Recently I started playing F2P/Gacha game again, and they blew me away. Now I've been playing MMO for a long time and no stranger to either subscription or F2P. And up until now, I've been pretty dismissing of F2P as low quality bait/cash grab that you may play for a a few months before you get bored and move on. And up until, I tend to hold MMO like FF14 and WoW in regard that they're the kind of place you put down your root long term.

But the modern F2P games is nothing like one we had 10 years ago, at least on the upper tier. Even if you're not going 100% F2P and allocate the same budget you would give to FF14 to say ... a Hoyoverse game, FF14 looks quite poor interm of what it offers for my money. Now some may say it's an apple to orange comparison and it's true to a certain extend. That's why I don't think FF14 should strike to be like those game, but at the same time it can't just take what it has for granted either. That's why DT's MSQ stink so much. When F2P games have better written story and character than you, you have a seriously problem.