Has XIV:ARR Accomplished It's Goal?

[Formalhaut]

This is purely speculative for several reasons, mainly because it's not on general release yet, and I have only cursory knowledge of the game itself!

But, anyway, with the re-launch of XIV:ARR very soon, maybe it's time to reflect on what's been a rather long process of reconciliation. Ever since the absolutely hideous launch of XIV: 1.0, Square Enix has effectively been in damage limitation mode. The game got slated by reviewers, some giving it a frankly terrible 4.0 (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/finalfantasy14/review.html). This was already coming at a time where fan apathy towards Square Enix was getting higher and higher. Final Fantasy XIII was released pretty soon before (XIII: March 2010, XIV: September 2010) and well, I don't need to go over the divisions over that game.


46491
"Don't kill yourself Lightning! You've got two more games to go yet!"
*Stab*

Things were smurfing up pretty badly for Square Enix at this point, and one could argue that the period of 2010-2011(12?) was one of their lowest points, at least regarding the Final Fantasy franchise. I don't really follow Square Enix besides Final Fantasy, so sure, they would have had successes elsewhere.

But damn did the Final Fantasy series take a slump. Again, I could ramble about XIII, but this is XIV specific. How could the fans forgive Square Enix? Some people didn't even want a MMORPG, at least not after XIII. "Give us a single-player FF game that we deserve damn it". I for one am frankly indifferent to MMORPGs in general, so XI and XIV pretty much slip my mind.

And I'm forgetting Square Enix's other slip ups during this period. Type-0 for all intents a great game, but they've yet to localise it. Meanwhile, the now titled XV was pretty much labelled vapourware and fans were annoyed by the radio silence.


46490
"Ah screw it. I'm not Lightning enough to get a video game."


But so, we come full circle back to XIV. On October, 2011, after much grovelling and apologising AND the sacking of the development team (of which I imagine were forced to commit Seppuku to atone) Square Enix decided to just re-launch XIV and call it XIV: A Realm Reborn.

XIV: ARR effectively had three jobs to clear up Square Enix's mess:




Prove Square Enix can still produce a decent Final Fantasy game
Prove Square Enix can still produce a decent MMORPG game
Win back disaffected fans disappointed by the recent showings
Gain back credibility as a competent producer to industry experts


All of these sound similar, and they are, but the differences are subtle but significant. XIV:ARR had more to do than just be a decent MMORPG. Final Fantasy is arguably Square Enix's biggest franchise internationally. While a MMORPG, it is still a main numbered entry, and therefore is scrutinised just as heavily by everyone: fan or expert or critic alike. Even if you aren't really interested in MMORPGs, the success of this relaunch was paramount.

And, personally, I think they've done pretty rather well for themselves. I don't want this to go on too long, but you firstly have the Yoshi-P letters, which has frankly swamped the front-site! Square Enix are serious about making up for the fans. The fact that they've been so open about the development shows how much they know they messed up.

We then have the beta. It's gone very well. Many of the members on EoFF have taken part and the Open Beta (where progress is carried over) is a nice reward, as is the pre-ordered 'early access'.


46492

I went on GameFAQs earlier today and... oh look! Both versions of XIV:ARR are top of the 'Most Popular Games list'. That's promising. Even better, the Final Fantasy brand is 'encouragingly' looking up. Noctis will FINALLY get his game, Lightning Returns might just redeem her to people, and Square Enix are at least listening to the Type-0 arguments.

But, enough about me blabbering. I might be talking utter crap, but what do you think of XIV:ARR's development? Has it impressed you with how serious SE has taken the criticisms? Do discuss.

(Naturally, if it turns out that XIV:ARR is absolute crap, then expect SE to slump again :p)

[Del Murder]

Time will tell if ARR accomplished its goal. We won't know for a few years. Honestly, I still see this game as a work-in-progress (as most MMOs probably are) and I'm hesitant to get into it this soon knowing that it could be a lot better if I wait a while for them to smooth all the bugs and content out. I just don't have 3+ years to grow with a MMO. I'm a much more 'one and done' gamer these days.

