FFXIV is not a failure, never was.

[MiNuN]

^You wouldn't want expansion with PS3 release if you were looking it from a Marketing P.O.V.

[Abriael]

^You wouldn't want expansion with PS3 release if you were looking it from a Marketing P.O.V.

It depends. Marketing doesn't always aim to "make more money as soon as possible". An expansion with the PS3 release, would work well in pushing sales of the PS3 release itself, and would bring back many PC users as well. A bigger intake of players all at the same time has more staying power than two smaller intakes, simply because some of the population coming from the first could leave again because they don't find the world populated enough for their taste before the second intake hits.
It would also prompt a second review of the game from PC-dedicated sites at the same time as the PS3 version hits, and in the case of a strong reversal of initial scores that would create a much bigger buzz, and buzz = sales.
SE has already demonstrated that they aren't going for the "money! Now!" route with FFXIV, and this means that they can easily find pushing the PS3 release with all the means they have (including an expansion) a more sound strategy than selling them separately to make more money with box sales.

[Ostia]

It depends. Marketing doesn't always aim to "make more money as soon as possible". An expansion with the PS3 release, would work well in pushing sales of the PS3 release itself, and would bring back many PC users as well. A bigger intake of players all at the same time has more staying power than two smaller intakes, simply because some of the population coming from the first could leave again because they don't find the world populated enough for their taste before the second intake hits.
It would also prompt a second review of the game from PC-dedicated sites at the same time as the PS3 version hits, and in the case of a strong reversal of initial scores that would create a much bigger buzz, and buzz = sales.
SE has already demonstrated that they aren't going for the "money! Now!" route with FFXIV, and this means that they can easily find pushing the PS3 release with all the means they have (including an expansion) a more sound strategy than selling them separately to make more money with box sales.

You are so delusional sometimes that it is not even funny Mr. Whiteknight, how has SE demonstrated they are not going for the money with FFXIV, when the reason the game is in the gutter is because they went for the MONEY with the early release ?

If your answer is "Well they are not or have not charged for the Subs" Then you are delusional indeed, for they did not do it out of the goodness of their hearts, they just had not option, charge and kill the game, or not charge and hope they can save it.

And as things stand, doubt there will be a PS3 release anyways.

[Abriael]

You are so delusional sometimes that it is not even funny Mr. Whiteknight, how has SE demonstrated they are not going for the money with FFXIV, when the reason the game is in the gutter is because they went for the MONEY with the early release ?

If your answer is "Well they are not or have not charged for the Subs" Then you are delusional indeed, for they did not do it out of the goodness of their hearts, they just had not option, charge and kill the game, or not charge and hope they can save it.

Yet there have been many players in the market that had horrible launches and charged right after the first month (despite the fact that an extension of the free period would have done their userbase numbers a LOT of good), lining it all with drastic reductions of the staff and the servers, in order to juice all they could from the remaining players before closing.
Others simply abandoned completely the P2P model and installed other ways of revenue, like cash shop and similar. Thing that SE could do easily without killing the game at all, if they were out for a short time gain.
That's what every company does when they have what they consider a failure in their hands. Quite obviously, SE doesn't think so, And I'd reckon they know quite a lot better than a random no-one on the internets with no marketing education whatsoever

Not being out for a short time gain doesn't mean not wanting a profit. It means being in a safe monetary situation that allows investment (running and developing the game while not charging is in itself an investment) in order to achieve an higher profit on the long run. No one ever said that SE is not charging out of the "goodness of their heart" (gotta love strawman arguments uh?). What is clear is that they are confident in their ability to steer the game in the right *and profitable* direction.

They already demonstrated plenty that they have no qualms investing in the game, giving up short term profit in order to achieve higher goals. Which is, by the way, a solution quite unique in the market, that bodes well for the game's future.
There isn't much you can do to argue that, I'm afraid.

They have plenty options. They just chose one that every other developer didn't have the resources (and the guts) to try.

And as things stand, doubt there will be a PS3 release anyways.

You're very free to delude yourself
From your posts you seem to be hoping with all your energy that the game would actually fail. A sad sight indeed. I suggest moving on.

[Dreamer]

Yet there have been many players in the market that had horrible launches and charged right after the first month (despite the fact that an extension of the free period would have done their userbase numbers a LOT of good), lining it all with drastic reductions of the staff and the servers, in order to juice all they could from the remaining players before closing.

Fun Fact: World of Warcraft was nearly unplayable its first month due to lag problems and server queues.

