Future direction of FFXIV

[IdowhatIwant]

If it’s doing fine now then it’s doing so for a reason. Looking through the thread I see two major complaints. One is the direction the story has taken and that the content schedule is stale. The latter has been complained about since I joined at the end of Heavensward and I think is a fair point for criticism given how long running it’s been. The former is a subjective take that one can easily find people to disagree with. In fact the latest story poll shows the last two expansions are peoples favorites. Notice how the former hasn’t killed the game and the latter isn’t clear cut.

When I talk about direction of the game, I more or less am talking about the game play, systems, and post MSQ content. The story is what ever in the end it's a one and done thing in my eyes and every ones opinions on that will differ. I did not like EW plot, I thought it was as bad if not worst than Stormblood, but other players like it and that is fine.

Subs and critical success has been on an upward trend since ARR. To claim it’s all just Shadowlands backlash is ridiculous.

I used the term boom for a reason. FFXIV likely would have seen an increase of 1 - 2 million players at best if Shadowlands did not fail, based on the growth from previous expansions.

[EaraGrace]

I don't think it's at all unfair to say that the majority of this games growth is a result of the state of the MMO market. Growth did in fact explode around the time Shadowlands sputtered out, far beyond what had been seen previously, and was largely instigated by the migration of big name influencers like Asmongold. Growth up until that point was steady, but fairly weak.

Looking at the numbers, this month the peak player count is currently 28k.

In the month before 5.1 dropped, the player count was 17k.

I’d say that’s healthy growth.

When I talk about direction of the game, I more or less am talking about the game play, systems, and post MSQ content. The story is what ever in the end it's a one and done thing in my eyes and every ones opinions on that will differ. I did not like EW plot, I thought it was as bad if not worst than Stormblood, but other players like it and that is fine.

My point was more that those are the major criticisms that I see in this thread and elsewhere. You’re criticisms are distinct I recognize but if I was a dev looking for criticisms those are the most common ones I’d find.

I used the term boom for a reason. FFXIV likely would have seen an increase of 1 - 2 million players at best if Shadowlands did not fail, based on the growth from previous expansions.

Sure, I actually agree that the peak wouldn’t have been as high without outside factors. What I’m pointing out is that the trend would remain up regardless. The health of the game isn’t really rooted on whether it can maintain the player count it had when it was the “it game” on twitch, but rather if it continues to grow as it has.

To really drive home why I may seem dismissive of criticism, allow me to offer some examples from the past. Here’s some threads I found by searching “Yoshi P” and “stale.”

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...ith-this-game?

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...hat-s-not-MSQ?

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...ding-end-game?

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...odest-Thought?

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...-Patch-3.5X%21

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...killed-players

And my personal favorite

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...-We-love-Yoshi

Now let me be clear I’m not saying “oh shut up the game is perfect and your criticisms are dumb and old and stupid and blah blah blah.” You’re more than welcome to think there’s problems with the game. I’m only pointing out that this thread, and the view that the game must change right now before it fails, is not unique to this moment and was not proven true in the past.

[Rulakir]

IMO a good example of this is the introduction of soloing the story from 1 - 90 through a newly implemented trust system. This takes a lot of dev time for something to appease what I would consider a smaller portion of the player base.

Yoshi-P said the main reason people were giving for not playing FFXIV is having to group with others. One of the Wildstar devs infamously said: "And solo players are tragically underserved in most MMOs – something like 65% of players tend to play largely solo (Massively Single-player, as it were)." WoW also ended up having to add LFR to justify the resources going into raids, prior to that they were open about the fact that only ~10% of the playerbase raided. I'm going to take their word for it that there's a substantial market of players who are not being catered to at the moment.

[IdowhatIwant]

Yoshi-P said the main reason people were giving for not playing FFXIV is having to group with others. One of the Wildstar devs infamously said: "And solo players are tragically underserved in most MMOs – something like 65% of players tend to play largely solo (Massively Single-player, as it were)." WoW also ended up having to add LFR to justify the resources going into raids, prior to that they were open about the fact that only ~10% of the playerbase raided. I'm going to take their word for it that there's a substantial market of players who are not being catered to at the moment.

About 15 - 25% of players participated in Normal Mode raids, 50 - 75% of players participate in LFR raids, 8 - 10% participated in heroic raids, and 1-2% participate in mythic raids. That is how is has been most expansions where those modes apply. Shadowlands is hard to judge as the game has lost over half of its player base since it launched. LFR is not a single player experience either, you are still grouping with other players so I am not sure what that has to do with a single player experience. LFR was introduced for the same reason FFXIV has normal mode trails and normal mode "raid", so players could still experience the plot with out devoting time to raiding.

If a more single player driven experience is the route the players and the devs want to go, and the game proceeds that way. What ever I guess I will save $12 a month, and $40 per expansion. At least I got to see the stories completion in the end.

SNIP

That list of forums I think is a problem. This is stuff that should have been addressed. Once Yoshi P mentioned that the games plot was going to end in a couple expansions, I assumed that would be my last expansion if the gameplay loop does not have any significant changes by then. And sadly the loop IMO has only gotten worst over time, and here we are at the end. I would not be surprised if there are a lot of players with a similar point of view.

[ElysiumDragon]

I'm probably the sort of player the developers would consider your average 'committed player'. 7k+ hours, I run the vast majority of content (though not always immediately upon release), I've spent easily 3 figures in the cash shop on extra items, and I've been playing since 3.05.

