So no more jobs at this point?

[Midareyukki]

Maybe now they can fix healers! Hahahhaha... haha...

Don't have unrealistic expectations, you'll only hurt yourself in the long run...

[BrokentoothMarch]

Ever less content as time goes on. This game truly is just a cashcow.

[Midareyukki]

Ever less content as time goes on. This game truly is just a cashcow.

Honestly, my theory on this is that the game is over for all intents and purposes. As in, Square clearly thinks that the project is a done-deal, and thus can move onto other projects. Not really realizing that there's a long-term plan that needs to be respected.

Sure, they'll sustain the game with events like FF11, keep the servers on. And though Yoshida said "No, we'll get a new saga", what he really means is "We'll get another storyline but it will just be loose things to keep the game alive, not really a macro-level plot like the Zodiark Saga has been."

But they won't pay attention to the game any more. New, innovative stuff? That's too much of a hassle for a decades-old game. They wanted to compete with WoW but likely didn't think it would take this long. FF14's popularity really only boomed recently, and that's what got their attention to the game and made them think "oh, wow, that's actually still going? daaaamn!". But still think there's an expiration date.

Because they're pushing the game as far down to how much people are willing to take and cash in on the people who can settle for the least. That way they can send resources elsewhere.

Eventually, FF14 will have no support from the higher ups, and when players decide that they've had enough and move on, they'll quietly shelf it away as a "finished" product. Kept only alive like 11 is because they still have some random stooges who care enough to try it out for a few months.

[Syln]

I chuckled, thanks !

[SeverianLyonesse]

Honestly, my theory on this is that the game is over for all intents and purposes. As in, Square clearly thinks that the project is a done-deal, and thus can move onto other projects. Not really realizing that there's a long-term plan that needs to be respected.

Normally I would agree with this, except they are planning a complete graphic overhaul, which isn't something one does at the end of a game's life cycle. Same thing with streamlining all the older content to be soloable.

While I think the *market* may make a soft decision that FFXIV is over, I do not get the impression that the *developers* believe it is yet. Furthermore, FFXIV is *the* FF theme park MMO and has primarily succeeded on pulling together referential content from every game in the series. They have literally no direction they could take a new MMO that won't be viewed as either a retrod or an inferior experience. The smarter business model is to continue building out FFXIV instead of starting from scratch, either by extending its lifespan for another 10 years or making sure whatever next MMO they create is a natural, backwards-compatible extension of FFXIV.

Put another way, regardless of what sunk cost it took to get here, FFXIV, like WoW, is now "too big to fail." It would be financially irresponsible to go for a hard reset on something so massive, expensive, and integral to the FF brand, and if all viable paths require retaining and channeling XIV's playerbase into a "new game", why not skip the middle man and development costs and just roll the "new game" up into the old one?

Personally, while I think that FFXIV could absolutely be iterated on mechanically with a push away from scripted fights and rotations (and the remove of classes), I do not see any reason why SE would risk it all on a hard reset. I would rather we get a "FF XIV-2" with new mechanics but the same world, jobs, and characters to build out from.

[Midareyukki]

Normally I would agree with this, except they are planning a complete graphic overhaul, which isn't something one does at the end of a game's life cycle. Same thing with streamlining all the older content to be soloable.

While I think the *market* may make a soft decision that FFXIV is over, I do not get the impression that the *developers* believe it is yet. Furthermore, FFXIV is *the* FF theme park MMO and has primarily succeeded on pulling together referential content from every game in the series. They have literally no direction they could take a new MMO that won't be viewed as either a retrod or an inferior experience. The smarter business model is to continue building out FFXIV instead of starting from scratch, either by extending its lifespan for another 10 years or making sure whatever next MMO they create is a natural, backwards-compatible extension of FFXIV.

Put another way, regardless of what sunk cost it took to get here, FFXIV, like WoW, is now "too big to fail." It would be financially irresponsible to go for a hard reset on something so massive, expensive, and integral to the FF brand, and if all viable paths require retaining and channeling XIV's playerbase into a "new game", why not skip the middle man and development costs and just roll the "new game" up into the old one?

Personally, while I think that FFXIV could absolutely be iterated on mechanically with a push away from scripted fights and rotations (and the remove of classes), I do not see any reason why SE would risk it all on a hard reset. I would rather we get a "FF XIV-2" with new mechanics but the same world, jobs, and characters to build out from.

To be fair, streamlining the game for it to be soloable is what happened on FF11 before it got shelved. It started with Trusts.

And a graphics overhaul that's honestly long overdue and won't include Hrothgar and Viera, the races that need it the most, doesn't really make me think of much outside "let's make this game look a bit more appealing in the future, but we honestly don't have much else to add". I know I'm being pessimistic on this one. Usually yeah it does happen halfway through a project that will still get attention, but I'm torn between "WoW levels of attention" which has kept the game alive so far (WoW fans, forgive me for saying this), and "11 levels of attention" where there's a big burst of attention to make the game look somewhat presentable before it's placed on the shelf.

