The Great FFXIV Exodus of 2024

[TomsYoungerBro]

2024 was a great year that saw the release of many awesome games.

The year the game awards had to add a DLC into the mix because they ran out of good games to nominate would tell me otherwise.

[Sharkie]

I was a WOW refugee, having quit during Shadowlands, and one of the people in the original quote. My post was taken a little bit out of context, since it was in the context of being able to say goodbye to a prominent forum member before I lapsed.



I did make a longer post on a different thread that explained why I was leaving. Hopefully for good, because I've been coming back trying to relive something that will never happen again for the last two years now. I have already uninstalled the game, having come back four weeks ago in complete earnest. I even got the Stormblood art book and Yotsuyu minion.

I really did love this game, but now it's literally breaking, it's a hardware issue that was present in the benchmark with black squares in the sky, and I don't have the money to upgrade. My FC has been quite active, but the culture has completely shifted within it to be in parity with the wider community of modbeasts and Second Lifers. Their choice, whatever... It's been a very painful realisation to know that I'll never get back what we had. With those combined, along with also noticing that I was just logging in for beast tribes, I just had to accept that the game isn't for me anymore. I just find it difficult to let it go entirely.

The positive about it is that I've gone back to WOW, and thanks to levelling White Mage a little bit, I've discovered I actually like Holy Priest a lot AND THEY FINALLY FIXED NIGHTBORNE!

[Rannie]

As one of the people that have been quoted by the OP i just cancelled my sub so it will not renew in 55 days (had renewed it for 3 months because a couple of friends wanted me to play with them). I had been playing since 1.0 closed Beta with very little to complain about until Dawntrail came out. Since they're deciding to continue with throwing Wuk Lamat in our face and the horrible writing of thr story, I will not be staying. Especially since Yoshi P is really acting like another Tanaka.

[CNitsah]

I don't believe that we, as players have an accurate capability of doing so. Honestly, SE gives us access to what we can access. Populations, congestion, etc are all part of their statistics that they don't let out of the box unless it's to boast in a Live Letter, or interview from another gaming information media source. We can try and count on our fingers all day long, some people look at Steam numbers and believe it's the most accurate thing which it's not, Lucky's information, which it's not, you name it - we just don't know unless they allow us to be informed. And, they don't have to outside of what they are doing now.

Problem is statistics about population, congestion, etc.. don't tell anything about how people feel about the game.

The thing about steam numbers is that statistically, it's good enough to be representative. Then all of those hints we can get, being steam numbers or any of the points I mentionned, might not be enough by themselves, but when you take them together they paint a tendancy you connot just ignore. Your whole argument feel like a situation where the soil is muddy, everything is drenched, it smells like it just rained and the sky is still grey, and yet some people say "yeah, we were not there, so we can't say it rained". That's technically right, but the most probable explanation is that it rained.

To me, there hasn't been an exodus yet, but it's still something that can happens if the reaction to complaints continue to be delayed. I feel like were at a stage were the dam is leaking, but hasn't broken yet. And the only reason it hasn't leaked yet is the attachment people got to game. For a lot of us, it's several years of our life, so it's hard to just turn back and leave. MMO are a special kind of game.

[Neoyoshi]

We can't just go play other video games and then come back later, can we?

Also, there is grass outside, and air.

[Reinha]

My post was taken a little bit out of context, since it was in the context of being able to say goodbye to a prominent forum member before I lapsed.

I did make a longer post on a different thread that explained why I was leaving.

I have replaced the quote so it links to your more detailed post now. In the interest of keeping the opening post somewhat readable I unfortunately had to keep the quotes short but I'll happily make changes if anyone feels like they've been misrepresented. I'd also encourage people to read the stories and context of the linked posts because they are quite interesting.

[Schan]

I don't believe that we, as players have an accurate capability of doing so. Honestly, SE gives us access to what we can access. Populations, congestion, etc are all part of their statistics that they don't let out of the box unless it's to boast in a Live Letter, or interview from another gaming information media source. We can try and count on our fingers all day long, some people look at Steam numbers and believe it's the most accurate thing which it's not, Lucky's information, which it's not, you name it - we just don't know unless they allow us to be informed. And, they don't have to outside of what they are doing now.

Agreed. Only SE has the full picture. At most we can try to pick on the community's general sentiment.

