Why telling people to unsub is a horrible defense of the game.

[Kyrj]

I have never seen a leader of a product/business openly say "Please spend your money on our competitors" Sure it makes him sound nice, but that is a poor attitude to have if you're trying to put a product out.

Imagine if Sony flat out said "Just go buy Xbox, it's cool".

[RyuDragnier]

I have never seen a leader of a product/business openly say "Please spend your money on our competitors" Sure it makes him sound nice, but that is a poor attitude to have if you're trying to put a product out.

Imagine if Sony flat out said "Just go buy Xbox, it's cool".

If anything, it says the level of confidence that the dev team has that people will return as they add more stuff. To do everything in your power to try to prevent people from leaving or they'll miss X due to not being on all the time can be bad business on its own (look at WoW). Understanding that people will leave and do other stuff before returning, accepting it, and running with it is also smart. Most MMOs tend to lose subs or active players shortly after new content is released after people have gone through it, and the devs have apparently realized that's a normal thing and are just doing their usual while trying to make quality content that will keep people coming back every patch.

[Kaurhz]

I have never seen a leader of a product/business openly say "Please spend your money on our competitors" Sure it makes him sound nice, but that is a poor attitude to have if you're trying to put a product out.

Imagine if Sony flat out said "Just go buy Xbox, it's cool".

No he said it is unhealthy to force yourself to try and play or be invested in a video game.

海外ゲーマー
ミスター吉田、俺は『FFXIV』が大好きなんだ。でも、ずっとプレイし続けるのが辛くなってしまって、いまはゲームを休んでいるんだ。すまない。何かずっとゲームを続けるためのコツや、モチベーションがあれば教えてくれないか？
"Hey YoshiP, I love FFXIV, but it's hard to keep playing your game (because of the lack of content) and now I'm taking a break here. Sorry for asking this but is there a way or a reason to keep playing? or anything that can you teach me how to keep my motivation for playing your game?" - A player asking Yoshida during Gamescom

Yoshida's answer
無理して毎日やらなくていいよ。ゲームなんだし、辛いならやめればいい。むしろ、いまはたくさんゲームが発売されるから、ひとつに絞るのはストレスだよ。だから、メジャーパッチがでたら一気にプレイして、飽きる前にパッとやめて。ほかのゲームをやればいいよ。またメジャーがでたら戻ってくる。僕はそれがいちばんうれしいし、結果、それがいちばん長くゲームをプレイするコツだと思う。
Yoshida "It's alright not to play it everyday. Since it's just a game, you can stop forcing yourself if it's hard on you to keep that up. Rather, it'll just pile up unnecessary stress if you limit yourself into playing just that one game since there are so many other games out there. So, do come back and play it to your heart's content when the major patch kicks in, then stop it to play other games before you got burnt out, and then come back for another major patch. This will actually make me happier, and in the end, I think this is the best solution I can answer for keeping your motivation up for the game."

I swear this extract has been abused and misconstrued so much that it's a far cry from what he's actually stated. What else is he going to say? Go hunt for achievements, go try fishing log, go collect all the relics? People have different tastes and goals in a game so it is pointless and unhealthy to expect someone to force themselves to play your game. Different folks have different strokes, and other games do certain things much better or can act as a substitute in a content lul.

[RayneBoemir]

I mean i have unsubbed for some months this year and came back for 6.1 like nothing happened... and many other people have their own reason to do. Some are not even due to the game's fault, money, free time, work etc.
It is literally a subscription, do what you need to do with your money including if you are feeling unsatisfied, feeling burn out etc

Not everybody will write an essay or anything on why they unsub. Data and money are enough of feedback in those cases.

I unsubbed for what seems like 3 years (since I finished the initial ShB MSQ) I completed the Extremes that were released at that time and only came back now since it seemed there were tons of things to do.

In that time I have played many games I have missed including a gem in Sekiro.

[Droxybrobotnik]

Unsub if you think the game is bad.
Do not unsub, or tell anyone to unsub, over thinking there are parts of it that could be improved to make it even better.
It's just that simple.

[Skiros]

Having played swtor recently I really feel that xiv should atleast allow you to login to the game and let you do arr and hw stuff without a sub, so you can atleast not lose your house cause really no one can defend that.

