay.

Also, no my fc isn't coming back...wanna see a pic of how long people been gone? 400+ days , cuz they took a break for another game. And I can bring them here to post or post screens of them admitting so, this is a lot of people too. But hey, it's fine, it's cool.

I never said everyone, and some people (again not all!) think not retaining subs all the time is good, alrighty then.

So you want a forced retention mechanic?

Seriously, it's not the end of the world. If they've been gone 400+ days, then they were gone a LONG time ago, and you can't blame the expansion on it. Maybe MMOs aren't for them. Maybe *this* MMO isn't for them? Find a new FC or go play what they're playing. Quit trying to play the blame game.


When I left for close to 6 weeks after Skyrim launched, I came back. Why? Because the game I was playing at the time(both wow and EQ2) were good for me at the time. Taking breaks is good. Same reason you take a damn vacation from your job or school.

I think the real problem lies in the fact that FFXIV already acts a lot like a single-player game, so it's stuck competing with other single-player games. I probably won't be logging in as often when Fallout 4 comes out...but I'll still be logging in. The people that will be hit the hardest will be those who are already burned out and tired of the repetitive grind.

After enough patches, players will come back. Those that don't will certainly do so when the next expansion releases. SE won't lose too many subscribers in the long run, but there'll likely be a dip in their numbers.

...Now, when Persona 5 comes out, none of you will be seeing me for a very, very long time. >=]

No, it's not. It's a highly anticipated sequel in a highly popular game series in both counts.

And StarCraft II is *not* a single player game. Sure there's a campaign, but it's designed from the ground up as a multiplayer RTS.

[Gaddes]

So you want a forced retention mechanic?
Seriously, it's not the end of the world. If they've been gone 400+ days, then they were gone a LONG time ago, and you can't blame the expansion on it. Maybe MMOs aren't for them. Maybe *this* MMO isn't for them? Find a new FC or go play what they're playing. Quit trying to play the blame game.
When I left for close to 6 weeks after Skyrim launched, I came back. Why? Because the game I was playing at the time(both wow and EQ2) were good for me at the time. Taking breaks is good. Same reason you take a damn vacation from your job or school

I can see what they're saying about losing subs though. Even though Yoshida said it was something either expected or accepted, it's a little weird to me that they're ok with people unsubbing. Most companies don't want to lose paying customers, and there's the danger that people who temporarily unsub may end up just staying unsubbed (that's what happened to me with FFXI and I never ended up coming back). It's bizarre from a business standpoint to be ok with losing money like that. For the person themselves, taking breaks is good... but the business makes no money from that person during that absence.

In the long term, these hits to their profits are chipping away at the game. That's that much less money for development... which may not seem like that much of a hit right now, but as these "breaks" increase, there'll be less money coming in as time goes on. I've personally seen people either in my FC or in-game friends that have just disappeared, and these are people who hadn't done so before. Will they come back? Who knows.

You'd think it'd be in their best interests in terms of profit to always keep people subbed, since as the others mentioned, having people unsub, even temporarily, can cause some pretty big hits to the remaining subbed players' morale, and that can cause chain reactions of other people growing dissatisfied and quitting as well.

[Amiaze]

No, it's not. It's a highly anticipated sequel in a highly popular game series in both counts.

And StarCraft II is *not* a single player game. Sure there's a campaign, but it's designed from the ground up as a multiplayer RTS.

It's not what? More like a single-player game? If that's what you mean, then I have to disagree, sorry. I've managed to play almost the entire game on an alt without really talking to anybody because, well, the game doesn't really give you reason to interact with people outside of instances. This is completely subjective, of course, but I know I'm not the only one that shares this sentiment. I've seen a number of posts saying the same thing. One of players' biggest gripes is the silence that is in so many instances, until you wipe. Then there's just rage.

As for it competing with single-player games, well, it's evident from people flocking to Fallout 4 that it most certainly is competing with them. Granted, every game has competition from other markets. But just look at how a previous poster stated their FC isn't really interested in coming back, at least for a while. What that says to me is that the social aspect of the game isn't strong enough to make people miss it. At least, not in this case. I've personally seen the same thing happen to a number of people, myself included.

As for "it's a highly anticipated sequel", I'm not sure if you're referring to FFXIV, Fallout 4, or Persona 5, sorry.

And I'm not sure where StarCraft II comes into the equation, sorry. I've never played that game, so I can't remark on it either way.

[Jonditaru]

snip[/i].

I guess yoshida acknowledging something makes it better.

Anyway, there have been many games I was taken away from or didn't even play because of ffxi. Sure, it isn't the same game. The whole point is I loved that game enough to where I couldn't stop playing it, no matter what other great games were out. If any game was good enough, I found a way to balance playing both at the same time.

[Iromi]

I guess yoshida acknowledging something makes it better.

Anyway, there have been many games I was taken away from or didn't even play because of ffxi. Sure, it isn't the same game. The whole point is I loved that game enough to where I couldn't stop playing it, no matter what other great games were out. If any game was good enough, I found a way to balance playing both at the same time.

Thank you, at least someone understands what I was trying to say.

[NoahArks]

Let me tell you - My entire FC unsubbed (And it is a large FC) and they are telling me that none of them want to come back. See why this is a bad thing? But eh, it's not my game, not my money..SE does not pay my bills, so if that's what they want, then so be it~

This. I was completely out of touch with the game, cause I was already repeating the same content over and over. Worst part is that I didn't even know that there wouldn't be a update for another month and a half... Really makes me feel that it's just useless to try and stay in this game, cause everything I only play a few months to end up with a 6 month break.