[Frebaut]

The game is not a failure.

Delusion of grander my friend. If its not a failure that's why so many people quit. If its not a failure that's why they hired a whole new Dev team. If its not a failure that's why their redesigning the game( probably the biggest reason the game failed). If it's not a failure that's why it's still FREE TO PLAY.

SE has dug a big hole with this game. They are doing what they can to get this game to what it should of been at release. This game was released at what most games would be called the ALPHA state. As of now the game is in BETA state.

Hopefully this game will be great. I have enjoyed the game even with all the frustration that is with it. Going from Rank 1-15 was fun, then that was it. The game was boring. If it didn't have a FF name in front of it. It would of been in the trash after a week of release. Again i want this game to do well and become great. With the pace of it now maybe 6-10 more months to make that happen.

[Lampy]

I have only read the OP, but i am interested in you saying they have the TIME!, no, no, sadly they do not. The first dev team released what can only be described as a pathetic excuse of an MMO, for the new dev team TIME is running short, by causing such a massive delay in releasing such an unfinished game, they are now a massive step behind any other MMO in the early stages of development, and they are nearly 6 months into release holding onto a meager tens of thousands regular players for a free MMO, made by one of the gaming industries most experienced and respected developers, pshhhh.

The fact is, SE entered a thriving MMO market, in which players are now used to a mass amount of content and lore. Ten years ago it was different, theres now so many to choose from, so much competition, people don't have the patience to play a game in hopes of what will come. If SE wanted to guarantee success they needed to release this game filled with content, the market demands it, they needed multiple end game events already in place and ready to go, they needed updates for the next 18 months planned and already in development.

They really have shot themselves in the foot releasing this game, i can't say where they went wrong, but i would hazard a guess someone really really slacked off in the market research department. Unless they can put some serious cash into marketing and advertising this game with a complete overhaul this game is going to fail.

Its so sad to see the amount of people who defend the game in its current state, people who reject the changes which are an attempt to make the game more appealing. Im sure SE would rather trade the 30'000 or so people still playing for the 1'000'000 paying subscribers they could have, if they just redeveloped and re-marketed the game correctly.

[Benjaman]

I have only read the OP, but i am interested in you saying they have the TIME!, no, no, sadly they do not. The first dev team released what can only be described as a pathetic excuse of an MMO, for the new dev team TIME is running short, by causing such a massive delay in releasing such an unfinished game, they are now a massive step behind any other MMO in the early stages of development, and they are nearly 6 months into release holding onto a meager tens of thousands regular players for a free MMO, made by one of the gaming industries most experienced and respected developers, pshhhh.

The fact is, SE entered a thriving MMO market, in which players are now used to a mass amount of content and lore. Ten years ago it was different, theres now so many to choose from, so much competition, people don't have the patience to play a game in hopes of what will come. If SE wanted to guarantee success they needed to release this game filled with content, the market demands it, they needed multiple end game events already in place and ready to go, they needed updates for the next 18 months planned and already in development.

They really have shot themselves in the foot releasing this game, i can't say where they went wrong, but i would hazard a guess someone really really slacked off in the market research department. Unless they can put some serious cash into marketing and advertising this game with a complete overhaul this game is going to fail.

Its so sad to see the amount of people who defend the game in its current state, people who reject the changes which are an attempt to make the game more appealing. Im sure SE would rather trade the 30'000 or so people still playing for the 1'000'000 paying subscribers they could have, if they just redeveloped and re-marketed the game correctly.

This sums up the feelings of a lot of players that don't bother to come to the forums or having anything to do with this game anymore.

[Verecund]

I wouldn't consider the game a failure.

But I would consider officially releasing a game still under heavy development into the professional market PRFOUNDLY UNWISE.

[Neptune]

This is mainly towards everyone that keeps saying and thinking "Will this & this & that will make people leave the game", just because the game is still in its development stages.

A majority of people who says that does not realize that Square Enix has the TIME and MONEY to make FFXIV in to a proper game.

Did you guys already forget how much time and money is in put in to each Final Fantasy title that is numbered?

S.E. has already invested a lot of money in to this project, so why would they abandon it? They will not, they will put more resources in to making it better, so to everyone that keeps suggesting that the game should be scrapped and re-newed, you guys are not looking at the bigger picture. They have the TIME & MONEY.

If anything, we should feel lucky that were playing such a big part in the development of the game by having them listen to our opinions and suggestions. Which is quite rare for any game.

So who wants to argue?

I'm so glad for that last time and money in bold. That really hit the spot.