FF14's path hauntly similar to SWTOR

[Madruck]

For many players like myself, we are veterans of several MMO's from WoW, FF11 to even SWTOR. But the largest expectation for me 4 years ago for a mmo was one game, SWTOR. I literally waited for almost 2 years for the game to come to expect something incredible to only have my hopes dashed within 10 months. SWTOR built a incredible gaming experience similar to FF14 in regards to the leveling experience, but when you finally got to lvl 50 similar to FF14 it all went downhill from there.

[Madruck]

First, besides EA's greediness that also was a factor, the game designers of SWTOR focused more on the leveling experience and not on the experience of the Endgame material. SWTOR had great combat systems and flash animations but repeatitive and old PVE content, and also a broken to this day PVP system that surprisingly follows a similar method to FF14 right now. Then they also had a complete lackluster of end game gear that was based on lockout that made it in where others could not join raids unless they could at a specific time slot similar to what others are seeing in FF14. These are just a couple of things I have been seeing as a trend for FF14 that does really compare to the mistakes Bioware made with SWTOR that lead to that game going F2P. 10 months ago I read others making those statements with absolute disbelieve in them, but now after experiencing these aspects myself I conclude unless SE learns from past MMO failures, they are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.

[Gardthorne]

unless SE learns from past MMO failures, they are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.

SE has virtually no domestic competition in this market. Their players prefer to play on console and the only serious competition is from a game they also own. They don't need -any- non-Japanese subscriptions to remain profitable. They never had any hope of retaining jaded Western MMO players that hop from game to game, but it never mattered in the first place.

[Tharian]

SE has virtually no domestic competition in this market. Their players prefer to play on console and the only serious competition is from a game they also own. They don't need -any- non-Japanese subscriptions to remain profitable. They never had any hope of retaining jaded Western MMO players that hop from game to game, but it never mattered in the first place.

Well, Final Fantasy the Franchise is the preeminent J-RPG in the world. So it makes sense that it would be more marketable in Japan than in the rest of the world. The problem is that most Western RPG's these days follow the Free To Play Model. Meanwhile a vast majority of Asian MMORPG's tend to follow the subscription model for one reason or another. One of those reasons being that in many Asian Countries Gambling is illegal, and various items that are sold in the Free to Play Cash Shops follow the Gambling Model.

[Namasu]

The problem is that most Western RPG's these days follow the Free To Play Model. Meanwhile a vast majority of Asian MMORPG's tend to follow the subscription model for one reason or another. One of those reasons being that in many Asian Countries Gambling is illegal

I don't know about that...I feel like western MMO pretty much pushed for F2P model because F2P was trending in Asian MMO so strongly. I've been trying out F2P MMO on and off since my FFXI WOTG days and all of them have been an Asian MMO (Korean and Japanese). I don't know a single Asian MMO that thrived on sub model beside FFXI and recently FFXIV:ARR.

Also, I believe online gambling is still illegal in some form in the US. One of the Japanese F2P MMO I played had to remove any casino themed setup to comply with the law. Just my 2cent.

[Tharian]

I don't know about that...I feel like western MMO pretty much pushed for F2P model because F2P was trending in Asian MMO so strongly. I've been trying out F2P MMO on and off since my FFXI WOTG days and all of them have been an Asian MMO (Korean and Japanese). I don't know a single Asian MMO that thrived on sub model beside FFXI and recently FFXIV:ARR.

Also, I believe online gambling is still illegal in some form in the US. One of the Japanese F2P MMO I played had to remove any casino themed setup to comply with the law. Just my 2cent.

That is actually incorrect. All of your Asian Free to Play Games are generally the American Ports of Asian MMORPG's such as Perfect World International. For example, Perfect World Beijing is still a subscription based MMORPG, even though the American version of the game is Free to Play. This is because the majority of the American version's cash shop items are actually illegal in China. I am uncertain on Korean Games, as I have not played very many of them. Meanwhile the only really notable Japanese MMORPG (notice I said notable, not that it is actually the only one to get across the pacific) that has made it over to the United States before Final Fantasy XIV, was in fact Final Fantasy XI, and that is still a subscription based game. So stating that Asian Games are largely Free to Play is in fact a fallacy.

