Would you still play FFXIV in a post-development "maintenance mode?"

[Omedon]

I would. I would almost certainly still play this game at least occasionally if/when they "FFXI'ed" FFXIV.

Something I've noticed in the heavy story-lean in this game is that the story is so well written, foreshadowed for years, established to lead to actual, satisfying endings, that it (the story) almost absolutely has to "end" some time much sooner than the typical MMO player might accept of a AAA MMORPG of this caliber.

Coming from WoW, the mere mention of ending that game creates some of the ugliest conversations from "um no, I'm invested, it's not allowed to end as long as it's making money" to "game is ded lol" at the slightest downturn of activity. Generally speaking, in that headspace, "ending development" is seen as a failure if not a betrayal of investment of both time and money. It's highly unreasonable if you really think about it, but WoW is basically "not allowed" to end.

I don't see anyone talking about FFXI that way. The last time I was a multi-MMO guy following multi-MMO new-sites, the FFXI post-game, SE's version of "maintenance mode" was touted as a surprising relative success of continued support if not continued development.

So if the curtain were to fall and the final credits to roll on Eorzea, as it seems to be much easier to accept here... would you stay? Would you pay for it? Or is any situation of "ending the game" a dealbreaker for you? Would you be mad? Would you feel betrayed?

How would you feel and would you still play? I'm curious how deep the understanding of this inevitability goes in this neck of the MMOniverse in this day and age.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

Depends on if there's a new mmo out I'd want to play more. If no, then yes.

[StriderShinryu]

No, I don't think I would keep playing. If there was any content I still wanted to do, I would probably still cap it off because I largely do find the content in the game enjoyable. But, that said, I do value a sense of progression. With no more story and no more meaningful progression to look forward to I wouldn't feel compelled to log in, especially with a continuing subscription fee looming overhead. I guess the easiest way to explain it is to say that I play FF14 to do things, not to just hang out. And if there's nothing more to do and no reason to do whatever is left, then the appeal just isn't there for me. If they removed the sub fee at that point, I could maybe see myself logging in once in a while but even that probably wouldn't last overly long.

Now, would I consider FF14 a failure? Absolutely not. It will have had a long and full life after a remarkable resurrection. It will have provided, assuming no missteps from here on out, what I feel is largely one of the best long form FF and RPG stories ever. It will have been a game that I had literally played for years and will legitimately be sad to leave. It will have started or continued the careers of an immensely talented group of developers that will likely go on to make many more excellent games.

[Theodric]

I don't know. I'm hoping that FFXIV lasts for many more years to come with multiple expansions. I treat my choice of MMO as a long term thing, so it's not a decision I make lightly when it comes to sticking with one.

Though if and when FFXIV enters maintenance mode, I'd likely consider that chapter in my life to be 'done' and move on to something else. I'm hoping that by the time FFXIV does come to an end, another viable MMO with a similarly high focus on story/world building will be launching.

[van_arn]

Ask me when the story has concluded. Until then, it's impossible to say.

[VenKitsune]

I think for many it's too early to be contemplating this. For one, we already know they plan on doing atleast two more expansions, perhaps even more, so long as the game is proffitable for them and to this day new players are still jumping on board, player numbers are still steadily, if slowly, climbing over the years, and it'll only speed up after the 2.x story compress in a few months.

If i would have to judge it right now though? Yes, but maybe only a few hours a week at most - i have little to do in-game as it is already.

[Iscah]

So if the curtain were to fall and the final credits to roll on Eorzea, as it seems to be much easier to accept here... would you stay? Would you pay for it? Or is any situation of "ending the game" a dealbreaker for you? Would you be mad? Would you feel betrayed?

It's the opposite for me.

"Betrayed" is a very strong word, but I'd certainly be let down by them not bringing the story to a satisfying close and just dragging it out interminably.

I'm not an MMO player, and before picking this up I was even drifting away from normal RPGs in favour of shorter narrative-heavy games (eg. the ICO/SotC series, RiME, lots of small arty games) and also platformers. Story is important and I want to see something build to a climax and end, not always have another crisis to deal with next.

Also, the game can't last "forever". At some point the writers are going to be told "it's over, you've got X time to wrap up your story for good" and it would simply be awful if that happens before the plot is resolved.

It would make far more sense to plan to conclude the ongoing story in 6.X, while leaving options open for a stand-alone story in 7.X that wouldn't be missed if it never came to be.


As for me.... I don't know if I'd stay beyond the end of the story. It would depend what I'm still doing with my characters and whether I want to replay the game. Perhaps I'd sub occasionally, or maybe it would drift out of mind.

[Vahlnir]

I probably wouldn't stay for an extended period, but I would likely return every so often when I feel the itch to play. It'd cost me my house I'm sure, but at that point I'd just be shrugging my shoulders.

[Warghoul570]

I’ve been giving it a lot of thought since I feel the end is coming sooner rather than later. My plan is to let my house auto demo once I finish what is the end of the main story and collect my 80% Gil before I cancel my sub. I won’t cancel my service account In case some day year or two later I feel nostalgic and want to come back

[Kalise]

No, I wouldn't play FFXIV without development.

As it is now, it's pretty much just the Story that's keeping me interested.

Couple that with the fact that this year has a number of promising new MMO titles being released (A notable one being Blue Protocol getting a confirmed Western release)

Thus, what reason would there be for me to stick around? Maybe I could spend the next 40000000000000000000000000 years trying to solo pop FATEs in Eureka to finish all of my Relics, but ehhh... That was tedious enough even when people were still doing the content en masse...

Even more so when you consider that so much of the game is stuck behind group content and going into a Maintenance mode will lead to a decline in playerbase (Not completely, but there will be a drop off) which means fewer groups to do said content.