That requires some work due to you having to try and peek into the general sentiment of groups you are not part of.

Just bc the people I play with are happy or neutral doesn't mean everyone else is happy or neutral. There is some very valid discontentment but time will tell how that will reflect on player count.

[Chasingstars]

I was a WOW refugee, having quit during Shadowlands, and one of the people in the original quote. My post was taken a little bit out of context, since it was in the context of being able to say goodbye to a prominent forum member before I lapsed.



I did make a longer post on a different thread that explained why I was leaving. Hopefully for good, because I've been coming back trying to relive something that will never happen again for the last two years now. I have already uninstalled the game, having come back four weeks ago in complete earnest. I even got the Stormblood art book and Yotsuyu minion.

I really did love this game, but now it's literally breaking, it's a hardware issue that was present in the benchmark with black squares in the sky, and I don't have the money to upgrade. My FC has been quite active, but the culture has completely shifted within it to be in parity with the wider community of modbeasts and Second Lifers. Their choice, whatever... It's been a very painful realisation to know that I'll never get back what we had. With those combined, along with also noticing that I was just logging in for beast tribes, I just had to accept that the game isn't for me anymore. I just find it difficult to let it go entirely.

The positive about it is that I've gone back to WOW, and thanks to levelling White Mage a little bit, I've discovered I actually like Holy Priest a lot AND THEY FINALLY FIXED NIGHTBORNE!

Yeah this is more understandable, especially in terms of hardware. I know my FPS has went from 70 to dipping down around 40 ever since the graphical update.

Have fun in warcraft.

[Shougun]

Not sure if I count, but I left at 6.5 because 7.0 looked like it was going to be more of the same in a rough direction I thought kept scraping 'good enough'. I tried WoW for a bit, liked it, subbed, thought to see how FFXIV was doing since there were some systems and concepts I was missing, and am now at the point I'm not sure which I'd like to carry forward. My heart twains for FFXIV, but when I play it I feel a bit like the game doesn't maintain the same magic. I have used breaks in the past to help with that, and I have played for a long time, but I have some things that I particularly point out as not helping 'experience' the game. Like roleplay.

Primarily WoW makes me concerned due to FOMO they like to use, which I greatly appreciate SE does not. But I am also enjoying a much richer RPG (strong R) experience, where in FFXIV its narrative driven sure but I don't really feel like it's an /R/ PG. A feeling that has grown over time, for a long time, and honestly each patch I watch happen over here the more I feel it gets worse even though they've made comments that make it seem like they heard players (but from appearances seems like "heard you, don't care, but I did hear you" lol). Things to like more or less about both, like I think FFXIV boss fight visuals, music, and mechanics tend to be done better, but I also feel like I'm slowly being put into FFXIII corridors of content.

The thing that drew my attention to WoW recently was that the devs made note that they're going to do better respecting player's choice / and time, while also adding one of my most beloved MMO features (in a sense) via the Warband. If they continue to empower the warband, oh man... Like as an aside example I wouldn't say that dragonflight is BETTER than GW2 flight, but I would say its pretty good and the races are still quite fun (I'm partial to the mastery options earnable in GW2 that are really cool).. like they copied interesting elements and made it their own. Meanwhile I'd point at Island Sanctuary and say it was our Garrison; however, I look at WoW's Garrison (which I've played recently, not when it had more issues new) and I have to say the Garrison is WAY MORE FUN. Like, massively. Sure maybe that one was quite problematic at launch, and Island Sanctuary caused less problems at launch. So like you look at our Squadrons, WoW has had Squadrons in multiple expansions, and in terms of mission boards is quite a bit more interesting. More recently they had follower dungeons, and those guys are substantially more impactful and AI intelligent.. Like I decimated dungeons on my own, while in Trusts I watch paint dry. When SE does something outside of it's core (music, graphics, boss fights, MSQ for the most part*) they seem to really aim for 'good enough' and not 'good'. I * MSQ because while I think FFXIV MSQ tends to be better, some of the story cinematic I've seen in WoW are pretty cool so.. They're just far more rare lol.

I think the thing that makes me sad / worried for FFXIV is I feel WoW has a path "forward" like they're improving, growing, striving, they certainly are looking at other MMOs and picking up choice items again (which is fantastic for them, the mount systems are fun)- and in FFXIV.. it feels quiet.

