Is it maybe time for a full infrastructure rebuild? (Re: Database and netcode issues)

[Krotoan]

I enjoy XIV, especially because it's the only themepark MMO I've ever seen that feels like they truly put some love and care into the storyline, characters, and setting.

But there's a worrisome trend when itcomes to developer comments: technical issues tend to be the #1 reason for rejecting requests from the playerbase (even QoL suggestions that have been requested for years), citing the inadequate database as the reason these suggestions either cannot work or would be difficult to implement.

The most recent glamour log changes are sadly a good example of this. They're an improvement, but we can only store up to 200 items in the dresser, meaning this is only ever going to be a bandaid fix, especially as the game continues to expand and more and more items are added. There will still come a day when players will need to empty that dresser out to make room for new items, something they are NOT going to want to do.

This change only delays the inevitable.

I don't see 200 as being their final number though. This looks like an initial foray into their glamour idea with possible expansion as they see its impact. Yes it still has a limitation, but we aren't aware of what the "final cap" is. I remain optimistic about this particular feature and see it as a good start. I would LOVE a GW2 type solution for dyes and wardrobe with items being unlocked account wide and forever as long as you've touched something that used that model once, but that's a whole other system and would have to be coded in as such.. which you did touch on and I'll continue on that point later..

If they wanted to take an expansion to rebuild all of this and get everything up to speed, making the game "future proof" for later expansions and all of their database needs, as well as refactoring the netcode to be more responsive and workable, I wouldn't begrudge them one bit for doing so.

Now, before the "SE Defense Force" chimes in with "YOU CAN WORK AROUND THESE ISSUES!!", please stop missing the point entirely.

There's no reason WoW should have better database servers than XIV, and when you say "You can work around it", you're acknowledging that there is indeed a problem to work around in the first place, one that modern AAA MMOs don't have and one that XIV certainly shouldn't have either.

So I'd say take the time to fix the issues you need to fix, devs, even if it means rebuilding most of the game. The game is more than prosperous enough to do so at this point and, after all, any "fixes" implemented without doing a full revamp are just going to be bandaids in the long run.

XIV is a wonderful game and absolutely worth putting this kind of love and care into.

PS. This is not going to be an OPTIONAL change for the game, FYI. If they're struggling this hard to make due with their current database servers, they're eventually going to find themselves up against a wall where they either cannot add new expansions or need to start deleting expansions from the game to make room for new ones.

PPS. They've also made a change like this once already, back before the game was profitable, where they were building 2.0 while keeping 1.0 running AND were adding content to it.

You can learn all about it in this awesome documentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs0yQKI7Yw4

This whole game is a workaround. They took the poorly cobbled together mess that was outsourced code and resources and made the game we know and love today. How they convinced someone at the top that "hey, this was a promise to our fans and we failed them, please let us try and give them what we presented and save the face of our company and the world we envisioned" is a miracle in and of itself, let alone creating the experience we enjoy today out of the sludgepile they were given to work with.

Don't get me wrong, I am not arguing against you. I am one of those that would patiently stand by for a year ("one or two patch cycles".. is not enough time) with NOTHING added. No gear, no dungeons, no patches beyond fixing game breaking bugs (like locking players out of actually playing) , no new events, no NOTHING. Just fix it.. please!... but I don't see that happening.

The effort and money involved , from the point of view of someone who does cost/risk analysis as part of their job, is not something you could convince a company bigwig of. At that point I'm pretty sure , as has been pointed out several times in this thread, we would just get FFXIV 2 (.. I dunno.. I mean.. FFXIV II looks weird.. then again the 2 does too.. ). I'm reasonably sure that they would rather as a company spend the money on the continuation of this world in a new engine/framework and game before they reworked the entire thing. Especially since they'd be able to sell the new game and make that initial gob of money instead of handing out a years worth of work for free. .. maybe not totally free if SE gave them more budget from the subs.. but I don't know the actual financials on sub to cost of server maintenance and operation ratio.

Also the majority of the playerbase would REVOLT. Outright. People cry when they don't get enough content or enough unique content already. Imagine the outcry if they announced NO content. Which is what I believe it would take. People would leave in droves and the money they had to make these changes would dry up. Investors would get scared, THAT money would stop as well, people would get fired and the project would die.

In the eyes of an investor or a business person this is optional though. Keep the goose pooping those golden eggs and keep it pooping till they stop coming. When the goose collapses it's time to go look for another one. Bummer about that old goose but there will always be more.

They turned off 1.0 for a quite a bit while it was revamped into 2.0. Just off. I imagine the crunch time was incredible for that. No money coming in, just paying for work that may have been a black hole in the end. That was insanity!




TLR: you are asking for another miracle to happen and that's very unlikely. I hope it does though.