Quote Originally Posted by Alhanelem View Post
1) Honestly, if you you can't judge whether you like the game within a week or less, I think there's something wrong with your ability to evaluate.
2) there was no reason to expect any particular duration. There is no "industry standard" for free time given to old players of a game that was terminated and relaunched (which has only happened a couple other times in history). It could have been a month, it could have been 2 days, it could have been 3 months. Somebody would have found some reason to be upset by it (No matter how right they think they're doing something, someone will find cause to complain) no matter what it was. These people are the ones least likely to be interested in returning no matter how generous SE is with the free time anyway.
It's not just a matter of not upsetting players or giving them time to evaluate (and even for evaluating, the more the better, obviously). It's a matter of enticing them to return.

There definitely is an industry standard of game time given when someone gets a new MMORPG, which is a full month.

By giving people the chance to download the game plus a full month, you communicate that you're launching a full new game, and that you're giving it to them fully for free. That's a very strong marketing message and reinforces very strongly the temptation to give it a try.

By letting people download the game and adding a "two weeks welcome back" on top of it, you communicate that they're coming back to an old game (more or less revamped), as the whole "welcome back" concept mirrors.

That's a weaker message, and a less advantageous one, as it's in Square Enix's interest to pass the message that Final Fantasy XIV: ARR is an entirely new game, and not just an evolution or an expansion to XIV.

It's really not rocket science. Actually it's basically simple maths. Give more = have a stronger promotional effect.