They have tried their hands at online games in the past (Final Fantasy XI) and it was a disaster. A realm reborn was their second foray into MMO's and it has been extremely successful. I played it once before any since I was a Guild Wars 2 fan, I was not keen on the monthly subscription fee (Guild Wars has none.) However, my childhood friend was on there so I played anyway and i get a free month (it may have been 2) with the purchase of the game. I ended up leaving after that.
Recently FF has gone free-to-pay indefinitely with a level cap of 35. I don't even know what the max level is but it is higher than 35.
Now i want to say this right out of the gate: This game is spectacularly beautiful and to top things off it is able to achieve this level of pixel-driven wonder without slowing down my rather mid-range laptop. For some reason Guild Wars 2 is not able to achieve that and frequently "stutters" which is pretty much the most annoying thing that can happen in an MMO.
The problem I have with this game now is the same problem I had with it a long time ago. It is repetitive as can be. I have been told that upon getting to higher levels this stops being the case but at least for now I am just running around doing what for the most part is stupid assignments of "get that thing" "kill 4 of those" and lather rinse repeat. It's boring and beautiful.
The only break in this duldrum is the dungeons, which thankfully you don't even need to walk to in order to participate in. I don't know if it was always that way but i am pleased that it is now.
The jury is still out for me as to whether or not anyone should get involved in this because as it stands right now I am basically just hitting ALL of my skills because there doesn't seem to really be any sort of strategy necessary in order to win. This is largely because I am not yet skilled at it. For the time being i think that Square-Enix is making the right choice in order to attempt to acquire new players because I think the world will soon be transitioning to new MMO's. This includes my favorite, GW2.
Here is some gameplay compiled by Kinsara of the class that i currently play (poorly)
While the "trial" is free for an unlimited amount of time, the game must still be purchased. At $20 that isn't a bad price for such a massive game but be prepared to #getyerlearnon because this game is absolutely massive and a bit on the complicated side.
PS. I hate the map system :P