WoW mostly looks at its playerbase with contempt and arrogance, and perhaps it's a byproduct of sitting at the top for so long. You have classic quotes like "you think you do, but you don't." when people were asking for WoW Classic. Or "don't you guys have phones?" when revealing their Diablo mobile game, even when people have had a lot of criticisms and request for Diablo III.

The FFXIV devs, for all their flaws, seem genuinely interested in making something the players will enjoy. WoW is all very corporate, and the old Blizzard charm has died somewhere along the way. While it's great that XIV is gaining so much traction, let's hope it doesn't go to their head and start going down the path Blizz did so many years ago.

As for Asmongold, even if he doesn't stick around after trying the game out, I think the amount of exposure FFXIV is gaining as a result is a positive thing. Those who don't resonate with the game will quickly leave, but I'm willing to bet there will be a lot of players who genuinely enjoy their time here.