Gonna point out Squares current strategy for sub numbers and financial reports to investors.
Financial report will be due at the end of March.
Square push out a major patch just before this time to maximize interest, not happy with this they also give out free subscriber time to anyone that wants it (expect lots of advertising pushing f2p). The longest ever free "weekend" campaign just before a financial report is due when these free players will be classed as subscribers.
Given this I expect a lot more than I initially did, because if they can't pull really big numbers right after a major patch and with large numbers of free to play players then it will show the true state of things.
I'm more interested in seeing the financial report than I was before realizing Squares strategy now. It's kinda funny how far they will go though, they can't lie to investors so they do things like this.
Coincidentally Square-Enix is releasing the first major expansion pack around the same time as these interest-maximizing actions. But surely that is in no way related to SE's current strategy since it's not like it's in SE's best interests to boost the game's reception in the long-term with an expansion pack (as well as the reception coming to the exp pack) and far more likely that they're acting solely out of short-term interests to appease the investors that their now-stable-for-2-years-cash-cow will remain stable/growing for the following year too.
Hell, it's not like SE has been thinking long-term with the FFXIV project so far either. You're truly on to something here.
Whatever their financial reports say will soon be nullified by the expansion in either case, so you can't shut your ears for too long regarding the game's ongoing success with this rationale I'm afraid.
Well, to be fair the point I was making is that they have a free access of nearly 2 weeks just before the financial report. Those free access players are now classed as subscribed.
A p2p game needing f2p players to pump up "sub" numbers in a financial report to investers is kinda odd, maybe it's just me that thinks so. Since you didn't reply about that I assume you agree.
Well, to be fair the point I was making is that they have a free access of nearly 2 weeks just before the financial report. Those free access players are now classed as subscribed.
A p2p game needing f2p players to pump up "sub" numbers in a financial report to investers is kinda odd, maybe it's just me that thinks so. Since you didn't reply about that I assume you agree.
Your premise is flawed from the outset. There is no signs whatsoever to indicate that free access players are given the subscribed status, as simply being able to play the game is a completely different matter than being subscribed to it. With your presupposition you have no grounds to make such claim. In addition SE's fiscal year ends on March 31st, 2015. How you came to the conclusion that SE can use """"subscriber numbers"""" of February 27th to March 9th to indicate subscriber numbers at the end of March is completely without reason.
I didn't reply to your premise because it is complete nonsense. You have absolutely no argument that there actually exists a causal relationship between a free week following a well-received patch and investor meeting a month later. All you have is the knowledge that these two events happen within a month of each other. From this information you came to the conclusions that a) free access players are now somehow classified as subscribers and b) the free week is done for the investor meeting and nothing more, even when we are approaching a major expansion release that is an extremely important time for any MMORPG (a detail that you conveniently chose to ignore in your initial post as well as the one I am replying to. How surprising).
To end this farce of yours investors care about annual revenue numbers, not a non-figure like subscribtion numbers within a two-week-period. It is simply not relevant to the degree you make it out to be unless the sub numbers in itself has value. Which is true for the WoW players feeling threatened by FFXIV and clinging to the only reliable strawman they can use in their defense, but not so much for financial investors.
Maybe this is all an Illuminati conspiracy? Let me go get my tinfoil hat just in case...
Using LOL is like saying "my argument sucks but I still want to disagree".
You really don't need to say more, it's painfully obvious you don't even play this game. To say that FFXIV pumps out more content than all those games combined is hardly an overstatement.
The servers are going to collapse come Heavensward.
Still don't say sub, see how they word it, make people think is sub, is how many accounts they have, what was it last year 2 mil? but didn't have even 1 mil sub.
I wonder which fools people more, the fact they're providing vague information regarding player numbers or by treating the game as if they had WoW-like sub numbers? More importantly, who (aside from WoW players feeling threatened) gives a damn since the figure has no actual significance?
There number sure keeps going up:) not even a hit from WoD expack when every other game took big hit losing people to it.
If we are talking about accounts created then that guy definitely doesn't have a leg to stand on. WoW announced 1-3years ago that they have passed 100m accounts. 100m! FFXIV is not even in the same league in terms of numbers. Not saying it's not a great game but it certainly is no where near WoW successful in financial terms.
I for one, am glad it's not as big as WoW. Look how WoW has changed in order to maintain itself? If I wanted that, I'd play WoW.
WoW was wildly successful right from the start. Vanilla had 6-8m subs, TBC went to 8-10m, WOTLK - 12m etc. WoW changed because times change and what was the standard 10 years ago no longer works.
Besides if anything, FFXIV is very similar to the CURRENT iteration of WoW. It's solo levelling till max level than queue for dungeons/raids. True there are systems which are better like crafting and they have housing but ultimately FFXIV is just as much the lobby game as WoW if we want to go there.
I actually liked a lot of things of FFXIV and it's probably my most played MMO recently but I physically hate the combat. The combat is ultra slow, playing a white mage compared to the healers of WoW is just sad. WoW's healing and tanking is so much more involved, responsive and fun. WHM was something like cure, cure, cure, aoe spell from time to time, dispel. It doesn't help that there's only 2 healing classes. Classes are too one dimensional.
The main difference between the games as I have seen is in how many options are available to the player. Now, I cannot say that I have experienced WoD's endgame, I honestly could not bring myself to cap. I had gotten as far as to build the garrison and hated the concept. I knew everything about WoD from that point on centered on the garrison. And the expansion prior was even worse. MoP? Bahh, Timeless Isle destroyed any concept of endgame progression by showering you with entry raid level gear. Leaving you with exactly 1 option for endgame progression. Raid.
So there are things you are focusing on that mean something to you that may not mean the same thing to me. I want a game that I can log into without watching my end-game option whittle down the further I progress.
FFXIV has the best endgame options. If I want to do a WoW-style vertical progression, I can. But it's not "Ding 50, get your welfare epics and hit LFR". There is still some dungeon progression required too. If I don't want a vertical progression, There is plenty of horizontal progression as well. I can level up a different class and play style on the same character. I can pick up any crafting I want to. And crafting is very good. I am a huge crafter in my games. I don't know of many others in the MMO world who view it like I do. There are those who like to craft because it's crafting they like. There are those who craft to play the economy meta. But for me, I enjoy the satisfaction of creating my own gear. It makes it much more worthwhile for me to wear an item I made vs something I picked up or bought with tokens. Even if it's slightly less effective stat-wise. If It's good enough for me to get the job done without a noticeable decrease, I'll chose my own gear. While I am disappointed crafted gear isn't as good as the best raid loot gear, it's still good enough to carry me well into raiding if I choose that path. And that is what matters......That I can choose.
The game is still a" next gen" MMO, but at the same time, XIV is the closest thing to old school MMORPGs I have seen available today. It's all about options.
You really don't need to say more, it's painfully obvious you don't even play this game. To say that FFXIV pumps out more content than all those games combined is hardly an overstatement.
The servers are going to collapse come Heavensward.
Still don't say sub, see how they word it, make people think is sub, is how many accounts they have, what was it last year 2 mil? but didn't have even 1 mil sub.
I wonder which fools people more, the fact they're providing vague information regarding player numbers or by treating the game as if they had WoW-like sub numbers? More importantly, who (aside from WoW players feeling threatened) gives a damn since the figure has no actual significance?
