Ffxiv monthly sub isn't stretching & response to PCGAMER article

[sindriiisgaming]

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/final-...-stacks-value/

Myself and many others can agree all to well with the criticisms of this article
[*]content feels like 1 months worth
[*] gear doesn't retain value
[*]stale repeatable formula across ALL content
[*]dungeons are a predictably laughable conveyor belt
[*]Msq gameplay is 99% [press X]
[*]Grand Companies and older content completely abandoned
[*]Crafted weapons for SHADOWBRINGERS still not released 4 years after their trial
[*]Fates are a mindless brain numbing experience
[*]The WOL loosing story significance

I could go on, but there's no point. This game is mired with gaping wounds that Need adressing NOW. Not in 8.0. NOW otherwise people are just gona jump ship back to wow/gw2/d2/mhwilds or whatever else shinny remotely tops this game. That's the truth square. Most ppl who play ffxiv right now. Are only here until something better releases.

[kajv95]

This is a good article, and it's great to see any publication finally get off the interviews train, of which there have been a lot, and getting onto talking about what's actually in the game.

Especially the WoW comparison here is hitting the nail on the head - I just renewed my first sub on that game since early Dragonflight because as someone who's not necessarily the fastest, it's kept giving me things to do. Minor things to log in for every other day, but things that I don't feel I will miss if I don't log in for them. It's that exact same feeling of discovery that the exodus players probably had upon getting into XIV - having just so many different things to do.

However, FFXIV feels a bit like junk food at this point. You go in to get a Hamburger, you eat it, you get out. You ask for a McRib, and they say it's been abandoned due to player feedback, but don't worry, it might come back in 2 years time.
So why should I come back in 7.1? Well, they're relaunching a weekly cheeseburger that you can eat once a week.

Do you want to eat anything else? Well, too bad. There's nothing else on the menu until 7.2/3. They can't even give us which one it is yet.

Dawntrail is getting more harshly criticized for this than any version of FFXIV than ever before, and it's entirely because there was a 9 month content drought to wade through until Dawntrail even released, only to re-enter that drought again weeks after. Unless you're really, REALLY into grinding FATEs or 2000 Hunt Marks or what have you, there's been no reason to get on for most of the last year.

BUT: the reason this is probably fine, is because none of this so far seems to have hurt their bottom line. Just look at the comments on the article posted, that defend the weirdest things such as how WoW has you level a character per class you want to play (because this is different from leveling each class seperately on one character?) or getting hung up about the sub price. Even though storage isn't an issue there and we have p2w storage instead over here. And of course the tried and true "Yoshi-P says take breaks"

I don't know, man. After having been unsubbed for a month, I came back for the free login campaign and just didn't find anything to do. The game was left more barren than before. Hell, Chaos DC's PF was at a total of 3 listings that day. Not even the RP venues are listing there anymore. I just quickly grabbed my mogtomes for the exclusives and logged back out. Didn't even hold me for two days, much less the full four after a full month of not playing.

I'm going to say it again, a bandaid solution would be to just give players access to FFXI with their XIV sub until things are sorted out on the XIV end. Atleast *try* to keep players in your ecosystem, and right now is a PERFECT EXCUSE to do so with the XI Alliance Raid Series.

[Voidmage]

It’s good that gaming magazines start to talk about these things because maybe if the PR is not so good anymore then Yoshida will finally give a comment on this.
It’s actually really interesting how DT managed to have the press actually start to talk negative about the game.

DT has the problem of EW before it not having content for those who don’t raid so it is now a huge gap until we get things like the field content.
I just hope the devs manage to bring the car back on the road soon.

[Jeeqbit]

content feels like 1 months worth

The good news is 1 month subs exist so you can subscribe for just 1 month then return at next patch. This is what most people seem to have done for many, many years.

If SE wants people to subscribe for more months than that, then they'll make content stretch longer for the players that are unsubscribing.

They just are not that interested in profit as they are in making a game they'd want to play themselves ie. a game they can play for an hour after work or at the weekend.

gear doesn't retain value

I mean yes but that's common in MMORPGs. New gear, old stuff is redundant, just how it is.

Your other points don't seem to reflect what the article said at all. The article is simply saying that SE makes a lot of profit from this game but that it doesn't result in feeling like there is anything to do for casual non-raiders and the things there are to do, feel like a new coat of paint on the same stuff from the last expansion.

I can't personally relate though, because the fact of the matter is there are grinds for casual non-raiders: FATEs, hunts, maps, leveling all jobs, custom deliveries, beast tribes - which often have rewards such as mounts to get. Sure, these are a new coat of paint on what we've had for 11 years but I don't personally care about this because I appreciate the new coat of paint.

