What "Whirlwind pace" could mean?

[Raikai]

"Our 2026 Fan Fests will kick off major future plans which we'll be rolling out at a whirlwind pace"

Of course, as always, with a grain of salt because this can mean a lot, but also very little.

To me, I suspect this is either something planned every month after 7.55, hopefully not just the re-release of old collabs with nothing new on... Or an actual 7.6.

[Gullis]

Shop items sure do come at a whirlwind pace

[Oizen]

Obviously it means 5 month patch cycles after 7.5 becomes a 9+ month patch.
Please look forward to it.

[Masekase_Hurricane]

"Our 2026 Fan Fests will kick off major future plans which we'll be rolling out at a whirlwind pace"

Of course, as always, with a grain of salt because this can mean a lot, but also very little.

To me, I suspect this is either something planned every month after 7.55, hopefully not just the re-release of old collabs with nothing new on... Or an actual 7.6.

Yokai watch and 15 cross over :P

[Jeeqbit]

Probably just all the Fanfest stuff that will feel busy if you're actually there or organizing it, as well as all the collabs and seasonable events and crossovers that they usually replay before an expansion releases.

[Kranel_San]

"Our 2026 Fan Fests will kick off major future plans which we'll be rolling out at a whirlwind pace"

Of course, as always, with a grain of salt because this can mean a lot, but also very little.

To me, I suspect this is either something planned every month after 7.55, hopefully not just the re-release of old collabs with nothing new on... Or an actual 7.6.

I'm afraid it could herald a change in the business model, which means fewer patches in favor of faster release for expansions. If you think this sounds great, then think again because faster expansions are usually half-baked or slightly bigger than a major patch.

Now back to FFXIV, this could mean faster expansion releases to meet a certain profit quota (You cannot sell patches, but you can sell expansions, and people will be subbed), but in favor of fewer patches (Maybe reducing it from 5 major patches to 3)

Unfortunately, while I'd like to be cautiously optimistic, I don't think this is an area where we can be optimistic at all. Still, I'll be glad to be proven wrong and the devs start releasing more patches without cutting anything down.

This business model has already been adopted by several MMOs as of late, such as Guild Wars 2, which this change has resulted in the loss of elite specs (equivalent of new jobs) that used to be there in every single expansion, as well as the living world seasons (equivalent of x.1-x.5 patch cycle here).

Another pair of examples are ESO and WoW, with the former changing the business model to a hybrid between faster expansions & battle pass, and the latter forsaking patch x.3 and ending its expansions with two major patches only instead of the usual three that they used to do for so many years.

[Aexnidaral]

What "Whirlwind pace" could mean?

I mean imo the "what could this mean" this is the crux of the issue, they keep giving us the most vague platitudes and PR speak that it really is hard to discern exactly what they mean.

I'm more than willing to give the development team the time and good-faith to deliver things, but I really, really wish they would communicate in a way that is more tangible, with more substantive outlays of dates and expectations instead of these incredibly vague nothings of "great things are coming, please look forward to it, eventually!"

Their outward facing communication to the community has been pretty horrible. I really hope they take some effort to rectify this and try to do a better job at communicating what their expectations are. I feel like right now we're all just huffing copium and hoping it's just rain, and not something else.

[Hyperia]

What I expect it to mean is that they are going to run every single special event / crossover they can, back to back during the drought along with a special Moogle event each month starting at 7.51.

[MicahZerrshia]

idk but I got a feeling this statement is going to come back to haunt him

[Vanfrano]

I wonder when he is going to stop talking so much.
He basically tempered the playerbase and made himself a hero for no reason, I'm glad some people are finally waking up to what he truly is. Still not enough though.