Another MMO?

[Rekh]

There's "hope" for a new ff mmo since Yoship wants to make another one before he ends his game career. Looking at the quality of game content since shadowbringers, but specially since endwalker I'm not sure Yoship's the right person for it. If square enix was smart they would be developing their new ff mmo right now and promising to transfer FFXIV characters, minions, mounts, etc into the new one. That way all you would lose would be the overworld and locations. But you'd be gaining a far better battle system, game-server infrastructure, glamour system more similar to WoW's; and just the wholesale removal of all these FFXIV limitations the game is famous for, like the lack of character customization options.

My question to the forum community is; if all your glamours, minions, and mounts were transferred to a new FF mmo, would you be fine with square enix dropping FFXIV?

[Jeeqbit]

But you'd be gaining a far better battle system

Here's the thing. Whether it's done through a new game, or just adjusting the battle system in this game, changing a battle system is a very bad idea. All of the current players have become accustomed to it and if it's changed they may not take well to it, because for many people it is why they play. They like combos and rotations, or snapshotting, or the scripted nature of fights, which allow them to become "good" at fights.

For example, let's say it changed to use action combat or to play like FF16. Do you really think all the players would stick around? SE's mindset is to avoid changing the things players are accustomed to because the fact is that is a great way to lose lots of players.

That's why they don't change a lot of other "formulas" as well. They work. If they got rid of roulettes or scrapped major content staples they have released consistently for years, that too could upset a lot of players. Reducing the number of dungeons produced already did this.

Perhaps all the people who leave over it will just be replaced by people who enjoy the new combat. But the problem is it doesn't create goodwill and they want to create goodwill because of what happened with 1.0.

game-server infrastructure

That can be changed without a new game. They even recently did a cloud data center test, proving they can run it through the cloud.

I don't accept the idea that the current game can't be adapted to make use of the cloud for things such as dynamic housing wards or expanded inventory (at least at Inns). These are things they can certainly do. Regardless of how much "spaghetti code" there is, it's easy to create a brand new type of inventory like they did with the Chocobo Saddlebag that uses new rules such as cloud servers.

glamour system more similar to WoW's

This is another thing that would benefit from the cloud. If physical drive space is a concern, it isn't in a virtual environment that can scale at the press of a button. Again, it does not require a new game. They can create a new system for it, just like the Glamour Dresser was a new system when it was added, but design it to use the cloud from the ground up. I don't personally want this to be an achievement system, but working like the Armoire would be good.

lack of character customization options.

It is certainly true this could be very different due to current technology. We could be going as far as describing how many hairs we want and how long they are and painting where we want them to appear. But I don't think SE would do this for the same reason the graphics update barely changes characters: they want to preserve the look everyone has come to love. Many people are attached to their characters' looks that they worked hard on and don't want it ripped away from them due to a new system.

[BarghastTimes]

I actually would be fine, even if they made us start from scratch. I have played Everquest, Asheron's Call, Vanguard, MU Online, WoW, FFXI, Anarchy Online, EVE, Flyff, and this. I have never gotten to start with anything other than the clothes on my back and a fresh new world to face. Why not again? Why not another adventure?

[Jeeqbit]

I actually would be fine, even if they made us start from scratch. I have played Everquest, Asheron's Call, Vanguard, MU Online, WoW, FFXI, Anarchy Online, EVE, Flyff, and this. I have never gotten to start with anything other than the clothes on my back and a fresh new world to face. Why not again? Why not another adventure?

A major reason is because the current iteration of FF14 has an established, consistent population of around 1.2 million characters that are subscribed at any given time.

If you make a brand new game, it often has a huge amount of interest at the start, but then everyone quits after a month. Some of the newer MMORPGs have demonstrated this.

An MMORPG needs to create loyalty and staying power. Reasons to come back, that make you want to come back, again and again.

The current iteration of FF14 has that. Would a brand new game have that? Would it have that if it transferred all its existing content but with a different battle system and different things, that people are not familiar with? Would it have the same staying power? It would be a risk.

[BarghastTimes]

Wasn't the original Final Fantasy a risk? Wasn't pretty much every choice Square makes a risk? What about the billions of gacha games they make yearly and shut down in two months? Those aren't risks?

[Enkidoh]

Wasn't the original Final Fantasy a risk? Wasn't pretty much every choice Square makes a risk? What about the billions of gacha games they make yearly and shut down in two months? Those aren't risks?

