FFXIV's technical limitations are beginning to concern me.

[Puremallace]

They already had a major Calamity on the First. Are you ready to play an MMO with only four or five zones the size of those on the First? It'll have a very short life.

So if you remember how Calamity's work they affect everything on the Source so the entire planet all at once. At the end of 2.55 you were being hunted and had to goto Ishgard right? Well you could just teleport right back to Ul'dah and walk around like nothing happened. There are things that can happen in the storyline to move it forward but still have the zones available.

Also who says it needs to be the First? By my count there are 5 other shards that could collapse to trigger another Calamity excluding the 13th.

[DPZ2]

Obviously, current state of Blizzard says a lot about getting too comfy in your throne, but it will be a long time before the XIV team needs to worry at all.

WoW took 17 years to get to the point where it is now. FFXI is working on 20 years with no sign of stopping. Everquest still has subscribers. Heck, all the MMOs that have come out over the last 20 years are still mostly running, with Lord of the Rings Online and Wildstar being the major losses over the last few years.

Frustrated at the perceived 'limitations' of this game? Enthralled by the possibilities, but realistic in the assessment that nothing is really going to change? Getting jaded after 7 years of play? Looking at the Next Big Thing coming out this year?

Go play it for a while. Revel in its newness. Compare it to the other games you are currently playing. Or not. Try to decide if you really enjoy the genre. Worry about having to purchase a gaming computer, since you can't play most of the Next Big Things on your PS4 [don't even start about the PS5 ... when it becomes available to the masses for List Price, I might listen].

There are other fish in the sea. Take time to go fishing. In game, because actual fishing in 105 degree weather is just nuts.

[ReynTime]

WoW took 17 years to get to the point where it is now. FFXI is working on 20 years with no sign of stopping. Everquest still has subscribers. Heck, all the MMOs that have come out over the last 20 years are still mostly running, with Lord of the Rings Online and Wildstar being the major losses over the last few years.

Frustrated at the perceived 'limitations' of this game? Enthralled by the possibilities, but realistic in the assessment that nothing is really going to change? Getting jaded after 7 years of play? Looking at the Next Big Thing coming out this year?

Go play it for a while. Revel in its newness. Compare it to the other games you are currently playing. Or not. Try to decide if you really enjoy the genre. Worry about having to purchase a gaming computer, since you can't play most of the Next Big Things on your PS4 [don't even start about the PS5 ... when it becomes available to the masses for List Price, I might listen].

There are other fish in the sea. Take time to go fishing. In game, because actual fishing in 105 degree weather is just nuts.

XI and EQ are still running, but so is RO and other aged games. You can't compare RO to WoW, XIV or ESO in their present state though.
They have enough players to make profit, but if that was enough SE would never have bothered with project rapture in the first place. When those games get too old their appeal becomes too niche.

No one is saying XIV will shutdown soon. But like any online game it's mainstream appeal is directly tied to how apparent its technical limitations are.

And again, I was also saying XIV will be fine for a while, because there is no competition. What else could have the appeal? A game with horrid combat that uses its brand name to carry itself, a former king of MMORPGs that is self-sabotaging rapidly, millions of isometric/top-down hack n slash semi-Diablo clones, dozens of aggressive freemium games that always launch with promise of balanced monetization until they're not, etc.

[DPZ2]

snip

I pretty much agree with your sentiments. I think that those who want a 'new game' because 'technical limitations' are looking for exactly that -- a new game.

[Delis]

They already had a major Calamity on the First. Are you ready to play an MMO with only four or five zones the size of those on the First? It'll have a very short life.

Who says it has to follow, what happened on the first... They can add how ever many zones they want, do want ever they want with it.

[TeraRamis]

XI and EQ are still running, but so is RO and other aged games. You can't compare RO to WoW, XIV or ESO in their present state though.
They have enough players to make profit, but if that was enough SE would never have bothered with project rapture in the first place. When those games get too old their appeal becomes too niche.

No one is saying XIV will shutdown soon. But like any online game it's mainstream appeal is directly tied to how apparent its technical limitations are.

And again, I was also saying XIV will be fine for a while, because there is no competition. What else could have the appeal? A game with horrid combat that uses its brand name to carry itself, a former king of MMORPGs that is self-sabotaging rapidly, millions of isometric/top-down hack n slash semi-Diablo clones, dozens of aggressive freemium games that always launch with promise of balanced monetization until they're not, etc.

Eventually someone will figure out the alchemical formula for the "next big thing." I don't believe that the MMORPG genre is dead or even dying - it's gone through a phase (that of the obsession of AAA companies to enter a field in which they have zero experience to dump 100+ million USD into producing a near-clone of WoW and assume the title of 'WoW killer' [and then failing]), and industry types are waiting to see where the wind blows on what's going to happen next.

The 'promise' of the MMORPG remains as alluring as ever: to create a fantastical 'second life' world where players can cooperatively lose themselves - if only for a few hours each day - while forging social bonds with other like-minded people that they otherwise would have never known. And I honestly think that the eventual future of this type of games is a sand-park that is tilted far, far more in favor of the 'sand' than the 'park' (whereas FFXIV is a themepark with just a few glistening granules [housing; glam]). People don't just want to run their own businesses in these game worlds - they want to build cities, overthrow kings, build and be part of an ever-evolving and changing legend where, even if they aren't the centerpiece of the story, they can rightly tell people that they were 'there' when 'the great XYZ went down' and saw it with their own eyes.

