An impassioned plea from a WoW member, A lesson for FFXIV.

[Sylve]

WoW is in an interesting position.
For many years, it was a labor of love for the devs. It succeeded for so long and did so incredibly well because they did exactly what you're asking XIV to do: Learn from competitors (And steal addons to improve the default UI, lol).

The problem WoW has right now is Activision. Blizzard always had creative freedom in the past, even under the Activision merger. However, with Morheim being replaced by a bog standard corporate executive from Activision HQ, all of Blizzards games flipped into "Pure profit mode". Blizzard isn't in change anymore and it shows. HotS is a prime example.
Last Blizzcon revealed they dragged all their 'best' talent away to work on mobile games (Cheap, nasty, profit cash cows) and leaving the other games to be as saturated as possible with microtransactions (Or for Destiny's case, where they outright said they're trying to milk whats left of the playerbase).
In WoWs case, This means grindier gameplay with fewer rewards per time spent.
The exact same path Free to Play MMOs have taken over the years. WoW is dying, And its Activisions dagger in its back.


As for XIV, I think as long as Yoshi-P remains in charge, we can have hope.
If you've not read it, this interview is a good example of why I think XIV will avoid the fate of WoW, at least in the near term.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...shida_summary/

One line particular caught my attention, though it refers specifically to Blue Mage, it shows to me that the devs are treating XIV as a game first and a product second. That line is:

Rather than never implementing it because of stubborn reasons, we decided to base our challenge around "how fun the game play" is.

While some may argue as to whose definition is fun is the correct one, that sentiment from the developers shows that they want the game to be something you log into and enjoy your time on, rather than trying to leech as much money as possible from its playerbase by stretching everything out to breaking point.

TL;DR, I think Yoshi-P and his team are already doing as you suggest. Building a game they can enjoy and hope that we enjoy also.
They may not always please everyone, but I'd rather they try and fail with a brand new concept than to never try in the first place for fear of failure. The mere fact that they can experiment like they have with Eureka and Blue Mage speaks volumes for the creative freedoms SE seems to given Yoshi-P.

[Yurenai]

And its Activisions dagger in its back.

This is how I feel about anything Activision touches. I can't believe gamers, as a whole, allow this company to thrive on our blood. It's disgusting. They turn everything into "money-first." They buy up all my favorite game companies (even successful ones) and then start to dictate how the games should be or what content it should or shouldn't have. These people are not gamers! They don't know what gamers want! And they sure as hell aren't treating us properly!

[Deceptus]

WoW is in an interesting position.
For many years, it was a labor of love for the devs. It succeeded for so long and did so incredibly well because they did exactly what you're asking XIV to do: Learn from competitors (And steal addons to improve the default UI, lol). .

WoW basically brought in Jeff Kaplan, one of their early designers, because he was critiquing Everquest's systems on their forums. They saw this potential and his value and brought him in.

Last Blizzcon revealed they dragged all their 'best' talent away to work on mobile games (Cheap, nasty, profit cash cows) and leaving the other games to be as saturated as possible with microtransactions (Or for Destiny's case, where they outright said they're trying to milk whats left of the playerbase).

What kills me about that situation is they've decided to work with a company that was actively ripping off their WoW and Diablo assets in their Crusader of Light https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=41XpjeCRrsk game

The mere fact that they can experiment like they have with Eureka and Blue Mage speaks volumes for the creative freedoms SE seems to given Yoshi-P.

My issue with that statement is the developers punished the players in Pagos who didn't play Eureka Anemos the way they wanted it played. It was pretty blatant.

[Adrestia]

WoW basically brought in Jeff Kaplan, one of their early designers, because he was critiquing Everquest's systems on their forums. They saw this potential and his value and brought him in.

Exactly the same story with Alex Afrasiabi, aka Furor Planedefiler. Good old Furor was a loudmouth impassioned ragemonster about problems with EverQuest, but that's because he loved the game and pushed the envelope in every way possible. He went from a very important but not-at-all-game-development career to a long career on WoW because the old Blizzard knew they needed people who "got it," not sterile public relations.

The new angle is basically "make the game lukewarm for everyone, because a larger audience means more potential cash shop buyers." They know they lose some people to attrition, boredom, and outrage, but they keep a lot more by not rocking the boat in ways that most people notice.

But cash shops run by companies we love are great and we should love them and support them and thank them for emptying our wallets.