There number sure keeps going up:) not even a hit from WoD expack when every other game took big hit losing people to it.
If we are talking about accounts created then that guy definitely doesn't have a leg to stand on. WoW announced 1-3years ago that they have passed 100m accounts. 100m! FFXIV is not even in the same league in terms of numbers. Not saying it's not a great game but it certainly is no where near WoW successful in financial terms.
I for one, am glad it's not as big as WoW. Look how WoW has changed in order to maintain itself? If I wanted that, I'd play WoW.
WoW was wildly successful right from the start. Vanilla had 6-8m subs, TBC went to 8-10m, WOTLK - 12m etc. WoW changed because times change and what was the standard 10 years ago no longer works.
Besides if anything, FFXIV is very similar to the CURRENT iteration of WoW. It's solo levelling till max level than queue for dungeons/raids. True there are systems which are better like crafting and they have housing but ultimately FFXIV is just as much the lobby game as WoW if we want to go there.
I actually liked a lot of things of FFXIV and it's probably my most played MMO recently but I physically hate the combat. The combat is ultra slow, playing a white mage compared to the healers of WoW is just sad. WoW's healing and tanking is so much more involved, responsive and fun. WHM was something like cure, cure, cure, aoe spell from time to time, dispel. It doesn't help that there's only 2 healing classes. Classes are too one dimensional.
The main difference between the games as I have seen is in how many options are available to the player. Now, I cannot say that I have experienced WoD's endgame, I honestly could not bring myself to cap. I had gotten as far as to build the garrison and hated the concept. I knew everything about WoD from that point on centered on the garrison. And the expansion prior was even worse. MoP? Bahh, Timeless Isle destroyed any concept of endgame progression by showering you with entry raid level gear. Leaving you with exactly 1 option for endgame progression. Raid.
Garrissons was just another thing you can do in addition to everything else. I have seen other people complain garrissons and instead of ignoring that feature, they say the whole game is not worth it. It's yet another thing you can do at max level but you don't need to. I barely do anything in the garrisson other than queue up missions from time to time and only if I am around a mission board.
I never played MOP so I can't say much.
So there are things you are focusing on that mean something to you that may not mean the same thing to me. I want a game that I can log into without watching my end-game option whittle down the further I progress.
FFXIV has the best endgame options. If I want to do a WoW-style vertical progression, I can. But it's not "Ding 50, get your welfare epics and hit LFR". There is still some dungeon progression required too. If I don't want a vertical progression, There is plenty of horizontal progression as well. I can level up a different class and play style on the same character. I can pick up any crafting I want to. And crafting is very good. I am a huge crafter in my games. I don't know of many others in the MMO world who view it like I do. There are those who like to craft because it's crafting they like. There are those who craft to play the economy meta. But for me, I enjoy the satisfaction of creating my own gear. It makes it much more worthwhile for me to wear an item I made vs something I picked up or bought with tokens. Even if it's slightly less effective stat-wise. If It's good enough for me to get the job done without a noticeable decrease, I'll chose my own gear. While I am disappointed crafted gear isn't as good as the best raid loot gear, it's still good enough to carry me well into raiding if I choose that path. And that is what matters......That I can choose.
Why does everyone get so hooked on the epic thing. True in vanilla epics were more rare but ultimately it's not the colour of the item that is the big factor, it's the actual item. True in later expansions epics are easier to get but the easy ones to get are trash anyway. DOn't tell me the only thing that matters to you is the colour? LFR is there as ANOTHER option for end game for people who can't commit to static groups. WHat's so bad about having more options? Mythic raiding is the old school raiding we had from vanilla/tbc.
Horizontal progression - you can always level up a new class in WoW too? Crafting is definitely better than in WOW.
So basically all your options from FFXIV are in WOW too. Main difference is crafting system is much better in FFXIV and they have housing. However, housing is ridiculously expensive so I could never afford a house so it might as well not exist ....
WoW however has PvP which is actually fun, whereas FFXIV is a joke for PvP. WoW has other options like Battle pets and Archeology.
The game is still a" next gen" MMO, but at the same time, XIV is the closest thing to old school MMORPGs I have seen available today. It's all about options.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
Well, to be fair the point I was making is that they have a free access of nearly 2 weeks just before the financial report. Those free access players are now classed as subscribed.
A p2p game needing f2p players to pump up "sub" numbers in a financial report to investers is kinda odd, maybe it's just me that thinks so. Since you didn't reply about that I assume you agree.
Your premise is flawed from the outset. There is no signs whatsoever to indicate that free access players are given the subscribed status, as simply being able to play the game is a completely different matter than being subscribed to it. With your presupposition you have no grounds to make such claim. In addition SE's fiscal year ends on March 31st, 2015. How you came to the conclusion that SE can use """"subscriber numbers"""" of February 27th to March 9th to indicate subscriber numbers at the end of March is completely without reason.
I didn't reply to your premise because it is complete nonsense. You have absolutely no argument that there actually exists a causal relationship between a free week following a well-received patch and investor meeting a month later. All you have is the knowledge that these two events happen within a month of each other. From this information you came to the conclusions that a) free access players are now somehow classified as subscribers and b) the free week is done for the investor meeting and nothing more, even when we are approaching a major expansion release that is an extremely important time for any MMORPG (a detail that you conveniently chose to ignore in your initial post as well as the one I am replying to. How surprising).
To end this farce of yours investors care about annual revenue numbers, not a non-figure like subscribtion numbers within a two-week-period. It is simply not relevant to the degree you make it out to be unless the sub numbers in itself has value. Which is true for the WoW players feeling threatened by FFXIV and clinging to the only reliable strawman they can use in their defense, but not so much for financial investors.
Maybe this is all an Illuminati conspiracy? Let me go get my tinfoil hat just in case...
Well of course they are, the game isn't free to play so they have to be given subscriber access to be able to play, unless you're saying all subscribers are not paying for this 10 days?. This is pretty basic logic XD
They are also doing all this in March jsut before the financial report, the free to play weekend is nearly 2 weeks. They have never done one this long before.
1 +1 = 2 You don't have to say tinfoil when it's this obvious.
Well, to be fair the point I was making is that they have a free access of nearly 2 weeks just before the financial report. Those free access players are now classed as subscribed.
A p2p game needing f2p players to pump up "sub" numbers in a financial report to investers is kinda odd, maybe it's just me that thinks so. Since you didn't reply about that I assume you agree.
Your premise is flawed from the outset. There is no signs whatsoever to indicate that free access players are given the subscribed status, as simply being able to play the game is a completely different matter than being subscribed to it. With your presupposition you have no grounds to make such claim. In addition SE's fiscal year ends on March 31st, 2015. How you came to the conclusion that SE can use """"subscriber numbers"""" of February 27th to March 9th to indicate subscriber numbers at the end of March is completely without reason.
I didn't reply to your premise because it is complete nonsense. You have absolutely no argument that there actually exists a causal relationship between a free week following a well-received patch and investor meeting a month later. All you have is the knowledge that these two events happen within a month of each other. From this information you came to the conclusions that a) free access players are now somehow classified as subscribers and b) the free week is done for the investor meeting and nothing more, even when we are approaching a major expansion release that is an extremely important time for any MMORPG (a detail that you conveniently chose to ignore in your initial post as well as the one I am replying to. How surprising).