That said, if they make a new form of content instead or try new ideas, I'm open to it.

[TheMightyMollusk]

[*]The WOL loosing story significance

I'm fine with this as long as the other characters around us are interesting enough to draw me into their stories. Heavensward is mostly about Alphinaud, Estinien, and Ysayle, but the story was good enough that it still worked. Shadowbringers is all about the Scions as a group, and while the WoL is central to a lot of it, they felt like part of the group, not just the Big Stick to swing at enemies (probably helped by the First not having primals, so the rest of the group can step up more). It's mostly Endwalker dropping the ball, being in too much of a rush to do much with most of the characters, followed by Dawntrail piling everything on one character but still having the Scions hanging on despite most of them having so little to actually do, that exacerbates things.

[Dirwen]

SE is stubborn they won't change anything before its too late and they lost all trust. I notice everything JP related is stagnating so downhill trend is probably inevitable.

[Elkanah]

I was joking about this earlier but-- FFXIV is in an abusive relationship with Squeenix. And instead of leaving to find better ground and make better choices by changing things around in their life, they stay because they dont feel they have any place to go to (while also pushing their player base away from the game because of the drip fed content). During covid, it made sense that they decided to roll out content updates slow due to the virus and sickness. post covid, its become a real slog of logging in and wanting to do something (but not much really to do that keeps me motivated). Instead of investing more money into the game so we can have that middle core content and have us WANT to continuously log-in (aside from what we have now that we ALWAYS get anyways), they decide to push out the bare minimum in funds to ffxiv to slowly drip-feed us while also pulling out other failing projects (not named final fantasy or dragonquest) along with NFTs (which hasnt been relevant since covid). Then wonder why nothing does well. FFXIV is the golden goose with the golden goose eggs that they refuse to ensure seeing even more profits than what they may or may not be seeing now. With a lot of talk surrounding subscription decline (due to how some interviews recently were presented), you'd think it'd be enough of a wake up call. But Japanese companies tend to either shoot themselves in the foot, or make a greater impact years later when they're hanging on by a thread with their poor choices that put themselves in that selfsame hole.

[Luluna]

Good article but the references to 1.0 leave a bad taste in my mouth as bad as it was it still would have been an amazing experience and the world would have been alive and players who have played FFXI would find enjoyment as that is what it wanted to be but then Yoshi and co took it over and ripped the heart out of it and now we have DJ shouts rather than people looking to do things.

I love a lot of the story side but I am over 14 years in and yes the game does not give me much to do now.
If I had joined the game now it would be good I can imagine but there is no meaning in gear no going into the world for NM's now it is just a fail monster that everyone kills fast and I do not even bother looking at what attacks it will do and it is the same in most raids just dodge the orange circle no real cause for me to take note unless it is a gaze attack.

The game was rushed into ARR the races have not been fixed and there is a massive drought. I would love to work on something and not just going doing fates I mean something with meaning.

I do not play WOW It was always too cartoony for me but I do like FFXI and I am thinking I should pay that instead but then my house that I need to keep makes me pay....they did it all wrong and should have carried on with the world being in use and awesome mobs and fights but it is not going to change now and I am so pissed off with my character that I have wasted numerous pounds trying to find my character again but they messed it up with upgrade.

I hope they take note as I have a lot of love but please take note of this as it does not look good for the game.

[Hyperia]

The WoL not being the primary character like we have been for the last 10 years is my redline. I played WoW and when I came here 11 years ago, I loved that we were the main character in the story.

DT changed that and if they continue, that is my breaking point where I will retire. If I want the WoW experience story wise, I’ll go to WoW.

The stale content formula I can tolerate BUT we need the relic and exploration zones launched at the latest in the x.1 patch. Realistically I would want the relic to begin in the x.05 patch.

Keep us busy, please help us justify our subscription.

I played DT for a month and went on break. That is utterly unheard of for me as I usually didn’t take breaks until the big gaps in the x.5 patches.

P.S. If the CEO is reading this, please invest more in this game so it can get back to its original cadence of 3 to 3.5 months. 4.5 months will kill your subscription base. If you have to raise the price a few dollars but give us our faster release schedule back, I’ll pay. With the faster rate, if you have content that does not do well, it will be replaced faster and keep more subs.

[BabyYoda]

I am not saying DT didn't innovate, DT didn't meet bare minimum of what an expansion should look like.

DT feels like: ok we got successful game why not just throw it into garbage for another 2 years?

at least give players bare minimum wtf is this? all jobs are the same some of them are worst nothing is good.

story? it is a copy paste of all what we have seen from the past but worst.