So, I see alot of ''negative'' threads on this forum.

[Nalien]

Why on earth would any self respecting developer settle for catering to a single niche with the same type of content year after year, when they can expand their horizons and appeal to far more players? That's ultimately more profitable for them. A shallow game which is sustained by new players, as the old get bored of the exact same formula being recycled, will not last for long and will not be remembered. Setting trends will appeal to old and new players, and will result in an incredibly successful game.

The main problem here is their progression system... It's kind of hard to work new types of content into the game when we're set on this treadmill; Why make a new type of dungeon, when dungeons are only relevant for 3 months? Content is rendered irrelevant in this game so quickly that they have no real choice but to stick to formula. You can't put more work into something new, when you have to pump it out to match progression. Why make Bismarck (Extreme) an amazingly unique and memorable fight, when it was completely irrelevant at launch? You did it once to unlock Ravana (Extreme), and you don't even need to do that anymore...

The developers really need to slow down... This progression system is unsustainable, we're going to get a new 24 man raid in 5.1 for i400 gear at this rate, and since plugging that i400 into the game is driving development, they wont put effort into the new raid, instead we'll just get the same "Trash > Boss > 3 party split > Boss > etc." formula we've had since 2.1, and everyone will be bored of that by then... Slow down, and keep content relevant for longer, and you have more time to work on better content. Diadem could have been perfect for this, whatever the new max item level is, they could update Diadem with to keep it relevant and justify constantly improving it, though the materia aspect already makes it somewhat relevant in the long term anyway.

Depends what the developers want for this game; Do they want a game where people get bored, leave, and less new people come in as a result. People who get bored are not going to recommend the game, currently this game is sustained by the good will 2.0 earned. That would seem to be the path we're currently on. I think it would be better to retain players for longer, with better and more varied content. Such player would then continue to recommend the game, ultimately drawing in more new players, all of which will play for longer. That's a better game and it's better for profits. It's the difference between dying slowly, and growing.