2026 FanFests

[Dastan]

*looks at sub numbers continually dropping*
*looks at SE having "funding issues"*

um, I hate to break this to you buuuuuut............

You don't know what a dying game looks like. That's the problem. I've been playing MMOs for years. Servers aren't shutting down anytime soon. This the 2nd most popular MMO on the market, even with hiccups. You don't get to 2nd place without doing something right. There are loyalists for a reason. And the things currently wrong with the game, you know those are going to be addressed and there will be an attempt at fixing them so long as we continue giving feedback, which they are actively listening to.

They read the forums. They know what people are complaining about. Don't think they don't for a minute. It's just a matter of time. That's all. But I get waiting is painful. That's the core issue of the game. It's the wait.

[Jeeqbit]

The difference is that Endwalker's lows were still decent. We're not even halfway through Dawntrail, and the Steam charts have already hit a monthly low not seen since late 2020. Luckybancho also noted that FFXIV lost active players during a period when those numbers had always gone up in past expansions. We can't expect people to keep coming back forever.

I agree with all that and some people won't come back, but overall, I think that a lot of people who quit just end up returning eventually anyway because SE has their email address to remind them of patches and free login campaigns. I also just meet people in the game or even see people on the forums who "quit" but they couldn't help themselves but to eventually come back eventually, at least for a month.

Also we have an example with WoW where no matter how much people "quit" and doomed on the game for years, they kept coming back due to sunk cost or some other reason, especially at expansion launches.

[Tint]

You don't know what a dying game looks like. That's the problem. I've been playing MMOs for years. Servers aren't shutting down anytime soon. This the 2nd most popular MMO on the market, even with hiccups. You don't get to 2nd place without doing something right. There are loyalists for a reason. And the things currently wrong with the game, you know those are going to be addressed and there will be an attempt at fixing them so long as we continue giving feedback, which they are actively listening to.

They read the forums. They know what people are complaining about. Don't think they don't for a minute. It's just a matter of time. That's all. But I get waiting is painful. That's the core issue of the game. It's the wait.

If they would listen we wouldn't be in this mess. We have given feedback since ShB that healer and tank gameplay was dumbed down and boring. What did they do? They dumbed down the DDs as well.

It's just not fun to play the jobs anymore.

And then, to compensate for the lack of interesting jobs, they added more DDR fight mechanics, which also we have lots of feedback given that people don't like these fights. And the visual clutter.


The game was fine in SB. But then, for whatever reason, they dismantled it step by step, while the community kept saying they should stop doing that.


Oh and then we still don't have a proper personal housing system, no glamour unlocks, no glamour catalouge, despite overwhelming feedback for more than 10 years now that the systems we got suck.

[Khutulun]

You don't know what a dying game looks like. That's the problem. I've been playing MMOs for years. Servers aren't shutting down anytime soon. This the 2nd most popular MMO on the market, even with hiccups. You don't get to 2nd place without doing something right. There are loyalists for a reason. And the things currently wrong with the game, you know those are going to be addressed and there will be an attempt at fixing them so long as we continue giving feedback, which they are actively listening to.

They read the forums. They know what people are complaining about. Don't think they don't for a minute. It's just a matter of time. That's all. But I get waiting is painful. That's the core issue of the game. It's the wait.

Issue: there's been multiple foundational failings rotting away for min 3 expansions now that have received endless feedback. That's 6 going on 7 years of feedback that hasn't resulted in anything. I don't think it's much surprise that some players (especially the older ones) are tilted, leaving, or outright apathetic/sarcastic about the situation. It's not just that FF14 has a long wait assigned to change, it's that in many areas there's no sign of change at all. I myself am more hopeful, but I've not been around long enough to have my spirit broken by the crushing weight of near total inaction.

[Kunzite_Lockhart]

Seems like Yoshi-P is aware of the 8.0 late release speculation, since he added this at the end of his new letter:

"With that business aside, I was very pleased to announce the next Fan Festival yesterday, on the twelfth anniversary of FFXIV…
(And one more thing: for those wondering what comes after the Japan Fan Fest…
while I can't give any details just yet, rest assured you won't have to wait long.)"

Source: https://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes...02e0c425de74aa

[Carin-Eri]

Seems like Yoshi-P is aware of the 8.0 late release speculation, since he added this at the end of his new letter:

"With that business aside, I was very pleased to announce the next Fan Festival yesterday, on the twelfth anniversary of FFXIV…
(And one more thing: for those wondering what comes after the Japan Fan Fest…
while I can't give any details just yet, rest assured you won't have to wait long.)"

Source: https://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodes...02e0c425de74aa

Well, have to acknowledge that there is a glimmer of hope in that statement.

[remiff]

Yes, there is indeed a glimmer of hope, but it’s better not to expect anything on this matter until we have official information, and all of this feels so far away.
I’m just wondering how they’re going to integrate the whole media tour, the LL of jobs, etc.,
so quickly… there’s no way they’ll be able to do all that in just one month.

[Carin-Eri]

Yes, there is indeed a glimmer of hope, but it’s better not to expect anything on this matter until we have official information, and all of this feels so far away.
I’m just wondering how they’re going to integrate the whole media tour, the LL of jobs, etc.,
so quickly… there’s no way they’ll be able to do all that in just one month.

Agreed - I guess it is still pretty ambiguous; just ambiguous with a hint of 'might not be quite as bad as we thought'.

[Carin-Eri]

You don't know what a dying game looks like. That's the problem. I've been playing MMOs for years. Servers aren't shutting down anytime soon. This the 2nd most popular MMO on the market, even with hiccups. You don't get to 2nd place without doing something right. There are loyalists for a reason. And the things currently wrong with the game, you know those are going to be addressed and there will be an attempt at fixing them so long as we continue giving feedback, which they are actively listening to.

They read the forums. They know what people are complaining about. Don't think they don't for a minute. It's just a matter of time. That's all. But I get waiting is painful. That's the core issue of the game. It's the wait.

Agreed.

Even when an MMO is genuinely struggling, they tend to solider on, even if on 'life support'.