Discussion about the longevity of the game

[Jeeqbit]

As we all know the game has been going strong for the past 9 years and with each expansion a whole standalone games worth of content is added, which makes me wonder about the concern of new players trying out the game and being scared off by the sheer amount of content to go through.

That's a concern for a lot of us but I have seen recently how quickly some people get through the story. If people are serious about getting to the end of the story and have time, they can get through it fast. Most people seem to take it slow and enjoy doing so though.

I can't help but notice that there are those that shy away from even trying the game because its an MMORPG

This is being addressed by making it soloable and rebranding the game out of the MMO genre. There are a lot of games that behave like an MMO but are not considered an MMO, where they have online play, regular updates and DLC (expansions), but because they don't have the stigma of the MMO genre they get a lot more players.

[Wanzzo]

if you pay attention to every single dialogue line, read everything in the msqs, watch all cutscenes, you'll take around 3 weeks to finish 2.0, and more 2 weeks to enter Heavensward. Then, after something around a month you are able to enter StB. After entering this story, you will take something close to a month to finish it and start ShB. If you go through it very slowly, it will take something like 1 and a half month to finish it and then you reach the last xpac.

So, if you go very slowly through msqs, you will take around 20 weeks (5 months) to enter the last expasion. Give or take 1 to 2 weeks.

Compared to other games, this is a fair amount of time.

And if you rush it (in order to reach end-game content fast) you can skip every reading and cutscene and this time can be reduced drasticaly. I met ppl that finished HW in only 3 days (including post 3.0 content). So, all depends on what you are looking when you start playing this game:

A relaxing and emotional story to stick for months... or a fast paced rush in order to reach the "top content" and enjoy the challenges there.

All new players always have both options no matter how many expansions are released. And they always adjust leveling in order to keep it that way.

At the start of the game back in 2013 or so, I remember all those FATES we had to farm at Coerthas in order to get lv49 to continue msqs after reaching lv 44 or so. It took me days farming them back there...

Now, you have PoD, pvp matches, more roulettes, exp bonus and the exp base given from quests increased significantly. If you start a new char, probably you never will need to do any fate at coerthas to reach lv50...

[NekoMataMata]

The game isn't exactly starved for new content, at least if you're a newer player.

If you're an older player, then you might be worried but I don't really see the big deal there. The bigger issue is FOMO, since this games player base seems to come and go as the current expansion grows older. Newer players might feel the need to rush through content out of fear that the endgame player base is constantly dwindling and that they won't have anyone to do current endgame content with.

[Jennah]

Never underestimate how many people there are who are not rush to endgame and LOVE the fact that they have enough content in front of them to last years. I for example seriously started playing about 4 years ago. I just finished 4.0 content for the first time last month. Now I have been bitten by the solo POTD bug. I figure that is good for a solid 6 months of playing. Eventually I will get more of the MSQ done.

The people that are put off by huge amounts of MSQ to be done in my own observation are those that think endgame is the only part of the game worth playing. For them there are skips that can be used.

I truly believe that the MSQ is the part worth playing, and the 'endgame' stuff is simply filler until more story is released.
I do not think that I am alone.

[Doc_Seraph]

Kupo <3 folks still playing Everquest (I miss the old days sometimes 1999) lol but still I would not write off ff14 for a good while kupo <3

[Illmaeran]

I don't mean retaining any player base but rather maintaining it at the scope it is now

It's inevitable that the player base will get smaller over time; it's simply the natural progression of these games. Given the recent posting of Steam log-in info, the baseline average amount of play has been fairly steady since HW. What we've seen more of are larger amplitude peaks and troughs which amplify the sense of gain and loss as people come back for new content and leave shortly after. Is this sustainable in the long term? If we go off the data shown, possibly; we'll likely see a reduction in peak/trough amplitude with a slow decline in regular players once we get past the final expansion.

If they make a new MMO, all bets are off.

[Kes13a]

I think you are over thinking it in some ways.

will it always have the same scope, no. thats how things go. if they come out with another MMO or as time goes on, the game ages and it is inevitable SE will put less resources towards it. thats what happens.

its a game, if you have fun playing it, then enjoy the ride. thats why we play games after all.