Discuss : is ffxiv in trouble

[LianaThorne]

Oh look, it's this thread again.... another Chicken Little thread claiming the sky is falling and FFXIV IS DOOMED....

Don't listen to Chicken Little, the game isn't in trouble. Can it be improved? Of course it can. But the so-called 'issues' constantly brought up are entirelly subjective and only based on personal preferences and gameplay styles. If the game really was so bad, why are servers still congested? Why is Balmung still locked? Because people are still having fun.

Everyone move along. Nothing more to see here.

Congestion is artificially made as well to help stagger logins, if we're referring to how every server still makes you wait to log in. Even Dynamis has it and we all know they're on their last leg atm in terms of population.

If you mean server locking, it's accurate that Balmung has always just had a higher population because it's the main RP/ERP hub in Crystal. They've been shut down for over 6m now because people spam transfers there when they do open and pack the place (I'm of the mind that it's something of a status symbol amongst some of the RP community to live on Balmung). You'll see the other DCs shuffle servers around as normal.

[Tehmon]

I don't think so.

[GlowClam]

There is currently a lack of content to bridge the long break until the 7.0 expansion is released. Temporary events and collecting mogmog stones are not enough.

In the long term, a reboot of Final Fantasy 14 on a new engine is necessary. This is the only way to overcome the annoying hurdles with a meagre inventory, chaos instead of order in the menu structure, obstacles with prismatic projections and instanced houses by eliminating the spaghetti code.

At least the old engine will receive a graphics upgrade with the release of 7.0.

An upgrade of the boss mechanics also seems necessary to me. Currently, the attack and AOE mechanics are played stubbornly one after the other mechanically with variations. This is now exhausted.

In future, a weak artificial intelligence should take over the mechanics, whose intelligence is adjusted depending on the level of difficulty. Bosses could also consist of herds in FATEs. It would also be conceivable to set traps or have parts of the boss shot off, as in "Horizon Zero Dawn" or "Horizon forbidden West".

If the development team realises this, Final Fantasy will easily see the year 2040 as the best MMO.

In the current version, Final Fantasy has broken all records in terms of time spent playing in my free time. That alone counts in the end and is high praise for the developers.

[TheMightyMollusk]

While I still think the game is, for the most part, in a decent place, it's definitely showing its age. Unfortunately, doing anything about that would require the higher-ups at SE to invest money into it, rather than the next failed project of the week. Imagine what they could've done for XIV if not for Avengers, or Forespoken, or.......well, when was the last SE non-Final Fantasy project that wasn't a poorly-received mess that flopped on arrival? I've lost track.

[LianaThorne]

There is currently a lack of content to bridge the long break until the 7.0 expansion is released. Temporary events and collecting mogmog stones are not enough.

In the long term, a reboot of Final Fantasy 14 on a new engine is necessary. This is the only way to overcome the annoying hurdles with a meagre inventory, chaos instead of order in the menu structure, obstacles with prismatic projections and instanced houses by eliminating the spaghetti code.

At least the old engine will receive a graphics upgrade with the release of 7.0.

An upgrade of the boss mechanics also seems necessary to me. Currently, the attack and AOE mechanics are played stubbornly one after the other mechanically with variations. This is now exhausted.

In future, a weak artificial intelligence should take over the mechanics, whose intelligence is adjusted depending on the level of difficulty. Bosses could also consist of herds in FATEs. It would also be conceivable to set traps or have parts of the boss shot off, as in "Horizon Zero Dawn" or "Horizon forbidden West".

If the development team realises this, Final Fantasy will easily see the year 2040 as the best MMO.

In the current version, Final Fantasy has broken all records in terms of time spent playing in my free time. That alone counts in the end and is high praise for the developers.

Agree on everything except IH. In all the statements Yoshi has made about housing, none of it involves it being instanced being considered for implementation (just increasing wards). Meanwhile we get Island Sanctuary, which is basically Instanced Housing Jr., strapped to the housing servers instead. At this point I don't think it's spaghetti code keeping them from doing instanced, more that they don't have a reason to and don't want to. I'm also of the mind that IS was the devs way of offering a compromise to the community who wants instanced.

With how ward housing currently works, they're making money off the auto-demo. If you take that away and replace it with instanced, they lose a method of keeping people subscribed regardless of content drought or not (*looks at the houses that are owned by people who only log in once a month*).

I've also found some people referencing that ward housing is Yoshi's "baby" or like...his ideal version of what housing looks like, so if that holds any weight then we'd have to ultimately persuade him that his "baby" is problematic.

[GoatOfWar]

I personally think the game peaked in Shadow bringers playerbase-wise because it was the perfect storm, with covid and the WoW exodus hype train. But FF failed miserably to retain those players.
All my WoW friends have quit and have no intention to ever come back because of how weak the FF endgame was. Those players were antagonised by FF's cultlike community because of their criticisms. And as such, those players will also tell their friends to never play this game.
FF just wrapped up a decade long story with an epic climax and has to go back to new beginnings. A lot of people are satisfied with the disclosure, but might not be interested in a new story; The game's engine and visuals are frankly, dated. And not stylised.
The graphical update will not be enough to put it back to modern standards. Moreover, we already know what to expect from future updates because of the game's formulaic design, and if anything people are concerned for further simplification and homogenisation.
I'm sure the game will retain a healthy amount of casual players for a good while until they grow out of the game. But long term that will not be sustainable.

All in all, a lot of things went right for the game, but i think the game has reached a stagnation point. Most people who wanted to try the game already have, and a lot of them will not come back. So where will the game draw those player numbers from?
The game won't go out in a huge sudden explosion, but a sad whimper over a long decline.

[Ardeth]

It's not in trouble. It's stale. And it will die a death of boredom from inaction and not from some bad choice.

[Kaurhz]

It won't fail, nor will it die, honestly. - What you need to consider is this game has a very, very loyal fanbase. I don't think it'll go on healthily for the next decade, but I do think 3-5 years the game will still be OK.

It's not the greatest it has ever been, but I would say it isn't the worst it has been either.

Provided they don't do the same as EW, where they are at a replay deficit then it will be OK, and I think given they are looking at a 'new form' of combat content in addition to exploratory content, then I think there's not really much to worry about.

For those who have been playing a long time, the games formula has also been very apparent for around the last half a decade.

[Ozzmal]

I think the game is incredibly fun. The only jobs I played at 90 where white mage and paladin, savage raided on the WHM and had a blast. However my enjoyment does not negate others criticism, and there does seem to be a desire within the community to break away from the "formula" of content and diversify the jobs a bit (atleast that's the sentiment I seem to notice on these forums).

I have alot of faith in this dev team to meet and exceed expectations. I feel like they're success up to this point gives them that benefit (atleast for me as a consumer). But, as with all things, time will tell =)

[Gemina]

The game is not in trouble in the sense that the current status quo will cause a massive flux of players to cancel their subs. If that is the focus of this thread or any thread, it is misdirected. Players have shown time and time again that they will remain subbed regardless of their complaints and criticisms. Sure, some players have left but for each sub lost the game has acquired two more, and many players who no longer play are still subbed.

The true concern I see is if the game can stay away from political agendas that are affecting western games. The problem is SE is one of the eastern companies conforming to ESG standards, and its influence has already infected FFXIV. Right now, it is a contained infection but it is there none the less. If there is anything that would cause players to leave the game in droves, it's this. SE could easily be Budlighted if they are not careful.