Final Fantasy XIV is a popular game, with many people willing to spend hours exploring its world and fighting in its PvP battle. Despite the game’s popularity, it has been criticized for being complicated to understand and too difficult to find groups of players who are up-to-date on the latest patch.
The “wisdom of nym ffxiv” is a critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV. It has been praised by critics and players alike.
That was a pleasant surprise. In case you missed it, Square-Enix announced this week that not only would Final Fantasy XIV be giving out more free subscription time to recompense gamers for login troubles, but that sales of the game and ads for it would be temporarily halted. The game has become so popular that server backlog troubles have forced the company to determine that the best approach is to just cease selling it for the time being.
This is significant.
This is something I’m writing about soon after it occurred rather than after some time spent with analysis and thorough thought; for context, this is all something I’m writing about right after it happened rather than after some time spent with analysis and careful consideration. But, when you examine the plain scale of this choice, it’s… a little mind-boggling, in terms of both time and impact.
First and foremost, I believe it is necessary to analyze the timing of this. This is an unusual instance of a developer removing a product off stores (both digital and physical) shortly before Christmas, an extreme circumstance that I can’t remember seeing before. While the expansion update will still be accessible for users who haven’t yet purchased Endwalker, the game’s sales engine and promotional efforts will be scaled down.
That’s a lot of information. But then there’s the reality that we’re receiving extra compensation time on top of that. It’s one thing to argue that the emphasis here is on current players rather than courting new ones, and that’s still true in some ways, but it’s also important noting that the existing gamers are transitioning from moneymakers to money dumps. Square-Enix is squandering a significant sum of money.
How much is it? It’s difficult to say. However, the cash from subscriptions for almost a month, plus any additional box purchases, plus whatever extra money is being pushed towards buying more servers (which is still occurring), that’s a lot of money. (Especially when you consider that server hardware is costly at the best of times, and that the quantity of servers required to operate FFXIV servers, as well as current supply chain concerns, make it much more so.)
Without a doubt, this is a really effective public relations strategy. It’s essentially putting down the gauntlet by willingly foregoing a significant portion of possible revenues. But it doesn’t negate the fact that it’s a rational move being made to solve a very real issue, even if that very real difficulty is easing up slightly.
Speaking from personal experience, I’ve seen that my lineups are shrinking this week, but not as quickly as I’d want. This is, of course, unsurprising. I play on a very occupied server, but it’s always been a known truth that once those who are simply playing through the MSQ and/or checking out the game go on, the queues will start to shrink. Of course, this isn’t to claim that the lines are going away completely; rather, it’s to state that they’re shrinking over time, but not fast enough.
This is a significant step in improving the game’s image in the eyes of gamers. Someone apparently done the arithmetic and concluded that the extra goodwill gained by cutting income for a short period of time was more valuable than the simple additive profit generated by not doing so. And that’s sort of a huge deal in and of itself because it reminds us all of something we should already know: the creators of Final Fantasy XIV are aware of how players see them.
I don’t simply mean that the crew is interested in memes and other such topics; we’re all aware of it, which may lead to some amusing memetic mutations. (“Do you know what I’m talking about… la-hee?”) What I mean is that the squad is well aware of how much goodwill and a favorable reputation have aided the game to this point.
There is an awareness (or seems to be one) that the game and its success are in part a back-and-forth interaction with players and fans, more so than in most other MMOs I can think of. While a strict reading of the situation would suggest that there is more money to be made by continuing to exploit the game’s popularity, the free subscription period and temporary removal from sale indicate that the team recognizes the importance of long-term stability, and that by giving up a little more money now, more people will be likely to remain subscribers later.
This is really business 101; if you make your customers happy, they are more likely to return, and repeat/consistent customers are important. What struck me as unique is that this seldom happens in the MMO sector. Most firms tend to expect (or at least feel) that subscribers will continue to subscribe based on inertia alone, that no more work is required to maintain your current community as long as you continue to provide trustworthy and well-liked material.
Make no mistake: Endwalker has had a fantastic response. I’m not the only one who thinks it’s great, and the big community argument appears to be whether it’s better than Shadowbringers or not, with everyone having their own opinion. (Which is great; I don’t think folks who think it’s a little better are incorrect; they simply have a different reaction.) Even without remuneration, FFXIV is doing pretty well in terms of “providing excellent content.”
As a result, the reward isn’t truly about traffic management. It’s all about controlling the look of congestion response. As I previously said, the waits seem to be easing up a little over time, but users want to feel as though Square-Enix is taking this problem seriously and isn’t simply pursuing larger player numbers, congestion be damned.
From a cynical perspective, this is fantastic messaging. On one level, you couldn’t ask for a greater advertising than having your commercials pulled because you’re so successful. That doesn’t simply mean that people should try the game; it also means that so many people have already done so that the servers are being overloaded. People will want to see what’s causing all of this when the game is re-released, and it will give gamers the impression that traffic concerns are being addressed.
But, even if I’m not cynical, I believe this says a lot about the team in charge of this game. It would be simple to sit back and enjoy the success with no substantial adjustments, but the fact that players are being compensated more says a lot. You get the community you design for and model, and Naoki Yoshida has aided in making a move that demonstrates a focus on community and sustaining players rather than considering them as a throwaway resource.
That will very certainly pay off in greater amounts than the membership fees alone would imply.
The Nymian civilisation had a vast store of knowledge and understanding, but much of it has been lost to Eorzea’s inhabitants. That doesn’t stop Eliot Lefebvre from delving into Final Fantasy XIV every week in Wisdom of Nym, where he hosts tutorials, conversation, and views without a touch of animosity.
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Final Fantasy XIV is a critically acclaimed MMORPG that was released in 2010. The game has been praised for its story, graphics and gameplay. However, there are some players who have had an unfavorable experience with the game. If you do not hear of the game, please do not hear of it because you will be disappointed. Reference: ffxiv reaper abilities.
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