To end this farce of yours investors care about annual revenue numbers, not a non-figure like subscribtion numbers within a two-week-period. It is simply not relevant to the degree you make it out to be unless the sub numbers in itself has value. Which is true for the WoW players feeling threatened by FFXIV and clinging to the only reliable strawman they can use in their defense, but not so much for financial investors.
Maybe this is all an Illuminati conspiracy? Let me go get my tinfoil hat just in case...
Well of course they are, the game isn't free to play so they have to be given subscriber access to be able to play, unless you're saying all subscribers are not paying for this 10 days?. This is pretty basic logic XD
They are also doing all this in March jsut before the financial report, the free to play weekend is nearly 2 weeks. They have never done one this long before.
1 +1 = 2 You don't have to say tinfoil when it's this obvious.
Or the game is simply being opened up for non-subscribers. In this equation non-subscribers do not suddenly become subscribers but are simply given similar access to the game. This scenario is just as plausible (if not more so) as your own 100% made up scenario.
They have never been about to release a major expansion before either. A fact you once again overlook. If there is something completely obvious here it is your tendency to overlook all the facts to support your own (increasingly nonsensical) theory.
Maybe the third time you ignore the fact an expansion pack is coming will make it disappear as a plausible scenario? Nobody on these forums has ever been this dense about acknowledging a fact that completely ruins their theory before. Where is Heavensward in your 1+1=2 equation? 1+1=39½ is more like it in your case.
Using LOL is like saying "my argument sucks but I still want to disagree".
Originally posted by scorpex-x Originally posted by HyanmenOriginally posted by scorpex-xGonna point out Squares current strategy for sub numbers and financial reports to investors.Financial report will be due at the end of March.Square push out a major patch just before this time to maximize interest, not happy with this they also give out free subscriber time to anyone that wants it (expect lots of advertising pushing f2p). The longest ever free "weekend" campaign just before a financial report is due when these free players will be classed as subscribers.Given this I expect a lot more than I initially did, because if they can't pull really big numbers right after a major patch and with large numbers of free to play players then it will show the true state of things.I'm more interested in seeing the financial report than I was before realizing Squares strategy now. It's kinda funny how far they will go though, they can't lie to investors so they do things like this.
Coincidentally Square-Enix is releasing the first major expansion pack around the same time as these interest-maximizing actions. But surely that is in no way related to SE's current strategy since it's not like it's in SE's best interests to boost the game's reception in the long-term with an expansion pack (as well as the reception coming to the exp pack) and far more likely that they're acting solely out of short-term interests to appease the investors that their now-stable-for-2-years-cash-cow will remain stable/growing for the following year too. Hell, it's not like SE has been thinking long-term with the FFXIV project so far either. You're truly on to something here. Whatever their financial reports say will soon be nullified by the expansion in either case, so you can't shut your ears for too long regarding the game's ongoing success with this rationale I'm afraid.Well, to be fair the point I was making is that they have a free access of nearly 2 weeks just before the financial report. Those free access players are now classed as subscribed.
A p2p game needing f2p players to pump up "sub" numbers in a financial report to investers is kinda odd, maybe it's just me that thinks so. Since you didn't reply about that I assume you agree.
They don't count free accounts as part of their subs. Confirmed last year in an interview. Moving on...
You really don't need to say more, it's painfully obvious you don't even play this game. To say that FFXIV pumps out more content than all those games combined is hardly an overstatement.In other news, FFXIV has broken the 4 million accounts milestone: http://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/053fde1539272640c4e2b362042d0d2686f228b1The servers are going to collapse come Heavensward.
Still don't say sub, see how they word it, make people think is sub, is how many accounts they have, what was it last year 2 mil? but didn't have even 1 mil sub.
I wonder which fools people more, the fact they're providing vague information regarding player numbers or by treating the game as if they had WoW-like sub numbers? More importantly, who (aside from WoW players feeling threatened) gives a damn since the figure has no actual significance?
When they says 4 million accounts, is just accounts if you believe that they have 4 million sub, then you can explain last year when they hit over 2 mil http://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantasy-14-a-realm-reborn-bags-over-two-million-registered-accounts/ this was last year, a month or 2 older then the report that had with only under 1 mil sub with all 3 games.There number sure keeps going up:) not even a hit from WoD expack when every other game took big hit losing people to it.
If we are talking about accounts created then that guy definitely doesn't have a leg to stand on. WoW announced 1-3years ago that they have passed 100m accounts. 100m! FFXIV is not even in the same league in terms of numbers. Not saying it's not a great game but it certainly is no where near WoW successful in financial terms.
I for one, am glad it's not as big as WoW. Look how WoW has changed in order to maintain itself? If I wanted that, I'd play WoW.
WoW was wildly successful right from the start. Vanilla had 6-8m subs, TBC went to 8-10m, WOTLK - 12m etc. WoW changed because times change and what was the standard 10 years ago no longer works.Besides if anything, FFXIV is very similar to the CURRENT iteration of WoW. It's solo levelling till max level than queue for dungeons/raids. True there are systems which are better like crafting and they have housing but ultimately FFXIV is just as much the lobby game as WoW if we want to go there.I actually liked a lot of things of FFXIV and it's probably my most played MMO recently but I physically hate the combat. The combat is ultra slow, playing a white mage compared to the healers of WoW is just sad. WoW's healing and tanking is so much more involved, responsive and fun. WHM was something like cure, cure, cure, aoe spell from time to time, dispel. It doesn't help that there's only 2 healing classes. Classes are too one dimensional.
The main difference between the games as I have seen is in how many options are available to the player. Now, I cannot say that I have experienced WoD's endgame, I honestly could not bring myself to cap. I had gotten as far as to build the garrison and hated the concept. I knew everything about WoD from that point on centered on the garrison. And the expansion prior was even worse. MoP? Bahh, Timeless Isle destroyed any concept of endgame progression by showering you with entry raid level gear. Leaving you with exactly 1 option for endgame progression. Raid. Garrissons was just another thing you can do in addition to everything else. I have seen other people complain garrissons and instead of ignoring that feature, they say the whole game is not worth it. It's yet another thing you can do at max level but you don't need to. I barely do anything in the garrisson other than queue up missions from time to time and only if I am around a mission board. I never played MOP so I can't say much. So there are things you are focusing on that mean something to you that may not mean the same thing to me. I want a game that I can log into without watching my end-game option whittle down the further I progress.FFXIV has the best endgame options. If I want to do a WoW-style vertical progression, I can. But it's not "Ding 50, get your welfare epics and hit LFR". There is still some dungeon progression required too. If I don't want a vertical progression, There is plenty of horizontal progression as well. I can level up a different class and play style on the same character. I can pick up any crafting I want to. And crafting is very good. I am a huge crafter in my games. I don't know of many others in the MMO world who view it like I do. There are those who like to craft because it's crafting they like. There are those who craft to play the economy meta. But for me, I enjoy the satisfaction of creating my own gear. It makes it much more worthwhile for me to wear an item I made vs something I picked up or bought with tokens. Even if it's slightly less effective stat-wise. If It's good enough for me to get the job done without a noticeable decrease, I'll chose my own gear. While I am disappointed crafted gear isn't as good as the best raid loot gear, it's still good enough to carry me well into raiding if I choose that path. And that is what matters......That I can choose. Why does everyone get so hooked on the epic thing. True in vanilla epics were more rare but ultimately it's not the colour of the item that is the big factor, it's the actual item. True in later expansions epics are easier to get but the easy ones to get are trash anyway. DOn't tell me the only thing that matters to you is the colour? LFR is there as ANOTHER option for end game for people who can't commit to static groups. WHat's so bad about having more options? Mythic raiding is the old school raiding we had from vanilla/tbc. Horizontal progression - you can always level up a new class in WoW too? Crafting is definitely better than in WOW. So basically all your options from FFXIV are in WOW too. Main difference is crafting system is much better in FFXIV and they have housing. However, housing is ridiculously expensive so I could never afford a house so it might as well not exist .... WoW however has PvP which is actually fun, whereas FFXIV is a joke for PvP. WoW has other options like Battle pets and Archeology. The game is still a" next gen" MMO, but at the same time, XIV is the closest thing to old school MMORPGs I have seen available today. It's all about options.
