January 9, 2016 Active player census (and savage clear rates)

[Twilite]

Heh, same. Read a few spoilers, went "meh" and didn't bother. Nobody stays dead these days...

That particular spoiler which was dropped in a thread title here also discouraged me from continuing the story.

Yeah, he's always said that if it seemed like the right thing to do for the game, that they would make the switch to F2P. He'd said that they kept it as Subs, at least in part, because that's the model they'd promised to release it as, and they wanted to keep that promise (I've no complaints there; I can't stand the Free 2 Pay More model, and all it entails, personally). Though I'd be lying if I said this game's design, and the way they have us acquire new gear, wasn't set up perfectly for a F2P system.

One of the many methods of getting people to spend in the cash shop is to make grinds in the game painfully tedious (we're already kinda there with some of the stuff in XIV, no?), and then sell things in the cash shop to make the grind faster/easier. So, were this applied to FFXIV, (folks, this is hypothetical, don't take it as being an actual example lol)... imagine you're doing the grind for Relic, and that drop rate is loooooow (it would likely be even lower in a F2P scenario). Well, you know, there's this item in the cash shop that will increase the drop rate by 200% or 400%, if you want to spend a little more. So, you can continue grinding it the s-l-o-w way, and not spend the money, meanwhile seeing people around you all getting their drops and moving on way faste... Or, you can drop $10 or $20 on he cash shop, and join them in getting your Relic weapon sooner rather than later. And it wouldn't technically be pay to win.... because you don't have to spend that money. You still have the option of getting it the slow way.

The above would be a very plausible scenario in a F2P FFXIV, and it's why - though they would consider it - I hope they never make that change.

Back on Topic...

~700k players is a nice number... but I'm glad it's out there. I always knew their "5 million players" marketing was BS; that they're using registered members, not active players. I just always wondered how far off it was. Many MMO devs use registered members, instead of active players, and I wish they didn't. It's really slimy and dishonest. It's fooled many people into believing (and arguing at length) that XIV's active playerbase rivals WoW's, which simply isn't true.

..And I recall saying that this something nobody here should want, and especially if some of you have no REAL experience with the model at all. It's not going to work the way you think it will and it will benefit mostly those with lots of cash to throw away..

The fact that they are pushing the Mogstation is worrying me.

I maybe an intolerable cynical poster around here, but you all better listen and not ask for this.