Would you still play FFXIV in a post-development "maintenance mode?"

[Kalise]

No, I wouldn't play FFXIV without development.

As it is now, it's pretty much just the Story that's keeping me interested.

Couple that with the fact that this year has a number of promising new MMO titles being released (A notable one being Blue Protocol getting a confirmed Western release)

Thus, what reason would there be for me to stick around? Maybe I could spend the next 40000000000000000000000000 years trying to solo pop FATEs in Eureka to finish all of my Relics, but ehhh... That was tedious enough even when people were still doing the content en masse...

Even more so when you consider that so much of the game is stuck behind group content and going into a Maintenance mode will lead to a decline in playerbase (Not completely, but there will be a drop off) which means fewer groups to do said content.

[Omedon]

Even more so when you consider that so much of the game is stuck behind group content and going into a Maintenance mode will lead to a decline in playerbase (Not completely, but there will be a drop off) which means fewer groups to do said content.

See, this is a good point, and part of the reason I think FFXIV might not have the lifespan ahead of it that some might hope for is because the trust system is actually a silver bullet for that very issue if it's applied retroactively!

Nothing above "story mode dungeons" need to have the trusts applied to them for the game to be something worth playing for new players. Trust dungeons are basically "play this stretch of land like you might a Dragon age game," and if FFXIV had a trust party for every story dungeon, their ass would potentially be covered for the inevitability of a maintenance mode's unreliable playerbase for group content. Uncouple the trials from being mandatory if you can't stretch trusts that far, aply it to every dungeon, and you have a game that's worth a new player's time, and the invested players may stay for the social aspect.

But of course, you don't have to stay, and I appreciate you giving your perspective.

[Hurlstone]

I think the nature of our character and the world means that we can continue to have adventures and new stories for a good while longer. The WoL being a mute player insert means that even though we have larger connects to the main mythos of the world, we can still be placed in new situations with relative ease. What may need to come to an end is things like the larger story arcs. I would also say characters, though I think ‘retire' is a more fitting word for them, as who knows when a future story may be improved by the impute of an old friend? How well SE will do that we will have to see. I think Endwalker was a worthy way to end that overall Hydaelyn arc, but 7.0 will be the true test of that, and I do feel they may need to fit in a way new players can start in the more up-to-date story from the get go, as that amount of 1-90 content is already daunting to some. ESO does a good job of letting you jump into the latest content, at the expense of an unclear timeline (It boggles my midn that they do not at least handwave some 'wibbly wobbly timey whimey' explination at this point.)

Sorry, got distracted there. It would depend on what FFXIV’s maintenance mode is like. Would there still be events? Would all story content cease? There is ALOT to do in this game, and so long as SE changed a few of the restrictions for old endgame content I can see it still having a life for a long time.