There's definitely room for improvement, but I believe the game is doing well, and will continue to do well for a long time, 0.01% of l33t raiders aside (WoW learned the hard way not to cater to the 0.01% of players, it's why FF14 puts so much emphasis on community).

In terms of personal requests for improvements?

I'd love to see the housing system completely revamped going forward, as it's a big part of the whole 'community' thing, but also a complete mess.
I'd like to see the glamour system revamped as well. The plate/dresser system is IMO a good idea, but held back by a lack of experimentation options and permanence. Significantly more plates would be appreciated, and I'd also like to see the Calamity Salvager become a sort of 'catalogue' where you can rebuy dungeon gear you've obtained for a price.
Cross-Region travel is also a major feature I'd like to see implemented (though with marketboard restrictions for obvious reasons), as I'd love to run content with my friends from all over the world.

In terms of jobs, I completely agree that healers need to be more relevant going forward, and I believe a philosophy of "No current content should be clearable without healers" would go a long way.

[KizuyaKatogami]

I mean, not only that, there is also just more content for people to clear than there are people queueing for roulettes. That's been a problem forever so people get 40 minute queues and it's only going to keep getting worse as we get more MSQ content.

The reason I provided was reiterating the reason we were given in the live letter. We were told it was to get people who only play single player FFs to try out this game.

Aka it’s just a way for the higher ups at SE to shill more money from 14 without it actually going into the game, while potentially making the mmo aspect of the game even worse for the players that enjoy that type of thing.

[Imoye]

This thread reminds me of the WoW forums back in WotLK where people were constantly whining and complaining about the state of the game, asking for change etc. even though the game was peaking at a massive 12 million playerbase. Cataclysm arrived and change they got. Then everyone quit. Problem is that a lot of people don't know when to be content. There's always something to nag about that makes acting like it's the end of the world seem like a sensible reaction (even though the game is doing extremely well). Such is the danger of living in the echo-chamber of forums imbued with a constant negativity. Eventually it's all you see.

I absolutely do believe the game is fine, but could use some improvements in some areas. They need to adress healers and maybe also tanks. Doesn't seem like those roles have received the attention they deserve. Other than that? Fix the glamour system and make roulettes more interesting for max level characters.

Aside from that, I thoroughly enjoyed the EW MSQ - especially my time in Elpis. I've yet to meet a single person in-game who didn't like it.

[Minarisweet]

This thread reminds me of the WoW forums back in WotLK where people were constantly whining and complaining about the state of the game, asking for change etc. even though the game was peaking at a massive 12 million playerbase. Cataclysm arrived and change they got. Then everyone quit. Problem is that a lot of people don't know when to be content. There's always something to nag about that makes acting like it's the end of the world seem like a sensible reaction (even though the game is doing extremely well).

I absolutely do believe the game is fine, but could use some improvements in some areas. They need to adress healers and maybe also tanks. Doesn't seem like those roles have received the attention they deserve. Other than that? Fix the glamour system and make roulettes more interesting for max level characters.

Aside from that, I thoroughly enjoyed the EW MSQ - especially my time in Elpis. I've yet to meet a single person in-game who didn't like it.

Might sound like the end of the world in your head, whole thread has been "he doesn't need to step out he needs to stop ignoring healers", while others are just giving the thought of the post a benefit of doubt but no one ever in these forums has ever fear monguered anything and just try to make very clear healers are boring to play and some content is lacklusting. I think some of the people like you in these forums are the ones that need the chill pill.

[Imoye]

I think some of the people like you in these forums are the ones that need the chill pill.

I'm here to discuss and exchange perspectives. This is my 2 cents and how I see it. I don't claim to hold the ultimate answer.

If that's too much heat for you then maybe a chill pill is more up your alley than mine.

You know how yoshi p addressed healer concerns recently? He basically told healer mains to shut up and go play ultimate content if they want engaging gameplay. 10/10 response.

I never disagreed with that. I literally said they need to be adressed. His reply was extremely dumb.

As far as the story goes, do you just go up to random people in game and ask them their opinions on the story?

Sure thing. This is an MMO after all. Talking with people on a wide range of topics is a daily occurrence.

[KizuyaKatogami]

This thread reminds me of the WoW forums back in WotLK where people were constantly whining and complaining about the state of the game, asking for change etc. even though the game was peaking at a massive 12 million playerbase. Cataclysm arrived and change they got. Then everyone quit. Problem is that a lot of people don't know when to be content. There's always something to nag about that makes acting like it's the end of the world seem like a sensible reaction (even though the game is doing extremely well).

I absolutely do believe the game is fine, but could use some improvements in some areas. They need to adress healers and maybe also tanks. Doesn't seem like those roles have received the attention they deserve. Other than that? Fix the glamour system and make roulettes more interesting for max level characters.

Aside from that, I thoroughly enjoyed the EW MSQ - especially my time in Elpis. I've yet to meet a single person in-game who didn't like it.

Well i think its pretty telling when a lot of the issues like for example healers have been a problem for years. This isnt some new problem, its been this way for years with no change. I can see why people might want a change if they arent seeing probems being addressed. You know how yoshi p addressed healer concerns recently? He basically told healer mains to shut up and go play ultimate content if they want engaging gameplay. 10/10 response.

As far as the story goes, do you just go up to random people in game and ask them their opinions on the story?