I am very much looking forward to ARR and I think it will be a success but I guess it depends on one's interpretation of success.

I think that FFXIV ARR is going to be a huge hit...on the PS3 (esp. in Japan) and I believe that is SE's target audience and has been all along. Don't forget it was supposed to be released for PS3 shortly after the initial PC Launch 2 years ago but of course we all know it was a mess and would have been an even bigger disaster that they never would have recovered from.

I am not worried that it will be a "WoW Clone" unless by "clone" you mean all the basic elements that are expected to be in a RPG/MMO, ie. Storyline, Quests, Character Progression, Dungeons, Gear Runs, Crafting, Player Based Economy/Auction House, Magic Spells, Weapon Skills, Class Skills, Job Skills, Solo Content, Party Content, Easy Content, Hard Content, Summons/Pets, Mounts, Transportation, Diverse Areas/Zones, etc., etc.

For me it is not so much about what content is in the game (so long as there is alot of it) but rather how it is implemented and on this part I am putting some Faith in SE to pull it off. The reason I have Faith is because of FFXI.

The main reason I enjoyed XI so much was not the game mechanics (they were pretty clunky) or the UI (also clunky) but rather it was because of the Stories that I was a part of: The Shadowlord, the Zilarts, the Promethians, Aht Urhgan, and the Goddess, even the City Missions and Sidequests had humor, intrigue, heartache, hope and loss intertwined throughout the game. SE has always been good at storytelling and I expect that to still be their strong suit in ARR.

I also really, really liked the aspect that I could experience everything the game had to offer on my one main character, Davorok the Galka. This led to a very strong connection to my character and to the game world in general. This is what set FFXI apart from every other MMO at the time and still today is the only one (I believe) along with XIV that allows this. I always felt that if FFXI had a better UI and streamlined controls/mechanics that it would have been much more succesful and probably would be considered the greatest MMO of all time...Untill Now!

I believe that FFXIV ARR just might be the Phoenix that rises from the ashes of Eorzea. Will it be a WoW Killer? Probably not and as I stated earlier I don't believe that is SE's intentions but rather they are creating the best Console RPG/MMO ever made which will also be very enjoyable on the PC as well...

...and I am looking forward to it.