There are a ton more things to do in xiv than in wow. I can list them for you if you really want. The only thing wow has that xiv doesn't is pet battles. Comparing same activities like wow fishing vs xiv fishing is a joke. I like wows combat much much better and I appreciate the open world over xivs small zones but that's it. Literally everything else xiv does better and flat out does more of.
There are a ton more things to do in xiv than in wow. I can list them for you if you really want. The only thing wow has that xiv doesn't is pet battles. Comparing same activities like wow fishing vs xiv fishing is a joke. I like wows combat much much better and I appreciate the open world over xivs small zones but that's it. Literally everything else xiv does better and flat out does more of.
Fishing in FFXIV is closer to mining in Eve Online that WoW's fishing. Ironically, botany and mining are actually closer to WoW's fishing.
Haven't felt a need to look into it until I saw it on Massively, but it seems that Square has announced (promised, even) that the 4,000,000 accounts do not include free trials. Which makes sense, as they had 2.5 million accounts last year and before the trials (and global release) began. In addition to being at a steady 600-800k subscriber count prior to the PS4 release, free trials and being released in China (as well as the myriad of content the five major patches have given, including Ninja and Gold Saucer).
We still don't have the numbers from China, but I expect them to be included come March.
As a whole it's irrelevant as big numbers does not equal quality and frequent content, as seen with World of Warcraft. In the light, I hope the game never reaches WoW levels as it seems to turn even a once good company into a money grubbing shell of it's former self that knows people will play regardless of what they release (or how many years of content drought there is). New games pretty much feel obligated to release frequent content as they can't essentially print money in the same way Blizzard does. Sets them apart to have to work for the numbers they have and no ride the "good will" waves.
It bears repeating that the amount of quality content and new systems / entire classes they put in patches is superb and that any game that does such deserves praise if not support.
Due to frequent travel in my youth, English isn't something I consider my primary language (and thus I obtained quirky ways of writing). German and French were always easier for me despite my family being U.S. citizens for over a century. Spanish I learned as a requirement in school, Japanese and Korean I acquired for my youthful desire of anime and gaming (and also work now). I only debate in English to help me work with it (and limit things). In addition, I'm not smart enough to remain fluent in everything and typically need exposure to get in the groove of things again if I haven't heard it in a while. If you understand Mandarin, I know a little, but it has actually been a challenge and could use some help.
Also, I thoroughly enjoy debates and have accounts on over a dozen sites for this. If you wish to engage in such, please put effort in a post and provide sources -- I will then do the same with what I already wrote (if I didn't) as well as with my responses to your own. Expanding my information on a subject makes my stance either change or strengthen the next time I speak of it or write a thesis. Allow me to thank you sincerely for your time.
Originally posted by FoomerangSucks there's like a billion people on and I can't even get to golden saucer because it's full.
Wait til after the patch month, then the next 2 or so months inbetween are dead as hell. After that fist month my FL, GC and LS's go from packed to a ghost town. The game seems to be built to hold people for a short time with only the stupid weekly lockouts on half the endgame keeping people around (which turns it into a 1 day a week game for many more)
That expansion needs to have more long term goals, its really depressing seeing all my groups fade away after the new patch rush.
Been playing since launch and have not seen anything that remotely resembles a ghost town. Patches are always this packed, but the "down months" I still get login queues. I love the fact that content like housing, gold saucer, bonding ceremonies, etc are so well received. Usually the servers are most packed when non combat activities are added. That's awesome news for players like me who love that type of content in an mmo. Social vibe in game reminds me of coronet in swg back in the day. This game may not get wow numbers, but it has far exceeded se's requirements. Which is all that matters as far as finances goes.
Maybe your on a server like excal that is seemingly always full, but for mine it seems to play out the same, packed for the patch month and drops like a stone after that. I thought it may have just been my groups but ive seen it discussed on the forums that it happens to others.
My biggest reason for barely playing nowadays is the fact all my RL friends are basically gone, which sucks. Back when we played FFXI i had 4-5 friends that played consistantly for years and a couple more that were on and off. It was an amazing experience that will likely never happen again, which is sad know just about all of us got the CE of the initial FF14 and we even have a picture of our characters together...but thats where it ended.
Originally posted by dreamscaper Originally posted by FoomerangThere are a ton more things to do in xiv than in wow. I can list them for you if you really want. The only thing wow has that xiv doesn't is pet battles. Comparing same activities like wow fishing vs xiv fishing is a joke. I like wows combat much much better and I appreciate the open world over xivs small zones but that's it. Literally everything else xiv does better and flat out does more of.
Fishing in FFXIV is closer to mining in Eve Online that WoW's fishing. Ironically, botany and mining are actually closer to WoW's fishing. Really? I don't see that at all. How so?
The main difference between the games as I have seen is in how many options are available to the player. Now, I cannot say that I have experienced WoD's endgame, I honestly could not bring myself to cap. I had gotten as far as to build the garrison and hated the concept. I knew everything about WoD from that point on centered on the garrison. And the expansion prior was even worse. MoP? Bahh, Timeless Isle destroyed any concept of endgame progression by showering you with entry raid level gear. Leaving you with exactly 1 option for endgame progression. Raid.
Garrissons was just another thing you can do in addition to everything else. I have seen other people complain garrissons and instead of ignoring that feature, they say the whole game is not worth it. It's yet another thing you can do at max level but you don't need to. I barely do anything in the garrisson other than queue up missions from time to time and only if I am around a mission board.
I never played MOP so I can't say much.
So there are things you are focusing on that mean something to you that may not mean the same thing to me. I want a game that I can log into without watching my end-game option whittle down the further I progress.
FFXIV has the best endgame options. If I want to do a WoW-style vertical progression, I can. But it's not "Ding 50, get your welfare epics and hit LFR". There is still some dungeon progression required too. If I don't want a vertical progression, There is plenty of horizontal progression as well. I can level up a different class and play style on the same character. I can pick up any crafting I want to. And crafting is very good. I am a huge crafter in my games. I don't know of many others in the MMO world who view it like I do. There are those who like to craft because it's crafting they like. There are those who craft to play the economy meta. But for me, I enjoy the satisfaction of creating my own gear. It makes it much more worthwhile for me to wear an item I made vs something I picked up or bought with tokens. Even if it's slightly less effective stat-wise. If It's good enough for me to get the job done without a noticeable decrease, I'll chose my own gear. While I am disappointed crafted gear isn't as good as the best raid loot gear, it's still good enough to carry me well into raiding if I choose that path. And that is what matters......That I can choose.
