Quote Originally Posted by NefGP View Post
The OP is exactly right. What kept XI alive and interesting for so many years (granted they kinda held onto it all a bit too long and then changed everything in 1 update so it was a massive shock all at once, as opposed to a gradual thing) was the horizontal progression.
Nope. What kept FFXI alive was the fans of the game. Horizontal progression was just what FFXI fans liked.

It remains to be seen how long this model will keep FFXIV alive, but I have serious doubts that FFXI's model would do much better in this day and age.