FFXI also didn't release in the US until after it had a full year's development in Japan. And WoW wasn't out yet, so there wasn't competition to consider for a while. By the time WoW did appear, FFXI already had a solid player base to carry them through for another 8 years.

XIV has competition, and not only that it's been soured by a poor launch. Turning people back to that and revitalizing the game for PS3 launch is a daunting if not impossible task.

I still wonder how many of you would stay if SE told you you had to pay for the game.