The Formula won't change

[Kohashi]

unfortunately, it has not evolved, it has devolved, no matter how much you try to spin this in your favor, it now has less variation, not more. You cannot deny that in an mmorpg, a broad variety of different content that attracts all manners of players is healthy for the games population and thus the bottom line for the company. Hells, i don't play Ultimates, and I retired from Savages, but I don't want SqEx to stop doing that content because it attracts players and it brings raiders joy.

And yes, companies only understand money. Remind me again why Yoshi-P asked players not to retire from the game because long lived content will come in the future? Most likely not because players may have done what you say and unsubscribed/voiced their reasons for doing so, no?

That's your take on it, which is fair and you have the right to feel that way. I, on the other hand, don't share it nor do I see FF14 as my life purpose or mission.

If I don't find enjoyment here. I find it somewhere else. Nobody and nothing keeps me tied to this game and if I don't have a good time I stop playing. I don't enjoy wallowing in self-inflicted misery, not when there are so many better options. Perhaps not all in 1 place, but then again, time is def. not a commodity I have in abundance anyway.

Yoshi-P is a representative of SQE and by definition, he has the company's interests at heart and not yours. You should have your best interests and you should not expect somebody else to represent you.

[Alice_Rivers]

Yoshi-P is a representative of SQE and by definition, he has the company's interests at heart and not yours. You should have your best interests and you should not expect somebody else to represent you.

It seems to me that Yoshi-P's job should be to balance our interests against SE's interests since catering to our interests is how SE makes money. As evidenced by the fact that FF14 is still generating enough profit to keep SE afloat while they sink project after project that clearly do not cater to our interests.

[Arlythe]

It seems to me that Yoshi-P's job should be to balance our interests against SE's interests since catering to our interests is how SE makes money. As evidenced by the fact that FF14 is still generating enough profit to keep SE afloat while they sink project after project that clearly do not cater to our interests.

I mean, FF as a whole is pretty much their flagship game and Symbiogenesis has been renewed for a second season even tho everyone laughed at NFTs, so I guess they're doing SOMETHING right.
But yeah, you DO wanna make your customers happy. That said, I always feel the hardest genre to make that happen are MMOs in general, especially when your budget is limited as Yoshida has hinted at in several interviews.
There's people from so many walks of life coming together, some want PVP, some want raids, some want grinds, some want to show off their glams in limsa, some just wanna rearrange furniture all day and some want to do neither and find their own ways to make content themselves.

[Kohashi]

It seems to me that Yoshi-P's job should be to balance our interests against SE's interests since catering to our interests is how SE makes money. As evidenced by the fact that FF14 is still generating enough profit to keep SE afloat while they sink project after project that clearly do not cater to our interests.

Yes, companies should find a balance between their interests and players but more often than not, they don't. Despite Larian's overwhelming success most companies still slobber after what fills their coin purses in the short term.

At least there is enough to keep me entertained with their abysmal failures. Concord, DA Vanguard, Assassin's Creed Shadows... and the list goes on.

[Daralii]

It seems to me that Yoshi-P's job should be to balance our interests against SE's interests since catering to our interests is how SE makes money. As evidenced by the fact that FF14 is still generating enough profit to keep SE afloat while they sink project after project that clearly do not cater to our interests.

Being on the board of directors means that his interests are SE's interests, and SE's interests are milking this game dry so they can fund more failures. You know it's getting bad when even the FF7R series has started underselling.