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

[FlopsyPrince]

Looking at the second chart with SHB and DT, it seems like--if I'm reading it right--FF14 has fallen back to pre WoW migration numbers. Only I imagine you have some refugees still here, and some of the old guard that dislikes the changes brought out by those refugees, hardcore raiders, etc, have jumped ship--but you also have a lot of refugees going back to WoW since the game's gotten good so all is forgiven with the scandal /s.

That's my read on it, at least. Similar to how WoW was at a low point during FF14's high point in SHB.

My sub here runs for a bit longer but I find several non-high end things to be much more painful than I like.

The 2 main ones are:

- The inventory management hassle. Needing so many retainers to juggle what is where gets to be a real pain when leveling professions as I level my main.
- The forced nature of the main thread. I have very little choice of what I do there if I want to keep making progress.

It is a different playstyle than WoW (or ESO which I played prior to this) and it lacks some of what I want as an intense casual.

[DPZ2]

The forced nature of the main thread. I have very little choice of what I do there if I want to keep making progress.

It is a different playstyle than WoW (or ESO which I played prior to this) and it lacks some of what I want as an intense casual.

You've been playing the game for close to 2 1/2 years at this point. Why? What is there about the game's philosophy that kept you subscribed for that period of time? Perhaps you didn't realize the amount of free time between patches because you were still mid-way through 9 years of content?

Be specific in defining "some of what I want" rather than hand-waving.

And no, "Make it more like <insert game name here>" will not be specific enough.

An example: "I appreciate M+ dungeons in World of Warcraft because they challenge me without having to think much about tactics, since I can now do them in my sleep, but they give great "near raid-level" gear, and that's what I really want".

Another example: "I appreciate the fact that I can level my Hunter to max-level without ever touching a dungeon or raid instance and can skip most of the boring storyline at the same time. That's what I really want"

Another example: "I had fun during the initial phases of Legion with all of the 'spontaneous' breakouts across the known world. That's what I really want"

Another example: "I had a great time in Legion. Battle for Azeroth sucked because all of the time I spent on my Legendary Weapon was pretty much destroyed when it became useless at the beginning of the BFA expansion. That's the sort of thing I don't want"