Is Final Fantasy XIV now the biggest MMORPG on the market?

[Tech614]

Soooo year old info when wow has less subs now? ok

Year old info from when XIV just launched an expansion and likely has a lower player base right now then it did then... yea...

XIV in all likelihood is not even over 1 mil right not. It's still incredibly successful for square enix but WoW it is not.

[Faroth]

Year old info from when XIV just launched an expansion and likely has a lower player base right now then it did then... yea...

XIV in all likelihood is not even over 1 mil right not. It's still incredibly successful for square enix but WoW it is not.

Big difference in XIV to most MMOs, though, they have beefy content patches every 3 months like clockwork. They don't have the 6-11 months to plummet. I'd wager they hold steadier than a lot due to that.

That said, I agree I don't think it's higher than WoW in sub numbers.

[Video Games]

Hardly gymnastics. A new expansion caused a massive jump in subs, 6 months later those players had gone again and the steady decline continued. You're conveniently ignoring the 6 months after the drop when subs losses were only 200k.

They didn't lose half their playerbase, they lost the same few million that come back and play the new storyline and then leave again. Their "constant" has been on a steady and fairly slow decline over the last 6 years.

so to quote yourself trying to make it seem like there was some "major" exodus.



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Someone else is paying their subscription, so it still goes towards the count.

You guys can't be serious. They lost the subs they got back PLUS 2 million and nothing has been release this whole expansion besides a mediocre raid tier and zone. The subs are the lowest since vanilla and you think that is a steady decline?

[Pua]

I pay for my subscriptions with tokens. If tokens weren't available I would happily still pay real money. I have 2 guildies who I know are in the same boat.

And there are dozens of people on this website alone who claim they wouldn't play if it weren't for tokens. Several old guildies of mine decided that not even a free subscription could keep them playing World of Warcraft, they found it that bad. Anecdotal evidence is anecdotal.

Even if we went with your assessment of 5%, we're still talking about a loss of almost a quarter of a million people if it weren't for tokens. I think it's higher but, obviously, that's speculation. The point I'm making is that it still artificially inflates subscriber numbers, something that a lot of people seem to be taking great issue with despite being self-evidently true.

It's bizarre.

[PACOX]

Why are WoW players obsessed with numbers? Even at its height it still took forever for dps queues to pop.

[Grym]

As much as FFXIV is doing really well, and I really like the game, I do not see it over taking WoW anytime soon.

Unless Blizzard REALLY fuck up Legion, but they should have learned from WoD to ensure it won't happen this time.

[Leih]

Why are WoW players obsessed with numbers? Even at its height it still took forever for dps queues to pop.

They're not. Ex-WoW Players who want to justify quitting are obsessed with numbers :P

[Deleted]

This is a question, not a statement.

I got an email telling me about the new patch, and one of the graphics to the left of the video stated:

"Over Five Million Players!"

Given that World of Warcraft is almost certainly below that now (reading into the last financial report, you can just about work it out), does that mean that it's now number 2?

More importantly, does the success of Final Fantasy XIV prove that the more traditional subscription MMORPG can still succeed in today's market?

It's 5 million accounts created not current players. Having said that, for me personally it is by far the best mmorpg out there in terms of quality content and frequent content. The servers are packed full of players and the devs are awesome. If only it had decent PVP it would probably be one of my all time favorites.

WoW has stopped giving out sub numbers and FF doesn't either (as far as I'm aware) but I wouldn't be surprised if FF stands at 1-2 million and WoD 3 - 4.5 million (which will ofcourse go up with Legion's release).

[Hyve]

Members ≠ Subscribers ≠ Active Members

I wouldn't doubt that it's close, merely that I still think WoW is probably the top dog, but not by much.

[Dhrizzle]

You guys can't be serious. They lost the subs they got back PLUS 2 million and nothing has been release this whole expansion besides a mediocre raid tier and zone. The subs are the lowest since vanilla and you think that is a steady decline?

So? Cata and MoP also lost any subs they gained PLUS 2 million and they had quite a bit of content added, especially MoP. I consider it a steady decline because it's taken 6 years to drop back down to Vanilla levels after it hit a relatively steady peak during WotLK.

[Deleted]

"Over Five Million Players!"

five millions players = five millions accounts, not 5 millions subscription.

To put things in perspective :

https://www.google.com/trends/explor...tz=Etc%2FGMT-2

I estimate current FFXIV steady player base to a bit under 600 k~ 700 k subscribers (the number FFXI subscription reached at his peak), though it is hard to tell because a lot of players only activate their account for a month or two after a patch then unsub till the next one.

FFXIV in only truly popular in japan, where they do not have wow. In that regard, it is the biggest MMO on the market... in japan.

Anyone who is playing both FFXIV and wow atm (like my self) if they are honest will tell you that FFXIV is currently the best MMORPG experience compared to not just Wow but also all the other MMORPGs on the market.

I play both and I wouldn't tell you that. FFXIV PVE is sloppy and either too easy or too hard for most of the player base (it is also mostly based on a model of one instance = one boss for 8 players raids, which make the bulk of the content at high level). PVP is un-responsive and sloppy. There are a lot of mindless grinds in corridor like dungeons you have to complete for slightly better gear than you have, while the art design is cool, the world is very small, etc, ...

