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

[NegativeS]

So, what I'm hearing from this thread is

Pros of high population:

• Dev gets money = game continues to be updated (this is good btw)
• Buffer for bad content releases (imagine where WoW would be if it released WoD with a 'low' population (spoiler: there would be no WoW anymore))
• Players of niche content can actually find groups
• Diverse community, lots of different players to interact with
• Higher likelihood there will be a clique for you to enter
• Many players -> More people talking about game -> Word of mouth spreads -> More players

Cons of high population:

• Game culture gets diluted
• Housing shortage (self inflicted by squeenix btw, time to get with the times grandpa even WoW is somehow getting it right)
• High server load? (whats a sub fee)

Pros of low population:

• More tight-knit community
• People who play the game are usually really good at it
• Houses (but nobody to show them off to)

Cons of low population:

• Long queue times/few groups
• Good luck grouping for old/niche content nobody does anymore
• One bad quarter kills the game (RIP WildStar)
• "Walled garden" syndrome (see EVE, good luck playing that game on a fresh account these days)
• Few people want to start a game that's on its death throes

I wonder if the game having a WoD moment is a bad thing?