The state of the Game

[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.