Discuss : is ffxiv in trouble

[Vyrerus]

So the context is a little self explanatory but if requested I can explain in detail.

Given the way the game currently works right now using stb/shb and ew as a point of reference. And what we've seen on dawntrail thus far. Do you personally think the game is in trouble or in danger of failing/deing due to it.

What do you predict will happen to 14 in 3 or 5 years. Do you think it can change? Or will. Do you think the games health is impacting the mogstation too?

What could the devs do to improve the game? Or are people blowing things out the water? I'd love to hear your thoughts

FFXIV has kind of grown too big to fail.

This means that it can afford to lower its quality and content amount year after year, relying almost entirely on churn and inertia to main subscriber counts, not too mention its prodigious cash shop.

Financially it will probably turn a big profit for another decade at a minimum. It might even take the crown someday as longest running MMO.

However, its quality has degraded and it will degrade further.

When a game relies on churn, it relies on the uninitiated to get into the game, and they always have a mountain to climb. This mountain tries to get them addicted, and this can keep them around for years once hooked. Every XIV player goes through a honeymoon phase, if they stay, and many players attempt to make this their, "evergreen" game.

The novelty makes XIV's flaws unapparent to most new players, and so they only have secondhand information to go off of, and that's only if they look for it. A lot just don't care and don't realize the quality of the game has been sliding down into a pit for years now.

This results in a lot of people unabashedly loving XIV, which reinvigorates those who have never wanted to stop loving it, as more voices echo around that the game is fine. The game is fun. The game has only been improved.

It's the same cycle that happened to WoW, humorously now happening again with a large portion of their old playerbase. And just like WoW, all it'll take for XIV to fail is to continue to let its quality slide while taking churn for granted, and another big, well made at first MMO coming out that does all the things it does but with a few refreshing novelties.