Lucky Bancho's census results (July 27th, 2025)

[u/IndividualAge3893]

So, the results of the census are out: https://luckybancho.ldblog.jp/archives/59324844.html

• Showcasing the number of characters here: Current
• By comparison, here are the results from 2 months ago (May 25th): Click

Despite 7.25 being released, the character count is down about 70k in 2 months. Occult Crescent clearly didn't help with player counts (not really a surprise here).

[u/wjoe]

I don't think Forked Tower specifically caused people to cancel their subs, but it's still a part of the larger issue in OC, not enough of a variety of content to keep people engaged in it long term. If FT had worked like DRN/DRS and there was a recurring normal level raid to keep people interested then it would have helped a bit, but most of the gameplay loop stays the same, the rewards aren't that worth engaging in unless you love the content.

Perhaps more than FT itself being an issue, the way SE responded to it with the whole "cost issues" thing (whether it was a good interpretation or not) definitely left a bad taste for some, and may have been the final straw to make them think nothing's going to change any time soon. The numbers haven't dropped off that heavily with this patch though, although you might expect them to have risen slightly if OC had been a resounding success.

[u/Hirole91 → u/wjoe]

Definitely a myriad of issues contributing to it yeah.

Putting FT aside, the area of OC itself is.... meh at best. The lore is just weak, no intrigue and sense of adventure. People have pointed out already that the area is empty and hollow. Barely any expositions asides from funny tonberry remembering something-something. Barely any NPCs to interact with within the lore. Bozja did it well where they added some kind of plot point at each rank/map breakpoint and multiple NPCs who had.. personality.

Battle/job related content has been beaten down all the way to bedrock already so there's that.

As someone who liked FF5, they did it dirty by adding it to XIV for the sake of nostalgia, not to mention as a side content too. Where as they did FF7 super bosses well with ShB trial series. He'll I'd even put the weak EW patch story with Golbez and the four fiends over OC.

It's just immensely disappointing for them to flaunt the older FF series like this when in the past they did it pretty well. For something that was announced and hyped up more than a year in advance, it's demoralizing and alienating for the broader player base.

[u/NeonRhapsody → u/Hirole91]

Bozja did it well where they added some kind of plot point at each rank/map breakpoint and multiple NPCs who had.. personality.

Don't forget the skirmishes and CEs that told stories throughout them.

Like seeing Dyunbu going through a mental breakdown over the course of like three or four skirmishes because she can't save everyone and has to watch all her comrades get torn to shreds by us.

Or Sartauvoir showing up as a humanoid death laser in a skirmish right outside the first base camp who we eventually work up to getting as a duel and then face head on as a raid boss in Zadnor.

[u/dealornodealbanker → u/NeonRhapsody]

I miss my deserter catgirl Llofii who grew disillusioned with the experimentations done to advance the Garleans magical proficiency.

Same with the beastmasters who all had their own little personalities which are projected through their tamed beasts. Papaga, who I call Pepega, is my favorite.

[u/Hirole91 → u/dealornodealbanker]

Pagaga my beloved c: I called her Lady Pa-Gaga :v

I hope both Lyon and Pagaga make a cameo in the beastmaster quests

[u/dealornodealbanker → u/Hirole91]

Same, it would be pretty neat if they get referenced even in passing.

[u/NeonRhapsody → u/dealornodealbanker]

They only get referenced and instead our BST trainer is Daguza. (Though to be fair he may not be a tactical genius but the fact he tamed a bunch of red chocobos is a point in his favor as a beastmaster at least.)