Originally posted by grimal Looks like the relaunch gamble worked off. Congratulations!
Exactly. Congrats, Square Enix on turning this title completely around!
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
I just started playing and other than the cutesy aspects of some of the graphics and dialogue, I am really enjoying myself. Glad to hear it is doing well.
I have a registered account but no subscription running for FFXIV. It's actually from the original disaster launch, and that same account can be used to play the game on the promotional weekends these days too.
I also used it when the 2.0 launched since the scammed customers from the original launch got few free days to decide if they want to throw more money at SE with the new launch.
The game sure did feel like it was pulled from alpha (original launch) to "6 months after release" condition (new launch) where everything works extremely well. I just find the slow almost-turn-based-combat not my thing, I'm fine with tab-target but FFXIV just has a bit too slow combat on top of that.
I don't see why people are happy with this kind of deceptive advertising. The 2 million accounts says zero, squat, nada about the actual health of the game because of how their account system works.
Quick Explanation:
After making a FFXIV:ARR account, you have two options if you are going to stop: The first is to essentially delete your account, including all characters and progress. The second is to simply cancel automatic subscription renewal.
Since no one in their right mind is going to delete all their characters and progress in an MMORPG, people will simply stop subbing. These unsubbed accounts are included in the 2 million number. Some of those have been inactive since FFXIV 1.0's release back in 2010!
In Conclusion:
All it says is, between both the original FFXIV launch back in 2010 and the year or so of time after the launch of FFXIV:ARR, they have 2 million copies of the game sold. It's impossible to tell if that is good news, bad news, or "meh" news because it doesn't tell us how many of those were accounts from FFXIV 1.0, how many are still actively subscribing, and what their current sales figures for the current quarter for FFXIV:ARR (I'm sure we could find that last number somewhere, but obviously its not in the advertising).
Bottom Line: I'm absolutely fine with people finding a game that they play and enjoy, but enjoying a game and wanting the game to succeed shouldn't compel players to assist in bad advertising practices of the parent company. Honesty is an important virtue in a market whose players have faced betrayal more than once at the hands of developers and publishers. SE shouldn't be trying to hide its active subscription numbers behind a farce designed to make people see what they want out of a "magic number."
I am rather surprised myself. I always thought Final Fantasy is an excellent franchise and has a solid fan base but if one would put this into context with other games it seems that Final Fantasy has a much more loyal fan base than other franchises.
Star Wars for example is much bigger and SW:TOR had -only- 1.7 million subscribers right after the release in which they sold 2 million copies. To my knowledge it never went above that.
In the video game industry Final Fantasy is bigger than Star Wars, in everything else like movies Star Wars is bigger.
I don't see why people are happy with this kind of deceptive advertising. The 2 million accounts says zero, squat, nada about the actual health of the game because of how their account system works.
Quick Explanation:
After making a FFXIV:ARR account, you have two options if you are going to stop: The first is to essentially delete your account, including all characters and progress. The second is to simply cancel automatic subscription renewal.
Since no one in their right mind is going to delete all their characters and progress in an MMORPG, people will simply stop subbing. These unsubbed accounts are included in the 2 million number. Some of those have been inactive since FFXIV 1.0's release back in 2010!
In Conclusion:
All it says is, between both the original FFXIV launch back in 2010 and the year or so of time after the launch of FFXIV:ARR, they have 2 million copies of the game sold. It's impossible to tell if that is good news, bad news, or "meh" news because it doesn't tell us how many of those were accounts from FFXIV 1.0, how many are still actively subscribing, and what their current sales figures for the current quarter for FFXIV:ARR (I'm sure we could find that last number somewhere, but obviously its not in the advertising).
Bottom Line: I'm absolutely fine with people finding a game that they play and enjoy, but enjoying a game and wanting the game to succeed shouldn't compel players to assist in bad advertising practices of the parent company. Honesty is an important virtue in a market whose players have faced betrayal more than once at the hands of developers and publishers. SE shouldn't be trying to hide its active subscription numbers behind a farce designed to make people see what they want out of a "magic number."
I don't know what you find so deceptive in this marketing tactic. It's not the most important number out there for the game's health, it is simply the most impressive number for the given time. However, that does not make it "deceptive". They are not saying the # of active subscriptions is at 2 million (2.5 million now). That would be deceptive.
The only reason for SE (or any company ever) to post their active sub numbers is if it can be used for PR purposes. No company is "hiding" the number if they choose to not release it. It simply is not a strong PR statement. We can be pretty sure the game's subs outside China have plateau'd so there is nothing impressive about telling us the subscriptions have been constant/on a slow decline as we march towards the expansion. What we can take at face value is that the game constantly exceeds SE's financial expectations and has been reported as a key factor in the company's positive financial reportings since it's release last year. SE cannot lie about that stuff, even if they can choose to not release the sub numbers.
Don't worry, though, the new active sub numbers should be revealed on the fanfest next month. Why? Because the Chinese release saw more than 1million+ new players joining the game (that was the amount of preorders on the game, anyway). If that didn't result in a positive sub growth, nothing will.
