Where is the "never before seen content"?

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Well on my defense maybe I should have used words differently I meant that they've shown that it works on their game and they thought it would work on here especially since ppl complains that later in the patch there's nothing to do afaik we've been getting monthly updates this time around so we can't really say that nobody said anything about the previous release.
But overall I agree that FFXIV doesn't gave the ability to fly like wow and that's why I'm always saying that we should consider what wow does with a grain of salt.

However as far player counts go it has been extremely erratic in behavior for all of stormblood with spikes in player counts in odd moments as such I would say we need more investigations before having any remarkable conclusions on it
I don't get how we got about 200k in the lul before 4.1 (this was right before 4.1 dropped and after the 2 counts in SB btw) Or the 90k spike between the release of eureka and 4.3, so far I've got no answer on why it might've happened perhaps I need to contact the guy keeping the list again

I will preface my response by saying it's entirely speculative. So please keep that in mind.

That aside, I suspect the upswing in 4.1 came due to players still returning, Ultimate and Rival Wings. Both were hyped exceptionally, especially the latter in conjunction with the PvP changes. Collect all that with an easier Savage and promises of a scaling difficulty, and people had more to keep themselves occupied. Something else you can attribute to increased subs in 4.1 is raiders opting to stick around. After all, they now had Ultimate whereas before, they didn't have a whole lot to do. Additional housing wards also came out around this time. So why the subsequent drop? Rival Wings imploded while Savage being made easier also meant it possessed less longevity. The reception towards Alte Roite and Catastrophe weren't exactly stellar either, at least amongst my own circles. Even casual groups like NEST pointed out Alte Roite was a bit too easy, which says something.

As more players finished Stormblood, I wager many found there wasn't actually all that much available with any lasting appeal. The PvP "improvements" bombed, hard, and 4.1 offered very little outside niche content. Therefore, when 4.2 came around, you saw a noticeable dip—one that only recovered because Eureka was supposed the "next big thing." That brought players back given how much focus was placed on it's innovation. And the divisive response is why those active numbers dropped sharply thereafter.

We may see another upswing around 4.4 because of the Monster Hunter Collab, but I guarantee it will plummet severely come 4.5, especially if we're given no new surprises beyond more Eureka.

Stormblood has basically fed off constant hype yet poor sustainability. Be it Ultimate, PvP, Eureka all the way to something as simple as job gauges. They were all hyped substantially despite only Ultimate paying any real dividends. And if 4.5 does repeat the drought of 3.5, I cannot help wonder if people's faith will have been spent. After all, if they follow predictable patterns, we're looking at a very lengthily drought with virtually nothing to do. Stormblood was supposed to SE's chance to be innovative. Instead, they played it punishingly safe, going so far as to make everything even easier. I just can't see them getting away with a retread of that same philosophy come 5.0.

[polyphonica]

We may see another upswing around 4.4 because of the Monster Hunter Collab, but I guarantee it will plummet severely come 4.5, especially if we're given no new surprises beyond more Eureka.

Stormblood has basically fed off constant hype yet poor sustainability. Be it Ultimate, PvP, Eureka all the way to something as simple as job gauges. They were all hyped substantially despite only Ultimate paying any real dividends. And if 4.5 does repeat the drought of 3.5, I cannot help wonder if people's faith will have been spent. After all, if they follow predictable patterns, we're looking at a very lengthily drought with virtually nothing to do. Stormblood was supposed to SE's chance to be innovative. Instead, they played it punishingly safe, going so far as to make everything even easier. I just can't see them getting away with a retread of that same philosophy come 5.0.

I doubt it's that dire. By the time 4.5 comes around, they'll have Fanfest and announce the next expansion. This will start bringing people back who took a break so they can catch up on before 5.0 hits. And even if 5.0 ends up following the exact same pattern to the letter, it'll still sell well as if it were a single-player game -- people will come back, buy the expansion, sub for a few months, and then take a break again until 5.5 in prep for 6.0. That itself is a large and valuable market for this game. In the meantime, there are still enough people who don't mind the pattern to keep the game afloat.

In the end, as much as people complain about the familiar pattern, this is SE's most financially-successful MMORPG by far. At this point, it can afford to play it safe until it rides into the sunset, if that's its fate. The real question, as even SE has alluded to recently, is how long they want to keep this game running, or if they hope to transition their focus to a new MMO. That decision will probably be the key factor in terms of how much room there'll be for changing the formula (probably after 5.x, though, as they've said before that 5.x concludes the current story arc).

[Vstarstruck]

At least I would be doing something in a certain other MMO whereas this one I essentially log off. That isn't to say WoW's system is perfect, far from it. But that doesn't make the staggered releases any less annoying. I would hope FFXIV aspires to better than mindless RNG grind...



Another detail forgotten is when people asked for that system, they wanted longer than 45 days and to have it tied into their subscription. That way, in the event they were away for whatever reason, they weren't required to have someone log into their account and step inside their house, which breaks the ToS. Regardless, they can have their demolition system, just stop prattling on about taking breaks then because it's nonsense.

Perhaps a better solution is to actually fix their abysmal housing system.

Exactly, I do not get why some feel the need to point out "but the players asked for it!" no the players did not ask for the version we got.