The state of the Game

[MaikoRaines]

You're conflating my criticism of SE's lack of important and expensive attention being given to FF14 when they HAD the money, time, and player goodwill to do it with me somehow being unfamiliar with how corporations function in a fundamental sense.

I get what you're saying—and it’s valid: SE had the money, goodwill, and player trust to fund meaningful improvements to FFXIV, but chose not to.

If my tone came across like I was explaining how corporations work instead of engaging with your point, Let me clarify:

You’re highlighting a straightforward oversight: SE could’ve reinvested into XIV’s engine or QoL, but didn’t—even when they had the means.

My perspective on corporate budgeting mechanics isn’t meant to dismiss that—it’s to explain why profits often get overshadowed by broader company priorities. But context isn’t an excuse.

I’m just as frustrated seeing how little’s changed over the years—especially when players have been practically begging for core improvements since Shadowbringers. SE could’ve used that momentum to overhaul outdated systems, improve backend tools, or finally address long-standing issues like glam limits and housing—not exactly cutting-edge tech, but rather long-overdue maintenance.

I don’t think failed projects like Forspoken or Avengers are the reason XIV didn’t get love—but they do show how misaligned SE’s priorities have been. It’s hard to watch revenue from the company’s strongest title be funnelled into duds while the flagship MMO coasts.

So yeah—we might be looking at it from different angles, but we’re both calling out the same thing in the end: SE had what it needed to do right by XIV players… and it didn’t. So now they need to.

[All_Nonsense]

Fair point

It seems we're both very familiar with ye olde corpa stuff, so I'll skip all the pretense. It seems we both approached the situation from different altitudes despite heading in the same direction. I wanted to highlight the absurdity of SE's capital allocation decisions, as they have quite literally done everything short of intentional self-sabotage. I don't take a lot of things seriously, even when I'm being serious, so that's why I tend to word things in very circular, conceptually abstract ways. However, I am a firm believer in feeding winners to sustain growth as opposed to bleeding them constantly just to make what are, in essence, reckless gambles chasing the comet-tail of old trends. In my original statement I did make the expectation that one would extrapolate the fact that engine upgrades, QoL focus, and better content research and development would have not only have been a much safer investment, but were essentially a necessity for a high lifespan, live service game; and that expectation created an environment for misconception. In a way it was an argument that could have been better communicated, but wasn't done in bad faith.

We've paid a lot of money just to play the game over the years when you consider the full-price expansions, early accesses, and monthly subscription payments. The expectation is that there will be some exercise of the basic principle of "reinforce success" and not cooking their portfolio. I don't attribute those failures as the cause of the trouble SE is in now, I view them as symptomatic of the true problem that's now finally infected FF14 (horrid managerial practice...maybe not even. Poor executive decision making and planning more like). Now that the game has hit a point of stagnation, it's highly unlikely they'll be able to effectively recover without an immense amount of effort and some pain, and in my personal opinion we're not looking at a dev team who is motivated, prepared, nor skilled enough to pull this off any longer. I think that's the core of my grievance.

We both clearly love the game and wish it was better, and I could have been less bastardy with our communication. I apologize for that.

[MaikoRaines]

We both clearly love the game and wish it was better, and I could have been less bastardy with our communication. I apologize for that.

It’s clear you’ve been here for the long haul, and I get where you’re coming from.

You’re right that there’s a lot we don’t know happening behind the curtain. Corporate shifts, internal fatigue, team shuffling—all of it likely plays a role. I don’t think anyone’s pretending it’s easy to run a live service this long without friction. And I’ll fully admit: I’ve enjoyed parts of this expansion too. Echoes of Vana’diel especially hit hard as someone who also spent too many years lost in FFXI.

But here’s where I still dig my heels in a bit: Square Enix had the moment—massive subs, critical goodwill, a surge of new and returning players—and they let it slip. Not because the devs failed, but because someone upstairs decided to divert focus, split attention, or just plain overextend the talent. And that hurts when you know how much better this game could’ve been with sustained reinvestment.

I don’t think DT is a total failure either, but it does feel like a wake-up call. And I agree with you completely: transparency and accountability have to come back. Because if we keep acting like "this is just the cycle," that moment of potential? It’s not coming back. And we’re gonna look around one day wondering how we got another Babylon’s Fall while the golden goose got stale. I doubt we'll ever get to that point but it's still a thought...

Glad we can have this kind of exchange without it getting petty. That’s rare these days, especially in the forums/hellscape.

[All_Nonsense]

snip

We're in agreement then. I don't believe in the concept of total failure outside of physical mechanics and maybe some fringe cases. The moment Dawntrail had a single fan and made some money there was a degree of success. Since the concept of success is widely considered subjective and nuanced, I personally believe that makes it a spectrum. How much success they need to be profitable is a breakpoint, how much to hit player retention is a different, modulating breakpoint at any given time, and how much they need to grow is another. They should have been cognizant of this, so why they never acted on it is a mystery. Obviously the ShB gold rush had to come to an end at some point (I don't believe in infinite growth either), but good god were they so critically unprepared for it that the incredible plummet afterwards is almost comedic by nature. They've fallen off a deep sea shelf here, it's nuts. I oftentimes wonder if they weren't planning on going past EW but felt compelled to due to the ShB explosion. We can't be for certain.

Also thanks for not being insane. I woulda still replied, but for anyone familiar with me on the forums, those kinds of replies tend to go a little different

[MaikoRaines]

thanks for not being insane. I woulda still replied, but for anyone familiar with me on the forums, those kinds of replies tend to go a little different

I get it. My own history is littered with nothing but taking jabs at people who have - lets just say - "differing opinions"

[MaikoRaines]

I get it. My own history is littered with nothing but taking jabs at people who have - lets just say - "differing opinions"

For example...

We had many shills today with: ''I am not defending Square Enix but...", "Can you really blame them?". Nice one

Where am I or do I shill a company I have been heavily critiquing? Reading is fundamental.