FF14 unofficial census finds what we were all pretty much feeling—before patch 7.25, Dawntrail's playerbase has likely been on the decline

Krile, a member of the Students of Baldesion in FF14, considers a wax-sealed invitation in Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail.

I concur with PC Gamer's Mollie Taylor, my fellow Final Fantasy 14 enjoyer on our illustrious staff, that FF14's Occult Crescent patch has made the game feel like an MMO again. I actually got downright emotional, hopping into my first critical encounter and seeing swarms of strangers crowding around a chance to give a boss a beatdown: 'Oh,' I thought, 'I'm playing an MMO again'.

But with that joy came a recognition of almost a full year of malaise, seeing desolate friend lists and linkshells lie empty. A malaise that, at least unofficially, has been backed up by numbers (thanks, Automaton).