Could a current MMO be overtaking WoW soon?

[NantoHax]

The only MMO I see poised to possibly overtake WoW is FF14.

And that game needs to improve it's non-raiding endgame same as WoW first.

So really, whichever game creates an endgame that isn't focused around one thing (usually large group dungeons, aka raiding) has a shot to be top dog.

FFXIV has a huge endgame system other than raiding. It has a massive crafting system which actually does things other than making gear for players to raid with. You can create items for player housing, freaking FreeCompany (Guilds) have airships which REQUIRE you to be a master crafting.

There is plenty in the game to do, sure it has flaws with some things, but if it keeps going to way it is, then I have no doubt the game will eventually grow to be one of the largest MMORPGS to date.

[Gimlix]

FFXIV has a huge endgame system other than raiding. It has a massive crafting system which actually does things other than making gear for players to raid with. You can create items for player housing, freaking FreeCompany (Guilds) have airships which REQUIRE you to be a master crafting.

There is plenty in the game to do, sure it has flaws with some things, but if it keeps going to way it is, then I have no doubt the game will eventually grow to be one of the largest MMORPGS to date.

my ass, no MMORPG ever gonna get to 12M again.
Only WoW Can pull those numbers

[Florena]

I like FF XiV a lot. More than WOD to be sure so far, especially story wise. But from what I've read it's 1.2 not 4.5 million active subscribers, and while the game is doing well, it's nowhere near to dwarfing WoW. The only thing that will kill WoW is WoW itself. If WoW's numbers ever dip below 2 mil it will be because because of blunders on their end, or the game just aging as years pass on, and not because another MMO is going to blow it out of the water.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

my ass, no MMORPG ever gonna get to 12M again.
Only WoW Can pull those numbers

And WoW got help hitting those numbers because it was the most user-friendly MMO at the time.

[opposing critter]

Wow will remain king for a long time until it kills itself.

[Kaneiac]

4 million registered accounts, not active subscribers.

http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodest...01c6348ab5d5e5

They've never revealed the amount of subscribers, but they have mentioned a 30% retention rate.

[Deleted]

FFXIV is an asian MMO, considering how much MoP got dissed by WoWs community for being asian, there's no chance that FFXIV can gain many WoW players. Most of their playerbase is probably asian anyway.

[Deleted]

This is going to be an interesting Blizzcon, honestly I think the ego is too massive at this point for them to see FFXIV for what it is: a serious threat. So if they don't have a gameplan it might be a slow painful gameover for them where FFXIV has nowhere to go but up at the moment.

Wonder if blizzard at this point is hoping that WoW is going to die or that they still want it to keep running.
They can make there money now from games with a far smaller dev. team and less work with hearthstone and heroes of the storm.

I think blizzard lost there passion to keep WoW running and now abandon it and actually hope it is going to die (just a feeling i have)

[Kaneiac]

Wonder if blizzard at this point is hoping that WoW is going to die or that they still want it to keep running.
They can make there money now from games with a far smaller dev. team and less work with hearthstone and heroes of the storm.

I think blizzard lost there passion to keep WoW running and now abandon it and actually hope it is going to die (just a feeling i have)

If they wanted it to die, they'd just abandon it completely. If I had to legitimately guess, they're trying to gauge how much work they need to keep it profitable, but nothing more.

[Deleted]

If they wanted it to die, they'd just abandon it completely.

Not if they can milk it.

And basicly they did that the last year since 6.1 is made by 4 ppl and 6.2 was started in November.
So i wonder the amount of work they put in for WoD last year and keep the money flow keep coming in.

[Kaneiac]

Not if they can milk it.

And basicly they did that the last year since 6.1 is made by 4 ppl and 6.2 was started in November.

Milking it and letting it die are two explicitly different things. I went into that in the 2nd part of my post if you read beyond that - I feel as if they're trying to get to the smallest team they can possibly have and still turn a profit on it. That's not letting it die. That's pushing it aside.

