Are the 70% of the playerbase that quit even coming back for DAWNTRAIL?

[AnimalsALot]

Eh some of these factors are not necessarily down the state of this game, but the state of other games at the time. E.g., the player count just prior to EW had a lot to do with the WoW exodus, and some of the streamers from that side that it attracted, just as much as what it did with the actual state of this game. I would argue a large drop in the numbers was also partially down to this.

I am not saying it is the only reason. But it is a pretty big reason.

Of course the WoW exodus was the principal factor, if not the only major factor.

But is that really the low standards that FF14 players now have for the game? Is it a source of pride for Square Enix to have not been able to capture the vast majority of those WoWfugees? To just let them slip away? Is it a good thing to be handed a golden goose laying golden eggs only for the goose to be so dissatisfied that it ran away in the night?

[NegativeS]

But is that really the low standards that FF14 players now have for the game? Is it a source of pride for Square Enix to have not been able to capture the vast majority of those WoWfugees? To just let them slip away? Is it a good thing to be handed a golden goose laying golden eggs only for the goose to be so dissatisfied that it ran away in the night?

WoW players are unique in that someone who plays WoW is more likely than not to only play WoW, or at least have it as their primary game. That's the kind of audience that they've cultivated over the years... and the type of audience to still play WoW in its current state. Going on 10 (EDIT: Actually 20, I don't know why my brain thought 2004 was 10 years ago...) years of updates, the sunk cost for some of them is probably so high, it would be actually physically dangerous for them to quit.

Late 2021 was unique because it was in the middle of arguably the worst expansion to come out for WoW, so those who only played it had nothing to do, and those who had it as their primary game were looking for other MMOs to pass the time. This is no longer the case, as not only is Dragonflight a much better expansion in terms of content density and quality (relative to Shadowlands, anyway), but they're currently in the alpha/beta cycle for a new expansion. Those WoW players are staying firmly where they are.

People like me, who decided to stick with XIV after November 2021, never left. Everyone else isn't coming back, at no fault of FFXIV.

Source: Played WoW for half a decade straight

[Kaurhz]

Of course the WoW exodus was the principal factor, if not the only major factor.

But is that really the low standards that FF14 players now have for the game? Is it a source of pride for Square Enix to have not been able to capture the vast majority of those WoWfugees? To just let them slip away? Is it a good thing to be handed a golden goose laying golden eggs only for the goose to be so dissatisfied that it ran away in the night?

I mean not that I disagree with that in premise, but I don't think anyone really anticipated it way in advance to actually do anything meaningful with it to actually retain them, especially when it wasn't this game in the first place that enticed them. MMOs generally are in a pretty bad state. I've tried going back to RS many a time, tried WoW on a few occasions and I still come back here. Same thing for WoW players, really, or other players that try migrating to another game. Many of them will have tried the game for themselves and then just dipped out, and a great many will have joined the game because of their favorite streamer, and will have left when they did, so arguably a lot of them weren't even here because of the game but because of who came over to it, but of course this latter part is just me speculating.

If they wanted to actually capture a vast majority of those players then they would need to do an extreme amount of work to the earlier game to actually help them stay interested along the journey. Sure, they can skip the game, but that's not always within everyones budget, and generally speaking XIV is a game with an utterly tragic early-experience. If people join en-masse then they are also going to leave en-masse when they realize there's a good 60 hours minimum of actual in-game play-time before they can even get the same level of satisfaction. This is a massive undertaking anyway, especially if you're coming here from a source of dissatisfaction from another game.

It was only ever going to land one-way, and I don't think anyone got any pride out of it, except those that are on the possessive "Stay out of my(our) game¬!" personality.

[Jeeqbit]

Of course the WoW exodus was the principal factor, if not the only major factor.

But is that really the low standards that FF14 players now have for the game? Is it a source of pride for Square Enix to have not been able to capture the vast majority of those WoWfugees? To just let them slip away? Is it a good thing to be handed a golden goose laying golden eggs only for the goose to be so dissatisfied that it ran away in the night?

I think that no, it does not seem a good thing if most people quit due to ARR, story pacing, not enough fighting, story content sometimes being ridiculously easy due to the ilvl sync, etc. Nor is it good for it to be so rigid and complicated just to pay SE or buy the game.

I think it does turn a lot of players off, not just the people who tried the game in 2021. They could at least improve the system for buying the game, improve the ilvl sync and alter the presention of cut scenes to involve more fighting.

But also, the game will never be for everyone. That's the point of a free trial tbh. Just to let you see if it's for you.

In spite of all these issues... somehow, it's still grown. I think a lot of it is down to the social aspect ie. friends (or streamers/content creators) bringing people in, in a way that is strong enough to endure all these issues and push through ARR, as well as the story because some people will just endure it if they like the story and final fantasy (like me).

People like me, who decided to stick with XIV after November 2021, never left.

I've met plenty who have stuck either as a result of leaving WoW, or having not played WoW before but got caught up in this game going viral.

Source: Played WoW for half a decade straight

In my experience, there's always been WoW players come to the game. But a huge uptick was definitely noticeable in Stormblood into Shadowbringers (2018-2019) due to their BFA expansion. But it felt like that was more the 6-year vets.

What was different about 2021 was it motivated actual 17-year vets who were far more attached to WoW than even that and unable to ever leave because it was their life's work, actually quit to try this game. But most likely some of them just went back or played both after it improved.

[AnimalsALot]

In spite of all these issues... somehow, it's still grown. I think a lot of it is down to the social aspect

That's basically how the entire MMO genre gets away with horrid gameplay (with FF14 being the least worst in a pile of trash).