FFXIV is getting into excellent shape, the population is pretty healthy as it is.  FFXIV A Realm Reborn is very much anticipated by all, and will attract a lot of new players with the PS launch and probably will draw in a lot of new players on the pc version.

There are a considerable amount of players that have returned recently that was in the initial launch including myself, it has come a long way from what it was,  the excuse it was rubbish on launch so its going to be rubbish on relaunch is nothing but retarded nonsense.

As to going F2P, I very much doubt it, FFXI has never gone F2P even with a medeocre western market, so the thought of XIV going F2P has little chance, unless they change their marketing stance.

Originally posted by cronius77
i dont usually diss on the FF games but seriously if it doesnt go free to play how many people are really going to play it come relaunch? This game is up there with sWTOR for largest mmo flop in history to the point they had to drop the sub fees for a very long time. Im sure some people will go back to check out 2.0 but seriously how many people do you really think are going to just rush back after they quit the game the first couple of months?

Potentially, A lot of people.   FFXIV is unique for a variety of reasons.  It doesn't fit the "new mmo" mold where people play for a few months and then move on.  For one, it has a huge japanese playerbase just waiting for the PS3 release.  Japanese players prefer their gaming on consoles, not PC.  That is why a lot of Japanese players play FFXIV on the PC using a usb controller.

Second, unlike most mmos (if not all of them exept for FFXI), this will have a second launch on the consoles.  It remains to be seen if it will go to Xbox, but it is confirmed for PS3.  Many people can't afford $2000 PC to play this game on high settings, or any settings at all.  PS3 allows these people to play without spending extra money on a new computer.

Third, Final Fantasy is its own brand.  It's not that it caters to mmo players, but rather Final Fantasy fans.  There are a lot of FF fans whol will try this game having never played any other mmo, other than FFXI.

Fourth, many people, including me, automatically quit a game when it goes F2P.  I hate the model.  You end up paying more in the long run than just paying for a subscription.  I hate being nickle and dimed to death.  I quit LoTRO when it went free to play, I quit SWTOR.  The only exception is GW2 because the model is completely different.  I plan on playing both when Gw2 is released later this month.

Yoshi-P has already said that the subscription numbers have doubled since they introduced the legacy reward.  50k subscriber base is horrible in the grand scheme of things, but for those of us who have stayed along the way, WE LOVE WHAT YOSHI P has done thus far.  HE was given a shitty Crystals engine that is not for MMOS, he was given a shitty server structure with horrible coding and lag.  He was provided a game with antiquated concepts (fatigue, RNG xp, capp on leve quest allowances, etc etc).  And yet, people who play the game now absolutely love it.  

Imagin Yoshi-P being freed from the shackles imposed by Tanaka and FFXIV v. 1.0.  He now has a BRAND NEW ENGINE specifically built for an FF MMO.  HE gets brand new servers.  THe UI will be exactly like modern mmos (specifically close to WoW, as stated by Yoshi-P), and there will be way more content than what we had in 1.0.

If this game goes F2P, many of the FF fans will leave.  My 2 cents.

Originally posted by cronius77
i dont usually diss on the FF games but seriously if it doesnt go free to play how many people are really going to play it come relaunch? This game is up there with sWTOR for largest mmo flop in history to the point they had to drop the sub fees for a very long time. Im sure some people will go back to check out 2.0 but seriously how many people do you really think are going to just rush back after they quit the game the first couple of months?

All of the new "AAA" games will have come out this summer. By the time 2.0 rears it's awesome face, people will be growing bored with the games that are currently out and will be willing to check out FFXIV 2.0 ARR.

Do I emphatically believe that a larger playerbase will be brought about by the relaunch of FFXIV 2.0, hell yes I do. Do I think it's the coming of Christ? No. I don't. But I do believe that the game will be an amazing change from what launch was and I think it's new style is sure to bring in a much larger playerbase, including those who left early on in 2010 after it's shotty release.

Originally posted by AliceKaye

Originally posted by cronius77
i dont usually diss on the FF games but seriously if it doesnt go free to play how many people are really going to play it come relaunch? This game is up there with sWTOR for largest mmo flop in history to the point they had to drop the sub fees for a very long time. Im sure some people will go back to check out 2.0 but seriously how many people do you really think are going to just rush back after they quit the game the first couple of months?

All of the new "AAA" games will have come out this summer. By the time 2.0 rears it's awesome face, people will be growing bored with the games that are currently out and will be willing to check out FFXIV 2.0 ARR.