Using LOL is like saying "my argument sucks but I still want to disagree".
Hyanman, as I pointed out in my post, it is common knowledge that MMORPG players are skeptical about MMORPG releases because of frequent disappointment. In the context of that, advertising total accounts is a bad move as that only states the box sales and not the current health of the game, which is subject to even more doubt when the account system includes all accounts from the FFXIV release in 2010.
It is deceptive because the advertisement is designed to play on the consumer's ignorance of what that number means so that they draw a false conclusion to the benefit of the parent company's sales.
That kind of advertising is NOT done for the good of the consumer, but of the company alone. MMORPG players were forced to put up with a lot of disappointment and overinflated hype trains over the last half decade and deserve better than that. Square Enix (not the development team or the game) deserves all the criticism it is getting for approaching its advertising in such a manner.
MMORPG players were forced to put up with a lot of disappointment and overinflated hype trains over the last half decade
So what? How is that relevant to this thread? You're trying to make this sound tragic by bringing up the past games and how the poor players had to suffer through the years. C'mon now.
The press release says 2 mil registered accounts. If you misinterpret it then that's your problem.
Where do you people get the stupid idea of people being reluctant to P2P? Uh? Seriously either most of you just like to talk crap to think you know something in the MMO business, or I don't know what the hell you people are trying to accomplish. If a game is great such as FF14 and WoW, people will P2P for quality service and gaming experience, and by all means FF14:ARR delivers towards both accounts.
Ya'll go play your kiddies games, the genre needs more P2P MMO quality games, not more F2P/P2W garbage. If you can't afford a monthly fee, too bad for you, you won't see any P2P players shed a tear for ya. And yea I'm a proud FF14 resubber since Tuesday, and boy did the game change since I left it in December 2013!
I don't see why people are happy with this kind of deceptive advertising. The 2 million accounts says zero, squat, nada about the actual health of the game because of how their account system works.
Quick Explanation:
After making a FFXIV:ARR account, you have two options if you are going to stop: The first is to essentially delete your account, including all characters and progress. The second is to simply cancel automatic subscription renewal.
Since no one in their right mind is going to delete all their characters and progress in an MMORPG, people will simply stop subbing. These unsubbed accounts are included in the 2 million number. Some of those have been inactive since FFXIV 1.0's release back in 2010!
In Conclusion:
All it says is, between both the original FFXIV launch back in 2010 and the year or so of time after the launch of FFXIV:ARR, they have 2 million copies of the game sold. It's impossible to tell if that is good news, bad news, or "meh" news because it doesn't tell us how many of those were accounts from FFXIV 1.0, how many are still actively subscribing, and what their current sales figures for the current quarter for FFXIV:ARR (I'm sure we could find that last number somewhere, but obviously its not in the advertising).
Bottom Line: I'm absolutely fine with people finding a game that they play and enjoy, but enjoying a game and wanting the game to succeed shouldn't compel players to assist in bad advertising practices of the parent company. Honesty is an important virtue in a market whose players have faced betrayal more than once at the hands of developers and publishers. SE shouldn't be trying to hide its active subscription numbers behind a farce designed to make people see what they want out of a "magic number."
They never said that those are active subs at the moment so chill. It's just a milestone which is they are sharing. FFXIV is certainly doing better than most MMOs.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
I started my MMO career with ffxi. I started playing FFXIV a few months ago and I am loving it! Great game. I think I have found my home. I will visit wow every now and then but FF has my homage.
MMORPG players were forced to put up with a lot of disappointment and overinflated hype trains over the last half decade
So what? How is that relevant to this thread? You're trying to make this sound tragic by bringing up the past games and how the poor players had to suffer through the years. C'mon now.
The point lobo is making is that because MMO players have been lied to and deceived a number of times, it's all the more important to provide numbers that are actually reflective of and relevant to the situation in-game, and not just throwing out the biggest number they can find, because it's the most impressive.
Saying the game has 2.5 million "adventurers" worldwide means absolutely nothing if it doesn't reflect the number of people actually playing. How many people are actually subbed and playing is the number that matters to those playing, or looking to play. But that's not the number SE is putting out.
It's a very valid complaint. I've had that same issue with SE and other developers/publishers in the past.
The press release says 2 mil registered accounts. If you misinterpret it then that's your problem.
You're missing the point. Lobotaru isn't the one misinterpreting it. To the contrary, he understands what the number represents, and that's the root of his issue with it. As I said above... they're throwing out the biggest, most impressive - but ultimately - most useless number in their PR/advertising.
They're putting out a big number, without context of what it actually represents, and are relying on ignorant viewers to "fill in the blanks".
In other words, SE is counting on people seeing the 2.5 million adventurers bit and assuming "wow, that's how many people are playing?". If someone believes they're subscribers and it encourages them to pick it up themselves, then it's a win for SE. If someone challenges it, saying "you do not have 2.5 million playing subscribers!", SE can just say "We never said we did. The word 'subscribers' is never mentioned".
They're technically being truthful, and hence, can't be accused of false advertising. At the same time, they're being very deceptive in the number they choose to use.
