If FFXVII is a new online game... would you move inmediately?

[Lauront]

This is exactly why, realistically, I don't expect to play another MMORPG once I'm done with XIV.

It's really unfortunate no company of SE's size will bother investing in another such game if its only going to appeal to a niche audience like myself.

There's a few here and there trying to revive the classic MMO formula (Pantheon, AOC etc.), but it remains to be seen how well they do. Certainly for SE, based on what Yoshi has said before (here and here), he does seem to think any future MMO would be more in the direction of an action-based, lobby style game.

[Snorky]

There's a few here and there trying to revive the classic MMO formula (Pantheon, AOC etc.), but it remains to be seen how well they do. Certainly for SE, based on what Yoshi has said before (here and here), he does seem to think any future MMO would be more in the direction of an action-based, lobby style game.

Oh hello no on the lobby style game

[Breakbeat]

No reason to play FFXIV if it gets abandoned though.

Well, for a new player like me there are plenty of reasons.

If they announced tomorrow that support has ended, I'd estimate that I still have a few thousand hours of things to do in this game. I have 250 hours /playtime already, and I am only level 71 on my first job, I've done no side-quests (only MSQ), I haven't even begun to collect minions / mounts / triad cards. I haven't started completing any logs. There's housing, glamours, RP ... and I haven't even joined an FC yet. I don't play this game because of the promise of development down the road. I play it for what fun it can offer me now, today.

So, in regards to the question the OP posed... I'd be torn. I'd want to "finish" XIV which would take me some thousands of hours, at least. Yet, I'd really want to get into XVII.

When it came down to it, I suppose I'd switch to XVII primarily, and play XIV during downtime / content droughts. /shrug

[Ajantisz]

It might be worth a go, who knows, perhaps the continuation of FF14 post Endwalker will be another end of the world event where the Star is remade again and we all just get accounts on FF17. New world with upgraded game engine etc, leaving current FF14 for people who play on PS5 only and FF17 for the master race...

[Theodric]

There's a few here and there trying to revive the classic MMO formula (Pantheon, AOC etc.), but it remains to be seen how well they do. Certainly for SE, based on what Yoshi has said before (here and here), he does seem to think any future MMO would be more in the direction of an action-based, lobby style game.

I'm very curious to see how the more 'traditional' MMO's do, especially since they'll be launching with some rather impressive looking graphics in addition to advanced character customisation.

They won't appeal to everybody, of course, but I do suspect that a decent amount of those playing FFXIV are, in fact, largely doing so because the MMO market is rather stagnant at the moment.

Even having left WoW long ago before it became trendy to ditch it, there's a lot of stuff from that game that I miss from it that FFXIV simply isn't providing. Distinct starter zones for each playable race being a major example, as well as less focus on 'wholesome' content which is usually just an excuse to bring laughably low stakes and zero consequence to the table for many major characters.

I also have confidence that if one of the upcoming competitors happens to do well, then the healthy competition will cause FFXIV's development to suddenly overcome many limitations holding it back as well as bring more content to the table with staying power. As is often the case when a business finds itself on the defensive.

[Lauront]

^Ditto, I miss those aspects of WoW.

Oh hello no on the lobby style game

If his thoughts are reflective of the general sentiment in SE about their next MMO (and I imagine they are), it'd be such a different beast to the type of MMO XIV is, and in the wrong direction, AFAIC. I don't mind action-based MMOs, although I prefer traditional tab target MMOs because with many of the action ones the combat feels too flighty, flashy and low impact. The lobby-based aspect though just kills the social element of it for me.

[Lauront]

It might be worth a go, who knows, perhaps the continuation of FF14 post Endwalker will be another end of the world event where the Star is remade again and we all just get accounts on FF17. New world with upgraded game engine etc, leaving current FF14 for people who play on PS5 only and FF17 for the master race...

14's handicaps stem from their engine design choices dating back to the PS3; certainly not the PS5. You can glean as much from their comments here...

Since FFXIV had PS3 support, its graphics technology is 2 generations behind. If we had high poly models/hi-res textures ((unclear)) then we could just swap them out, but we don't. A lot of things were created low poly/low-res from the start for cost-saving, so we would have to recreate all of them in order for the improved graphics to look good.

...and here (which IMO somewhat walks back his point on not mixing pipelines in the earlier interview, maybe due to a shift in mindset about it)...

In what ways does FF14 compensate for its tech aging over time?

Naoki Yoshida: So by hearing your question, probably our basic understanding is different. Your understanding is a different perspective to what we have. There's a big difference. When we're looking back about the time when PS2 was out and PS3 was out in the market, they have specific unique characteristics to those consoles back then. But after any console released after Xbox 360 - so Xbox One, PS4, PS5 and Scarlett in the future - you can see them more as a PC. There might be a difference in memory size or GPU or CPU but we can safely assume that they are kind of PC. We are working on the PC version of Final Fantasy 14 as well. They have different names of course - some say Xbox One, PS4, PS5 - but they are all the same with different names. It's more like a reiterating thing. But also we have to make sure there's a minimum requirement for FF14 for the game to run on console or any machine. As long as we can keep that threshold, it's easy to scale up and down within that limit. It's easy to make it dynamic in an upgrade.

I'd be surprised if they didn't release any future MMOs on a console, just with a more flexible engine and mindset to avoid being plagued by legacy issues. Even if they didn't put it out on a console, it will always have to be broadly playable enough so as to exclude more powerful PCs being a baseline - the more important thing IMO is the ability to be flexible and allow more features for those with the machines to make use of them.

[Herebedragons]

Didn't say an inconsequential grunt. Just not a character with such a defined identity, limiting my own ability to shape the character. I don't find much fun in playing someone else's idea of a character.

Beyond that, some people play MMOs for the fact that they can RP out going on adventures with their friends (in a similar fashion to D&D etc.), without being the centre of attention in every major plot, so I can't really agree with the point underlying your question. There isn't one singular form of fun when it comes to MMOs or RPGs.

I think that's more of a problem with FFXIV's story being linear, with a lack of RPG elements. Nothing to do really with our character being the focus of said story.

[ItMe]

It's hard to say if I'd even theoretically move considering we have no info about what their next MMO could even be like.

However, I highly doubt that FF17 will be an MMO considering the disinterest SQEX has shown in creating and supporting 4 MMOs at once and creating more competition for themselves, especially since they've very interested in putting more support into FF14 since it's got so much wind in its sails.

[Tranquilmelody7]

I doubt I would even check it out at all.
I certainly wouldn't even consider it for at least a few years.