Now I Understand Why FFXIV Survived… 

I think one of the most fascinating things about Final Fantasy XIV is its lateral progression compared to WoW, where the only progression is linear and strictly vertical. The sheer amount of content available in which players can participate without having to be at max level is a very strong bonus. Also, since FFXIV doesn't feel like a second full-time Job, you can just walk away from it for a while and then come back when you're ready without worrying about having to catch up in the same way you do in WoW.

Something to remember too is that FFXIV doesnt fall into the microtransaction P2W madness of other hyped MMOs, opting for the old trusty subscription system. Yes, there is a shop. But its entirely out of the game, there is exactly ZERO P2W purchases in there (boosts are considered Pay2Lose for most of the playerbase). Meanwhile many of those hyped MMO games just... fill their games with MTXs or even just straight up gacha. This in turns allows massive amounts of fast cash to go in, while putting minimal effort into the game itself, and quickly dries up due to the game becoming terrible for normal people and whales becoming bored with a game where their sunk money isnt giving them all that advantage over a declining playerbase. This means that ''hype'' MMOs are just volatile and temporary cash grabs that give little back to the players and invest little on keeping their playerbase alive and happy due to only whales mattering. A sub system both keeps the cash as a constant flow, and stops corporate from reaching the ''only whales matter'' conclusion. Many cite WoW's decline to an ever increasing attempt at turning it into an even bigger golden egg goose that it was. WoW Token + BoE system making world 1st races into insane P2W messes, and the shop constantly invading the game and putting everything cool behind it.

I feel like the MMOS coming out today are just trying to make money out of games so hard they forget why people playm people dont play MMOs so you can turn them into cash cows and milk them for whatever they have. People play games to forget the stress, have fun, make friends etc...but alas these companies releasing games only care about the money and nothing else. They just seee MMOs as a means to an end.

It is also important for modern day MMOs to give tools for the players to create their own fun. FFXIV has glamour, musical instruments, multiple types of dances, housing and a lot of other things that do not contribute to the "leveling up" or the "power" of its players. But players engage with this type of content on the regular, sometimes forming whole communities dedicated to this one aspect of the game. There are some people who play the free trial and finally gave in and bought the game because they maxed out their fishing level.

yeah i’m still into Maplestory. They have P2P on reg servers but they also have a Reboot world focused on character progression that has almost all beneficial features purchasable with in-game currency.

Just stop saying you have things before you actually put them in the fucking game. Perfect what you have, then add more later.