FFXIV population decline continues

[Hallarem]

It's the WoW dilemma. We're currently in BFA. No one is enjoying the game but a lot of people are still hesitant to leave because they've invested a lot of time, effort and in some cases money into the game and it has sentimental value for a lot of players. If 8.0 doesn't fix a lot of the issues then I think a lot of people will just be done. There comes a point where, while you have a lot of memories of good times with the game, clinging to a sinking ship is just preventing you from making new memories somewhere else.

I quit before Shadowlands, started in actual vanilla. And I can say, the last 5 years that kept me in? Was pure community, guild members and such. The gameplay loop is much better than FFXIV, but the story was crap and hidden in expensive novels.
You aren't a true WoW player if you don't play WoW and actively hate it too. You stay because its familiar and there is nothing better on offer. Now that I've played 14, and it's the best for RP mechanics. I'm stuck in the same loop of a company that can't dev themselves out of a hole and as a cherry on top, the story sucks now too. So BOTH games' stories suck, woopidooooooo~~

[Altina_Orion]

I quit before Shadowlands, started in actual vanilla. And I can say, the last 5 years that kept me in? Was pure community, guild members and such. The gameplay loop is much better than FFXIV, but the story was crap and hidden in expensive novels.
You aren't a true WoW player if you don't play WoW and actively hate it too. You stay because its familiar and there is nothing better on offer. Now that I've played 14, and it's the best for RP mechanics. I'm stuck in the same loop of a company that can't dev themselves out of a hole and as a cherry on top, the story sucks now too. So BOTH games' stories suck, woopidooooooo~~

Shadowlands sucking isn't a secret, but dragonflight and tww have been received quite well. If you haven't played them its disingenuous to say the game sucks.

[Shurrikhan]

Shadowlands sucking isn't a secret, but dragonflight and tww have been received quite well. If you haven't played them its disingenuous to say the game sucks.

And even Shadowlands had fun enough gameplay and mainstay combat content. The issue was just the extra bloat, similar to if you'd been forced to run PotD to floor 200 and do Eureka weeklies on the regular in order to be competitive in raid.

[Chasingstars]

And even Shadowlands had fun enough gameplay and mainstay combat content. The issue was just the extra bloat, similar to if you'd been forced to run PotD to floor 200 and do Eureka weeklies on the regular in order to be competitive in raid.

Also had one of the longest gaps between patches for 9.0 to 9.1 because of the pandemic which certainly made their situation worse when it came to content.