I remain confident that 'that game' is out there, somewhere - if not presently in development, then certainly nestled within the back of the mind of a current or future lead designer. I love FFXIV, but it's not the be-all, end-all, 'I'll be playing this when I'm 70' game that it could be. But we will get there. At some point, someone is going to unearth the game that changes online gaming forever, and it will be an MMORPG.

[ReynTime]

Eventually someone will figure out the alchemical formula for the "next big thing." I don't believe that the MMORPG genre is dead or even dying - it's gone through a phase (that of the obsession of AAA companies to enter a field in which they have zero experience to dump 100+ million USD into producing a near-clone of WoW and assume the title of 'WoW killer' [and then failing]), and industry types are waiting to see where the wind blows on what's going to happen next.

The 'promise' of the MMORPG remains as alluring as ever: to create a fantastical 'second life' world where players can cooperatively lose themselves - if only for a few hours each day - while forging social bonds with other like-minded people that they otherwise would have never known. And I honestly think that the eventual future of this type of games is a sand-park that is tilted far, far more in favor of the 'sand' than the 'park' (whereas FFXIV is a themepark with just a few glistening granules [housing; glam]). People don't just want to run their own businesses in these game worlds - they want to build cities, overthrow kings, build and be part of an ever-evolving and changing legend where, even if they aren't the centerpiece of the story, they can rightly tell people that they were 'there' when 'the great XYZ went down' and saw it with their own eyes.

I remain confident that 'that game' is out there, somewhere - if not presently in development, then certainly nestled within the back of the mind of a current or future lead designer. I love FFXIV, but it's not the be-all, end-all, 'I'll be playing this when I'm 70' game that it could be. But we will get there. At some point, someone is going to unearth the game that changes online gaming forever, and it will be an MMORPG.

Personally I'm not very excited for the future of the mmorpg market. Because I don't care for the themepark approach, or lifesim aspects. I care more for combat, character building, and sense of being in a group of adventurers trying to make a living, traveling and exploring the world and conquering challenges. Something 1.X had going for it on paper and I wish another game would take and actually deliver.
It looks like that's not the direction MMORPGs will go though, because they want to focus on the audience that doesn't care for character progression, set-ups or needing companions actively fighting with you for anything. I don't buy the "no time" excuse either, because that only matters if you're trying to be an elitist. And you don't need to be committing for number 1 to enjoy any game. No matter how hardcore.

I'm probably gonna quit MMORPGs altogether if I really do end up leaving after 6.0. I honestly think my niche will only be filled by open world RPGs with multiplayer co-op rather than MMOs. An hypotethical Xenoblade X-2 where I can actually team up with 3 other real players in its entire length doesn't sound too bad to me.

[Artemiz]

The end is nigh phenomenon among MMO players never ceases to amaze me, the game is on a crest of a wave right now and we still get threads like this. I get that people might have played MMO's that have died and feel very disappointed about it but this game is in great shape. Could things be better? sure, but we all have an idea about what needs fixing and that's just the nature of a large MMO, or life for that matter. I remember back on the mid noughties when the doomsayers were all over the FFXI forums claiming the game was on it's last legs and dying, PS2 limitations yada yada yada. It's still going and it's players are having a blast.

There are things about this game we all wish were different, or better but it's nothing to be concerned about, this game is in great health and if it needs more servers it will get them. A queue to log into an MMO that's as old as this is a great sign when it hasn't been reducing server count.

The room isn't on fire, we're good, guys.

[znushu]

I'm probably gonna quit MMORPGs altogether if I really do end up leaving after 6.0.

yeah, I feel you.

I nearly quit MMORPGs around 2015 and the only reason why I kept playing them after that was due to being invited into beta after beta after beta and my friends at the time telling me to go play X or Y game again because "it's better now" until basically i'm where I am now. yes, I'm currently focusing on xiv right now but real talk i'm not sure if I'll stay or even keep this account in the future since I discarded my legacy account back in the day that I also used to stream with on justintv with from time to time. now though? there isn't many or any mmorpgs that are keeping my attention as much as they use too. it's not due to me getting older or slower, nah. It's because I'm just seeing more and more mmorpgs just basically release the same game just under different textures, lore, and what not. there's really no creativity anymore in the mmorpg field and xiv isn't much better. I mean they've done away with alot of systems I truly enjoyed in 1.0. like the seemingly no loading screens thing, being able to converse with basically all npcs ingame and a few more like how traveling was less teleporting and flying and more walking to x or y area, and so on all in favor for making it more like WoW. Yea, the game has it's charm now but... whatever it doesn't matter anymore. I'll just keep my lip bit since my style isn't popular with this generation it seems. I luckily still got one of my former pals 1.0. full playthrough playlist to always go back too and watch for now at least.

[Tabmow]

pandering to players on potato consoles is one of the biggest things holding this game back.