Why does everyone get so hooked on the epic thing. True in vanilla epics were more rare but ultimately it's not the colour of the item that is the big factor, it's the actual item. True in later expansions epics are easier to get but the easy ones to get are trash anyway. DOn't tell me the only thing that matters to you is the colour? LFR is there as ANOTHER option for end game for people who can't commit to static groups. WHat's so bad about having more options? Mythic raiding is the old school raiding we had from vanilla/tbc.
Horizontal progression - you can always level up a new class in WoW too? Crafting is definitely better than in WOW.
So basically all your options from FFXIV are in WOW too. Main difference is crafting system is much better in FFXIV and they have housing. However, housing is ridiculously expensive so I could never afford a house so it might as well not exist ....
WoW however has PvP which is actually fun, whereas FFXIV is a joke for PvP. WoW has other options like Battle pets and Archeology.
The game is still a" next gen" MMO, but at the same time, XIV is the closest thing to old school MMORPGs I have seen available today. It's all about options.
As I said, I could not even finish leveling in WoD, The whole expansion fizzled out of the gate for me. I could not get attached to it. I own the expansion and my highest it level 92. So, Endgame options are something I can't address in WoW, for this expaniosn, But I am going t obe very surprised if in a few months from now, the entire game meta revolves around Raiding or PVP with little else in between. That's how the previous expansions went since Wrath.
Leveling an alt is not horizontal progression. It's a new character.
"Welfare Epics" is the term I am applying to the Timeless Isle issue getting them without having to work for them. Which undermined anything below that such as all pre raid instances and heroics
The main difference between the games as I have seen is in how many options are available to the player. Now, I cannot say that I have experienced WoD's endgame, I honestly could not bring myself to cap. I had gotten as far as to build the garrison and hated the concept. I knew everything about WoD from that point on centered on the garrison. And the expansion prior was even worse. MoP? Bahh, Timeless Isle destroyed any concept of endgame progression by showering you with entry raid level gear. Leaving you with exactly 1 option for endgame progression. Raid.
Garrissons was just another thing you can do in addition to everything else. I have seen other people complain garrissons and instead of ignoring that feature, they say the whole game is not worth it. It's yet another thing you can do at max level but you don't need to. I barely do anything in the garrisson other than queue up missions from time to time and only if I am around a mission board.
I never played MOP so I can't say much.
So there are things you are focusing on that mean something to you that may not mean the same thing to me. I want a game that I can log into without watching my end-game option whittle down the further I progress.
FFXIV has the best endgame options. If I want to do a WoW-style vertical progression, I can. But it's not "Ding 50, get your welfare epics and hit LFR". There is still some dungeon progression required too. If I don't want a vertical progression, There is plenty of horizontal progression as well. I can level up a different class and play style on the same character. I can pick up any crafting I want to. And crafting is very good. I am a huge crafter in my games. I don't know of many others in the MMO world who view it like I do. There are those who like to craft because it's crafting they like. There are those who craft to play the economy meta. But for me, I enjoy the satisfaction of creating my own gear. It makes it much more worthwhile for me to wear an item I made vs something I picked up or bought with tokens. Even if it's slightly less effective stat-wise. If It's good enough for me to get the job done without a noticeable decrease, I'll chose my own gear. While I am disappointed crafted gear isn't as good as the best raid loot gear, it's still good enough to carry me well into raiding if I choose that path. And that is what matters......That I can choose.
Why does everyone get so hooked on the epic thing. True in vanilla epics were more rare but ultimately it's not the colour of the item that is the big factor, it's the actual item. True in later expansions epics are easier to get but the easy ones to get are trash anyway. DOn't tell me the only thing that matters to you is the colour? LFR is there as ANOTHER option for end game for people who can't commit to static groups. WHat's so bad about having more options? Mythic raiding is the old school raiding we had from vanilla/tbc.
Horizontal progression - you can always level up a new class in WoW too? Crafting is definitely better than in WOW.
So basically all your options from FFXIV are in WOW too. Main difference is crafting system is much better in FFXIV and they have housing. However, housing is ridiculously expensive so I could never afford a house so it might as well not exist ....
WoW however has PvP which is actually fun, whereas FFXIV is a joke for PvP. WoW has other options like Battle pets and Archeology.
The game is still a" next gen" MMO, but at the same time, XIV is the closest thing to old school MMORPGs I have seen available today. It's all about options.
As I said, I could not even finish leveling in WoD, The whole expansion fizzled out of the gate for me. I could not get attached to it. I own the expansion and my highest it level 92. So, Endgame options are something I can't address in WoW, for this expaniosn, But I am going t obe very surprised if in a few months from now, the entire game meta revolves around Raiding or PVP with little else in between. That's how the previous expansions went since Wrath.
Leveling an alt is not horizontal progression. It's a new character.
"Welfare Epics" is the term I am applying to the Timeless Isle issue getting them without having to work for them. Which undermined anything below that such as all pre raid instances and heroics
Well you mentioned levelling a new class as horizontal progression. True in FFXIV you can do it on the same class but it's still the same process. Level up a new class to max level. In FFXIV there is the issue of running out quests and things to do outside of levies/dungeons though. I really think every MMO should allow all classes to be leveled on the same toon. That's one of the features I really loved about FFXIV. I don't see why we should reroll new alts to do it.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
Originally posted by FoomerangThere are a ton more things to do in xiv than in wow. I can list them for you if you really want. The only thing wow has that xiv doesn't is pet battles. Comparing same activities like wow fishing vs xiv fishing is a joke. I like wows combat much much better and I appreciate the open world over xivs small zones but that's it. Literally everything else xiv does better and flat out does more of.
Fishing in FFXIV is closer to mining in Eve Online that WoW's fishing. Ironically, botany and mining are actually closer to WoW's fishing.
Really? I don't see that at all. How so?
In FFXIV's fishing and Eve's mining, it takes a bit of planning and then a lot of waiting around while the job gets done, and it's really easy to afk and do other things while that's happening. For FFXIV's botany mining and WoW's fishing, it's essentially just go to the location and then do a lot of clicking.
The main difference between the games as I have seen is in how many options are available to the player. Now, I cannot say that I have experienced WoD's endgame, I honestly could not bring myself to cap. I had gotten as far as to build the garrison and hated the concept. I knew everything about WoD from that point on centered on the garrison. And the expansion prior was even worse. MoP? Bahh, Timeless Isle destroyed any concept of endgame progression by showering you with entry raid level gear. Leaving you with exactly 1 option for endgame progression. Raid.
Garrissons was just another thing you can do in addition to everything else. I have seen other people complain garrissons and instead of ignoring that feature, they say the whole game is not worth it. It's yet another thing you can do at max level but you don't need to. I barely do anything in the garrisson other than queue up missions from time to time and only if I am around a mission board.
I never played MOP so I can't say much.
So there are things you are focusing on that mean something to you that may not mean the same thing to me. I want a game that I can log into without watching my end-game option whittle down the further I progress.
