WoW focuses on the destination, FFXI the journey. WoW became more accessible, and subsequently extremely profitable.
Well WoW is an old game now, so declining subscription rates are not as meaningful as they may have been earlier -- but I was under the impression that WoW has been hemorrhaging players for quite some time. They made a very dramatic shift from focusing on the early and middle progression of the game to the late game, and destroyed new player's experience of the early game entirely. It began with flying mounts, which removed the need to explore the land on quests. It's like a trope, walking form one place to another repeatedly. In Ultima it was, Lord British tells you to find Mariah in the Lycaeum, (or in Moonglow in one version), then when you find her you have to go back to Lord British, who then sends you after someone else. Back and forth. It was an impetus to explore and just dick around in the game and have fun in your role. Something which I have only really seen expressed well recently in Fallout 3 -- a game I enjoyed much more than WoW and which I feel has a greater replay value.
It's the irony of it all. And then you try to make it personal. I'm a child-politician engrossed in welfarism, so you don't have to take my advice. Or I don't have a job. Or whatever. You reek of failure and incompetence. If I was the only person telling you these things it would be different, but I'm not.
I hope you're not saying I'm saying that, because I'm not.
No, MPOE-PR likes to make quips at me for some reason, that was in response to her.
They do listen, and in particular Mr. Popescu is willing to listen to reason. Perhaps the reason S.MG is hyperfocused on the business plan is because whatever the designer is doing will not be seen by us unless approved by Mr. Popescu. The designer (if they have one yet), is locked in a box, far way from the public. MPOE-PR even stated that as one of the benefits of being a developer in contract with S.MG.
I'm flattered at people thinking I should be a game design consultant, but I'm just pointing out the fundamentals. Anyone significantly more experienced than I, and is a designer by trade will point out similar things.
Well like I said, I'm interested to see what they will put out.