Worried about where the game is going

[Grundy]

I guess I'm kind of lucky in that I stopped playing 1.0 just before they introduced the Ifrit fight. I've had lots to keep me occupied since 2.0, but I'll probably have all DoH complete by next week and quite possibly all DoL done the following week leaving my 4 classes left to level up. Last night literally everyone in my FC from the 1.0 crowd were bored, had nothing to do, complained a bit, some logged out, some ran WP. A lot of people are losing interest, a lot of people I know from 1.0 only log in to do coil, it's a problem.

Perhaps it's comes from an uneven start, so many people could begin 2.0 with a lot of 50's, and by design the game levels fast so others are not left behind. I wonder if the playerbase has surprised development by exactly how fast they've levelled though? Having the Crystal Tower as a next instance but progression wise placing it between HM Primals and Coil seems .. strange. The majority of people who are finding the game unappealing now are those on Turn 5, so why give them new content that is not level appropriate to them?

You have ESO, Everquest Next and Titan on the horizon and I'll admit right now I'll try out Wildstar (I've applied for Beta), I love this game, but I loathe running constant dungeons; I only do it under duress as it's the only way I can get better gear. Right now I use crafting and gathering as an excuse not to spam WP and AK, soon I'll not have that option and I may find myself saying "Why should I login today?"

[NovaUltimatum]

You have ESO, Everquest Next and Titan on the horizon and I'll admit right now I'll try out Wildstar (I've applied for Beta), I love this game, but I loathe running constant dungeons; I only do it under duress as it's the only way I can get better gear. Right now I use crafting and gathering as an excuse not to spam WP and AK, soon I'll not have that option and I may find myself saying "Why should I login today?"

This is what I'm curious to find out. As far as I know ARR has been successful thus far because of it's status in the MMORPG market (i.e. it's the newest, shiniest, latest game for people to play). When the next batch of MMORPGs come out, how many will stay and will content be tailored for those that do, or will it be for those who leave in an attempt to bring them back?