FF14 player count has fallen off a cliff and is now at 2019 levels (3/16/2025)

[Gurgeh]

I've been a new player for two weeks, and so far, I'm really enjoying FFXIV.

I hope it stays that way and I don't move somewhere else like others.

I came from ESO, GW2, and LotRO, which I still play. But for the past two weeks, there hasn't been any other game for me but FFXIV.

I get up, check the app for sales, and I feel like I browse Lodestone every day. In the evening, after the kids are asleep, I log in and have fun and enjoy the story.

I've been playing FFXIV every day for two weeks. It's been a long time since I was this addicted by a game.

Just to show you that there aren't just fleeing players.

<3

@yoshi

Please don't let them down Yoshi.
- Don't let them spend months to years making friends, only to watch that community disintegrate as it leaves for the raiding DC they innocently didn't know was a thing, so never joined. (Not what happened to me, not directly)
- Don't let them make lots of friends then struggle to queue instances as they get further, because the lion's share of people still logging with that content unlocked not RRPing, are raiders, who have left for the raiding DC they are not on.
- don't let them make lots of friends then lose them, because those friends got bored once they hit end game, because because the shocking learning cliff to extremes or the god awfully balanced unreal scared them away, and there wasn't anything to do, but boring ARR instances, again because the end gamers, left for the raiding DC.
- dint let them make friends then have to watch them leave because even when they hopefully came back to try something challenging, you were waiting to greet them by jeering at them with another Savage Chaotic or savage level Criterion, on Static requiring Deep Dungeon
- have enough self awareness and empathy, to when they are trying to keep their community together, to both tell that community to go "play other games"
- don't sit there watchinh them bounce around happily in idylshire, knowing that when they get to SB the zones are going to be dead, also knowing even now how much better idylshire is on the raiding DC.

All because you can't be bothered, to go down PCmart an buy laptop to run an free open source SQL db, and get college intern to macro lash the functionality you already have together into a cross DC PF.
If you want give everyone shit MSW go ahead.
If you only respect real gamers with ambition to keep going until unreal, that's fine you mashed the game you want. Once we handed our money over it yours, and we experienced certainly know exactly what we're getting.

But play fair. Be at least as kind to our sprouts as we used to enjoy being.

And if this is all because your being cruel to be kind Yoshi because you know Square is fckd and when it folds so will XIV, and your souring the milk to wheen us off it... Then you have my deepest, deepest sympathies.

Because it reality does seem like our well being was baked into the DNA of the early game, by someone who cares about poeple.
Honestly, I don't understand what has happened.
None of us do.
(Saving those on real 'copium' who just, don't 'can't' see it.)

Bye o/
I'm gonna go watch the happy Zepla that I used to know, that is back with us, just playing wow.

[Lordsem]

<3

@yoshi

Please don't let them down Yoshi.
- Don't let them spend months to years making friends, only to watch that community disintegrate as it leaves for the raiding DC they innocently didn't know was a thing, so never joined. (Not what happened to me, not directly)
- Don't let them make lots of friends then struggle to queue instances as they get further, because the lion's share of people still logging with that content unlocked not RRPing, are raiders, who have left for the raiding DC they are not on.
- don't let them make lots of friends then lose them, because those friends got bored once they hit end game, because because the shocking learning cliff to extremes or the god awfully balanced unreal scared them away, and there wasn't anything to do, but boring ARR instances, again because the end gamers, left for the raiding DC.
- dint let them make friends then have to watch them leave because even when they hopefully came back to try something challenging, you were waiting to greet them by jeering at them with another Savage Chaotic or savage level Criterion, on Static requiring Deep Dungeon
- have enough self awareness and empathy, to when they are trying to keep their community together, to both tell that community to go "play other games"
- don't sit there watchinh them bounce around happily in idylshire, knowing that when they get to SB the zones are going to be dead, also knowing even now how much better idylshire is on the raiding DC.
....

Don't worry. As of now, I'm staying and I'm currently looking forward to the end of ARR. I'm excited to see what awaits me afterward.

So far, I haven't played a single dungeon with others. I really like the feature of playing dungeons with NPCs first. This way, I can learn the mechanics at my own pace.

I won't be turning my back on the game anytime soon. Especially since, due to work and family commitments, I won't be reaching the endgame anytime soon.

However, I'm currently so addicted to FFXIV that I'm already sad about not being able to play next Tuesday evening due to the patch...