If FFXIV is their most profitable product, why is the game so mistreated?

[Derio]

My thing is. If FFXIV is their most profitable product. Why isnt the MSQ fully voiced along with key side storylines?

[Hyperia]

Because the game is comfortably in a spot where it continues to print money without needing substantial updates. Put bluntly, there's zero incentive from a business prospect to invest significant resources into a project that's more or less self sufficient with the bread crumbs on often.

Think of it like this. They could invest an additional 20-30M into FFXIV but would that bring in a wealth of new players? Probably not. On the flipside, putting that money towards another game could very easily pay it back and then some. Unfortunately, SE's attempts at new IPs or anything not Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest related have been woefully inept. But that isn't a flaw on the concept itself just their poor decision making.

Sometimes I wonder why developers such as SE don’t do things like a kickstarter by having fans buy games early at a reduced price. If milestones are hit, the game goes forward and more is added if they hit more milestones.

If they don’t hit enough, a refund is given and they try again. This way, games that we want get made and they know their production budget from what they earned. If they fail to reach milestones, concessions have to be made. Upon release, any sales after is their profit.

[Vyrerus]

Part of the issue is that FFXIV is an MMO, and its success and development slice is partially forecasted from their first MMO.

I don't remember the exact year, but sometime during or around Shadowbringers, FFXIV finally overtook FFXI as their top earning product. This means that it took FFXIV around 10 years to earn enough to out earn FFXI, and by that point FFXI had dwindled to a few thousand stalwart fans and their many multi-boxed accounts (and all of the RMT bots of course).

Then you remember that FFXIV was also once a failed project, and that it took most of XI's earnings in order to bankroll it TWICE!

This set a bad precedent for SE, because what it taught them was than an MMO could be insanely profitable and bankroll other projects without a lot of investment. FFXI's always been given content in the form of stories but also in the form of insanely long grind processes for relic weapons and their analogues. Like XIV relics but on steroids, XI's relics take months to years to make for the average player, even now.

I've said it once and I'll say it again, the suits at SE don't understand that XIV is an entirely different beast, and they expect it to print money relative to its scale for as long as XI did. XIV is basically a big ladder that they add new rungs to every few months. FFXI was essentially a plateaued maze with multiple goals that they added onto every few years. it takes a rather long time to get anywhere or advance in XI. For XIV it's one linear journey up the ladder that only lasts that one trip, and then you're at the top with everyone else waiting on new rungs.

So XIV's model requires new content more often as well as new players more often in order to last, because it is not designed to last. But the suits think it will.

And it's extra funny because the game's credits have started to credit literally anyone that's even on the periphery of involvement as well as slowing down the crawl year after year to make it seem like they haven't lost most of their actual development staff. They also continue to list people who worked on older sections of the game that haven't touched a XIV dev kit in years.

It's all so tiresome. Classic Square though. Amazing how Enix even carried that aspect of Square forward.

[Naomi_Sinclaire]

It feels like SE/CBU3 is taking the EA way of doing some of their games. Take all the profit from it, & dump it into other things/hoarding it, instead of reinvesting.

[BabyYoda]

It feels like SE/CBU3 is taking the EA way of doing some of their games. Take all the profit from it, & dump it into other things/hoarding it, instead of reinvesting.

Well.. I don't mind that if games where good,

It is just a flop games and NFT which is hard to tell if it is a game or a clown show

[Archeron]

SE I believe sees the people who started the game in the last 3-4 years as their primary consumer base that they wish to please. By the time they reach Dawntrail, they're at the end of their shelf life. The quality of content doesn't really matter to them, what matters is the quantity, and there is plenty of it from the many expansions that have been introduced. Jobs get dumbed down to appease these players, and no matter how unpopular any of their changes are, to any piece of content, they really do not care what anyone has to say. Yoshi P and CBU 3 appear to believe once again in their arrogance that they can do no wrong, and any mistakes can be simply explained away and forgiven by the community. Unfortunately the good will is starting to dry up.

I have no faith that any improvements to the game are forthcoming. Certainly not in 7.0, and the warning signs are there that 8.0 will be no different. Barring a mass exodus of player loss (Which I don't believe the conditions are there for it to happen. The casual players are satisfied, and any losses can be made up with Mogstation items, or idiotic $88usd Mystery box fridge magnets.) Nothing is likely to change.

[Garruss]

I think CBU3 have gotten too used to being the golden child now and people just love everything they do. That they have forgotten the lessons of the past mainly 1.0 and how humble they used to be. Now they do come of as arrogant and well not listening to their players and what needs we might have just telling us what they want. It can be quite easy for the mistakes of 1.0 to show their heads again I just pray for all the discourse they course correct but they way they are right now I am not so sure that will happen