Yoshida-san draws inspiration from playing a wide variety of games. He says it has given him the perspective he needs to keep FFXIV evolving and not simply follow time tested mmo formats for the sake of money grabs. Many aspects of FFXIV are similar to what works in other mmo’s, however there is an insane degree of originality in FFXIV that has astonished millions of players.

Unfortunately, the whole “casual” thing is based on a persistent myth that the mid/hardcore players don’t often think about. Final Fantasy fans aren’t like most mmo fans. The myth is that FFXIV progression and the “challenge” is modeled after the prototypical mmo, and it’s not. Final Fantasy fans were those geeks in elementary school who argued that FF was better than Zelda. They weren’t concerned with much, until after they experienced the story. Then some went back as completionists to get all the loots. Storyline > Fun side quests > Challenge. There is a chronic inability of non Final Fantasy fans to understand that an overwhelming majority of players really don’t care about dps logs, item levels, or world firsts.