That's the thing though. Are they really invested into the game? Considering everything else that's been happening all throughout Endwalker, I'm not too sure.

[Lauront]

I have a feeling that the number of new jobs will be scaled back to one per expansion. Especially if the PvE/PvP teams aren't expanded.

I suspect they may round off casters and ranged dps come 7.0 to hit 4, and then from there on just focus on one job at a time... maybe another scouting dps after that. Not sure how soon they'll want to add another healer.

Honestly, my theory on this is that the game is over for all intents and purposes. As in, Square clearly thinks that the project is a done-deal, and thus can move onto other projects. Not really realizing that there's a long-term plan that needs to be respected.

Sure, they'll sustain the game with events like FF11, keep the servers on. And though Yoshida said "No, we'll get a new saga", what he really means is "We'll get another storyline but it will just be loose things to keep the game alive, not really a macro-level plot like the Zodiark Saga has been."

But they won't pay attention to the game any more. New, innovative stuff? That's too much of a hassle for a decades-old game. They wanted to compete with WoW but likely didn't think it would take this long. FF14's popularity really only boomed recently, and that's what got their attention to the game and made them think "oh, wow, that's actually still going? daaaamn!". But still think there's an expiration date.

Because they're pushing the game as far down to how much people are willing to take and cash in on the people who can settle for the least. That way they can send resources elsewhere.

Eventually, FF14 will have no support from the higher ups, and when players decide that they've had enough and move on, they'll quietly shelf it away as a "finished" product. Kept only alive like 11 is because they still have some random stooges who care enough to try it out for a few months.

Just wish they had another MMO in the works - something Yoshida is more excited about building from the ground up. Something in 16's vein - even if we still know little about it - would draw me in. I've longed for a 12 style MMO for ages now.

[Deveryn]

To be fair, streamlining the game for it to be soloable is what happened on FF11 before it got shelved. It started with Trusts.

And a graphics overhaul that's honestly long overdue and won't include Hrothgar and Viera, the races that need it the most, doesn't really make me think of much outside "let's make this game look a bit more appealing in the future, but we honestly don't have much else to add". I know I'm being pessimistic on this one. Usually yeah it does happen halfway through a project that will still get attention, but I'm torn between "WoW levels of attention" which has kept the game alive so far (WoW fans, forgive me for saying this), and "11 levels of attention" where there's a big burst of attention to make the game look somewhat presentable before it's placed on the shelf.

That's the thing though. Are they really invested into the game? Considering everything else that's been happening all throughout Endwalker, I'm not too sure.

11 is/was very tedious and demanded a lot of time. XIV sounds like it started off in a similar manner and the reboot paved the way to something more successful. Everquest isn't nearly as appealing and it's still holding on after almost 22 years. If there's some kind of extreme shift in what's being done and how it's being done, then it might be time to be concerned, but I don't see that here. Folks need to learn to relax and enjoy the ride. There's way too much nitpicking and fussing over the smallest things. Patience would be another thing to learn.

[KizuyaKatogami]

11 is/was very tedious and demanded a lot of time. XIV sounds like it started off in a similar manner and the reboot paved the way to something more successful. Everquest isn't nearly as appealing and it's still holding on after almost 22 years. If there's some kind of extreme shift in what's being done and how it's being done, then it might be time to be concerned, but I don't see that here. Folks need to learn to relax and enjoy the ride. There's way too much nitpicking and fussing over the smallest things. Patience would be another thing to learn.

An entire role and race being ignored and gutted isnt small things. Patience? Healers have had patience for 6 years. Hrothgar have had patience for 3 years. What did they get in return? After those 3 years they got only 6 new hairstyles, each one cutting off their racial features. But by all means, be patient sure lmao. Relax and enjoy the ride. The ride of what exactly? The story where they contradict their own themes, rush conclusions, throw away plotlines players have been invested in?

[Deveryn]

An entire role and race being ignored and gutted isnt small things. Patience? Healers have had patience for 6 years. Hrothgar have had patience for 3 years. What did they get in return? After those 3 years they got only 6 new hairstyles, each one cutting off their racial features. But by all means, be patient sure lmao. Relax and enjoy the ride. The ride of what exactly? The story where they contradict their own themes, rush conclusions, throw away plotlines players have been invested in?

Shit happens and in the grand scheme of things, none of what you mentioned actually matters. You can't call the game broken and on its way out based on a few cosmetic things and this odd opinion of how a role should operate. Yeah, I said it. This game could've failed and been discarded 10 years ago, but they gave it another shot and they're still working on a lot of things. They're still working on your precious lionesses, btw, but keep carrying on.

People claim pvp sucks now, but elsewhere in the world, people actually know how to play the various modes, so I'm inclined to believe there's a very skewed perception of things in the western world.