I don't feel I get what I sub for and have to stay subbed to keep my house in case I wanna invite people over next time I feel like it so its definitely bad design.

Exactly. The sub isn't even worth it honestly.

[Strongfat900]

Do you keep paying for Netflix if you don't like the shows? Do you keep eating at that restaurant if they changed the recipes up n you no longer enjoy their food? Why is being subbed to xiv any different? This has nothing to do with defense. It's called common sense. Don't put you money into things you aren't enjoying

The world is not in this black-and-white dichotomy either. A flawed game doesn't mean a bad game. If you hate the game then fine, but don't leave a bad taste in everyone's mouths just because you love huffing and puffing here, and wishing the death of the game that we still enjoy while giving legitimate feedback on the things that we have problems with in the game. There are shows that I still enjoy on Netflix which is why I'm still subscribed to it despite everything else.

[Cid_Lufaine]

I'm shocked how misused this statement has been lately. I've seen a few people point it out, but way too many people seem to misunderstand, I even finally made a forum account to add weight to this. Yoshi-P has stated since the dawn of this game, because he had a bunch of experience playing wow and researching it more when making ffxiv, he knew a big complaint in mmos was when players felt like they had to log in every day to keep up with everybody else, which wow has always been terrible with. I believe he has stated many times how games would use unhealthy practices to keep players constantly playing, with the goal if them giving their lives and money to the game, like time gating stuff in WoW just to keep players logging in every single day and never turning off their sub. I also believe he has said it keeps the community healthier when people take breaks and come back when they want, rather than getting burnt out and resenting the game for what feels like making you waste your time. Stop spreading false messages based off third hand knowledge please, the devs have better things to worry about, like fixing summoner and reverting the changes they did to my favorite class. Please change summoner back :c

[Skiros]

I'm shocked how misused this statement has been lately. I've seen a few people point it out, but way too many people seem to misunderstand, I even finally made a forum account to add weight to this. Yoshi-P has stated since the dawn of this game, because he had a bunch of experience playing wow and researching it more when making ffxiv, he knew a big complaint in mmos was when players felt like they had to log in every day to keep up with everybody else, which wow has always been terrible with. I believe he has stated many times how games would use unhealthy practices to keep players constantly playing, with the goal if them giving their lives and money to the game, like time gating stuff in WoW just to keep players logging in every single day and never turning off their sub. I also believe he has said it keeps the community healthier when people take breaks and come back when they want, rather than getting burnt out and resenting the game for what feels like making you waste your time. Stop spreading false messages based off third hand knowledge please, the devs have better things to worry about, like fixing summoner and reverting the changes they did to my favorite class. Please change summoner back :c

That has nothing to do with whether there is enough fresh, meaningful content in the game though?

You can put lots of fresh, meaningful, and repetable content in the game WITHOUT making players feel like they're a mandatory chore.

Stuff like Ultimate is exactly this type of content. I am never compelled to raid Ultimates. I do it because I find fun.

Now add more fun content in the game that are OPTIONAL and can keep players engaged for a whole patch. That is all people are asking for.

ENGAGEMENT AND FUN =/= MANDATORY FOMO

[Liam_Harper]

I have never seen a leader of a product/business openly say "Please spend your money on our competitors" Sure it makes him sound nice, but that is a poor attitude to have if you're trying to put a product out.

It's actually quite smart because it removes any responsibility for the company to provide content that keeps you entertained long term. They know you're unlikely to unsubscribe entirely, you still have your house being held hostage, your weekly static raid or might simply decide you might as well let the sub run when the next patch is a month or two away.

However, if you say "I'm bored, this content doesn't keep me entertained for more than a week" they can say "but we told you to go play something else, it's good for your health!". The forums are happy to throw this line out at any sort of complaint about lack of content, like a company asking you to pay a sub then find another game for entertainment is a great thing.

No he said it is unhealthy to force yourself to try and play or be invested in a video game.

I don't think it's unhealthy to invest in one game. I love investing in one MMO. I don't mean no-lifeing or anything either. I'd rather savor one game fully and take a break if I eventually get burnt out, than scatter it across 10 games where I only take bite sized pieces and never fully get into them. That's just how I am, I tend to latch onto one thing and I'm perfectly content for a few years. I've done that with any past MMO's I've played without a problem, but it's difficult to do that with ff14.