Again, SE does it, as do many other companies. I think it's horrible, personally, and wish they didn't. But it apparently works, so I don't see them stopping any time soon.
Comments
Exactly. Congrats, Square Enix on turning this title completely around!
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
You have been very good at doing some selective reading then!
I self identify as a monkey.
I have a registered account but no subscription running for FFXIV. It's actually from the original disaster launch, and that same account can be used to play the game on the promotional weekends these days too.
I also used it when the 2.0 launched since the scammed customers from the original launch got few free days to decide if they want to throw more money at SE with the new launch.
The game sure did feel like it was pulled from alpha (original launch) to "6 months after release" condition (new launch) where everything works extremely well. I just find the slow almost-turn-based-combat not my thing, I'm fine with tab-target but FFXIV just has a bit too slow combat on top of that.
I don't see why people are happy with this kind of deceptive advertising. The 2 million accounts says zero, squat, nada about the actual health of the game because of how their account system works.
Quick Explanation:
After making a FFXIV:ARR account, you have two options if you are going to stop: The first is to essentially delete your account, including all characters and progress. The second is to simply cancel automatic subscription renewal.
Since no one in their right mind is going to delete all their characters and progress in an MMORPG, people will simply stop subbing. These unsubbed accounts are included in the 2 million number. Some of those have been inactive since FFXIV 1.0's release back in 2010!
In Conclusion:
All it says is, between both the original FFXIV launch back in 2010 and the year or so of time after the launch of FFXIV:ARR, they have 2 million copies of the game sold. It's impossible to tell if that is good news, bad news, or "meh" news because it doesn't tell us how many of those were accounts from FFXIV 1.0, how many are still actively subscribing, and what their current sales figures for the current quarter for FFXIV:ARR (I'm sure we could find that last number somewhere, but obviously its not in the advertising).
Bottom Line: I'm absolutely fine with people finding a game that they play and enjoy, but enjoying a game and wanting the game to succeed shouldn't compel players to assist in bad advertising practices of the parent company. Honesty is an important virtue in a market whose players have faced betrayal more than once at the hands of developers and publishers. SE shouldn't be trying to hide its active subscription numbers behind a farce designed to make people see what they want out of a "magic number."
In the video game industry Final Fantasy is bigger than Star Wars, in everything else like movies Star Wars is bigger.
I don't know what you find so deceptive in this marketing tactic. It's not the most important number out there for the game's health, it is simply the most impressive number for the given time. However, that does not make it "deceptive". They are not saying the # of active subscriptions is at 2 million (2.5 million now). That would be deceptive.
The only reason for SE (or any company ever) to post their active sub numbers is if it can be used for PR purposes. No company is "hiding" the number if they choose to not release it. It simply is not a strong PR statement. We can be pretty sure the game's subs outside China have plateau'd so there is nothing impressive about telling us the subscriptions have been constant/on a slow decline as we march towards the expansion. What we can take at face value is that the game constantly exceeds SE's financial expectations and has been reported as a key factor in the company's positive financial reportings since it's release last year. SE cannot lie about that stuff, even if they can choose to not release the sub numbers.
Don't worry, though, the new active sub numbers should be revealed on the fanfest next month. Why? Because the Chinese release saw more than 1million+ new players joining the game (that was the amount of preorders on the game, anyway). If that didn't result in a positive sub growth, nothing will.
Hyanman, as I pointed out in my post, it is common knowledge that MMORPG players are skeptical about MMORPG releases because of frequent disappointment. In the context of that, advertising total accounts is a bad move as that only states the box sales and not the current health of the game, which is subject to even more doubt when the account system includes all accounts from the FFXIV release in 2010.
It is deceptive because the advertisement is designed to play on the consumer's ignorance of what that number means so that they draw a false conclusion to the benefit of the parent company's sales.
That kind of advertising is NOT done for the good of the consumer, but of the company alone. MMORPG players were forced to put up with a lot of disappointment and overinflated hype trains over the last half decade and deserve better than that. Square Enix (not the development team or the game) deserves all the criticism it is getting for approaching its advertising in such a manner.
So what? How is that relevant to this thread? You're trying to make this sound tragic by bringing up the past games and how the poor players had to suffer through the years. C'mon now.
The press release says 2 mil registered accounts. If you misinterpret it then that's your problem.
Where do you people get the stupid idea of people being reluctant to P2P? Uh? Seriously either most of you just like to talk crap to think you know something in the MMO business, or I don't know what the hell you people are trying to accomplish. If a game is great such as FF14 and WoW, people will P2P for quality service and gaming experience, and by all means FF14:ARR delivers towards both accounts.
Ya'll go play your kiddies games, the genre needs more P2P MMO quality games, not more F2P/P2W garbage. If you can't afford a monthly fee, too bad for you, you won't see any P2P players shed a tear for ya. And yea I'm a proud FF14 resubber since Tuesday, and boy did the game change since I left it in December 2013!
They never said that those are active subs at the moment so chill. It's just a milestone which is they are sharing. FFXIV is certainly doing better than most MMOs.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.