FFXIV population decline continues

[AlanJust]

I don't think most people were expecting that, to be fair.
I don't think it will be okay. I know it will be okay. People return eventually when something good happens.

As for the game itself... still see hundreds of parties for High-End content and lots and lots of people progging chaotic. It feels like it's booming if you join parties for that. On Dynamis I've met lots of sprouts in mentor roulette, and found full Ocean Fishing parties. I'm not seeing practical evidence of this "decline" reflected in the game.

But also, worst case scenario, if the population became a quarter of what it has been, it would just be like Heavensward and Stormblood which were fine.

Bloody hell I have never seen such levels of coping, ngl I almost thought you were trolling

[Fawkes]

The problem is that we use the terms casual and hardcore for two different scales: difficulty of content and total time invested. So you are likely a casual player (showing up only for raid nights) who does hardcore content (progression raids). Many players are the inverse of that: hardcore players (multiple hours a day) who do casual content (roulettes, crafting, etc.).

I mean sure but playtime is completely irrelevant to any conversation about anything, unless you just want to brag about how quick you reclear every week or something. The difficulty of content you engage with is the only definition of casual/hardcore worth talking about.

[Jeeqbit]

Bloody hell I have never seen such levels of coping, ngl I almost thought you were trolling

I am talking from 10 years experience playing the game. That is how I know.

[Zackneifein]

I don't think most people were expecting that, to be fair.
I don't think it will be okay. I know it will be okay. People return eventually when something good happens.

As for the game itself... still see hundreds of parties for High-End content and lots and lots of people progging chaotic. It feels like it's booming if you join parties for that. On Dynamis I've met lots of sprouts in mentor roulette, and found full Ocean Fishing parties. I'm not seeing practical evidence of this "decline" reflected in the game.

But also, worst case scenario, if the population became a quarter of what it has been, it would just be like Heavensward and Stormblood which were fine.

If the population of FFXIV fall that low, there is a high chance that Square Enix is going to put it in "maintenance mode" for ever, without any more content added.
"like Heavensward and Stormblood" could obvisouly be enough for players, but won't be close to enough for SE to continue to invest in it. There is even a chance that it would be the moment they decide to invest in a new one.

And if that happen FFXIV won't die, but will "end" in a sense.

Square Enix isn't known to be very patient with online game in decline, that's why they killed nearly all of their gatcha game even when they were just easy cash.

[Somnolence]

Well I guess I will contribute to this with my -1, finally overcame my fear of losing the damn house - feels so liberating.

[Jeeqbit]

"like Heavensward and Stormblood" could obvisouly be enough for players, but won't be close to enough for SE to continue to invest in it.

They wouldn't need to if the remaining population sustained it financially (the game supporting itself). The mog station also exists, which was added as a way to get extra funds to support the game.

Square Enix isn't known to be very patient with online game in decline, that's why they killed nearly all of their gatcha game even when they were just easy cash.

Like how they weren't patient with 1.0 and waited 2 years for it to be remade?

I think that they only kill games with no fans. Which those games obviously don't have. FFXIV was different, even in 1.0, and that's why they bothered. They even said that was the only reason they bothered.

[Zackneifein]

They wouldn't need to if the remaining population sustained it financially (the game supporting itself). The mog station also exists, which was added as a way to get extra funds to support the game.
Like how they weren't patient with 1.0 and waited 2 years for it to be remade?

I think that they only kill games with no fans. Which those games obviously don't have. FFXIV was different, even in 1.0, and that's why they bothered. They even said that was the only reason they bothered.

Support itself is maintenance mode, not "I will release an expansion every two years and five patches between each" mode.

And 1.0 -> 2.0 was two things : a do or die moment for Square Enix where they made the right choice about their last released game that transformed a disaster that could have killed them in a marvelous success and, more important, was more than 10 years ago.
Square Enix isn't the same company than back then and their strategies aren't the same neither, and a 10+ years game with a declining population will never have the same amount of risk taken for.

And there was a Final Fantasy game nearly as old as FFXIV in the mobile game they killed, that had a very large fanbase before... declining slowly but surely.

[Jeeqbit]

Support itself is maintenance mode, not "I will release an expansion every two years and five patches between each" mode.

Not necessarily. It depends how much revenue it actually generates. As I said, we were fine in Heavensward and Stormblood.

But all that isn't a realistic scenario at the moment. It's also a Final Fantasy game so people will play it purely because of that and none of the other reasons people are coming up with like "content" or "metas".

[Zackneifein]

Not necessarily. It depends how much revenue it actually generates. As I said, we were fine in Heavensward and Stormblood.

But all that isn't a realistic scenario at the moment. It's also a Final Fantasy game so people will play it purely because of that and none of the other reasons people are coming up with like "content" or "metas".

Sorry but that not how it works. The game now as a maintenance cost (due to many things) far higher than it was during Heavenswoard and Stormblood.
And another "stupid but true" reflexe about this kind of situation in most company, is that a something that for a time brought in 10 and was seen as a success, then grown enought to bring in 100 will be seen as a dying failure if it end up bringing in only 30 even if it's still 3 times better than it was and will be abandonned. I have seen this in so many companies projects, in gaming and elsewhere that I instinctly know that it's exactly what would happen.

Just look at all the studios that fired people in gaming industry because or even closed some of those studios because they "lost the economic growth they gained during Covid period" while the current economic growth is still better than it was before Covid - even when anyone with a brain can understand that Covid time was a golden age for gaming.

And I agree with you last point, that litteraly what I was saying, FFXIV becoming a static MMO in maintenance, like FFXI.

[CaedemSanguis]

A bad main scenario, the difficult content (ultimate/savage) becomes "simple", the easy content becomes slightly less braindead, a graphics update which allows you to see the pixels on weapons/armors, a very square formula for a decade, classes that all look the same without any identity but fortunately they are going to rectify that in 8.0 (oh no actually, they made the new class braindead 1 month after its release), mechanics that are too based on dance and not enough on execution, stuff that has no taste when you get it (except possibly the ultimates but with FRU which has become a savage+ idk), crappy dungeons, once you made the 1st you made them all, the GCD which remains at 2.5s base just because they have a netcode from the 90s, the casuals which literally have nothing to do (you sub 1 month by extension you can do all the casual content), 4.5 months between pactches, 0 long term content for casuals/midcores

No yeah, I REALLY WONDER why they're losing subs