FFXIV population decline continues

[Lilapop]

It generated a lot of discussion about the state of healing among the community, which was kind of the point I think?

A lot of content creators covered it and I can guarantee you the devs will have seen it and are now aware that there are a decent number of players who feel that support roles have become boring to play in XIV.

It's nothing new, and their "healer strike" didn't really accomplish anything did it? Kinda just fizzled out after awhile.

[Supersnow845]

It's nothing new, and their "healer strike" didn't really accomplish anything did it? Kinda just fizzled out after awhile.

I mean when literally every YouTuber has discussed it at least once and it’s basically become part of 14’s meme culture to demand a strike anytime you are dissatisfied it’s probably the furthest a player run initiative has ever gone in this game

If the devs still ignore it there is little more the playerbase can do at that point

Like do you want the strikers to start DDOS’ing the servers

[Evergrey]

I mean this seriously, jokes aside... there was a healer strike? I know it was a thing all over the forums, reddit, everywhere else etc. but did it actually impact anything? Other than hilarious people in PF trying to get gil to play healer.

That's what I'm saying, did it really do anything?
So if a strike that got headlines outside of the Forum haven't gotten SE to act then people being vocal on the forum alone won't do anything.
Real actions has to be done to really show how unhappy people are.
However most people are too tied to the game to actually do anything to show it but being vocal.

[Kohashi]

Goggle trends only show how often people searched for that game and not how they engaged with it itself.
The last month FF14 mobile also had more search results that would be included in the normal FF14 search.
The there is also FF14 having quite a number of news articles since DT launched as well as people being just curious about the feedback DT got and searching for it.
Even FF11 has no trend in google searches and that game is in maintenance mode.
As far as I have seen WoW also a pretty constant search history despite it's... problems in the past but I don't know enough about that game to get a connection with releases.

Google trends is not really a good tool to look how happy the playerbase is or how many play the game poitive or negative.
Luckybancho is pretty much the best source of info we have available for player numbers and not a google trend...

Just because you are unhappy with the game and you are using every waking moment to complain about it does not mean everyone else feels the same way.

The fact that the game has a healthy trend signifies that people are actively interested in it and will be more likely to engage in it. If the vast majority would be as unhappy as you claim it to be, the trend will also reflect that.

Considering that the trend remained steady without any major dips also shows that FF14 is still in a healthy state.

[Supersnow845]

Just because you are unhappy with the game and you are using every waking moment to complain about it does not mean everyone else feels the same way.

The fact that the game has a healthy trend signifies that people are actively interested in it and will be more likely to engage in it. If the vast majority would be as unhappy as you claim it to be, the trend will also reflect that.

Considering that the trend remained steady without any major dips also shows that FF14 is still in a healthy state.

Except there has been a very unhealthy movement in the population of this game

If the population has dropped by multiple hundreds of thousands and google trends have stayed the same that’s basically just indicative of people replacing “Is FFXIV the best game ever” with “Is FFXIV dying” on goggle or something of that effect

Both pop the search trends, only one of them is good

[xbahax92]

Looks like high cash shop prices are meant to alleviate the continuous drop in the population. Let's pay SE for content cadence, RIGHT?

[YumieYumiki]

A decrease in players is pretty much the only thing that can prompt them from deviating from their formula. Although I dont expect any such change to happen quickly.

[Kaurhz]

Just because you are unhappy with the game and you are using every waking moment to complain about it does not mean everyone else feels the same way.

The fact that the game has a healthy trend signifies that people are actively interested in it and will be more likely to engage in it. If the vast majority would be as unhappy as you claim it to be, the trend will also reflect that.

Considering that the trend remained steady without any major dips also shows that FF14 is still in a healthy state.

Usually I would be inclined to agree with you on a point like this, but I wouldn't necessarily say that the lowest population point in, what? 4 years? is a good sign or a healthy state for that matter. Is the game OK population wise? Of course it is, but this behavior is still indicative of a problem, and it's only a problem that is getting worse with each expansion. We still have another 3 1/2 months, give or take until 7.2 actually launches, so we're not even halfway into this patch cycle, I wouldn't call it a 'healthy trend'.

[Kohashi]

Except there has been a very unhealthy movement in the population of this game

If the population has dropped by multiple hundreds of thousands and google trends have stayed the same that’s basically just indicative of people replacing “Is FFXIV the best game ever” with “Is FFXIV dying” on goggle or something of that effect

Both pop the search trends, only one of them is good

That is incorrect and it's not how Google trends work as it always compares it to peak popularity.

If you look at Genshin's trend you will see clear dips in trends that do correlate with the overall player dissatisfaction with the game, a fall in interest, the company practices, and the general "outrage" happening in the community.

A person not playing a game will also be more likely NOT to engage with it or any topics related to it. If you would play another game you would switch your search to something that actively interests you.

In short, put your mouth where your words are.

[Supersnow845]

That is incorrect and it's not how Google trends work as it always compares it to peak popularity.

If you look at Genshin's trend you will see clear dips in trends that do correlate with the overall player dissatisfaction with the game, a fall in interest, the company practices, and the general "outrage" happening in the community.

A person not playing a game will also be more likely NOT to engage with it or any topics related to it. If you would play another game you would switch your search to something that actively interests you.

In short, put your mouth where your words are.

So the population falls by several hundred thousand and since Google trends has remained steady roughly (even though it doesn’t account for negative interaction with the content) that’s somehow not a massive negative that the game needs to deal with

14’s population isn’t transitory. Interaction with the game remaining high in search’s doesn’t mean the game is healthy