“Hey! Did you know you can play Final Fantasy XIV and the award-winning expansion, Heavensward up to level 60, with no restrictions on play-time?”
If you’re a gamer and even remotely on the internet, you’ve likely heard this phrase recently. Flocks of new players are moving to Final Fantasy XIV, so much so that server queues that were once 20-30 players long are now closer to 50-60. In response, the developers created a 30 minute timer that logs out idle players with the recent patch.
They also released a statement about the recent upsurge in players. All of this was done in an attempt to alleviate some of the server congestion the game is facing. With that said – one has to ask – why are so many people coming to Final Fantasy XIV?
As the base game, A Realm Reborn, was initially released in 2013, it seems odd that it would have a renaissance in 2021. Naturally, the option to have two full games available for free is a point in favor of the FFXIV resurgence. However, there seems to be more at play. One of the most highly referenced events is the newest World of Warcraft expansion Shadowlands.
Throughout Eorzea, you are bound to run into many players who refer to themselves as “World of Warcraft refugees”. Being exclusively a FFXIV player, I couldn’t help but be curious and pick the brains of these so-called refugees.
Why are people leaving World of Warcraft?
A wide-range of issues pushed players from WoW to FFXIV. Some are discontent with a story that felt lackluster. Others feel that many of the gameplay elements were time wasters rather than meaningful gameplay. This, on top of the long wait between the release of Shadowlands and the first patch, left many players in malcontent.
Simply put, WoW and Blizzard aren’t delivering what their players want. Much evidence of this can be seen on the WoW subreddit, whether it be text left in the game from development or a lackluster customer service experience.
A Welcoming Community
Some of the reasons for joining FFXIV were a bit more abstract. One player mentioned how they were able to make friends more organically in FFXIV than they ever were in WoW. Having made friends so easily, they were able to partake in other FFXIV social outlets. One such outlet was joining a Free Company (the guild system in FFXIV). Another was starting a static (a set group of eight) for running high-level and challenging content. All the while, they enjoyed their various friendships in the game.
In general, the community of FFXIV was highly praised throughout my research for this article. From stories of being helped through challenging dungeons when they first started the game to stories of being gifted hundreds of thousands of gil randomly from generous veterans.
The player base has really stepped up to welcome the new members of their community. Several women and LGBTQ players specifically mentioned feeling especially included in the community. They were also pleased to see members of their community running high-level and challenging dungeons. All of this works together to make a really fun, welcoming game.
Fun For People Who Don’t Play MMOs
Another oft-mentioned point in FFXIV’s favor was the game’s accessibility. Real life friends, who had previously never been into MMOs, were able to pick up the game. People who were otherwise not MMO players, were able to join their friends on an MMO adventure. Given that most of us were living in quarantine for the last year, this was a great social outlet for friends! Beyond that, it was low-cost or, if they were on the trial, free to play.
As FFXIV has a wide range of dungeons at different skill levels (ranging from the very easy to the extremely challenging), this was something even the most casual of friends could pick up and play.
Other folks mentioned that the style of game was simply more to their taste. From the anime-adjacent fantasy world to the wide range of character customization. FFXIV was a breath of fresh air. Not only do you make your character unique to you with the creation and glamour system; the single player story resonates with a lot of gamers in a way that WoW did not. As one player said, WoW isn’t really about the story, it’s about getting leveled up enough for the next bit of challenging multiplayer content.
The game also got the attention from WoW players when Asmongold, arguably the most well-known WoW streamer, started playing through FFXIV. The popularity of the game seemingly snowballed from that point, with many content creators giving the game a shot. With all of these factors at play, it seems inevitable that FFXIV would have this resurgence.
Did FFXIV Really Kill WoW?
Despite some gamers claiming that “FFXIV killed WoW”, the sentiment doesn’t seem to hold quite true. The director of FFXIV, Naoki Yoshida, has expressly stated that his game could not exist without the foundation that WoW laid for the MMO community.
While researching this article, I reached out to some WoW players who had made the decision to stick with the game. There were various reasons, but the most often stated ones were the robust PvP community and the higher skill cap for running difficult content. The very things that were driving some players toward FFXIV, were some of the things keeping other players in WoW.
With the next expansion of FFXIV, Endwalker, being released in November, players new and old are leveling up their characters in anticipation of the newest content. In the coming months, I’m curious to see how the player-base changes and evolves with this influx of new players. As of writing this article, Blizzard has been hit with a lawsuit alleging discrimination and sexual harrassment. Combined with the complaints about Blizzard from the player base that already exist, I have a feeling this will only further propel more folks to the FFXIV community.
That said – the more the merrier! The FFXIV community, myself included, have proven that we are eager and excited to welcome these new players. So, keep coming in droves! So, if you’re ready to play Final Fantasy XIV and the award-winning expansion Heavensward up to level 60 with no restrictions on playtime . . . you know what to do!