FFXIV has the best endgame options. If I want to do a WoW-style vertical progression, I can. But it's not "Ding 50, get your welfare epics and hit LFR". There is still some dungeon progression required too. If I don't want a vertical progression, There is plenty of horizontal progression as well. I can level up a different class and play style on the same character. I can pick up any crafting I want to. And crafting is very good. I am a huge crafter in my games. I don't know of many others in the MMO world who view it like I do. There are those who like to craft because it's crafting they like. There are those who craft to play the economy meta. But for me, I enjoy the satisfaction of creating my own gear. It makes it much more worthwhile for me to wear an item I made vs something I picked up or bought with tokens. Even if it's slightly less effective stat-wise. If It's good enough for me to get the job done without a noticeable decrease, I'll chose my own gear. While I am disappointed crafted gear isn't as good as the best raid loot gear, it's still good enough to carry me well into raiding if I choose that path. And that is what matters......That I can choose.
Why does everyone get so hooked on the epic thing. True in vanilla epics were more rare but ultimately it's not the colour of the item that is the big factor, it's the actual item. True in later expansions epics are easier to get but the easy ones to get are trash anyway. DOn't tell me the only thing that matters to you is the colour? LFR is there as ANOTHER option for end game for people who can't commit to static groups. WHat's so bad about having more options? Mythic raiding is the old school raiding we had from vanilla/tbc.
Horizontal progression - you can always level up a new class in WoW too? Crafting is definitely better than in WOW.
So basically all your options from FFXIV are in WOW too. Main difference is crafting system is much better in FFXIV and they have housing. However, housing is ridiculously expensive so I could never afford a house so it might as well not exist ....
WoW however has PvP which is actually fun, whereas FFXIV is a joke for PvP. WoW has other options like Battle pets and Archeology.
The game is still a" next gen" MMO, but at the same time, XIV is the closest thing to old school MMORPGs I have seen available today. It's all about options.
As I said, I could not even finish leveling in WoD, The whole expansion fizzled out of the gate for me. I could not get attached to it. I own the expansion and my highest it level 92. So, Endgame options are something I can't address in WoW, for this expaniosn, But I am going t obe very surprised if in a few months from now, the entire game meta revolves around Raiding or PVP with little else in between. That's how the previous expansions went since Wrath.
Leveling an alt is not horizontal progression. It's a new character.
"Welfare Epics" is the term I am applying to the Timeless Isle issue getting them without having to work for them. Which undermined anything below that such as all pre raid instances and heroics
Well you mentioned levelling a new class as horizontal progression. True in FFXIV you can do it on the same class but it's still the same process. Level up a new class to max level. In FFXIV there is the issue of running out quests and things to do outside of levies/dungeons though. I really think every MMO should allow all classes to be leveled on the same toon. That's one of the features I really loved about FFXIV. I don't see why we should reroll new alts to do it.
I agree though. I don't think an MMORPG should lock you into a choice of playstyle.
Well, to be fair the point I was making is that they have a free access of nearly 2 weeks just before the financial report. Those free access players are now classed as subscribed.
A p2p game needing f2p players to pump up "sub" numbers in a financial report to investers is kinda odd, maybe it's just me that thinks so. Since you didn't reply about that I assume you agree.
Your premise is flawed from the outset. There is no signs whatsoever to indicate that free access players are given the subscribed status, as simply being able to play the game is a completely different matter than being subscribed to it. With your presupposition you have no grounds to make such claim. In addition SE's fiscal year ends on March 31st, 2015. How you came to the conclusion that SE can use """"subscriber numbers"""" of February 27th to March 9th to indicate subscriber numbers at the end of March is completely without reason.
I didn't reply to your premise because it is complete nonsense. You have absolutely no argument that there actually exists a causal relationship between a free week following a well-received patch and investor meeting a month later. All you have is the knowledge that these two events happen within a month of each other. From this information you came to the conclusions that a) free access players are now somehow classified as subscribers and b) the free week is done for the investor meeting and nothing more, even when we are approaching a major expansion release that is an extremely important time for any MMORPG (a detail that you conveniently chose to ignore in your initial post as well as the one I am replying to. How surprising).
To end this farce of yours investors care about annual revenue numbers, not a non-figure like subscribtion numbers within a two-week-period. It is simply not relevant to the degree you make it out to be unless the sub numbers in itself has value. Which is true for the WoW players feeling threatened by FFXIV and clinging to the only reliable strawman they can use in their defense, but not so much for financial investors.
Maybe this is all an Illuminati conspiracy? Let me go get my tinfoil hat just in case...
Well of course they are, the game isn't free to play so they have to be given subscriber access to be able to play, unless you're saying all subscribers are not paying for this 10 days?. This is pretty basic logic XD
They are also doing all this in March jsut before the financial report, the free to play weekend is nearly 2 weeks. They have never done one this long before.
1 +1 = 2 You don't have to say tinfoil when it's this obvious.
You are aware that the latest 4 million registered user number (an increase of about 2 million from previous numbers) is NOT including trial/free player accounts? Even with the trial players included an increase of almost 2 million or more over previous numbers is impressive. Sure about 3-5 % of that number will end up in subscriptions, but it is that many more people checking the game out and taking the time to play and more than likely talk about it to others.
Originally posted by dreamscaper Originally posted by FoomerangOriginally posted by dreamscaperOriginally posted by FoomerangThere are a ton more things to do in xiv than in wow. I can list them for you if you really want. The only thing wow has that xiv doesn't is pet battles. Comparing same activities like wow fishing vs xiv fishing is a joke. I like wows combat much much better and I appreciate the open world over xivs small zones but that's it. Literally everything else xiv does better and flat out does more of.
Fishing in FFXIV is closer to mining in Eve Online that WoW's fishing. Ironically, botany and mining are actually closer to WoW's fishing.Really? I don't see that at all. How so? In FFXIV's fishing and Eve's mining, it takes a bit of planning and then a lot of waiting around while the job gets done, and it's really easy to afk and do other things while that's happening. For FFXIV's botany mining and WoW's fishing, it's essentially just go to the location and then do a lot of clicking. Hehe ok I think you may have oversimplified it a bit but that's fine. Using your terminology, every feature of every mmo is similar to each other because you go places and click stuff lol
You are aware that the latest 4 million registered user number (an increase of about 2 million from previous numbers) is NOT including trial/free player accounts? Even with the trial players included an increase of almost 2 million or more over previous numbers is impressive. Sure about 3-5 % of that number will end up in subscriptions, but it is that many more people checking the game out and taking the time to play and more than likely talk about it to others.
You are correct that what has been reported is registered users excluding free trials - key point however it was a GLOBAL number so it includes the China launch.
And it probably makes more sense than the 2.5M number at the end of last year. After all last April we had the 2M+ accounts number and last August we had the 1M+ pre-orders announced by Shandra (SE's partner in China).
Either the pre-orders in China evaporated or, imo, the 2.5M number excluded accounts in China whilst this new 4M number includes them. It reconciles the two numbers and would also explain the big jump in registered accounts.
Now registered accounts tell us nothing about subscriber numbers - and the number will just keep on increasing.
Will we get a "subscription" number using some version of WoW's definition? Something like "the number includes monthly subscribers and people or have paid for at least 1 hour". (As announced Shandra, SE's partner, is using a pay-per-hour model).
As it stands this doesn't change the view that FFXIV is "doing OK" - but term registered accounts is always worrying.
