Is FFXIV up against the clock?

[mysterytaru]

Ah. Sorry, I guess I have to clarify. The 25 down is down from the steady down since October 2010, and the different types of measuring player population used in the two assessment periods suggests that the true percentage of drop-outs is actually higher. The exact statistics are hidden somewhere in the Allakhazam post; please understand that I'll not repeat myself on this forum in detail - I don't like my posts being locked down.

Of course you are free to challenge the validity of the data; I don't want to preach the 7th Umbral cataclysm. The data I provided should be considered nothing more than a (in my opinion: rather reliable) estimation that helps to curb both the most irrational illusions about FFXIV's success, as well as the doomsday fantasies of... well, there's always some doomsayers.

@mysterytaru
LTR. Data from the first assessment period was compiled using the /sea all command. There's little room for making up fake numbers. Data from the second asessent period was compiled using a pretty smart indirect method, and it is not linked to Sankaku in any way. But as I said: Feel free to believe what you want to. There's always the possibility that all those sources are just evil people who are lying just to slow down the inevitable victory parade of a successful game. Especially since they are Japanese and hate their own country and SE so much, and want Korean and US games to succeed.

P.S.: And of course, there's always the possibility that 1.18 and the following patches will bring back shiploads of old players, and also entice a number of curious new players to buy the game.

There are ways to fudge the '/sea all' such as cherry picking when you do it to reflect the results you want, depending which side of the argument you are on. What I read in that was based on numbers from Cornelia which is useless for determining an accurate picture of the whole player base. Finally, the chart was linked from Sankaku and they've been dumping on and misrepresenting FFXIV since beta.

Any and all number presented by players or any other third party are not enough to pull random stats out of thin air and base claims upon. Unless you present official stats, nothing can be assumed true or accurate, and even then there are people who would claim SE is lying just because they can and *DO* want to see this game fail, and don't think there aren't JP players who want that. They exist on both sides of the ocean.