Online Gambling for the most part is illegal in most of the United States, though most of the states in which that holds true, do not consider the Mystery Boxes that you can buy in most Free to Play MMO Cash Shops to actually be a form of Gambling. Asia is another matter entirely though.

[ruinedmirage]

SE has virtually no domestic competition in this market. Their players prefer to play on console and the only serious competition is from a game they also own. They don't need -any- non-Japanese subscriptions to remain profitable. They never had any hope of retaining jaded Western MMO players that hop from game to game, but it never mattered in the first place.

I think this is the key fact right here. FFXIV's lifespan is being extended due to it being arguably the best CONSOLE MMORPG on the market right now - a demographic still in its infancy. Using a tried and true model on a new demographic will, in theory, produce the first-time experience many had with EQ, UO, or XI, or WoW. The staggered release between PC, PS3, and PS4 lengthened the games influence AND lifespan by quite a bit

Try to imagine what would happen (however unlikely) if WoW went cross-platform with X1 and PS4, minus the elitism and "PC master race" debates. Imagine if SWTOR had a staggered cross-platform release. The OP makes a very compelling post with the similarities that even I believe, but SE's current success is a result of good timing and planning with their release, and not a result of "I like the game so it's here to stay!" like what is implied by many people, in my opinion.

I completely believe Gardthorne, also. If things turn sour for any reason, SE could pull the plug on every server outside Japan and still make a profit. They have priorities, like everyone else, but they're also smart enough to have a safety net.

[Shirana]

the game designers of SWTOR focused more on the leveling experience and not on the experience of the Endgame material.

Why do people hate the story/leveling experience so much? Yeah, it was easy like FF14 but it was very fun, involved NPCs that actually talked, which gave it more of a story and cinematic feel. The quests didn't feel like chores since they weren't done as quick as FF14s and required you to go to interesting places quite often. Sure it was pretty linear like FF14s but it was still really good in SWTOR.
It still ranks my favorite MMO for storyline and leveling experience to this day lol
And I don't even like star wars, but that game was fun up to end game >.>
I still find any of the flashpoints more interesting and fun than most of FF's dungeons too
/rant

Also for clarification I still love FF over SWTOR xD

edit: fixed a typo

[Amberion]

Snip!

It probably ranks second for me in story content. Something else I found fun was getting the datacrons, got all but the one you needed a team for, before I quit. Then when I noticed the first world boss on the second.. or if it was the 3rd world, I had high hopes of the game also focusing on open world content.

Sadly though, after I was done with the story and finding out that open world was a no go. What was left didn't appeal at all to me.

[Shirana]

It probably ranks second for me in story content. Something else I found fun was getting the datacrons, got all but the one you needed a team for, before I quit. Then when I noticed the first world boss on the second.. or if it was the 3rd world, I had high hopes of the game also focusing on open world content.

Sadly though, after I was done with the story and finding out that open world was a no go. What was left didn't appeal at all to me.

Oooh, datacrons were fun!
I liked hunting for them too xD
Except Tatooine's.
Never. Again.
As for open world vs instanced I won't give an opinion on that as I'm not for or against either one enough to really take a side lol

For me though it just felt like a personal experience. I'm not saying MMO's should suddenly all turn into single player games, but SWTOR was proof, in my opinion, that you can make the storyline FEEL like a single player experience without it being boring, menial tasks.
I found the talking NPCs, slow paced and often multiple objective quests to be more memorable than quests where I just went to point A, killed 5 monsters, and ran back to read a bunch of walls of text that most often than not was kinda boring. Since I got to HEAR the voices and their accents it gave more variety and immersive feel to the storyline. Not to say all of SWTOR's quests were like, it had it's boring point a to point b and kill 10 enemies and run back moments too.
The class based quests were amazing too. Imperial Agent ftw <3
They tried adding more actual personality and gave you many chances to get to know important characters too. Here in FF I just have that usual "oh, it's some NPC whos name I'll forget and know nothing about" feeling. I still forget Minfillia's name half the time. Even your companions in FF14 had quests for them, and played minor importance's in certain gameplay areas (like affection rating which affected tasks). It's nice to have a chocobo raising system since it will give that same feeling of bonding too, though :3
Sorry if this was too long, I'm just giving my opinions and such lol. But in my opinion, that leveling experience and story is an important CONTENT in the game you shouldn't just spam level through >.>