I can't speak for others with similar arguments to mine, But i Don't expect ToAU level variety in events all in the game from the get-go, Its just if they use a Linear progression system... they're limiting themselves. I do prefer Quality over Quantity when it comes to events though, So if theres only 2-3 Endgame dungeons that's fine, So long as they are enjoyable and at least somewhat diverse.
IDK how the "Endgame = Raids only" thing will work. Most people seem to quickly burn out on it in pretty much every other MMO on the market with the endgame philosophy of instanced raid after instanced raid and linear progression. I don't want FFXIV to fail, we're just getting awfully close to release and all I see in the game is scarcely sprinkled Final Fantasy elements and MMO practices others have tried and failed at an innumerable amount of times, with the one single exception being WoW. I hope FFXIV doesn't end up like all the other MMOs with pretty much Copy and Pasted endgame, leveling, and questing that it borrowed from... but if history is any teacher FFXIV is on the fast-track to obscurity, 0F2P with an E-shop, or deadsies.
I guess i shouldn't really care if the game only lasts 1-2 years, as If its enjoyable for that period of time it served its purpose, Yah? More i think about it more I have a "What will be will be" Attitude towards it. I just kinda hope for best.
To be perfectly frank, I'd say XIV's ultimate success or failure rests on the same advantage SE enjoyed with XI: console support.
As long as it's the best console MMO (which is not exactly a high hurdle to clear) XIV will have a captive market. I am somewhat hesitant to say this, but this possibility exists as pretty much the best case scenario (that Yoshida should never, ever discuss):
Quake:GoldenEye:CS:Halo::EQ:XI:WoW:ARR
I thought PS3 will destroy ARR with its limitashuns?
Going PC only and forgetting the 20million+ FF fans on the consoles or going PS4 that has no userbase would be much better for this gaem, rite?
That way they could support DX13 and all the PC toys with revenue they gain from the PC MMO players who play for 2 months and then switch on to the next game. Nothing short of brilliant.
To be frank, SE also has the JP. Nobody has the JP but SE. Hell, nobody would play DQX the way it is in the West but in JP it has a significant following. It's not certain but I'd say quite likely that simply due to JP+PS3, obscurity/F2P/deadsies for ARR is nothing but a twinkle in a SE hater's eye.
Yea, can't remember where, but I'm pretty sure it was said that they only 'need' a 400k concurrent subscriber base to keep it going. They'll have that easy with just Japan and the PS3 market so I'm not worried about it fading into oblivion. Should note, too, for anyone anticipating it going FtP, Yoshida is on record saying that he'll kill the project before that would happen.
I realize your post is almost entirely sarcasm, but if we have learned anything over the last 5 years, it's that WoW-cloning predictably results in a boom-and-bust userbase (on PC, anyway), as your new users inevitably go back to The Real Thing.
SE should thank their lucky stars that Blizzard has been uninterested in releasing a console WoW client.
I'm having a hard time understanding the reason why XIV isn't being made for Xbox, though. Yoshida has stated that it's because MS's policy forbids cross-platform play, which would be a totally acceptable answer except:
Spoiler: show
And at no time has anyone asked Yoshida to reconcile the existence of 360 XI with what he is saying. It'd be nice if he addressed it, at least.
It's been addressed before, I believe. They worked out a deal with FFXI and it ended up being a huge hassle that just wasn't worth it for SE. Microsoft is notorious for running developers tens of thousands of dollars to put out a single patch. It's why you haven't seen ANY real MMOs for the Xbox except Defiance. No idea how Trion Worlds worked that out.
The deal for XI was made when Microsoft had different policies and afaik is still valid for that game, so expansions can still come out on it. They've changed since then, which prevents a new game like XIV from being in the same situation.
Correct me if I am wrong, but part of it had to do with bringing the FF franchise to Xbox in the first place, the deal not only included XI, but that SE would drop their Playstation exclusive policy.