FFXIV made it onto a list of healthiest live MMORPGs at the end of 2019

[Vahlnir]

Leave that term to the F2P games. Try to play competitive there to understand what a real cash cow is.

It's still a relevant term here with how loaded the Mogstation is with items, even if they are largely cosmetic.

[purgatori]

The game's success is definitely well-earned, in my opinion. It seems to be one of the few MMORPGs since WoW to have garnered a broad appeal, outside of just hardcore MMO players.

Speaking for myself, I have played a LOT of MMOs over the years, because I am always drawn in by the prospect of an ever-expanding game world and story, and not so much because I really care for playing with other people. In other titles, I usually bail when I realise that any story content I have left to do before the next patch/expansion drops will require manually grouping up with other players (something I find way too much of a hassle).

While it frustrates me that some of the precious story content in the game is locked away in this fashion (e.g., Eureka's story), the fact that most of it is accessible with the DF helps a lot. Heck, I'd even go so far as saying that the game, eventually, turned me around on group content, and I actually enjoy some of it now, and will even team up with other players in preference to playing with Squadrons or Trusts—if only because said players are generally more efficient.

So, yes, while I'm sure that we can all think of ways in which the game could be better-suited to our own preferences, I think that it generally does a good job at appealing to all sorts of players. There is some content that is almost-universally reviled, like BLU and Eureka, and that is the only real threat I see to the game's long-term health: when they have tried to innovate and offer new types of content on top of the standard offerings, it usually hasn't turned out well.

My approach would be to make both BLU and Eureka entirely soloable experiences, and to make the deep dungeons more PUG/DF oriented. I'm fine with Savage, Ultimate, and Extreme for the hardcore players, because those modes don't, to my knowledge, gate any story content. Everything else should be pretty accessible, in my opinion, so that people have options for varying what they do in order to progress in the game.

My approach might not be the right one of course, but I fear that unless they're able to score a few successes with these experiments, more and more people are going to tire of the current formula. I hate to end on that sour note, because I really do love the game, I just want it to continue on an upwards trend and stick around for a long time.

[FedoraTheExplorer]

[FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium][SIZE=3]I wish the day comes when Square Enix raises the funds by just 10%. How much would that help this game? And a new producer. The game is stable and safe now, but now let the 30 mph cruise control Yoshida get off of the driver's seat..

You want to get rid of the guy who single-handedly saved the game? Damn, I swear your posts just get more stupid.

[Vahlnir]

You want to get rid of the guy who single-handedly saved the game? Damn, I swear your posts just get more stupid.

I like Yoshi P because he does seem to genuinely care about what he does. I think he could use some fresh ideas though, or a fresh set of eyes on current ones.

[Omymy]

You want to get rid of the guy who single-handedly saved the game? Damn, I swear your posts just get more stupid.

Avoid that potato. He burns the report button like crazy lol.

[RokkuEkkusu]

FFXIV is still winning the awards it very well deserves. I thank everyone who developed the game and the community for making FFXIV a welcoming and fun experience.

I wish the day comes when Square Enix raises the funds by just 10%. How much would that help this game? And a new producer. The game is stable and safe now, but now let the 30 mph cruise control Yoshida get off of the driver's seat..

The game is still lacking in many departments. To me XIV has low soul. It's a big chunk fan service (granted, Red Mage is, too, but now and finally perfected after 3 decades) and more and more external influneces, "cross-over events", are watering down the brand even more. What is special to XIV that makes your mind connect to it? I dislike the lack of passionate background writers. I brought it up in the past, but I will say it again: The Asura in Guild Wars are so fledged out and every species in that realm has weaknesses and strength, and despite permanent bickering, they need each other. It's well interwoven. Here? We all just exist. The lore changes back and forth and stays dumb and flat because Yoshida would have to deliver (e.g. male bunnies), so it's a decision not for the health and quality of the game, but done by the suits that are usually never gamers, but former business college students. Hence the cash shop, the housing desasters (houses randomly collapsing when you don't log in as if this is Detroit) and ridiculously overpriced merchandise shop (taking shipping cost several times of what Fedex would want to keep the surplus money etc.)

FFXIV is something very charming and a great engine running in the back. I remember having 1080p@60fps on my GTX670 from 2012... Now I have 1440p@90fps with a GTX1080.

The PlayStation-caused annoying loading screens are annoying, but the loading is then again also quick. It's really Red Mage and the Lalafell that is the reason why I am here and not on my Asura Deadeye.



