RIFT goes Free-To-Play...Follow

Any game can fail, be it P2P or F2P. When it fails it either switches models or shuts down. Can't sue for closing down. It's like filing for bankruptcy.

I think a bigger thing that XIV needs to get right is the combat.
http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/446/feature/7025/Cerebral-vs-Visceral-Combat-Part-1.html

This one post is the direction I agree with most from the above article.
fdisk81 writes:
Excellent article! I'd like to add my 2-cents if you'll oblige.

Back when WoW was the undisputed MMO Champion I wished for the combat to be more fast paced. I mean, you'd just walk up to a mob and use the exact same rotation as you did for the one before for the most part.

Once the new batch of "Action MMOs" started coming out, I loved it at first, but then I quickly grew tired of them. Action combat is OK for a single player game, but in an MMO it becomes a mess of people just running around and spamming the same abilities. I find that in all action MMOs I have played, I get pretty tired of the combat after playing for an hour or so. Every time I logged into GW2 or TERA I loved the **** out of the combat for the first 10-15 minutes and then I would quickly grow tired/exhausted of it. I can play a turn-based, tactical combat game for hours upon end on the other hand.

After much thinking and playing XCOM Enemy Unknown I think I have it narrowed down. I didn't start disliking WoW's combat because it was turn based, on the contrary, that's the part I enjoyed. I grew tired of it because it was slow paced and repetitive.

My absolute favorite combat moments in WoW and any other MMO were always when a mob would use an action that I could either counter, interrupt, or prevent by another action of my own. As a Warrior, my favorite thing has always been to interrupt a caster with a well timed shield slam, or use Revenge when a mob happens to miss me, or engage an active block for a particular powerful attack, etc.

The problem with WoW mobs is that with the exception of bosses, they all tend to have just one or two at the most special abilities you can interact with; the rest is just combat monotony. I think what is really needed in the MMO world is simply better AI for mobs that adapts and fights depending on what it's being presented with.

If a mob is encountering a caster it should try to bridge the gap, if it gets rooted it should try to attack at range. There should be ways for the player to counter a mob's actions, or to active block, etc. Not just once per fight as it's usual the case in WoW, but rather the cooldowns shouldn't be as long and punishing, it should allow for this interaction to happen several times per fight.

Furthermore, each mob should have a better ******* of skills, otherwise we land into the routine of things again. A caster mob should sometimes use a fireball, but sometimes it should use an ice spell, or an AoE, etc. Each of those should then be allowed to be countered or prevented by the player if they time it right; this would make each fight with the same type of mob a more varied experience.

I'm not saying this is a magic bullet solution, everything eventually becomes monotonous and repetitive, but at least this would alleviate the problem. After giving Action MMOs a try I have to admit I was wrong and I really look forward to games in the future hopefully being a next step of turn-base tactical combat.

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/446/feature/7041/Cerebral-vs-Visceral-Combat-Part-2.html

http://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/1c8jfr/opinion_on_the_new_battle_system_spoilers/

In my opinion the speed or interface is not what makes combat feel visceral or cerebral. It is how deep each ability vs the opponents counters and vise versa which makes a combat system great. That and nuances in skill firing off via a skill modifier function/button.

I bring up the combat here because this is the one subject that I am seeing many people either liking, disliking, or just stating it is nothing new. Love it or hate it. Combat is the meat and potatoes of an mmo and it needs to stand out enough in a good way.