I would note that they still maintain the things done well, pretty dungeons / bosses, music, but... when you release Island Sanctuary and the most gamed system is an excel, or you can't make an interesting normal job (because that wouldn't be homogenized enough) that you have to make them separate, or the housing and glamour issues are still present years upon years later.. its doesn't leave one to feel very dreamy. The future doesn't feel limitless for FFXIV, like there isn't light at the end of the tunnel (but at the /moment/ I'm feeling there is for WoW). I feel the future isn't horrible, but it is extremely predictable. Like I could go mentally play FFXIV's future without actually having to buy a time watch.

I obviously, from a forum perspective, am quite perturbed on their Roleplay ability, since I'm very much a play and experience kind of person (like our open worlds are really bad compared to WoW, in terms of content and just "vibin'", and GW2 does great in that aspect too but they're far more open world focused where WoW is more a horizontal comparison), but.. if I had to put it another way. It feels like the programmers made the kit for the dev team and then left, and show up for minor DLC additions. Like in EW you got the companion follow system which was cool, but that's one system lol. I have to imagine when the quest designer gets to making quests they have all these cool ideas that get put into 'location' and 'story' but when it comes to gameplay they're given 5 permutations of possibilities total. So you just get the same quests time and time again.

They muster up for very specific contents, but they don't put it into the soul of the game, they put it into the limbs (exploratory content, deep dungeon, variant, limited jobs, etc).. SE is afraid to let limbs touch the core, where you were getting gear and cool items from WoW squadron missions in FFXIV they're "I can give you some FC buffs I guess". Where FFXIV says you can't dodge damage as a mage, unless you're limited, WoW just gives that to the mage (which no other job can do). The hunter gets hunter pet stuff cause they can, while SE is preparing to make that side content. So you're left with like a vanilla ice cream cone with vanilla ice cream with a vanilla flavored spoon and sometimes in certain corners of the game you get to put sprinkles on but when you're in those corners its the same sprinkles every time. "This is the oreo sprinkle bar", and that bar never talks to another. So you're vanilla ice cream and one other thing, ever and only.

Or because I love bad examples, as I described before taking the break- it feels like SE is making a stainless steel kitchen with stainless steel floors, walls, ceilings, and objects, you lose context even if technically everything has a purpose, I'm going texture blind over here lol. I want to note that doesn't mean I think they're lack of intelligence or something, it all takes a lot of skill to make these games.. just describing how it feels to engage the game (and I'm sure some of it is due to familiarity with the game, but I want to argue it's not entirely due to that).

I think its a bit hyperbolic, but hopefully explains the 'feeling'. I don't think the game will die, but I feel less shiny about it each time I play and currently I'm feeling more and more shiny about WoW even though I'm really worried they're going to be the toxic relationship and going to hit me with a bunch of FOMO garbage lol.

[Schan]

I was a WOW refugee, having quit during Shadowlands, and one of the people in the original quote. My post was taken a little bit out of context, since it was in the context of being able to say goodbye to a prominent forum member before I lapsed.



I did make a longer post on a different thread that explained why I was leaving. Hopefully for good, because I've been coming back trying to relive something that will never happen again for the last two years now. I have already uninstalled the game, having come back four weeks ago in complete earnest. I even got the Stormblood art book and Yotsuyu minion.

I really did love this game, but now it's literally breaking, it's a hardware issue that was present in the benchmark with black squares in the sky, and I don't have the money to upgrade. My FC has been quite active, but the culture has completely shifted within it to be in parity with the wider community of modbeasts and Second Lifers. Their choice, whatever... It's been a very painful realisation to know that I'll never get back what we had. With those combined, along with also noticing that I was just logging in for beast tribes, I just had to accept that the game isn't for me anymore. I just find it difficult to let it go entirely.

The positive about it is that I've gone back to WOW, and thanks to levelling White Mage a little bit, I've discovered I actually like Holy Priest a lot AND THEY FINALLY FIXED NIGHTBORNE!

Hardware issues absolutely suck. Sorry to hear about the changes in the communities you're part of. I personally never saw the appeal in second living and mod beasts and yeah the way patches have been structured it leaves people feeling left out if you aren't interested in wtv content is meant to be the main thing.

Maybe we'll bump into each other in another game. See you around.