Emphasize extended trial period on the top page

[Lenneth_Valkyrie]

I was thinking that.. to bring more people to try and play FFXIV, the fact that the game is temporarily free to play as the trial has been extended to an indefinite length, should be emphasized on the Lodestone main page.. I'm sure it will encourage more people to try it..

Since there is no hint about it, I think that many uninformed newcomers might be intimidated by the negative reviews that are actually around, paired with the idea of having to pay a monthly fee..

[Betelgeuzah]

Why should there be newcomers with the game being as-is? Save them for when it matters....

[Lenneth_Valkyrie]

The more people interested.. the more will know that the new development team is working towards improving the game..

And anyways.. aren't just alot of people complaining that they feel lonely in towns other than Ul'Dah..?

[Betelgeuzah]

All people need to know about is the end result, they're not interested in the construction yard.

[Lenneth_Valkyrie]

So.. following your train of thought playing a beta is useless..?

I was just saying that probably it was a good idea to let people get the message "hey, we know the game was bad when it launched but the servers are open and you can play for free while we're working to turn this game into a good game.."
In the end it all depends on Square Enix.. if they want more people to play now or not.. :/

[Darkshade]

I feel that many casual players aren't going to want to play a game that is heavily a work in progress. They'll ultimately feel put off by the idea or after they put it into practice.

I even question my own motivations for continually playing occasionaly.

1.) Am I having fun?/Does the game reach the criteria of entertainment required for myself to consider it not a waste of time? - Rarely/Occasionaly

2.) Why am I playing if I'm not having a desired level of entertainment? - For extended evaluation purposes. Because of product and brand loyalty to SQUARE. "Because it has potential and I have enjoyed other products by the same company including their previous MMO."

Honestly I think most players that come into the game later than sooner are going to ultimately have a better time with the game. There will be a vast amount of new content. There will be a vast amount of reworking to broken or bugged system and content. As all MMOs go, things will be made more accessible and easier. There won't be events that consist of bringing up your main menu to interact with a stationary object every set amount of hours.

The big question is, when is the game going to be at this redeemable point and will it be enough to save it from mediocrity or failure. To be honest, I'm very worried about XIV's future. I don't know if any amount of updates can save it from the early reviews it has received, even a PS3 release that receives a higher score. As a SQUARE fan I'm really desperately hoping they can turn this around.

These of course are all just my opinions and you shouldn't take them as fact.

[Gracious]

I don't really think advertising that it is free will bring in more players. I think word of mouth has the most to do with it. Right now people are getting alot of feedback on the forums on how players view the game as to if they want to play or not. I am really disheartened by this. After observing the forums for a period of time, I find many of the threads are flames or created by players that don't actually play the game. I feel I have fully immersed into 14 and embraced it now. It took some time as I was an 11 player and fan. I kept trying to compare it to 11. Now, I see the game as it is and what it will become. I enjoy playing 14. I team up with my fellow linkshell members for crafting and leve sharing and the comraderie is great. I am enthusiastic about all the upcoming changes as well. My linkshell mates are having fun too. Why am I going into all this; because you don't see my viewpoint on most forums as they are overrun with players that post flame threads. If people saw that the game is enjoyable they would come. Right now many of the threads are nothing but hate rants. It makes me sad.