Make FFXIV a 'Sandbox' game. No way it can compete against upcoming 'Themeparks'.

[Abriael]

Yes because all of the beta footage of those games are just scams.

Aside from the fact that quite a few of the games you named aren't even in beta. PR videos aren't exactly the best way to judge a game's quality (they are PR, they are made purposedly to make you think that the game is great).
People were shedding tears of joy even while seeing the early videos of FFXIV, and of the many other games in the past that hit a wall at launch.

Presumptuous much? At what point, just tell me this, did I ask for the removal of the armory system or any of FFXIV's unique features? A sandbox game wouldn't discourage group play, the armory system, or any of the good things about FFXIV, but it would however give FFXIV more of a chance in the industry to capture a bigger player base. Possibly, anyway.

Actually the userbase for sandbox game has been demonstrated to be quite small by previous experience. Darkfall was to be the king of sandbox games. The wet dream of sandbox games lovers. And it's most definitely the most "sanboxy" mmorpg out there. Guess what? It failed so hard that it makes FFXIV looks like a critical success.
So no, it wouldn't give the game a chance to capture a bigger userbase. It would put the game in a niche with a smaller usebarse. Much smaller.

What's quite telling is your inability to express any hesitation about how right you always are. But really, you don't know that the addition of more content - at a very slow pace might I add - will be enough to ensure this game's success. You're just stating that because you feel like it or something.

And you're not stating things because you feel like it? Like everyone else out here?
When most of the games you mentioned will be launched, FFXIV will have had plenty time to be filled up with content. The pace is nowhere slow. It's actually one of the fastest, if not the fastest, rate of evolution in the market's past and present.

The notion that in order to compete with other games, FFXIV should NOT compete with them is rather funny. It's a game with a lot of strong points, that need to be exploited, expanded and built upon. SE has the resources to do that, and doesn't need to run away into a small niche to be able to compete with other developers.

I'm just saying, I doubt anyone will be coming back when faced with the myriad of other titles being released soon, all of which are competing for the same customers. So FFXIV has to differentiate itself more (even more than FFXI was differentiated) as opposed to trying to compete when in reality it probably won't be able to.

Aside from the fact that "soon" is a serious overstatement, FFXIV has something over most of those titles. It's *already* unique in many ways. Besides Blade and Soul and TERA everything else is a wow clone. Blade and Soul and Tera don't even have a set release date yet, and they're both action based MMOs, attracting a quite different demographic of twitch-lovers.

A theme park can easily compete with other theme parks as long as it has rides and a better theme. FFXIV has a better theme, and can easily get more and better rides before those games even see the light.
If the developers were to pull out a silly defeatist attitude and run away from the challenge, that'd be just the perfect indication that it's not worth it.