Length MSQ from all the expansions - it is getting insane

[Ishe-P]

Its sadly not something thats really going to change.
Every MMO in existence does this.

I somewhat agree, but also think that these objectives can be masked. Give me a tank to drive around in and blow up 3 mobs with. Allow me to play red-light green-light with some big badass elite mob when plucking seaweed or whatever from the Tempest Floor. Take more risks like that Unknown Soldier duty in Garlemald that made people mad because it was too hard. In the end, yes, you're still gathering or talking or whatever, but your character has more 'agency' in shaping the story and their place in it. Otherwise it's just reading the page of a book, waiting 5 minutes or so, then reading the next page, with no fluctuation or intrigue whatsoever, only being told that it's important that we continue. Other games do this stuff, they should borrow from them!

[Restonance]

Preaching to the choir here. Too many people think a 300+ hour mediocre visual novel that's only gonna get longer is perfectly fine because a story focus scrubs it of all current and future problems.

Realistically speaking, nothing's gonna change or at the very least it won't until growth stagnates. SE created a problem and is selling the solution in the form of skips.

[VelKallor]

And yet WoW without the story still is above FFXIV population wise

It is? Um...WOW doesnt release active sub numbers and hasnt done so for some years...so you cant quantify that or prove it.

, so obviously its not a failure, FFXIV struggling to retain players due to no content however... is a failure.

..and you know this...how?

BTW dont use STEAM or Twitch either.

Ah yes, dont use the things that are indicative of popluation for every other multiplayergame in existence... because uh... it would shatter VelKallors world

STEAM doesnt measure, as has been noted, console players nor those who play via the native launcher, NOR can it measure how many players have TWO accounts, one on PC one on STEAM, and then lets not also discuss those with MULTIPLE licenses..so no, STEAM isnt any form of valid, usable metric.

It might not show the entire numbers because the majority uses the SE edition, but it can still show a trend as to if its going up or down.

Come back with actual numbers, using STEAM as a statistical control group, then we can talk. Until you have the full dataset, using STEAM in this fashion is akin to using this forum as a metric for player attitudes and preferences...which is, and would be, utterly ludicrous. You do also know that PS4 and 5 players use the PSN Network..so unless you have numbers for THOSE as well....nope, your sample group isnt large enough to be viable.

[Rolder50]

Its sadly not something thats really going to change.
Every MMO in existence does this.

Other MMOs get around this problem by just not having the story be a mandatory part of the experience.

For example, as I am typing this, I'm leveling an alt in WoW purely by doing dungeons. Pretty sure I've only done half a dozen quests.

[Shinkuno]

Preaching to the choir here. Too many people think a 300+ hour mediocre visual novel that's only gonna get longer is perfectly fine because a story focus scrubs it of all current and future problems.

Realistically speaking, nothing's gonna change or at the very least it won't until growth stagnates. SE created a problem and is selling the solution in the form of skips.

agreed 100%

also, people excusing this with "story focus" must have played nothing but ff14 in their life. Theres thousands of games with story focus that still provide engaging gameplay, and from the get go, not 100s of hours in

BTW dont use STEAM or Twitch either.

Ah yes, dont use the things that are indicative of popluation for every other multiplayergame in existence... because uh... it would shatter VelKallors world

[Stormpeaks]

agreed 100%

also, people excusing this with "story focus" must have played nothing but ff14 in their life. Theres thousands of games with story focus that still provide engaging gameplay, and from the get go, not 100s of hours in

FFX is a game from the FF franchise that keeps you entertained through the entire game, the story is amazing and keeps you hooked, its emotional and the entire story makes sense until the end. I played it so many times I cant even count it with my 2 hands, just because it's THAT good.

However FFXIV ? I will never go through without a skip, its way too long and its boring, just the basic fetch quest, go talk to X and come back, kill 3 bears and come back.

It is? Um...WOW doesnt release active sub numbers and hasnt done so for some years...so you cant quantify that or prove it.



..and you know this...how?

BTW dont use STEAM or Twitch either.

"Please dont use steam as evidence because it'll show what I dont want it to show".

You are way too deep in it, I actually feel bad for you.

It might not show the entire numbers because the majority uses the SE edition, but it can still show a trend as to if its going up or down.

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

Other MMOs get around this problem by just not having the story be a mandatory part of the experience.

For example, as I am typing this, I'm leveling an alt in WoW purely by doing dungeons. Pretty sure I've only done half a dozen quests.

Those other MMOs are not story Focused as FFXIV is.
Im not talking down or bad on them, just stating they are very different Games from FFXIV.

also, people excusing this with "story focus" must have played nothing but ff14 in their life. Theres thousands of games with story focus that still provide engaging gameplay, and from the get go, not 100s of hours in

Subjective.
But we are talking about MMOs here. Comparing FFXIV an MMO to FFX like Stormpeaks did is not really a good comparison. They are 2 completely different games.
1 is literally a singleplayer JRPG, the other is an MMO. Both are games, but not also function differently. Same thing if you were to bring in WoW, or Star Wars.
They are just different games.

Ah yes, dont use the things that are indicative of popluation for every other multiplayergame in existence... because uh... it would shatter VelKallors world

In case you didnt know...FFXIV is also played Via their own launcher, and on Consoles such as PS4 & PS5.
So unless Steamchats somehow factors in those players, no, Steam is not the main Metric to base FFXIVs playerbase on.

[Stormpeaks]

Those other MMOs are not story Focused as FFXIV is.
Im not talking down or bad on them, just stating they are very different Games from FFXIV.



Subjective.
But we are talking about MMOs here. Comparing FFXIV an MMO to FFX like Stormpeaks did is not really a good comparison. They are 2 completely different games.
1 is literally a singleplayer JRPG, the other is an MMO. Both are games, but not also function differently. Same thing if you were to bring in WoW, or Star Wars.
They are just different games.



In case you didnt know...FFXIV is also played Via their own launcher, and on Consoles such as PS4 & PS5.
So unless Steamchats somehow factors in those players, no, Steam is not the main Metric to base FFXIVs playerbase on.

The point is story engagement, one story is engaging (FFX) and one is not (FFXIV)

Also yes, it is a good metric, its a sample of a certain percentage of the population, it gives a trend as to if a game is doing good or not.

[Shinkuno]

In case you didnt know...FFXIV is also played Via their own launcher, and on Consoles such as PS4 & PS5.
So unless Steamchats somehow factors in those players, no, Steam is not the main Metric to base FFXIVs playerbase on.

In case you didnt know, the same applies to other games too. Path of Exile has standalone and steam. And youd be on huge copium to think if steam had a downward trend in players, somehow the other platforms are the polar opposite

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

The point is story engagement, one story is engaging (FFX) and one is not (FFXIV)

Subjective.
I think Both are good, but hey, to each their own.

In case you didnt know, the same applies to other games too. Path of Exile has standalone and steam. And youd be on huge copium to think if steam had a downward trend in players, somehow the other platforms are the polar opposite

Not even my argument.
Im saying the Steamcharts dont factor in Players that Play Via the official Launcher, or on Consoles.
It would be more accurate if there was a way to factor in the whole playerbaase, instead of just 1 metric that on hits a Percentage. One that we cant say for sure hit X% of the playerbase.