Dying FansitesFollow

Traffic in the Final Fantasy sections definitely dropped off significantly, but what can you expect? The problem wasn't a lack of admin attention or community spirit... but for a very long time, the development of FFXIV was happening entirely behind the scenes, leaving very little "new" content needed for fan sites to thrive. This was likely the issue for all the relevant FFXIV fansites, and not just ZAM.

Fortunately, ZAM has always had a fantastic community that enjoys spirited discussion. People may use other sites to look up guides and item stats, but ZAM has always been the place to be for people who just want to talk. I also think ZAM's editorial staff is traditionally superior to everything else out there. Not only do we have FFXIV-specific admins and writers, but there are also less-attached ZAM writers who can evaluate the game from a more objective position.

Anyway, with ARR looming, we seem to be getting a bit busier in here again. I expect we'll have even more "spirited" debates once that pesky NDA is lifted.

We rule!

Yep, and i agree the past 2 weeks or so we became way more active than before and i believe it will grow even more!

Zam is the place to be, especially since Wint and a few other dedicated members do all the leg work finding information...it's basically a one stop shop for ARR info.

I have looked around and I would say ZAM is home to the largest forum for XIV at least... granted I don't go on lodestone so I'm not sure what that's like.

I have a general distaste for how un-user-friendly that forum is... no time/date stamps... the forum windows are horrible to navigate. It's just bad.

I'm sure that even once I'm allowed to post on the Lodestone after release, I'll still spend plenty of time here. I'm too familiar with the system to just up and leave ZAM. I feel a little bad that I haven't posted much in my years of being a member here. I've been trying to play catch-up. I do love our tight-knit circle here in =152. I'm looking forward to the NDA lift and release so we can have a breadth of topics to discuss.

I'd rather be here than at =10 these days.

I remember when I first heard about this site I accidentally spelled allakhazam wrong and ended up at an RMT site. It confused the hell out of me because I was brand new to the MMO scene and was just looking for guides/help on what do for certain things in XI. I didn't understand why somebody sent me here for guide help and they were only trying to sell me gil. But I eventually figured out my mistake and I've been a lurker ever since.

I've always enjoyed this site a lot more than others. Even when I was only a lurker, or when I wasn't playing an MMO at all. I always tried to come back to see how things were going with XI and then to see if XIV was ever going to come out for PS3. By the time I got into PC gaming and was ready to get XIV, 1.0 was already shut down and getting ready for ARR. So now I feel like I'm going to be back here for a while since everything I see and read about XIV looks so good to me.

I saw the activity for FFXIVCore plummet after the game failed. I didn't even know it stayed around THIS long until I heard about them closing up shop a few weeks back. (Also, I didn't even know about the scandals. The post above prompted me to do some research!)

We still have good websites around like FFXIVPro and XIVPads though. I'm not too worried about it. Also: Adding forums for XI and XIV was the best thing they've done since their whole reorganization.

Anyone remember the RDM fiasco in 2007 ish in which a community rep came here and said they would be more vocal in our feedback but never acted on it?

Anyway, I'm going off topic. An official forum doesn't necessarily make a fan site obsolete.

Edited, Jun 3rd 2013 12:30pm by UltKnightGrover

This would explain why I only really found ZAM and reddit when I googled FFXIV. Though information on ARR is pretty sparse. I kind of wish I could remember my old login information for this site, and/or my email I used to sign up here wasn't gone. Been a member here since I started playing FFXI many moons ago, and I'm happy to see it is still up and running for FFXIV.

Pikko is very busy running her various fan sites. I'm still in touch with her but I think she's done with MMO's.

Our site traffic has picked up noticeably the past few weeks, I hope that continues. We also do have some exciting things coming in the next month or two "Please look forward to it"!

If your wondering about Pikko, you can follow her on Twitter @pikko.
I've tried other sites from time to time, but i always end up here.

Yeah poor Pikko is cursed with runaway success. Not that long after she started working on mockingjay.net they announced the Hunger Games movies, and managing that website almost became a full time job.

And then you read the PVP thread...