Subscription Cost Vs. Content Drops

[NaoSen]

Final Fantasy XIV is the best 3D modeling and virtual screenshot program on the market. For just $13/month, you get a whole suite of modeling tools that far exceeds what Second Life can give you with its proprietary shop. There are tens of thousands of outfits and poses available for free. The only thing it's missing is virtual worlds, but FFXIV housing gives you most of that anyway. Second Life is not user friendly, and even though the game itself is free, the items are not. For many people, there is no good replacement for FFXIV when it comes to modeling, posing and making adult material.

Yeah mods do allow for FFXIV to be prime porn creation material tool, imagine how many would leave without them.

[Vrankyl]

I'd agree with you if we were still playing Endwalker, but I'd venture to say the WoW storytelling is significantly better than Dawntrail.

As someone who plays both, no it is not. At best I'd put TWW on the same level as Dawntrail. Though Undermine is like super cringey as hell so far so that might not stay true. DF was about the same too. And then of course there was the "All a part of my master plan" Shadowlands, and for all the failings that DT has it will never be anywhere near as bad as Systemlan- I mean Shadowlands.

Every single time Blizzard and WoW are always brought up, it's literally always the same thing, you people only have Blizzard and WoW in your mouth when criticism is said about FFXIV, please get new material, it's seriously tiresome.

Gee, it is almost like WoW is the biggest competition out there for MMOs which is an exceedingly stale market so when comparing cost worth it would be brought up. Strange how that works. Never once did I say FF14 was without its faults, believe me there is a lot that SE has done recently that I don't agree with and wish they would change. On the same token there is plenty they have gotten right. Regardless I was simply offering my take on why it is worth it to me versus the competition that is out there so perhaps the one with the problem is you since god forbid someone actually have a reason to still be playing.

[Voryn]

So the question posed:
Is it worth it to you?

I like raiding (including going back to help friends clear raids I’ve already done) and mindlessly doing roulettes to relax at night so it’s worth it to me because I enjoy the game and I like playing it for so long. The only other games I’ve put many many of hours into have just been competitive games but imo those aren’t really comparable. I might unsub in 7.4 and 7.5 unless there’s something I want to do, or I want to prog an old Ultimate raid.

For those who don’t feel like being subbed all the time is worth it, I’m curious as to why you don’t spend a lot less time subscribed to the game. I’m not intending to act like you don’t have a right to be dissatisfied and voice your opinions, but it’s weird to me when someone says something like this:

Four months of waiting for new content = $52 per patch. If it released in April 2025, it'd be $65 per patch

Because why are you subbed for four months if you there’s not content that you’ll enjoy for four months? Could just sub when you feel like you have enough things to do for a month, or at least reduce to subbing only every other month if you’re not willing to let go of your house.

[USAFJerrySo]

Final Fantasy XIV is the best 3D modeling and virtual screenshot program on the market. For just $13/month, you get a whole suite of modeling tools that far exceeds what Second Life can give you with its proprietary shop. There are tens of thousands of outfits and poses available for free. The only thing it's missing is virtual worlds, but FFXIV housing gives you most of that anyway. Second Life is not user friendly, and even though the game itself is free, the items are not. For many people, there is no good replacement for FFXIV when it comes to modeling, posing and making adult material.

I do not play the "gameplay" aspect, because as Jeeqbit said, you are not paying for the content. You ONLY pay for online access, which means the ability to make user-generated content. That is the core of what FFXIV is in 2025. And most of us like this. We do not like WoW, where you are forced to pay for gameplay.

Except FFXIV is an MMORPG game, not a life simulator. Plus we have to pay full price each time a new expansion comes out.

[USAFJerrySo]

It shouldn't be debatable to defend how slow the patches comes out. Money we paid for isn't used to go back into the game but instead of going to failed projects like Forsaken. Plus, Yoshi is focusing on other projects when they SE should assign a designated person solely for this game as well as hiring more people so we can get content faster.

[Sivante]

No, not worth the sub.

- The sub can't be dismissed as upkeep or privilege to access, as there is a content bulk I've already paid for behind that door, which means I am (I hate saying this) fiscally entitled to that content having bought it as advertised. That means the sub becomes a fiscal addition of requirements that can be spread out however the seller sees fit to benefit themselves. This isn't a model we'd accept in any other market example.

- The value of the sub via content and prospect have both fallen off. The game has taken on bloat, alot of side-projects that all got dropped, and a ton of what is effectively dead content save for cult following or niche achievement chasing purposes. Those things are like air pockets in your steak, or more air in your bag of chips. More air means less chips. More dead content means less game.

- The housing system is outright predatory to the point that even Blizzard can make fun of it. That's bad, when Blizzard of all companies can make fun of you for predatory practices. It's a minor thing, housing, but damn. Caught those hands.

- Content drops feel like they are getting ratio'd by the mogstation. Mogstation is optional, but the very purpose of it 'Money goes to the game' is such a psychological mind-)#*$. 'Pay for our game, and if you like it, pay for our game in other ways and we might let them keep it this time.' Absolutely not.

- The game is over a decade old, and looks it. I personally like the graphics, but many will be disappointed by it. SE seems to know this and we are only seeing increasing graphical overload. Particle effects blinding you, cutscene nonsense, etc. The game absolutely cannot and will not keep up with competitors in the balance market either.


For me, if it weren't for close friends who still love FF14, I'd have left sooner.