You are aware that the latest 4 million registered user number (an increase of about 2 million from previous numbers) is NOT including trial/free player accounts? Even with the trial players included an increase of almost 2 million or more over previous numbers is impressive. Sure about 3-5 % of that number will end up in subscriptions, but it is that many more people checking the game out and taking the time to play and more than likely talk about it to others.
You are correct that what has been reported is registered users excluding free trials - key point however it was a GLOBAL number so it includes the China launch.
And it probably makes more sense than the 2.5M number at the end of last year. After all last April we had the 2M+ accounts number and last August we had the 1M+ pre-orders announced by Shandra (SE's partner in China).
Either the pre-orders in China evaporated or, imo, the 2.5M number excluded accounts in China whilst this new 4M number includes them. It reconciles the two numbers and would also explain the big jump in registered accounts.
Now registered accounts tell us nothing about subscriber numbers - and the number will just keep on increasing.
Will we get a "subscription" number using some version of WoW's definition? Something like "the number includes monthly subscribers and people or have paid for at least 1 hour". (As announced Shandra, SE's partner, is using a pay-per-hour model).
As it stands this doesn't change the view that FFXIV is "doing OK" - but term registered accounts is always worrying.
The Chinese FFXIV uses a completely different system to the global FFXIV and is handled by a different company altogether. There has been no indication that SE would include the Chinese numbers in these milestones. My point is that "global" in FFXIV terms is vague since there is the "global" version and the region-restricted version(s) which are separate.
Either way SE has used registered accounts throughout the game's lifespan (while praising the game's financial reception) and in SE's practices it can be seen that the game is doing more than OK. There is simply nothing to PR about in keeping the status quo. Post-Heavensward there might be more pressure for the subscriber base to grow though. It remains to be seen whether the increase in registered accounts translates to a higher sub base come Heavensward. I presume that this is what SE is counting on.
Using LOL is like saying "my argument sucks but I still want to disagree".
The Chinese FFXIV uses a completely different system to the global FFXIV and is handled by a different company altogether. There has been no indication that SE would include the Chinese numbers in these milestones. My point is that "global" in FFXIV terms is vague since there is the "global" version and the region-restricted version(s) which are separate.
Either way SE has used registered accounts throughout the game's lifespan (while praising the game's financial reception) and in SE's practices it can be seen that the game is doing more than OK. There is simply nothing to PR about in keeping the status quo. Post-Heavensward there might be more pressure for the subscriber base to grow though. It remains to be seen whether the increase in registered accounts translates to a higher sub base come Heavensward. I presume that this is what SE is counting on.
So .... you are saying that FFXIV ARR has sold - sold - 1.5M copies since the end of 2014 in countries, excluding, China?
And that Square Enix's press releases are vague?
And no SE has not just used registered accounts; we have had the 1M subscribers across 3 games for example.
The Chinese FFXIV uses a completely different system to the global FFXIV and is handled by a different company altogether. There has been no indication that SE would include the Chinese numbers in these milestones. My point is that "global" in FFXIV terms is vague since there is the "global" version and the region-restricted version(s) which are separate.
Either way SE has used registered accounts throughout the game's lifespan (while praising the game's financial reception) and in SE's practices it can be seen that the game is doing more than OK. There is simply nothing to PR about in keeping the status quo. Post-Heavensward there might be more pressure for the subscriber base to grow though. It remains to be seen whether the increase in registered accounts translates to a higher sub base come Heavensward. I presume that this is what SE is counting on.
So .... you are saying that FFXIV ARR has sold - sold - 1.5M copies since the end of 2014 in countries, excluding, China?
And that Square Enix's press releases are vague?
And no SE has not just used registered accounts; we have had the 1M subscribers across 3 games for example.
I will stick with OK.
To be fair, those 1m figures are already a year old, so increases in player numbers is not unlikely, though some of the 'inflated' figures do lack credibility, until Square Enix releases their own financial report etc, i am not sure i would be prepared to believe they have even exceeded 2m without some kind of definitive proof, and from the source not from some third party that regularly makes guesses that lack hard data to support them.
Comments
Well, to be fair the point I was making is that they have a free access of nearly 2 weeks just before the financial report. Those free access players are now classed as subscribed.
A p2p game needing f2p players to pump up "sub" numbers in a financial report to investers is kinda odd, maybe it's just me that thinks so. Since you didn't reply about that I assume you agree.
Your premise is flawed from the outset. There is no signs whatsoever to indicate that free access players are given the subscribed status, as simply being able to play the game is a completely different matter than being subscribed to it. With your presupposition you have no grounds to make such claim. In addition SE's fiscal year ends on March 31st, 2015. How you came to the conclusion that SE can use """"subscriber numbers"""" of February 27th to March 9th to indicate subscriber numbers at the end of March is completely without reason.
I didn't reply to your premise because it is complete nonsense. You have absolutely no argument that there actually exists a causal relationship between a free week following a well-received patch and investor meeting a month later. All you have is the knowledge that these two events happen within a month of each other. From this information you came to the conclusions that a) free access players are now somehow classified as subscribers and b) the free week is done for the investor meeting and nothing more, even when we are approaching a major expansion release that is an extremely important time for any MMORPG (a detail that you conveniently chose to ignore in your initial post as well as the one I am replying to. How surprising).
To end this farce of yours investors care about annual revenue numbers, not a non-figure like subscribtion numbers within a two-week-period. It is simply not relevant to the degree you make it out to be unless the sub numbers in itself has value. Which is true for the WoW players feeling threatened by FFXIV and clinging to the only reliable strawman they can use in their defense, but not so much for financial investors.
Maybe this is all an Illuminati conspiracy? Let me go get my tinfoil hat just in case...
The main difference between the games as I have seen is in how many options are available to the player. Now, I cannot say that I have experienced WoD's endgame, I honestly could not bring myself to cap. I had gotten as far as to build the garrison and hated the concept. I knew everything about WoD from that point on centered on the garrison. And the expansion prior was even worse. MoP? Bahh, Timeless Isle destroyed any concept of endgame progression by showering you with entry raid level gear. Leaving you with exactly 1 option for endgame progression. Raid.
So there are things you are focusing on that mean something to you that may not mean the same thing to me. I want a game that I can log into without watching my end-game option whittle down the further I progress.
FFXIV has the best endgame options. If I want to do a WoW-style vertical progression, I can. But it's not "Ding 50, get your welfare epics and hit LFR". There is still some dungeon progression required too. If I don't want a vertical progression, There is plenty of horizontal progression as well. I can level up a different class and play style on the same character. I can pick up any crafting I want to. And crafting is very good. I am a huge crafter in my games. I don't know of many others in the MMO world who view it like I do. There are those who like to craft because it's crafting they like. There are those who craft to play the economy meta. But for me, I enjoy the satisfaction of creating my own gear. It makes it much more worthwhile for me to wear an item I made vs something I picked up or bought with tokens. Even if it's slightly less effective stat-wise. If It's good enough for me to get the job done without a noticeable decrease, I'll chose my own gear. While I am disappointed crafted gear isn't as good as the best raid loot gear, it's still good enough to carry me well into raiding if I choose that path. And that is what matters......That I can choose.
The game is still a" next gen" MMO, but at the same time, XIV is the closest thing to old school MMORPGs I have seen available today. It's all about options.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
Well of course they are, the game isn't free to play so they have to be given subscriber access to be able to play, unless you're saying all subscribers are not paying for this 10 days?. This is pretty basic logic XD
They are also doing all this in March jsut before the financial report, the free to play weekend is nearly 2 weeks. They have never done one this long before.
