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

[ElazulHP]

Once the story is done and there is no more content coming I'll be retiring my character. Hopefully, by that time there will be a new Final Fantasy MMO to try out. If not then back to no MMOs because the MMO market is pure garbage excepting for this game.

[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.

[DuskTS]

The maintenance skeleton crew would probably keep making combat content and probably get interesting with it now that the game is declining. Might actually be some of the best few years of FFXIV.

[Mhaeric]

I would. I would almost certainly still play this game at least occasionally if/when they "FFXI'ed" FFXIV.

Something I've noticed in the heavy story-lean in this game is that the story is so well written, foreshadowed for years, established to lead to actual, satisfying endings, that it (the story) almost absolutely has to "end" some time much sooner than the typical MMO player might accept of a AAA MMORPG of this caliber.

Coming from WoW, the mere mention of ending that game creates some of the ugliest conversations from "um no, I'm invested, it's not allowed to end as long as it's making money" to "game is ded lol" at the slightest downturn of activity. Generally speaking, in that headspace, "ending development" is seen as a failure if not a betrayal of investment of both time and money. It's highly unreasonable if you really think about it, but WoW is basically "not allowed" to end.

I don't see anyone talking about FFXI that way. The last time I was a multi-MMO guy following multi-MMO new-sites, the FFXI post-game, SE's version of "maintenance mode" was touted as a surprising relative success of continued support if not continued development.

So if the curtain were to fall and the final credits to roll on Eorzea, as it seems to be much easier to accept here... would you stay? Would you pay for it? Or is any situation of "ending the game" a dealbreaker for you? Would you be mad? Would you feel betrayed?

How would you feel and would you still play? I'm curious how deep the understanding of this inevitability goes in this neck of the MMOniverse in this day and age.

Umm, I already did for around the first year and a half of its life give or take.

[LolitaBansheeMeru]

Consinder blizzard is on its on its death bed they couldn't make a decent mmo at this point.
Everquest 2 (maybe)
Now if FFxi remaster comes to consoles I would gladly drop ffxiv in a heart beat because FFXI felt like playing a final fantasy and nothing being forced on you.

Basicly if anything comes out with good character customization,skill trees (and choices on how we make our build) and its for consoles with a nice story I'll drop ffxiv for something like that. (just my opinion the tightleash highly limited combat/job system is what keeps ffxiv from being a godly game.

[Valorak]

The story is absolutely my main draw to this game so I doubt that I'll be regularly subscribed after they conclude it.

I'd probably come around every now and again just to horse around in some dungeons. I'd also occasionally play through New Game+ as long as they keep it updated and the servers stay online.

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

Hard to say......
This is a Story Driven MMO. Once the story is over....that might be it for me. I might still get some Glamours for screenshots and take some memories with my departure and retire my Avatars.

But on the other hand, if FFXIV still gets some support and they start treating it like a typical MMO and still add in new endgame content..... It's a maybe.
Maybe I'd still play, if they continue to add in new endgame.

[Kewitt]

I would for a little while but once it got down to 500 hours for one achievement I would but done. As you can max level all jobs in short order what would be left to do.

[Nedkel]

No i wont and probably its my last Final fantasy game, because i highly doubt Square enix is and will be able to deliver another MMORPG of this caliber.

Big game companies no longer are able to give us quality products, they are incapable of creating a decent mmorpg and place money greed over everything else, they dont even test their stuff before releasing as we all experienced it when the Iconic B2 outfit came out with glaring and unacceptable issues left alone blizzard and lunatics who are controlling their business. I may play small companies games instead or create my own game or stop playing games altogether because its becoming a money draining circlejerk.

[Saefinn]

I still occasionally play FFXI, they keep churning out little things to keep going. Heck they've just added a Siren avatar for SMN. I ended up invested in this game, else I'd probably still be there. There's probably a good chance I would stick around, depending how long it lasts. FFXIV has a strong RP community, I'm an RPer and if that community persists, then I expect even if the game dies, I'm still here for that. The game has a rich lore to it that I love, so I think it'd be hard to pick up and move my RP interests to another game, especially when I have characters I'm already invested in and spent a great deal of time writing.

But I think this game has many strong years left in it, it's not suffering from the same level of technical problems of FFXI, although it has some. I think it'd be easier for them to keep FFXIV relevant for years to come. As the game is going very strong ATM, I see this end being far off. Heck, FFXI still has a strong player base, whenever I log in there's always something going on and cities populated.