FF14 player count reached the lowest point in 4 years. We lost 75% of the playerbase.

[syldon]

Only just arrived in recent months back to FF. I gave up on Wow. I got annoyed at the P2W and the way Blizz pushes token sales.

Picking up FF again was a pain. The UI in FF is terrible. Yes there is a recommended box, but it needs categories. There is too much bloat in there. And if like me you had no idea what you were doing since it has been so long, it was a mind melt. Separate it by:
MSQ
Role quests for current (this one I cannot stress enough, so many people join the game and don't know they exist)
Unopened dungeons
Acheivements
side quests

I have 7 mates to date who tried FF. The story put 5 of them off. This gates off a large part of the game. The devs need to understand that not everyone is into RP. I haven't watched a video since playing early vanilla. ESC, confirm, confirm. ASAP.
There are many others from Wow who will not even consider FF, because of the experiences people are taking back to them.

Yes, you can buy a skip, but that really stings when you have just paid for a new game. Of the 2 players who stayed around, only one bought the skip. The other is just entering DT and hates the story with a passion. Just add an option in game. This is not earning the money you think it is. The lost clientele is costing you.

Obviously, keep the level skip at a cost. As much as I disagree with this. Sadly people want this shortcut. Taking it out would be detrimental.

Add boss guides in the game. Bosses in FF kill you without any indication as to why. Not everyone understands how to find boss guides.

Finally do something with the map. It is bloody awful. Tons of games have tom tom systems. Simply telling you where a quest is on a map is of no use whatsoever if you don't know how to get there. There are a ton of dungeons that I have no idea how to get to. I know there is quick travel, but I like to know where the dungeon is. I cannot believe I am the only one.

[Kohashi]

Only just arrived in recent months back to FF. I gave up on Wow. I got annoyed at the P2W and the way Blizz pushes token sales.

Picking up FF again was a pain. The UI in FF is terrible. Yes there is a recommended box, but it needs categories. There is too much bloat in there. And if like me you had no idea what you were doing since it has been so long, it was a mind melt. Separate it by:
MSQ
Role quests for current (this one I cannot stress enough, so many people join the game and don't know they exist)
Unopened dungeons
Acheivements
side quests

I have 7 mates to date who tried FF. The story put 5 of them off. This gates off a large part of the game. The devs need to understand that not everyone is into RP. I haven't watched a video since playing early vanilla. ESC, confirm, confirm. ASAP.
There are many others from Wow who will not even consider FF, because of the experiences people are taking back to them.

Yes, you can buy a skip, but that really stings when you have just paid for a new game. Of the 2 players who stayed around, only one bought the skip. The other is just entering DT and hates the story with a passion. Just add an option in game. This is not earning the money you think it is. The lost clientele is costing you.

Obviously, keep the level skip at a cost. As much as I disagree with this. Sadly people want this shortcut. Taking it out would be detrimental.

Add boss guides in the game. Bosses in FF kill you without any indication as to why. Not everyone understands how to find boss guides.

Finally do something with the map. It is bloody awful. Tons of games have tom tom systems. Simply telling you where a quest is on a map is of no use whatsoever if you don't know how to get there. There are a ton of dungeons that I have no idea how to get to. I know there is quick travel, but I like to know where the dungeon is. I cannot believe I am the only one.

I have met a fair few people who bought a skip, and they said they would have never played this game if they couldn't do that.

I gave up this game 3 times because of the super boring, tedious, snail-paced MSQ. When I came back, I just couldn't afford a skip so I had to push through; however, I will always recommend a skip if a new player/ trial player asks.

The main core story is good, but it's drowned in 90% nonsense that nobody cares about.

Also, I just wish I had a skip button for ALL the quests with a short summary provided in case I still want to know about the story. Not to mention when I create an alt.. for whatever reason, I want an option with " Do you want to start from lvl 1, novice anew" Or " Do you want to skip the main story and create a lvl 90/100 character".

[Quuoooote]

Also, I just wish I had a skip button for ALL the quests with a short summary provided in case I still want to know about the story. Not to mention when I create an alt.. for whatever reason, I want an option with " Do you want to start from lvl 1, novice anew" Or " Do you want to skip the main story and create a lvl 90/100 character".

Unfortunately, because the existing skip button on the online store makes Square Enix a cool $25 any time someone presses it ($50 if you want a job skip with that!), it's never going to be changed.

[syldon]

Unfortunately, because the existing skip button on the online store makes Square Enix a cool $25 any time someone presses it ($50 if you want a job skip with that!), it's never going to be changed.

I can point to 5 people who are not currently subbing to FF. They all do long term sub durations, so that would be 6 month subs each, if they bought into the game. They came to look at the free trial, saw the story and left. SE gained nothing from them.

A level skip is not something I would recommend; it is never an expectation in MMOs. Since Wow and the likes are selling them, then it would be a hard push not to. Especially now the cat is out of the bag.

[syldon]

I have met a fair few people who bought a skip, and they said they would have never played this game if they couldn't do that.

Were they enraged about having to do that though? The mate I have who bought was not a happy bunny.

[CCheshire]

“It’s a good thing that the games population is collapsing because there is more of the pointlessly limited stuff that never should have been limited for the dregs who remain”

14 players will literally justify anything

Notice that I didn't say I agreed with the population collapsing being good or not, and I just said the EU demo timer was working as intended.

Also, I have a positive feeling that FFXIV will continue for many years with how devoted the doomers who continue to pay their subs to post here. So how many years have folks said the game is dying? What keeps everyone here if they all dislike FFXIV that much but have active subs for years now?

[Garruss]

Imagine buying a game to play it and not having a skip button to get the latest content!

[Little_Giant]

I think FFXIV should come with a msq skip and level skip for one class with each expansion. Hiding latest content behind a long and big time investment or extra pay wall, is not the way. People who boost may not be the ideal players that community wants but they are players non the less.

Blizzard understands this but for some reason Square does not. They rather want people to go through a long msq with outdated gameplay or pay extra, that will just turn new players that don't wanna go through all that off and give up. Maybe squre gets more money this way, but we certainly do not get more players.

[Daralii]

I think FFXIV should come with a msq skip and level skip for one class with each expansion. Hiding latest content behind a long and big time investment or extra pay wall, is not the way. People who boost may not be the ideal players that community wants but they are players non the less.

Blizzard understands this but for some reason Square does not. They rather want people to go through a long msq with outdated gameplay or pay extra, that will just turn new players that don't wanna go through all that off and give up. Maybe squre gets more money this way, but we certainly do not get more players.

Short-term financial gains make the line go up. If the line goes up, Yoshida has done his job.

[Kohashi]

Were they enraged about having to do that though? The mate I have who bought was not a happy bunny.

The way the storytelling takes place, the pace of it, and the 90% nonsense are probably what drove a lot of people away. Also, they said they don't care much for lore or for the game story overall.

They wanted to play at max level, where the vast majority of the playerbase is, doing current content.

Also there is not much to do while leveling. Dungeons are ok for the first few times, but annoying if you need to spam them. Fates and side quests have basically little to no XP or rewards to justify the low-level spam and EX, Coils, or Ultimates at lvl 70 can mostly be done with an organised group.

I do wish they re-purpose low-level content, maps, and zones to be appealing for everyone, but that's another thing for another time.