Why casual players don't 'just leave'

[Jeeqbit]

Seems like an all too common occurrence anywhere FFXIV discourse happens these days, especially on the forum.

A level 1 player has lots to do, such as getting to level 100. I don't find any of the new players I'm meeting to be bored. If anything, it's the level 100s that sometimes say they are bored.

The MMORPG genre is dead.

Untrue. You're talking about a genre with millions of players. Not only in terms of currently active characters, but in terms of overall accounts since 2010 (30 million adventurers).

While the internet has exploded in popularity since then, the actual truth is that most of the people using it are the types who only use Facebook, mobiles, mainstream apps or use it for business purposes and communicating with family/friends.

The sort of people who hang around in niche areas of the internet, such as forums or PC-based MMORPGs, are a tiny minority of the internet (people glued to their computer a lot) - the same type of people who played them back then. Except, that segment of people has more than likely grown in raw numbers.

It is true that those people have a lot more options as far as online multiplayer games go though, due to the lines between games and MMORPGs being blurred and the expansion of the term "live service" to include other business models, and that's exactly where the Yoshi-P mentality of "play other games as well" will stem from.

And thus we end up with a genre full of 10-20 year old games with aging audiences.

I disagree with this statement. The "aging audience" only applies to MMORPGs that put off new players. If the game has a reputation of not being playable without 10 years of experience getting good, 40 addons, an MMO mouse, then of course it won't get any new players sticking around, resulting in an aging audience. Advertising is also a factor.

FFXIV has done well to advertise (they did it on YouTube, GameSpot, Twitch, even at Wrestlemania and attend a lot of game shows) and increasingly give itself a reputation of having easy rotations, easy dungeons, NPC support, a social environment and not needing addons, or even being able to play on consoles. Because we do in fact see people in their early 20s starting this game all the time, even right now, and they would have been too young to understand the game when it released.

FFXIV is the last bastion for casual MMO players.

Probably, since all the others are gonna make gacha games for the money grab.

[Xuled]

game is still underbaked

[Bad_Luck]

'Casuals' keep the game profitable. No casuals>less profit>game over man.

Love the casual.

[Y2K21]

Which leads us to today. Let's take a look and see what other MMO games there are for these casuals to play?

• WoW: Has long since collapsed into a 'compete or die' black hole. Dubious past, future after TLT uncertain.
• GW2: Actively being smothered by ArenaNet. Future uncertain.
• SWTOR: Maintenance mode.
• EVE: Anyone attempting to play EVE for a casual experience is will find themselves immediately possessed by the ghost of Gene Roddenberry, never to be seen again.
• OSRS: Simplistic to its own detriment, limited player expression, and supremely grindy.
• BDO: Nothing to do? [citation needed, does anybody even play bdo?]
• Honkai/Genshin/etc.: Yeah okay buddy whatever you say
• Everything else: Very low quality, very low population, or maintenance mode

I would agree that the MMO genre is stagnating to almost dead - but lists like this are purely agenda'd to hell.

[Clockworks]

I would agree that the MMO genre is stagnating to almost dead - but lists like this are purely agenda'd to hell.

FFXIV : Future uncertain, massive amount of microtransactions, mediocre graphical update, barely any content at all for casuals and barely any content at all for hardcore raiders, biggest drop in players ever recorded, lack of customization, dual dyes system is mediocre, barely any decent glamour that isnt mog station, bigger gap in between updates and content for less than a week (if that) amongst a millions other reasons.

I did it too! I'm sure OP will approve of my list.

[Kaurhz]

'Player expression' is always a weird one for me, like how exactly are we referring to this, because IMO if I took something like RS3 vs FFXIV, then I find myself having more playstyles and avenues of expression with RS3 than FFXIV.

But perhaps this is just me...?

[Lilapop]

barely any content at all for hardcore raiders

Sarcasm? Please say this is sarcasm? In this expansion alone, there has been the Savage tier, FRU, Extreme raids, and a 24 person Savage raid in the Chaotic raid. Endgame raiders are eating pretty good right now.

[sindriiisgaming]

FFXIV is the only MMO game that fits these following critera:ĺ[*]Game isn't gacha/P2W Garbage

https://lds-img.finalfantasyxiv.com/...bb4f222fbd.jpg
How do you do fellow kids

[NamiRocket]

I am in a superposition of both trolling and being serious until one of you divulges into why you disagree(?) with my points.

My previous reply to you was very flippant and made with zero effort, because... well...

lists like this are purely agenda'd to hell.

...as he put it, you clearly have an agenda and a bias in saying that no other MMORPG on the market does any of those things. It's a very provably false declaration, extremely silly to suggest, and as such, I don't believe any amount of effort put into convincing you otherwise would make any difference.

[SigmaOZ]

@OP


Doubt this game is as good as you make it sound, it's pretty mediocre actually.


I keep playing after 10 whole years of subscription because I got used to being subscribed and I kind of need to login everyday even though I play solo most of the time.


House Auto Demolition is a good way to keep players subscribed.


If Square Enix made the next Final Fantasy MMO I'd jump ships immediately.


I wish this game became sexier thus increasing the rating to Mature or Adult, that would open the door to many more possibilities but it looks like it's doing the opposite instead.


I'd like a better camera like the one we had before Heavensward.