Except there is no real market for new MMOs anymore, it's a different time now to what it was like 20 years ago when MMORPGs were the newest thing in gaming following the lead of the likes of Everquest and Runescape, and thus everyone wanted a piece of the action, especially when WoW then came along and revolutionised the genre. Back then, everyone wanted to 'kill' WoW and take it's place as top MMO dog. Although FFXIV ARR didn't kill WoW (WoW was more slain by it's own maker), FFXIV did give it a broken nose, a sprained arm, a bloodied lip and two black eyes, especially with Shadowbringers' critical success and acclaim.

So, really FFXIV has reached that 'sweet' spot MMOs have been aspiring to, so there is no reason for SE to waste precious time, money and manpower making a whole new game when FFXIV itself will continue to grow and flourish (as it is the next expansion will be featuring a graphic overhaul so it's clear SE aren't interested in making a new FF MMO to replace FFXIV).

[Ath192]

Except there is no real market for new MMOs anymore, it's a different time now to what it was like 20 years ago when MMORPGs were the newest thing in gaming following the lead of the likes of Everquest and Runescape, and thus everyone wanted a piece of the action, especially when WoW then came along and revolutionised the genre. Back then, everyone wanted to 'kill' WoW and take it's place as top MMO dog. Although FFXIV ARR didn't kill WoW (WoW was more slain by it's own maker), FFXIV did give it a broken nose, a sprained arm, a bloodied lip and two black eyes, especially with Shadowbringers' critical success and acclaim.

So, really FFXIV has reached that 'sweet' spot MMOs have been aspiring to, so there is no reason for SE to waste precious time, money and manpower making a whole new game when FFXIV itself will continue to grow and flourish (as it is the next expansion will be featuring a graphic overhaul so it's clear SE aren't interested in making a new FF MMO to replace FFXIV).

What I find interesting about this self sabotaging behavior in players is that since we are in the forums, I can only assume we are all fans of the genre, but its like people don't want there to be newer and better MMOs coming out. Regardless of your feelings, SE will make a new MMO and most people will jump ship, just like they did with XI. Making XIV solo friendly via trusts is only a means to enable putting this game out on maintenance mode so people can play it in the future in case they want to revisit older FF titles. This game is following the trajectory XI did.

Not only will SE invest in a new MMO, XIV will start to wane and lose players instead of grow, the formula is stale, the jobs are homogenized, the updates aren't frequent and big enough. The main story has ended. SHB - EW was the peak.

This statement is basically endorsing complacency. It's fine guys... lets just keep it as is. Probably the worst business tactic to use out there, for ANY business.

[Jeeqbit]

its like people don't want there to be newer and better MMOs coming out.

It's great for there to be a new game, but I am only interested in certain IPs such as Final Fantasy. So for example, why should I play New World? I don't care about it, its lore or its story. Why should I play Ashes of Creation? I don't care about it, its lore or its story either. Graphics aren't everything to me.

Making XIV solo friendly via trusts is only a means to enable putting this game out on maintenance mode so people can play it in the future in case they want to revisit older FF titles. This game is following the trajectory XI did.

It will be useful should it ever become like XI, but it is nowhere near that point. It is actually a tactic to grow the game. Get people who "only play solo Final Fantasy games" to play FF14. In passing, they may have a conversation with someone and end up in a Free Company and get dragged into the social environment. It's smart, really, because a lot of people who play an MMORPG are initially quite anxious and don't want to interact with anyone, but fall into the social environment when they bump into someone.

Not only will SE invest in a new MMO, XIV will start to wane and lose players instead of grow

It's possible. History says it happens to every MMORPG except WoW, after all. However, WoW is proof they can endure. In the age of AI, it's possible any tangled spaghetti can be undone efficiently so that a game can modernize. So we'll just have to see.

the formula is stale

To you. People have been saying that since Heavensward and Stormblood. Because it was a formula even then. "Oh the next raid tier will be 4 alexander raids, 2 dungeons, 2 extremes and an alliance raid". Yes, so what?

The main story has ended.

Not true, but you know this.

SHB - EW was the peak.

Could be. I'll agree that the viral moment seemed like it could be a peak moment. But it remains to be seen. Neither of us are fortune tellers, and it could go viral again somehow or just continue to grow to have a persistent population that is higher than that viral moment.

This statement is basically endorsing complacency. It's fine guys... lets just keep it as is. Probably the worst business tactic to use out there, for ANY business.

The worst business tactic would be to throw away a game that is at the current height of its success statistically (a higher persistent population than in prior expansions), put it in maintenance mode and focus all efforts on a new MMORPG.