[mickybrighteyes]

my ass, no MMORPG ever gonna get to 12M again.
Only WoW Can pull those numbers

and wow makes NO USE of large player count....

it doens't matter that 10 million or a hundred million are playing when the game is designed around playing with 19 other people.

[Arcbound]

FF14 subs are a bit indeterminant, but so are WoWs. FF14 subs do not include China. I know WoW's subs do, and we do not know how those numbers are handled in China. How many subs does WoW have outside of China?

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

Wonder if blizzard at this point is hoping that WoW is going to die or that they still want it to keep running.
They can make there money now from games with a far smaller dev. team and less work with hearthstone and heroes of the storm.

I think blizzard lost there passion to keep WoW running and now abandon it and actually hope it is going to die (just a feeling i have)

All of the rest of Blizzard's games combined don't bring in as much money as WoW.

[Jamie081]

Milking it and letting it die are two explicitly different things. I went into that in the 2nd part of my post if you read beyond that - I feel as if they're trying to get to the smallest team they can possibly have and still turn a profit on it. That's not letting it die. That's pushing it aside.

It makes sense considering the focus on Overwatch, HotS and Hearthstone. Anyone would be too silly to realise they get more focus and investment than WoW now overall, and it feels like WoD is the first attempt at putting WoW on the backburner to see how far they can push the subs before they break.

[Time Sage]

Ironically one of the worst MMO launches ever led into what is going to become the new behemoth in the genre. FFXIV is not only poised to overtake WoW it is currently doing it, the way they did it ironically is by doing exactly what current standards tell us not to do. An extremely important main plot with content sometimes gates behind it, a steel leveling curve that hands out the upgrades piecemeal and infrequently thus emphasing personal character growth, a system that not only supports single character play but encourages it, a combat system that is almost slow and plodding compared to other current games in the genre yet because of a difficulty curve that asks you to be better ends up being one of the most skill based and tactical ones out there.

Not only that but handing out classes in non expansion patches, enabling the nonraiders to find just as much depth in their play as the ones that only raid and a company that does not make false promises even going so far as to overly apologize when they do mess up.

There is so much good to be said about FFXIV but I think the biggest take away is that the new king of the ring is here and it's going to br an amazing ride.

They're also really really good at supporting the game. 7 major patchs for ARR (last one split into 3 due to size) and only a 3 month gap between final patch and HW launch. They also tossed in a class/Job set (Rogue>Ninja, which you mentioned) in the middle of the patch cycle. Yes some of the stuff is stuff they wanted in at launch but the game didn't feel incomplete without them. them actully getting them in as a patch made things more exciting when they rolled out (Ninja for example. They wanted it at launch but didn't make it. Prior to it's inclusion Gladiators/Paladins could wield daggers. These items were changed into one handed swords and the models were given to the Rogues/Ninja as a pair of daggers. This surprised alot of people as it required new artwork for both the PLD and NIN to be made)

[Kaneiac]

FF14 subs are a bit indeterminant, but so are WoWs. FF14 subs do not include China. I know WoW's subs do, and we do not know how those numbers are handled in China. How many subs does WoW have outside of China?

Blizzard does address it, sort of?

World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet game room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards. Subscribers in licensees’ territories are defined along the same rules.

[Deleted]

FF14 subs are a bit indeterminant, but so are WoWs. FF14 subs do not include China. I know WoW's subs do, and we do not know how those numbers are handled in China. How many subs does WoW have outside of China?

Around 40-50% I'd guess.

[Gorgodeus]

FFXIV is not only poised to overtake WoW it is currently doing it,

Please enlighten us how a game with ~1 million subs is overtaking WoW.

[Kaneiac]

Please enlighten us how a game with ~1 million subs is overtaking WoW.

People that assume 4 million registered accounts with at least 1 month paid for = 4 million active players.

Think about how many people have registered an account with WoW over the past 10 years, total.