To all the people saying that the start of monthly fees will be the end of FFXIV...

[Rhianu]

Your entire stance makes absolutely no sense.

Let's think about this logically for a moment. In order for FFXIV to be commercially successful, it has to bring in more revenue than it costs to keep it up and running.

Now which of the following options do you think would cost SE more money?

Option A) Keeping FFXIV free for another year, while they continue to spend more and more money on development, updates, and new content.
OR
Option B) Start charging a monthly fee so that they can start to recoup their losses from all the money they've bleed out since FFXIV's launch in 2010.

Popularity and subscription number don't mean squat. A player who isn't paying is making zero money for the company, and therefore the company loses absolutely nothing of monetary value if that person stops playing. Sure, they might lose a subscriber, but subscribers that don't generate any income are -- quite literally -- worthless.

Subscription numbers only matter when there is a subscription fee in place. Having a game with a few paying subscribers will always be more profitable than having a game with tons of non-paying subscribers.

I don't understand why so many people seem to think FFXIV would go under if SE started turning a profit on it. Games go under when they lose money, NOT when they lose subscribers.

In order to stay afloat, income must always be greater than expenses. Honestly, this is basic finances here.

[Kajika]

Stop right there. FFXIV does not deserve to be successful. FFXIV deserves to flop.

What??? Deserves??? Is this the judgment day or is it a business? Deserve means nothing. There is one option: In order for FFXIV to be successful, it needs revenue. What does "deserve" have to do with anything?

[December]

Do you really think that FFXIV has the ability to stand on its own two feet? the only reason people are saying they will continue to pay to play, is because they are dangling this carrot to player of the almighty 2.0. Guess what, they say it'll be ready in late 2012/2013. No other MMORPG dangles content that freakin far out. They have to though, in order for you to keep playing. that's almost a year and a half from now that they say the game will be mostly ready (they hope).

And given SE's track record, they are extremely good as HYPING a game. They are also extremely good at not making these patches come out as planned. I actually expect 2.0 to come out mid 2013.

[Preypacer]

Stop right there. FFXIV does not deserve to be successful. FFXIV deserves to flop. it is a bad game. Bad games do not bring in money.

Your hatred for the game is so deep that you feel it don't deserve to succeed... even for those who do enjoy it and would like it to succeed (how incredibly gracious and selfless of you... -eyeroll-). Yet, yet you stick around.

Obsessed much?

Let me guess... You're one of those people, like some of the SWG vets, who will still be bitter and angry 3 years down the line after the game has turned completely around and is doing much better... You'll still be there, dragging your personal mountaintop into every thread that's even remotely positive about the game, shaking your fist at the sky saying "FFXIV deserves to fail for what it did to meeeeeeee!!!!!"

Move on, man. It's not healthy to dwell and brood over something.. especially a game that will have zero long-term effect on your life... unless you let it.

[Kurai]

Stop right there. FFXIV does not deserve to be successful. FFXIV deserves to flop. it is a bad game. Bad games do not bring in money.

lol says he with the level 13 GLA, you have experienced so much of this game i can see.. when you have a few level 50's you have earned your place to come here and be a bitch imo, until that happens i can honestly say that not a single person on this forum gives a shit what you think!!

[Godking]

Stop right there. FFXIV does not deserve to be successful. FFXIV deserves to flop. it is a bad game. Bad games do not bring in money.

Why do people like you even exist in these forums? You bash and bash the game, yet you still play and post.

[Dargoth_Draconia]

Stop right there. FFXIV does not deserve to be successful. FFXIV deserves to flop. it is a bad game. Bad games do not bring in money.

That is like saying you deserve to die, you are a bad person. Bad people should die.

I WIN.

[Rhianu]

Yes, it was most certainly a flop. That I will not deny. The same attitude that made FFXIV a failure was also the attitude that kept FFXI from ever achieving the type of mass popularity that WoW has obtained -- heck, that other FF games have obtained. I think this was a hard lesson, but SE needed to learn it.

However, this game does have a lot of as of yet unfulfilled potential, which I and many other people would like to see become fulfilled eventually. I think that's a far better option than just shutting down the servers and letting FFXIV die like Auto Assault did.

SE needed to learn a lesson, but they don't deserve to lose all the money they spent developing FFXIV. I want SE to learn a lesson so they can fix their mistakes and start turning out quality games. I don't want to see them go bankrupt.

[December]

Yes, it was most certainly a flop. That I will not deny. The same attitude that made FFXIV a failure was also the attitude that kept FFXI from ever achieving the type of mass popularity that WoW has obtained -- heck, that other FF games have obtained. I think this was a hard lesson, but SE needed to learn it.

However, this game does have a lot of as of yet unfulfilled potential, which I and many other people would like to see become fulfilled eventually. I think that's a far better option than just shutting down the servers and letting FFXIV die like Auto Assault did.

SE needed to learn a lesson, but they don't deserve to lose all the money they spent developing FFXIV.

You say you understand simple economics, or finances. If you make a bad game, and spend a hundered million dollars doing so, you just made a 100,000,000 dollar mistake. I agree, FFXIV has unfulfilled potential. When it reaches that potential (or, for example, a potential that is worth paying for), then charge us. Supporting FFXIV for another year isnt going to shut SE down, but it may shut down FFXIV. And you know what? They can start working on their next game and maybe not fuck up so bad?

Just because they are SE doesnt mean we need to bow down and pay them money when they screwed up. Give me a game worth 13~ dollars a month and ill pay for it. For now though, most free to play korean garbage mmos have more of the basics right than FFXIV does.