Do I emphatically believe that a larger playerbase will be brought about by the relaunch of FFXIV 2.0, hell yes I do. Do I think it's the coming of Christ? No. I don't. But I do believe that the game will be an amazing change from what launch was and I think it's new style is sure to bring in a much larger playerbase, including those who left early on in 2010 after it's shotty release.

Read this with a pirate accent for bonus points.  I'm in that boat- excited and hopefully occupied with GW2 for a good while, but definitely checking out FFXIV 2.0 when it debuts.

this game is kinda unique, has the FF feel to it also. 2.0 will be a great change (we'll be able to jump !) , i do believe in it !  

and for you guys that are interested in the game but are also waiting for 2.0, i recommend to buy the game right now ! get a box version, they are pretty cheap right now !

As for F2P, i'm not against it. But i'm willing to pay a sub if the game is good =) 

I said this on my own forum but I'll repeat it here.

If 2.0 launches with a sub fee, it'll be a huge mistake.  I consider TERA a far superior product to XIV and even that is starting it's downward spiral in the west sub wise.  For XIV to be anything other than a niche MMO for the PS3 in the East, it'll have to evolve from it's old price model much like it's evolving from it's old UI/engine.

As I'm sure everyone is aware, FF MMO fans are a rare breed indeed.  They're willing to put up with almost anything, as long as it's not similar to WoW in any way.  This is also the mentality that will hurt the game as it's already hurt it since it's launch.

I fear XIV has spent the last 2 years playing catch-up with a genre that's completely different than it was a few years ago.  If 2.0 launches and we have nothing but a bunch of fed-ex quests and the same terrible combat, then the price model won't really mean a thing.  Time will tell.

Originally posted by Sylvii
Agree with Alders, although I'm more sinical, as I see this as failsauce 2.0.  Love it or hate it, WoW redefined the mmo genre, and cumbersome UI like the FFxi/FFxiv will doom the game.  Other than the new gen FF fanatics, I just don't see this game doing well in a pay format.  Especially with all the people who got burned at 1.0 launch and I still feel Enix ruined the FF franchise.

Yes well while FFXIV 1.0 currently has a cumbersome UI, if you knew anything about 2.0 you'd know that the game is getting a complete overhaul, UI included. Yoshi-P told his crew to study WoW's UI and they're loosely basing it off of that. However, with good response time, unlike their current UI which has been worked on and is clearly working at a more expedient rate, it is still behind the times. Tanaka... not sure what the hell he was thinking with FFXIV but it blew up in his face.

Yoshi-P seems to have a good idea of what MMO's are like and what they should be like and it looks like he'll have a successful relaunch, in my opinion.

The only thing from FFXIV that's staying is the names of the classes/jobs, races and areas. Otherwise, it looks like absolutely everything is getting an overhaul.

Originally posted by monstermmo
Hows the combat? Are they changing it from turn based?

It's not really turn-based it just has an odd world-timer on it (FFXI was turn-based this... isn't really). They did say they were making it "more dynamic", I'm assuming since they're studying WoW so much, it will probably be a lot speedier but they haven't shown us any of it yet. A lot of people are speculating that there will be a combat trailer released at the upcoming Gamescom convention. I'd stay tuned for that! :)

It was already F2p for a freaking year o.o.... While they worked on making the new version. People still dont seem to realize 2.0 really isnt just an update. The game is completly getting relaunched. Its was redesinged ground up. While everyone played free and they worked on fixing 1.0 another team has been developing the 2.0. Games night and day...doesnt even look the same.

..Will be completly diff game...

Subs were already turned back on...

No way its going f2p when 2.0 is a different and new game.

Legacy lvl players will be able to be in Beta this fall. All FFXIV 1.0 servers will then be closed. No more FFXIV.

2.0 Servers will then be brought online next year (after about a month of moving everyones data to the new game.

Yoshis said their plan will be to add content from every FF game to date into XIV as a salute to fans.

All that no jumping clunky movments and copy pasta landscape is gone. Will run like typical mmo mechanics wise. But with a FF flare. Wont have that dated feel that everyone flipped out over.

Originally posted by squalleona

Everquest, D&D, LOTR.... are  F2P

even Star wars the old republic will be F2P in Fall,

so title say it all. they might even sell the crystal soon ^_^

I love FF on consoles, but this FF XIV will probably relaunch and fail miserably yet again as a P2P game, than relaunch as a F2P for the western audience, not sure what they will do for the asian audience that has been so faithfull all this time.

maybe region lock it

NA / EU F2P

JP /CHN P2P.

though that would be a crazy idea.