Data from lucky bancho about participation in field content

[Jojoya]

https://imgur.com/26zozfz

Now this data is not mine (all credit goes to reddit user krainz) but this gives an overview of how popular field content and its closest EW equivalent is for people who are included in the branco census

In general here is the main points
-completion rate of abyssos normal is 45% of active players
-acquisition of the mandragora mount for IS is 16% of active players
-percentage of 70+ that went to pagos is 35%
-percentage of people eligible to enter BA is 19%
-percentage of players that went to Zadnor is 47%
-percentage of players that got to resistance rank 25 is 34.8%
-MSQ completion rate is 70%

So from this we can see that Bozja specifically but even eureka have great retention rates, 32% of people who unlocked eureka reached BA, over 50% of people who unlocked Bozja reached rank 25 and this is compared to an MSQ completion rate of 70%

I’m still not sure how square saw these numbers and thought people didn’t like field content but I think it’s pretty definitive evidence that field content is popular

I think it's pretty telling that Pagos completion was 35% but the players eligible to enter BA is only 19%. That's clearly a drop off in interest in the content. I'm in that 19% but I've never set foot back in Eureka since completing the relevant quest. There was no retention in my case.

It's also weird that 47% of players stepped foot into Zadnor but only 35% made it to Rank 25, which was required to enter The Dalriada and see the end of the story. Again, it shows a drop in interest in the content though not as drastic as the one for Eureka. There's nothing listed that indicates how much of that 35% continued to do content in Zadnor after reaching Rank 35. Completion isn't the same as retention. I feel like the percentage of players that completed the Critical Role IV achievement (do 500 CEs in Bozja/Zadnor) would be a better gauge of actual retention.

I'm not saying that there shouldn't be any more exploration/field operation zones, only that what you're listing doesn't support any claims for retention. More content is a good thing as long as a significant portion of players are doing the content so the development resources and time aren't going to waste.

But the dev team is still hindered by resource limits. SB had both Deep Dungeon and Exploration. ShB only had Field Operations (curious drop in content). This expansion only had Deep Dungeon but they also added Variant/Criterion as a new content form. Was it because Deep Dungeon had that much more ongoing participation than Eureka and Bozja/Zadnor did, or is it just a matter of they only have resources for one or the other and they decided it was Deep Dungeon's turn this time?

Plus there was no mention at the FanFest of either Deep Dungeon or exploration/field operations zones. Maybe they are adding one or both but saving that information for the EU FanFest. Maybe they are still undecided.

My suggestion would be for players to vote for what they want to see in the future by continuing to participate in it. The things we choose to do in game (or ignore) speaks louder to the developers than our words in the forums, reddit or social media.