Would you be upset if the game went offline?

[Nordya]

Actually hard to say, I don't play so for me online or offline would make no difference. However maybe offline could make development go faster. I do keep close tab on the game, but some of the players remaining would be upset if the game went down and maybe would never come back, so it's a double edge sword.

[Physic]

closing completely will be seen as failing, MMOs need a certain amount of trust that they will last awhile and be online even if things arent going well. Closing shop will destroy that, people will not believe in the new product. Closing your MMO down is failure. if this is your plan your best bet is to just call it a fail and not try to develop a new MMO till people forget

[RinL]

Alright, op is back from his snooze and currently traveling through south Texas!

First off, thanks to everyone who has posted so far - severl of you have very valid points, and I appreciate the input you have provided for the community.

Now, several of the posts in this thread are kind of giving me a 'if you hate the game then leave' vibe. I assure you this is not the case - I want this game to succeed and become great. My idea, as another poster articulated much better than I have so far, is all about perception.

Currently this game has a pretty poor reputation, and has had one since the start. This can be fixed a few different ways, but my proposal to bring the game offline for a year or so and release the game a second time seems to be the best shot in my opinion.

Again, this is all about the publics perception. I love the game, and can see how amazing it might be in the future if handled right. Sorry to stress this so much, but this idea is simply something I think might help to patch up the damage that has already been done.

Also, in regards to bringing players back after things are brought back online - I think a campaign designed to contact every registered account (every player that ever got in the game from the start) with an offer to come back and check out the changes would work just fine. Throw in a years free playtime and that's just icing on the cake

Thanks again for the input, hope to hear more from the community in the coming days!

[OMEGA_HACK]

Nope, actually I would like it if they would either do one of the following:

Make an official announcement to everyone stating the game is in its beta stages (to make it official and possibly change some people's mindset on a lot of the game and it's feature or lack thereof)

or

close all but a select number of server(s) and make them public beta servers (you can move your character there as a option so you don't lose data)

[Zenaku]

Then they have to do beta testing like we doing now? what the point of it going offline if they fixing it and see what we think they need us if they shut down now the game have no hope.

[Rowyne]

Nope, actually I would like it if they would either do one of the following:

Make an official announcement to everyone stating the game is in its beta stages (to make it official and possibly change some people's mindset on a lot of the game and it's feature or lack thereof)

or

close all but a select number of server(s) and make them public beta servers (you can move your character there as a option so you don't lose data)

Actually, I think they should have done both. And it should have happened when they announced that they would be charging no subscription fees until further notice. They should have realized right then and there the game needed to go back into a development state. Would have been a lot less painful, ripping the bandaid off all at once, so to speak.

[DoubleEcho]

Actually, I think they should have done both. And it should have happened when they announced that they would be charging no subscription fees until further notice. They should have realized right then and there the game needed to go back into a development state. Would have been a lot less painful, ripping the bandaid off all at once, so to speak.

Again, why is it that the servers can't be online while you develop at the same time?

[Kallera]

Again, why is it that the servers can't be online while you develop at the same time?

I agree, a MMO game is always being worked on while its online, there nothing preventing FFXIV from operatinng. "Haters gon' hate", as it were. If the game was offline, people would only complain further.

[Cendres]

An MMO with a solid base CAN and DOES get ongoing updates and development yes, but not a game with fundamental flaws. Seriously see the Saga of Ryzom for an example of a game released as a shell, company went bankrupt before it could put out most of what they had planned for it, no other company who bought it was able to put out that stuff out either always struggling along. And while there has been some updates done to it, it's still pretty much what it always was.

At one point SE will have to decide whether this game is too big of a liability, but that probably won't really hit the fan until this winter at least. There's still room to breathe so hopefully life gets renewed here before then.

[Elexia]

I support it going offline. The cynical-yet-I-continue-to-post-even-though-I-feel-and-adamantly-believe-the-game-will-never-amount-to-anything people could finally move on as the game would be offline and they "won." Maybe the forums will get back to lively discussions without degrading into a pissing contest. You know, like before alpha/beta how everyone weren't after each other's throats because they liked or hated the game?