The communities are both great. FFXIV's is warmer, but also more mentally fragile people than in GW. If the funds we invest would go into the game here, I'd not be so negative, but right now am not super happy. Also, there is a lack of "competition" within a group. You know, an official parser that shows me how I compared as in a tally screen AFTER the dungeon. It all feels so meaningless in the end which is the reason why I come back every 3 days only. Daily gameplay would be too "meh".


Sincerely,

Trying to take Yoshida off the Producer/Director role doesn't really benefit FFXIV IMO. Trying to "innovate" stuff in FFXIV just for the sake of it is a very major double-edges sword (points to the mixed-reactions of the current WOW expansion.)

[Avenger]

By virtue of a number of great Shadowbringers reviews FFXIV is also one of the highest rated PS4 games of all time on metacritic.

I have enjoyed the game since ARR and I have been happy to see the positive reviews for Shadowbringers, which is an excellent expansion. It is also great to see how far the game has come since the very rocky start of 1.0 some 9 years ago.

Of course the most amazing thing about FFXIV is its massive soundtrack. Probably something like 300-400 tracks by now.

[Xatsh]

At this point in FFXIV's life honestly large changes are not a good idea, it would be way too risky. That and they are tapping into the WoW fanbase successfully atm. If WoW's next expansion blows as much as the current one you can expect to see another massive boost in playerbase most likely. This is the best WoW style mmo on the market... potentially better the actual current non-classic WoW atm.


I wish they did not choose the path of a linear themepark, I wish Item Level and Throw Away Gear was not the core concept of progression, and I wish XIV had alot more focus on guilds outside just social channels. But that is not Yoshida's vision of what makes a good mmo. And the majority of the playerbase at this point is in line with Yoshida's vision. Most those who really wanted direction change quit in heavenward / early stormblood.

[Makeda]

FFXIV made it onto a list of healthiest live MMORPGs at the end of 2019

I dunno about that list... They put WoW at the top of 'healthy' and not only that game, but it's entire company is in sellout fiasco mode... Does WoW still have high numbers? Likely... but they're rapidly shrinking... it's like we're watching an explosion of a star in slow motion - we start with a massive enough object and even when planet sized chunks peel off what you have left is still big... but it ain't healthy and it's getting obvious things are headed in a bad direction...

They call Guild Wars 2 healthy because the company is in the black... but then proceed to describe things as 'train wreck on the deck of the Titanic, but hey... the captain's still got a bucket in his hands...'

I don't know the first thing about ArchAge but their description of it sounds like "this guy broke every bone in his body in that crash, but the doctor says he still has a heartbeat...'

Do they understand what the word 'healthy' means?

I agree for FFXIV and ESO... I lack knowledge of the others... I used to play Neverwinter which they basically put as 'number 11'... I'm actually curious about that one... it was a solid game, I only left because I had to cut something... which is also why they left it off their list... but given how they describe some of the others... I feel to make 11 you have to have basically had your game's code eaten by the dog... How badly could Neverwinter have possibly screwed up to be lower than ArchAge, Guild Wars 2, and WoW on the 'Healthy' meter?

How bad does ANYTHING have to have done to be more unhealthy than WoW? Sell out to not just Red China but -ALSO- ISIS AND lose 103% of your players? I mean come on...

If they had used a word other than 'healthy'... a word such as 'profit', but NOT 'activity'... I might be with them... But just because you're still strip mining a meteor that's on a path to burning up in the Sun... doesn't mean it isn't on a path to burning up in the Sun.... Especially when you just strapped rockets to it to speed it up on that path...

[Vahlnir]

At this point in FFXIV's life honestly large changes are not a good idea, it would be way too risky. That and they are tapping into the WoW fanbase successfully atm. If WoW's next expansion blows as much as the current one you can expect to see another massive boost in playerbase most likely. This is the best WoW style mmo on the market... potentially better the actual current non-classic WoW atm.


I wish they did not choose the path of a linear themepark, I wish Item Level and Throw Away Gear was not the core concept of progression, and I wish XIV had alot more focus on guilds outside just social channels. But that is not Yoshida's vision of what makes a good mmo. And the majority of the playerbase at this point is in line with Yoshida's vision. Most those who really wanted direction change quit in heavenward / early stormblood.

Yeah. I don't really have an issue with character/gear progression. My issues are generally with the side content that is supposed to fill the void between patches and keep people busy. Either they release something too grindy (Eureka Pagos or BLU to some extent currently) or it has no longevity at all (also BLU). Some content was simply dead on arrival, like LoV and Diadem. They just can't seem to find their happy medium there. Relics pre Stormblood weren't perfect, but they kept people busy. They are just too delayed to matter in whatever form they decide on, and when they do get released they are obsolete from the get-go. Relics should be included in the launch patch, or at most delayed until the first major patch.