My server feels dead

[Jojoya]

Such a nonsense. So I'm not allowed to leave feedback and complain about lack of content? While not to forget, I am not allowed to use the forums once my sub runs out after 2 weeks.
I still have friends around, a medium house while I'm taking care of my FC's submarine. Just because I'm subbing, it doesnt mean I agree with the current patch cycles. Your sanity is pretty narrow-minded.

You can lead feedback but it's rather pointless when you use hyperbole and the feedback is non-constructive.

The game has plenty of content. I've got things I do every day in game.

Nor is the game dead. I see lots of other players online.

Trying being more specific about your issue. Do you feel like you don't get enough new content over the course of an expansion? Every MMORPG is like that. There's only so much the developers can create and release over a given time period. That's why we should have more than one game we play - something to fill in the content gaps and help prevent burnout even if we enjoy repeating the game's content.

I wonder if a cross-DC duty/party finder would fix this. I think they've said it's technically possible. That might be the way to save it...?

What they said is that they know there is a need for one but it is not currently possible with how they have the game set up. They're trying to find a way to make it possible but can't estimate if or when it might happen.

The cloud servers could be part of the solution they seek if they're satisfied with what they saw during the testing this past week.

[Orinori]

You can lead feedback but it's rather pointless when you use hyperbole and the feedback is non-constructive.

The game has plenty of content. I've got things I do every day in game.

Nor is the game dead. I see lots of other players online.

Trying being more specific about your issue. Do you feel like you don't get enough new content over the course of an expansion? Every MMORPG is like that. There's only so much the developers can create and release over a given time period. That's why we should have more than one game we play - something to fill in the content gaps and help prevent burnout even if we enjoy repeating the game's content.

Like What? GW2 expansions stay fresh for almost the entire playerbase for 8-14 months until the next one launches because there are objectives and fun repeatable content and open world mmo content people can spend a lot of time in. Runescape has one of the best player retention rates post patch of any video game other than Fortnite. GW1 hasnt had an update in 15+ years and still pulls tons of numbers, tons of players to play with in open world, lots of repeatable content and the playerbase still isn't burnt.

I'm not here to doomsay and say "the game is dead its all over!" but I feel like its really disingenuous to pretend that this is a normal state of the game for a .4 patch. Steam player numbers are down over 80% and there is no evidence to assume that the Steam playerbase has any overwhelmingly different habits than the playerbase that uses the launcher. Even in the Lucky Bansho census we're currently bleeding a percentage of players never before seen in the game's history since 1.0's failure.

Thats not to say the game is dead. It is clearly not dead and it will take a lot more than 1 bad expansion, but again the game will never improve if everytime someone brings up valid feedback on issues everyone swarms them and goes "AKSHUALLY I HAVE MILLIONS OF HOURS OF CONTENT TO, I LOGIN AND ORGANIZE MY MINIONS, AND THEN I ORGANIZE MY DYES, AND THEN I DRESS UP MY RETAINERS, GAME IS NOT DYING ITS PERFECTLY HEALTHY BEST MMO!!!!!!" (not to say thats how you came across but its how a lot do and it wouldn't unreasonable to attach that ideology onto your statement without context)

[Jojoya]

Thats not to say the game is dead. It is clearly not dead and it will take a lot more than 1 bad expansion, but again the game will never improve if everytime someone brings up valid feedback on issues everyone swarms them and goes "AKSHUALLY I HAVE MILLIONS OF HOURS OF CONTENT TO, I LOGIN AND ORGANIZE MY MINIONS, AND THEN I ORGANIZE MY DYES, AND THEN I DRESS UP MY RETAINERS, GAME IS NOT DYING ITS PERFECTLY HEALTHY BEST MMO!!!!!!" (not to say thats how you came across but its how a lot do and it wouldn't unreasonable to attach that ideology onto your statement without context)

But these comments demonstrate what's causing the conflict among players. Everyone has a different idea of what the game is supposed to be. They also have different ideas of what is a "healthy" game and what is a "dying" game.

What players need to do is learn to play a game for what it is, not what it could become in their heads. Either they are enjoying playing the game as it currently is or they aren't. They don't need to worry about whether a game is healthy or dying. If a game is dying, the game company is going to pull the plug because they are losing money operating the game.

In the case of FFXIV, it's a themepark MMORPG that appeals to a more diverse player base than some other MMORPGs do because it's got so many different content options to choose from. Someone wanting to play the game for Barbie dress up is just as valid as someone wanting to play the game to raid.

Every MMO loses players over the course of an expansion then they start returning when the next expansion is ready to release. How much of a drop depends on what other games are being released or adding new content. Most players do not stick to playing a single game.

You bring up Steam and other games. I go to Steam and look at the Steam charts for those games. FFXIV shows a range of 18.4k to 22.8k average users over the last 12 months. GW2 shows a range of 2.7k to 4.7k average users in the past 12 months. That's a much larger variance in the GW2 numbers than the FFXIV numbers.

Guild Wars - 47 to 83 average users over the past 12 months (that's not hundreds or thousands, that's 47 to 83). Even the Steam FFXIV Free Trial numbers are higher than that.

Runescape was fairly consistent as you said - at least until the last 3 months when numbers dropped from the 3.2k range holding steady earlier in the year down to 2.5k in October.

OSRS also showed a drop in average users in the last 3 months, going from 1300 at the start of the year down to 920 in September.

I don't think those Steam numbers are showing FFXIV in a bad place compared to those other games like you claim. But read them as you like.

