Would you be upset if the game went offline?

[Eekiki]

I would not care, and I also would not care if they did a character wipe (I have some R50's, so I'm not just saying that).

[Spitfire]

If they take this game offline there is no coming back, they might say they're working on it at first but then there will be a release a few months down the line saying they scraped the project.

I don't think I would be upset if they took it offline I am not heavily invested in this game at all I might play once or twice a week for a few hours but that's all.

[Chezen]

To me, this thread was about would I personally care, not whether it was a good idea. I think two years is too long, but several months, no I would not care.

However, that doesn't mean it's the best move. I don't see that it should have to mean the death of the game, but that is the way some people would think, so it's a valid point. And I'd have to agree that taking down the forums would be just as effective.

However, this is only coming from the English side as far as I know. I have a hard time believing (and I can't read Japanese well, so I can't confirm) that this level of high tension and complaining is coming from the Japanese side. Not to mention they outnumber us quite a bit. So taking down the game just because we can't pipe down, seems unfair, and honestly kinda silly.

However, after patch 1.18, this may all be a very moot point (I sincerely hope). Depends on people's expectations.

[ObeiKinstar]

They don't need to shut the game down. They just need to fix it faster. I think a lot is riding on 1.18 to see how much content they can produce and the quality of that content. They already pushed the patch back twice, so it would seem to me they care about the quality and understand the importance of delivering a quality product.

Only time will tell, and based on their track record it's not looking good, but honestly we will just have to wait and see.

I think we will know if the game is gonna make it or break it this fall/winter.

[Elexia]

They don't need to shut the game down. They just need to fix it faster. I think a lot is riding on 1.18 to see how much content they can produce and the quality of that content.

1.18 isn't a content patch though, as in the focus is mostly on the battle system overhaul, part of it anyway. (and probably other system revisions.) They're being generous with the dungeons being released, since I figure based on what reps said that it's mostly in conjunction for testing battle changes and whatnot.

based on their track record it's not looking good

XI is looking damn good, it paid for many of their projects not even MMO related and it still continues to have a decent population of players including new players as it's a lot more easier to get into compared to many years ago. Their track record is fine since you have to include XI and FMO as well as all of their offline library. XIV is just one project they've messed up on, not at all a representation of their entire career.

[Naylia]

I started playing at CE Launch with low expectations based on prior XI initial launch track record and the state of the beta. The whole point for me was that as a player with less free time, I'd be at a reasonable rank by the time the game improved. So please don't take my servers away...I'm still trying to get my first 50 (or at least 45 to do dungeons)...

[Moth]

Honestly, I would. And i'd probably stop playing. The online aspect is a huge part of the game for me.

[Brotech]

To be honest, If they had shut it down, and said, "we're gonna fix it, come back in 1-2 years," I don't think it would have worked. A large number of the people who already purchased the game would either forget their account name, or lose their security tokens(if they had one) after that long of a time. (Note, i'm not giving percentages here, just "a large number") Plus when they did re-release it, the bad press the game garnered when it was released would just come back. "SE is re-releasing a failed game after 2 years!!" They would have had to scramble for publicity to get the major changes out there, and SE has never been a big "give out lots of information" company. The way it is now, at least as the people playing are seeing the changes, word of mouth is best(and cheapest) promoter that SE has for FFXIV.

And to quote someone from the first page...

What do they have to show for the time spent? They've basically put a band-aid on a gun shot wound.

They may have only put a band-aid on a gun shot wound, but that band-aid is giving them enough time to get to the hospital.

[DoctorMog]

I would never pick it back up again. Even if they saved my character data.

Screw that.

[ShinChuck]

I don't think a temporary shutdown is needed, or a good idea. The last thing SE should do right now is scare off those still loyal, and in the fast paced modern gaming world, going offline for a few months is a good way to send a portion of the population off to other MMOs. And we're TEN MONTHS into rebuilding - if they've got SO LITTLE DONE in TEN MONTHS that, even after all that time they STILL need to shut it down entirely to fix it... yeah, that's not a good thing, or even good press.

Mark my words, if FFXIV shuts down - it will be for good. I don't see them by any means considering a temporary shutdown a good idea.

Flameshield Note: No, I'm not saying the FFXIV servers are shutting down soon. I'm saying, if the theoretical shutdown OP mentioned DID happen, it wouldn't be temporary, because there's no reason for something of that specific nature.