State of Play: Where do the MMORPGs WoW, ESO, GW2, FF14, and Black Desert stand at the beginning of 2017?

In our State of Play, we take a look at the paid MMORPGs WoW, ESO, Guild Wars 2, Final Fantasy XIV, and Black Desert. Where do they stand at the beginning of 2017?

The older among you will remember this format. The last State of Play was 10 months ago. At the end of April 2016, we last asked: What is happening with the MMORPGs? In the meantime, a lot has happened with some games, while others have seen very little.

Today we ask: Where do the games stand? What happens next? And what are the general perspectives of the five largest western paid MMORPGs?

Final Fantasy XIV – The Sheep are Safe

Where does Final Fantasy XIV stand?

Final Fantasy XIV comes from a quiet year. No expansion was released in 2016, instead, Square Enix focused on quarterly, quite routine patches. The story is told in bites between two add-ons. Fresh features, mini-games, and a lot of content are coming.

Final Fantasy XIV has few problems, and the problems it has are often complicated and tricky. For example, Square Enix introduced a new mission type with Heavensward, which never really worked because collectors and hunters wanted to benefit at the same time, causing endless struggles.

Unlike most other MMORPGs, FF14 does not have a content, but a fatigue problem. New game content, new tiers, new dungeons, raids, quests, and grinds come regularly. Some players complain: It’s always the same. What I’ve done recently is now worthless.

We are aware of the problem, but we don’t really have a solution. The team is trying hard for variety, the leader states. They want to convince with quality here.

In general, players are quite satisfied with Square Enix and the mastermind behind Final Fantasy, Naoki Yoshida. Unlike the often rather bland leaders of other MMORPGs, Yoshida is celebrated like a rockstar.

Final Fantasy XIV has been stable in its niche for years. Heavensward came and went – it hardly changed the status quo of FF14. Those who like it still like it. But Heavensward did not change the status quo as hoped. Final Fantasy XIV remains a niche game away from the mainstream.

What comes next?

2017 will be an expansion year. “Stormblood” is scheduled for June, the next expansion. The level cap will increase, two new classes are coming, along with a lot of content.

In contrast to the fantasy orientation in Heavensward, Square Enix is now focusing much more on “Eastern,” with a clear Asian look. They want to try it this way.

What is the perspective for Final Fantasy XIV?

FF14 adheres to classic MMORPG ideas: It always goes higher, faster, further. The item spiral continuously rotates upwards.

It is an MMORPG that has developed independently from the rest of the market. Everywhere, game content is now “scaled”; games adopt Free2Play ideas and take different paths. Final Fantasy XIV doesn’t care about any of this: Players who want to play the new expansion must first quest through the long main quests of the base game and Heavensward. That’s the rules.

Perhaps players will be able to skip this in the future if they pay for it – that is still uncertain.

FF14 has its target audience, has its roots, follows its own goals, and pushes through.

On one hand, there is the impression that FF14 would like to be more successful in Europe and the West – its main success is in Japan, but Final Fantasy XIV is not willing to make too many compromises for this.

The fans love it. Others look at it a bit puzzled. This will probably not change with the second expansion, Stormblood. Final Fantasy XIV is what it is, since the “relaunch,” and it is probably good that way.

Final Fantasy XIV was just the beginning of our round trip. On the next pages, we will look at four more MMORPGs.