1 +1 = 2 You don't have to say tinfoil when it's this obvious.
Square Enix has share holders, the people that own the company.
400 accounts is meanginless, subscribers is what counts. Which is why free access at a time when sub numbers are being stated is important.
Or the game is simply being opened up for non-subscribers. In this equation non-subscribers do not suddenly become subscribers but are simply given similar access to the game. This scenario is just as plausible (if not more so) as your own 100% made up scenario.
They have never been about to release a major expansion before either. A fact you once again overlook. If there is something completely obvious here it is your tendency to overlook all the facts to support your own (increasingly nonsensical) theory.
Maybe the third time you ignore the fact an expansion pack is coming will make it disappear as a plausible scenario? Nobody on these forums has ever been this dense about acknowledging a fact that completely ruins their theory before. Where is Heavensward in your 1+1=2 equation? 1+1=39½ is more like it in your case.
Well, to be fair the point I was making is that they have a free access of nearly 2 weeks just before the financial report. Those free access players are now classed as subscribed.
A p2p game needing f2p players to pump up "sub" numbers in a financial report to investers is kinda odd, maybe it's just me that thinks so. Since you didn't reply about that I assume you agree.
They don't count free accounts as part of their subs. Confirmed last year in an interview. Moving on...
Fishing in FFXIV is closer to mining in Eve Online that WoW's fishing. Ironically, botany and mining are actually closer to WoW's fishing.
Haven't felt a need to look into it until I saw it on Massively, but it seems that Square has announced (promised, even) that the 4,000,000 accounts do not include free trials. Which makes sense, as they had 2.5 million accounts last year and before the trials (and global release) began. In addition to being at a steady 600-800k subscriber count prior to the PS4 release, free trials and being released in China (as well as the myriad of content the five major patches have given, including Ninja and Gold Saucer).
We still don't have the numbers from China, but I expect them to be included come March.
As a whole it's irrelevant as big numbers does not equal quality and frequent content, as seen with World of Warcraft. In the light, I hope the game never reaches WoW levels as it seems to turn even a once good company into a money grubbing shell of it's former self that knows people will play regardless of what they release (or how many years of content drought there is). New games pretty much feel obligated to release frequent content as they can't essentially print money in the same way Blizzard does. Sets them apart to have to work for the numbers they have and no ride the "good will" waves.
It bears repeating that the amount of quality content and new systems / entire classes they put in patches is superb and that any game that does such deserves praise if not support.
Maybe your on a server like excal that is seemingly always full, but for mine it seems to play out the same, packed for the patch month and drops like a stone after that. I thought it may have just been my groups but ive seen it discussed on the forums that it happens to others.
My biggest reason for barely playing nowadays is the fact all my RL friends are basically gone, which sucks. Back when we played FFXI i had 4-5 friends that played consistantly for years and a couple more that were on and off. It was an amazing experience that will likely never happen again, which is sad know just about all of us got the CE of the initial FF14 and we even have a picture of our characters together...but thats where it ended.
Really? I don't see that at all. How so?
As I said, I could not even finish leveling in WoD, The whole expansion fizzled out of the gate for me. I could not get attached to it. I own the expansion and my highest it level 92. So, Endgame options are something I can't address in WoW, for this expaniosn, But I am going t obe very surprised if in a few months from now, the entire game meta revolves around Raiding or PVP with little else in between. That's how the previous expansions went since Wrath.
Leveling an alt is not horizontal progression. It's a new character.
"Welfare Epics" is the term I am applying to the Timeless Isle issue getting them without having to work for them. Which undermined anything below that such as all pre raid instances and heroics
Well you mentioned levelling a new class as horizontal progression. True in FFXIV you can do it on the same class but it's still the same process. Level up a new class to max level. In FFXIV there is the issue of running out quests and things to do outside of levies/dungeons though. I really think every MMO should allow all classes to be leveled on the same toon. That's one of the features I really loved about FFXIV. I don't see why we should reroll new alts to do it.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
In FFXIV's fishing and Eve's mining, it takes a bit of planning and then a lot of waiting around while the job gets done, and it's really easy to afk and do other things while that's happening. For FFXIV's botany mining and WoW's fishing, it's essentially just go to the location and then do a lot of clicking.I agree though. I don't think an MMORPG should lock you into a choice of playstyle.
You are aware that the latest 4 million registered user number (an increase of about 2 million from previous numbers) is NOT including trial/free player accounts? Even with the trial players included an increase of almost 2 million or more over previous numbers is impressive. Sure about 3-5 % of that number will end up in subscriptions, but it is that many more people checking the game out and taking the time to play and more than likely talk about it to others.
Really? I don't see that at all. How so?
In FFXIV's fishing and Eve's mining, it takes a bit of planning and then a lot of waiting around while the job gets done, and it's really easy to afk and do other things while that's happening. For FFXIV's botany mining and WoW's fishing, it's essentially just go to the location and then do a lot of clicking.
Hehe ok I think you may have oversimplified it a bit but that's fine. Using your terminology, every feature of every mmo is similar to each other because you go places and click stuff lol
You are correct that what has been reported is registered users excluding free trials - key point however it was a GLOBAL number so it includes the China launch.
And it probably makes more sense than the 2.5M number at the end of last year. After all last April we had the 2M+ accounts number and last August we had the 1M+ pre-orders announced by Shandra (SE's partner in China).
Either the pre-orders in China evaporated or, imo, the 2.5M number excluded accounts in China whilst this new 4M number includes them. It reconciles the two numbers and would also explain the big jump in registered accounts.
Now registered accounts tell us nothing about subscriber numbers - and the number will just keep on increasing.
Will we get a "subscription" number using some version of WoW's definition? Something like "the number includes monthly subscribers and people or have paid for at least 1 hour". (As announced Shandra, SE's partner, is using a pay-per-hour model).
As it stands this doesn't change the view that FFXIV is "doing OK" - but term registered accounts is always worrying.
The Chinese FFXIV uses a completely different system to the global FFXIV and is handled by a different company altogether. There has been no indication that SE would include the Chinese numbers in these milestones. My point is that "global" in FFXIV terms is vague since there is the "global" version and the region-restricted version(s) which are separate.
Either way SE has used registered accounts throughout the game's lifespan (while praising the game's financial reception) and in SE's practices it can be seen that the game is doing more than OK. There is simply nothing to PR about in keeping the status quo. Post-Heavensward there might be more pressure for the subscriber base to grow though. It remains to be seen whether the increase in registered accounts translates to a higher sub base come Heavensward. I presume that this is what SE is counting on.
So .... you are saying that FFXIV ARR has sold - sold - 1.5M copies since the end of 2014 in countries, excluding, China?
And that Square Enix's press releases are vague?
And no SE has not just used registered accounts; we have had the 1M subscribers across 3 games for example.
I will stick with OK.
To be fair, those 1m figures are already a year old, so increases in player numbers is not unlikely, though some of the 'inflated' figures do lack credibility, until Square Enix releases their own financial report etc, i am not sure i would be prepared to believe they have even exceeded 2m without some kind of definitive proof, and from the source not from some third party that regularly makes guesses that lack hard data to support them.