[Loony BoB]

Aye, it's genuinely not possible to know this early. It hasn't even been released, after all. xD

[Formalhaut]

Aye, it's genuinely not possible to know this early. It hasn't even been released, after all. xD

We can always speculate. Geeez.

[Loony BoB]

I still can't call it even when speculating. On the one hand, people who were able to play the game were generally pleased with it. On the other hand, tens of thousands of people got really upset because they couldn't play at all.

I imagine the bugs will be ironed out but they'll need to iron them out before early access or they'll risk losing a notable number of people. I imagine they've already lost a fair few subs based on the number of people who simply couldn't play.

[Formalhaut]

I still can't call it even when speculating. On the one hand, people who were able to play the game were generally pleased with it. On the other hand, tens of thousands of people got really upset because they couldn't play at all.

I imagine the bugs will be ironed out but they'll need to iron them out before early access or they'll risk losing a notable number of people. I imagine they've already lost a fair few subs based on the number of people who simply couldn't play.

Yeah, this 3012 (I think) error is not swaying me to playing it, even with like everyone going "FORMY, PLAY IT".

[Yeargdribble]

I'm super excited about FFXIV and ARR has done what it needed to for me. My wife and I were very interested in XIV coming out of years of XI and being long time FF fans, but XIV 1.0 sounded so bad we ended up giving it a miss entirely. For us, it's the perfect mix of the FF MMO flavor that is so unique with the more modern and time-respecting aspects of current MMOs.

Of course, as excited as I am about it, that doesn't mean it's going to succeed overall. I'm very cautiously optimistic. What people don't always seem to realize is that a game doesn't have to have WoW numbers to be successful from a financial standpoint. That said, I can't even imagine the financial crater that making and releasing the game twice has caused them and SE isn't in the best financial shape generally as of late. Even a game like Tomb Raider, which did really well, didn't hit expectations based on budget.

SE might be in a bad position for ROI with ARR, but if it stabilizes, they might be able to make a small continuous profit from it. FFXIs current numbers can't be all that great. I seem to remember hearing the numbers were around 200k before Abyssea, had a spike, and then fell back even lower. Yet years after that they recently released yet another expansion for what would normally be considered a failure number of subscribers.

So it all ends up being an issue of how much investment they've made versus how much they need in return to make it worth it. My main concern would be ending up like SW:TOR. Huge investment with not enough follow up.

It seems like, out of the game, ARR is looking fairly good. There's a good amount of hype in a fairly tightly packed community. I'm not seeing that hype at large. This game falls off the radar of mainstream gaming journalism next to stuff like Everquest Next and TES:O, but that's also catering to the fickle MMO players that jump in and out of every MMO to hit the block.

I think it's likely to have more staying power than other MMOs because of the IP and because the people who give a crap are probably more likely to invest heavily and for the long-term. Most other MMOs seem to want to capture the WoW demographic and be an overnight cash cow. After 6 months of not doing that, they go F2P and depend on the whales to keep them afloat with ridiculous amounts of in-game purchases. As a JP run MMO, I think ARR is less likely to jump ship and go F2P. I think it's more likely to try to chug along with a smaller, but more loyal subscriber base.

That is the big upside about SE as a company. Much like Nintendo, they can plan for the long haul rather than depending on giant influxes of cash at the start. SE has been through all sorts of financial turmoil over the years and bounced back. While I think they are probably a little out of touch at times, I don't think they will fold as a result. The tenacity to keep it going and keep it on the subscription model will weed out the riff-raff and make it a safe home for the types of people who want a more curated experience.

I love it... I love that other games are F2P and pull away the teenage brats who would otherwise infest a subscription game. WoW got them all for a while, but now that there are other F2P options, I feel that the very young demographic, ever more entitled, is drifting toward that option. Leave the subscription MMOs to adults who can afford it and who also value their time and money.

I think I lost track of my thought process somewhere in there...

[Aulayna]

I think this game will probably peak around 1 million (probably 2 million at most depending on press at launch, the server issues in p4 probably haven't aided this) and then have a steady, dedicated following like XI did - probably in the region for 400,000 to 500,000. It won't be a ground breaker in terms of numbers but I think SE will get a ROI on it and it will keep itself ticking over.