And yet, some of those MMOs became much more profitable/successful after going F2P, TOR being the main one from that list. SE is stubborn, I believe they've made it clear in the past that they will do anything to stay as a subscription model for this game so, I mean, it doesn't really mean much that they are still sub based. It's obvious they are making money, yes, but if they weren't they'd still be clinging to nothing.
Of course. Some MMOS do well after doing F2P. Does that make them GOOD MMOs? Not really. They went F2P because they weren't good enough to pay monthly for. It's a fucking weird dynamic where people will pay for a Jedi costume or something but won't pay to actually PLAY the damn thing. =P
Tabris said:
Content variety means a spectrum. You have the easy stuff, the medium stuff, the hard stuff, and the impossible stuff. There should be multiple entries in each category. And you as a group progress through the spectrum but as you progress, it doesn't invalidate the previous category.
Dynamis started off extremely hard where most people couldn't finish in the time limit. Later on it became easier for those groups but still took effort. While the newer groups got to go through the extremely hard experience of those first groups.
See, one thing that nostalgia doesn't capture is the feelings at the time. People HATED Dynamis. They hated going to it after a month. Hated it. It was long, boring and terrible. Few people got anything for their trouble and often times, so many people farmed it for ONE person's relic. It was awful. Now, while that is content is that really "good" content you want in XIV? Zodiac questline was just the tip of Dynamis'/Relic questline. Zodiac caused people to quit FFXIV, you think Dynamis wouldn't do the same? It was a product of the time. FFXI was a fucking JOB for its userbase. We don't want that again.
I understand you're using that as an example of "content" but lets perhaps think of something better?
WoW is used as an example. Okay. WoW works in tiers. You run sets of raids to gear up to tackle other sets of raids to ...etc. You're tackling all of them at one time. Once you get what you need from the previous tier, you're not going back there unless its to help on occasion. How is this different from Coil exactly? Sure, Coil isn't as long or numerous in turns, but Coil kicked the shit out of people for months as they were stuck on turns. Trying to gear up within Coil and out of it (tomes/EX primals) to try to help them clear to the next turn.
The structure is the same, so is it the amount of raids/turns that gets you? I can see that point. Can you also see how it doesn't help that game from dropped massive amounts of subscribers either? WoW features a fuckton of content variety and Draenor has shed over 3 million subs since its release (WoW's sub numbers have always been weird).
The MMO userbase is older now. Much like gaming's in general. We have jobs, lives and more. I think the XIV sees that (as do other games which is why WoW has LFR that people poo-poo on). So, throwing in a ton of raids to gear up for more raids and so on...is that the answer? I don't know. Works with Primals. I think they are doing this Normal and Savage Alexander to find out if this will work. If so, we could see more of this in the future. Normal and EX dungeons even.
I would love to see more variety of content, but until we see what "challenging" is in Heavenward (keep in mind, I bet the majority of the playerbase has yet to clear Ravana EX...), we have no clue.
In the meantime, I would like to see some other cool shit. I want flying mount PVP. That stuff would be damned awesome! I want to see the next 24 man raid. I wouldn't mind seeing weekly/daily "challenge" modes as an example of reusing content to keep things relevant. Challenges involving party structure (akin to classic party challenged in older FFs like all WHM party challenges, etc). Rewards can include the newer tomes, equipment, minions, mounts, etc. How about a Caverns of Time type event in Gold Saucer? Through the magic of Moogle Fuckery comes a chance to fight with classic FF heroes in classic battles. Fight with Cloud and crew vs. Sephiroth for loot, minions, glamour and stuff. That would fucking incredible! How about crafting and gathering competitions! Fishing competitions! FC Airship Battles! How about minion battles? Rip off WoW some more! I'm okay with that one! I want to see one on one PVP duels in the Coliseum for gil!
Tons of ideas to be had. Falling back on XI crap that the player base wasn't even that excited for when it was new aren't the greatest of ideas. =/ Nor do they fit in modern MMOs.