FFXIV Surpassed 10m PlayersFollow

Like there's anyone left to react.

Wonder when they'll ever release how many people are actually playing the game, since every unofficial parse, even during 4.0 still sets it between 340-770k +/- during expansion and even patch updates (as thats when actual content is released.)

The article also said it was one of the top 10 sub MMOs, so i'm more curious what the other 9 are since there hasn't been that many sub MMOs that were mainstream, let alone popular enough to be in a 'top 10' in the past decade lol. Wonder if they consider 'freemium' as a sub based MMO.

No matter the subject, people have an incredibly hard time walking away from things they've invested so much time in. I mean, look at all the folks who still play FFXI despite the fact SE has basically said, "We're not making any more real content, and here's this wrap-up mission where you literally get the end scene/credits." Yes, some folks still find FFXI's gameplay to be fun... but a lot also just don't want to abandon all that virtual gear, their linkshell mates, etc... and I'm not saying that to knock on it, but that's just the way it is.

I have a RL friend who I can't pry away from WoW to play anything else. I have another RL friend who I can't pry away from Diablo III. I just finally quit FFXI for good after years of not being able to separate from it.

Cell phones, social media, THIS FORUM, etc... all this habit-forming stuff is just hard to quit, even when these things are far past their primes.

I wouldn't be surprised if they count the F2P games with optional subs that usually confer some sort of perk. So, if you rule out Korean-exclusive things, that'd still leave the possibility of stuff like Rift, Tera, and Aion being on the list. Not sure if stuff like BDO, Archeage, or GW2 could count, either. Either way, that'd be 8/10 with XIV and WoW included, 9 with XI in mind, too.

Meanwhile, there's a part of me that wants to argue that creating environments people don't want to let go of may be a sign of bad, or more aptly, predatory game design. As Lyr noted, some unfortunately gravitate toward PvP, or more succinctly, griefing people who can't hope to put up a fight. More on the PvE side of things, you get things that can be super rare or grindy to the point it starts conflicting with that desire to not want all that invested time to come off wasted. Socially, I can't say I've ever formed so strong a bond through MMOs that not being able to play with someone, or not establish a means to communicate with them outside of the game, has been a thing. On the other hand, I've also been one who hasn't been fond of "forced" multiplayer aspects with steep/prolonged expectations because no two players' lives are the same and balancing standards around a minority demographic results in a lot of unseen content or the inability to access on demand.

If I had to make any sort of guess as to why XIV isn't doing as well as some may feel it should, there are probably a few factors at play:
1) The original launch is still a sticking point for some.
2) Some might not trust SE because they did play XI.
3) They're tired of MMOs in general.
4) Advertising exposure for non-gamers is arguably non-existent outside of expansion releases.
5) They're WRPG snobs.
6) Why pay a sub when there are other games of acceptable quality for free?
7) Aesthetic may come off too "anime" for some.

And likely more I'm not thinking of off the top of my head, nevermind game specifics like the isolated PvP or gear longevity. Overall, I'd still advocate my philosophy that it's better for people to play a wide variety of games, but going hardcore into MMOs or something like D3 doesn't allow that. It blinds one to how certain issues may be handled, while helping to keep things fresh by avoiding overexposure. Frankly, I'm expecting an eventual shift more toward solo RPGs with multiplayer elements, much as some may kick and scream against it. Add to that the ability for players to create their own content and you'd get a wellspring of entertainment to tap into between dev cycles.

Lack of WPvP is one of the highlights of FFXIV for me.

Active subscriptions(read: population) only matters up to the point of having enough other people to play with for group-based content. WoW has passed this point. FFXIV has passed this point. Hell, FFXI is STILL past this point.

I currently play 4 MMOs, none of which are WoW or FFXIV. ALL of them have lower 'active subscribers' than WoW or FFXIV. ALL of them are more enjoyable to me than WoW or FFXIV despite clearly losing the popularity contest. None of that has any bearing on how much I am able to enjoy any of them, WoW or FFXIV included.

The only player here who is salty is the FFXIV 1.0 player. This game was initially based on an original concept. Now they're patting themselves on the back for becoming 'more like WoW'. I'm not certain why you would think WoW players would be upset by this.

There is no inverse relationship between these games. One doesn't get better as the other gets worse. XIV put themselves in more direct competition with WoW, but that's smart from a business aspect(if you ignore it's impact on FFXI). Competition is good for both business and consumers*,





*FFXI

Eh, I hate to say this but 1.0 sucked. There was pretty much nothing good about it that I could see when I tested it back during beta. It was archaic, the engine did not work very well whatsoever, and the UI was just entirely horrible. I've also seen video clips of later-game footage, such as the Garuda fight and... yay, the tank is standing there for 20+ seconds auto-attacking... that's... "awesome" gameplay, innit? Kinda like FFXI all over again... no, thanks. If I wanted FFXI, I'd log into FFXI (which I still do).

Becoming "more like WoW' was a huge improvement that I think many players would agree upon (hence why ARR is far more popular and well-received).

Many WoW players, on the other hand, are incredibly jealous about their game. You see it on forums, they get vehemently defensive about WoW is "THE BEST!" but yet these days... WoW really isn't the best and they are having to reach further and further to try to defend the mess that is WoW these days. The avid WoW player wants to defend his game, but is finding it harder to do so when FFXIV just keeps getting better.

He doesn't want to have to eat crow and admit that WoW is no longer the best and that FFXIV is better.

That's why some WoW players are probably getting salty at this point, at least the avid fanbois anyways.



I wouldn't say FFXIV "competes" with WoW when Yoshida himself said that he wants FFXIV players to play other games too, lol. His team designed FFXIV to be a more casual game that leaves you time to play other stuff which is one of the reasons why (at least for me) FFXIV is far better than most other MMOs. I can maintain an active sub in FFXIV and if I want more time in it, there's stuff for me to do but if I don't feel like playing it for a few days, no big deal I can catch up later. I'll binge on XIV for awhile, and then take a break from it for a few days to do something else a couple weeks later. I like to rotate my games, keeps things fresh.

EDIT: Full disclaimer: I used to be an "avid" WoW player. There was a time I once played it for 25+ hours per week. I used to love WoW, but I gotta admit... they ruined the game, turned it into a hot mess. It was so sad to see the decline, but oh well. It is what it is. I'm just thankful that XIV is here to step up to the plate and provide me with many of the things I enjoyed about WoW, without the things I hated (like World PvP).

Edited, Aug 27th 2017 7:41pm by Lyrailis

Two things I miss about 1.0:

- Open-world NMs that couldn't be claimed by EVERYONE.

- Those missions where you gathered at camps on the half hour (or 15 mins?) and defeated groups of monsters. Caravan missions?

Other than that, I'm good with ARR and beyond.

Behests?

Well I just re-subbed last night 2 hours before maintenance. Things are a wee bit different on my Warrior but still managed to tank a couple lower level dungeons easily enough.