So yeah FFXIV might not be a bad game if you play it very casually, but stating it is the best MMO experience of the market is probably true for you, but that's not a general statement.

Big difference in XIV to most MMOs, though, they have beefy content patches every 3 months like clockwork. They don't have the 6-11 months to plummet. I'd wager they hold steadier than a lot due to that.

Except the base amount of content per expansion/ patch is way lower than a typical wow patch (when blizzard was providing content update). As a level 50 player when heavensward did hit, we were quickly bored out once we reached 60 (as alexander savage was hard but the antithesis of fun).

[Deleted]

If Legion fails hard and they see a similar loss WoD whilst the new FF expansion is as good as the current expansion the OP's thread title will probably become reality.

[Dhrizzle]

If Legion fails hard and they see a similar loss WoD whilst the new FF expansion is as good as the current expansion the OP's thread title will probably become reality.

Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, Age of Conan, Lord of the Rings Online, Aion, Final Fantasy XIV Online RIFT, Guild Wars 2,Star Wars: the Old Republic, Wildstar, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is totally going to dethrone WoW guys!

[DeadmanWalking]

no what I'm saying is wow lost a shit ton.

And they will all come running back when a new expansion hits, some will try it and leave, some will play until out of new content and leave, some never left, some left at the end of expansion. But they will all sub back in to see where wow is going next.

Frankly nobody likes a game doomsayer, it's a pointless and mindless job as nobody cares about the bell ringing and yelling, they just try to ignore them and get on with their own lives. Don't be a game doomsayer.

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Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, Age of Conan, Lord of the Rings Online, Aion, RIFT, Guild Wars 2,Star Wars: the Old Republic, Wildstar, Final Fantasy XIV is totally going to dethrone WoW guys!

You also have to put ffxiv in the middle a couple of times before its final listing as it has been around quite a while.
FFxiv is good but it will never hold the mainstream cred that wow has.

[Dhrizzle]

You also have to put ffxiv in the middle a couple of times before its final listing as it has been around quite a while.
FFxiv is good but it will never hold the mainstream cred that wow has.

Fixed it. Also don't underestimate FFXIV's mainstream appeal, don't forget it's available on PS3 and 4.

[Deleted]

Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, Age of Conan, Lord of the Rings Online, Aion, RIFT, Guild Wars 2,Star Wars: the Old Republic, Wildstar, Final Fantasy XIV is totally going to dethrone WoW guys!

Well all of those games you have crossed out had a large amount of players at launch (around 1 million) and then dropped off very rapidly. FF14 is the exception to the rule, it's been out for 3 years now slowly building momentum. This isn't some new mmo that people are hyping through the roofbased on a cutscene only to tank in the first month.

Regardless, I didn't claim it will dethrone WoW only it is a possibility that it will close the gap if Legion tanks as hard as WoD. Even with a surge of 2.5 million players like WoD saw, if Legion drops a similar amount of players and assuming FF sticks to it's guns they wont be too far off each other.

[Dhrizzle]

Well all of those games you have crossed out had a large amount of players at launch (around 1 million) and then dropped off very rapidly. FF14 is the exception to the rule, it's been out for 3 years now slowly building momentum. This isn't some new mmo that people are hyping through the roofbased on a cutscene only to tank in the first month.

Regardless, I didn't claim it will dethrone WoW only it is a possibility that it will close the gap if Legion tanks as hard as WoD. Even with a surge of 2.5 million players like WoD saw, if Legion drops a similar amount of players and assuming FF sticks to it's guns they wont be too far off each other.

I was being a bit flippant but honestly FFXIV stands a chance. Being available on consoles obviously helps but lets face it, unless people give up on subscription MMOs altogether someone will eventually overtake WoW at the top spot. By the end of legion WoW could be down to around 2m and I expect they'll make it f2p (or b2p) not long after.

[unholytestament]

Anecdotal evidence is anecdotal.

Thank you for invalidating your own point.

The only way that wouldn't be true is if people playing via the token would still pay for it out of their own pocket. And because we know that's not the case (people make that claim on these very forums), the only conclusion is the one I've given you.

So you don't know this, because anecdotal evidence is anecdotal.

You have a theory. You do not have facts.

[Tech614]

I was being a bit flippant but honestly FFXIV stands a chance. Being available on consoles obviously helps but lets face it, unless people give up on subscription MMOs altogether someone will eventually overtake WoW at the top spot. By the end of legion WoW could be down to around 2m and I expect they'll make it f2p (or b2p) not long after.

XIV was a massive financial success for Square when it was only at 500k subs, but you think blizzard would make WoW f2p at 2 mil subs? LMAO. It's in the sub 100k range that MMOs typically go f2p. If blizzard still has 2 million people paying to play WoW(or buying gold so others can buy tokens) there is literally no chance in hell the game go's f2p or b2p. That is still a shit load of money, and much much more then the operating costs.

[Usagi Senshi]

I didn't play 3.3, but from my experience before that, I don't agree with you. Combat didn't feel as smooth as WoW.

You need to define smooth because the combat is much more fluid and better animated than all of the combat animations in WoW.

WoW = jerky quick animations ala Zelda
FFXIV = smooth longer animations like Dead or Alive/Virtua Fighter

I still think you're confusing slower with smooth which is incorrect.