[caffe_macchiato]

The game has plenty of content. I've got things I do every day in game.

Nor is the game dead. I see lots of other players online.

Very true.

So what made you turn against Yoshi-P? He agrees that the content in this expansion cycle has been a bit of a miss, which is why he's bringing back multiplayer content in Dawntrail. He said himself that people were getting bored of the single-player content in Endwalker and Dawntrail will be a correction. So will you drop the game once the new expansion hits? If so, you become what you say doesn't exist, which means you'd have admitted that you're wrong. Or, you can NOT quit, but that's admitting that Yoshi-P is right, which is saying that you're wrong. So in both respects, you lose.

Also, there's a very well-known argument that FFXIV respects your time because it has less content, and that's a good thing since we should all have balanced lives. That's what Yoshi-P said. Do you disagree with him on that too?

[Somnolence]

Very true.

Why the hell do I have to log in to keep my house then?

Btw there are a lot of empty plots around mine, I guess not because they moved on but did not log in as those houses weren't decorated much so I guess the owners did not care.

[Ardeth]

Why the hell do I have to log in to keep my house then?

Btw there are a lot of empty plots around mine, I guess not because they moved on but did not log in as those houses weren't decorated much so I guess the owners did not care.

I'm not defending it because I agree with you, but I think the timer is just because of how ill designed the housing system works. But even if you remove that element (housing), the game is still littered with Fomo. Granted, only some of it is actually Fomo and not wait a year and buy with real money on the online store. But this notion of not having to constantly log in is funny to me. I've missed so many moogle tome event items that were that event only because of real-life issues, and SE has never thrown me a bone to get them. So I always laugh when that is brought up. Like the game has zero Fomo or housing timers. When it totally does.

[Jojoya]

So what made you turn against Yoshi-P? He agrees that the content in this expansion cycle has been a bit of a miss, which is why he's bringing back multiplayer content in Dawntrail. He said himself that people were getting bored of the single-player content in Endwalker and Dawntrail will be a correction. So will you drop the game once the new expansion hits? If so, you become what you say doesn't exist, which means you'd have admitted that you're wrong. Or, you can NOT quit, but that's admitting that Yoshi-P is right, which is saying that you're wrong. So in both respects, you lose.

Where is this information about YoshiP's opinion of EW and the intent for DT to be more multi-player focused coming from? Please provide a link. The last source I can think of where YoshiP announced his intentions for the game going forward were during the 10 year road map Live Letter when he said he wants FFXIV to be considered a RPG you can play solo or with friends instead of a MMORPG. It's possible his goal has changed but I haven't seen any discussion if it has.

I've never claimed that EW content wasn't a bit of a miss in some ways. I've pointed out many times in the past where I think there are flaws (main one being they mashed together what was intended to be 2 expansions worth of story into a single expansion). Something being a bit of a miss does not mean that it was not still enjoyable or that there was a lack of content in general.

The game doesn't respect our time because there is less content. The game respects our time because it doesn't put us into repetitive content grinds like borrowed power systems or force us to waste an excessive amount of time doing non-productive activities such as traveling to the location we need to be. If we take a break from the game, it's fairly easy to get gear suitable for current content instead of having to farm old content for a few months to catch up.

Your missing your usual "comments made are intended for entertainment purposes and not always intended to be taken seriously" signature so I'm assuming you're trying to be serious here. I don't understand how you think I've "lost" anything. I'm still happy with the game overall and enjoying myself.

It's the posters that continue to put a negative spin on everything that lose. They mire themselves in an atmosphere of negativity instead of spending their time on things that would be fun and enjoyable to them. They spend money on products they don't like and ignore others that they might strongly like. The industry spends a lot of time watching what players do and very little on what players say. If you're paying for it now, you're content with what you're getting so it's safe to keep making it. Any sort of change and you may decide to stop paying them money.

I'm at the same cross road. A great deal of my FC just up and left. What is left barely wants to do anything. I know my FC leader is probably broken. So many "friends" gone in an instant. Though in my mind, they never spoke to anyone and up and left with their whole clique. Good riddance, but it's bad for morale. So all I can do is log in and be positive, but this afking with nothing to do is killing me. I have loads to do, but I feel obligated to help regrow this FC, but at the same time, I'm almost at my 90 days. In the end will I stay or go depends on the next month.

The latter half of an expansion is always the wrong time for trying to rebuild FCs/guilds/clans/etc. The inevitable content lull leaves players looking for other things to do. The best time to rebuild is when players start returning to the game to prepare for the new expansion.

Next month isn't going to add any long lasting content other than the chance to farm the final relic weapons for all the jobs you play if that's something you enjoy doing.

Don't be afraid to play other games for now. This is a normal part of a MMORPG cycle as much as some want to pretend it's not.

[Ardeth]

The latter half of an expansion is always the wrong time for trying to rebuild FCs/guilds/clans/etc. The inevitable content lull leaves players looking for other things to do. The best time to rebuild is when players start returning to the game to prepare for the new expansion.

Next month isn't going to add any long lasting content other than the chance to farm the final relic weapons for all the jobs you play if that's something you enjoy doing.

Don't be afraid to play other games for now. This is a normal part of a MMORPG cycle as much as some want to pretend it's not.

I left that FC anyway. The leader turned out to be a real psycho. I found a new FC on the DC I'm going to travel to. My parole as it were is January 9th. And I'm leaving this popsicle stand.