Quote Originally Posted by Nezerius View Post
It also suggests that the success isn't dependent on a random stat/drop system. Since WoW got released at the right time, just as MMOs became popular, and gained a huge loyal fanbase . because of it (just look at the milions who stayed subscribed in Warlords of Draenor, its worst expansion to date).
Indeed, I did not draw that conclusion that it is dependent on a random stat/drop system. FFXIV is successful, and does not have this system. The point is that the success of an MMO is not dependent on these systems, and that implementing either is not going to cause the game to fail.

Do you mean random drop, or random stat system? The amount of items that actually use the <Random Enchantment> tag are a minority. In Legion, that accounts to the crafted gear, and trinkets from world quests. Everything else already has set stats, with the only difference being whether you get warforged/titanforged or a gem socket. Warforged/titanforged doesn't randomize the stats, it just increases the amount due to higher iLvl, while a gem socket is similar to materia melding.
There's also tertiary stats that may appear on an item, but those honestly don't really have much of an effect, unless you happen to stack a ton of a specific tertiary stat.
I mean both, to be honest. My understanding is that gear in dungeons (mythic+ included) also has random stats, but maybe I am mistaken. Even without random secondary stats, there are just more horizontal options available to obtain the secondary stat structure you want in WoW.

Comparing content that can be queued for (heroic dungeons in WoW, expert dungeons in XIV), they're really not all that different. The heroic dungeons in WoW drops gear that may get warforged/titanforged, but the base iLvl is easily overgeared through the world quest system (And I'd argue that unless you get a high titanforged proc, it's still likely to not be an upgrade). Similarly, XIV expert dungeons drop gear that people often already overgear, with the other reward being tomestones that can be used for upgrades. Alexander Normal can be compared to WoW LFR in a similar way, though I'd say it favors Alexander in that regard.

There's also mythic dungeons in WoW, but those can't be queued for, and XIV doesn't have any light party content that can be compared to it.
You can obtain legendary items and very high level items through titanforged in Heroic dungeons in WoW. Then there is also Mythic+ which can drop raid level gear; unfortunately, there is no real comparison here.

Additionally, the random legendary system in Legion is probably the expansion's most hated feature.
Some people hate it, but I don't think we have actual data to confirm this. Personally, I really like the feature. I don't go around exclaiming it though. The negative voices are always the loudest