Quote Originally Posted by Ranaku View Post
That argument still makes no sense, why should you put development time into something that is enjoyed by only a small fraction of the playerbase?
Because you need variety. Most games make a bulk of content for the average casual player, in our case it's MSQ, Normal raids, Alliance, Dungeons, Glamour and so on. Normally you'd then have a variety of niche content for different playstyles, PvP, crafting, gathering, harder combat, different classes and so on. This was the case in ff14, but more and more the developers are trying to take the niche content away from the enthusiasts and give it to the big crowd of average casual players on a plate so they have even more to do.

Let's say for example you have 100000 players who just like MSQ and Normal mode stuff. You then have 20000 hardcore raiders, 10000 crafters, 5000 PvP players, 5000 gatherers and 20000 who play jobs that are more complex and rewarding. You look at the numbers and all the other activities besides MSQ and easy content has a low participation rate. So you decide to rip that content away from the players who loved it, dumb it down and hand it to the casual crowd.

Now you have 100000 players who dabble in everything! Participation for everything has jumped! Looks great! ...Until you realize you still only have 100000 casual players, haven't really gained more and over time you're slowly starting to bleed the 60000 other players who were spread across various niche activities.
The casual players have short attention spans and never really liked PvP or crafting or such in the first place and you made the content fast to complete for them, so they get bored and play something else very quickly and are difficult to retain.

Casual players don't need niche content or classes sacrificed for them. They'll rarely quit just because they don't like the niche activities, they might complain occasionally, but generally they keep playing because they get the bulk of the content either way. All you do is shed the players who found various things to get really invested in. MSQ and Normal content isn't enough for them. Your participation rate may be through the roof, but your playerbase won't expand because of excess simplification.