FFXI Outline and Future

[Huckster]

Hello all,

I've been playing FFXI since Nov 2003 (wow! 8 years - time flies!). I saw ups and downs of FFXI - Abyssea sure gave a new kick for the game, now the content is good although in my opinion it lacks new storyline and the vision for the future.

Last year I tried playing FFXIV but didn't find it attractive enough so I stayed with FFXI.

Yesterday a 2 year roadmap was released for FFXIV:
http://wdl.square-enix.com/ffxiv/dow...Outline_EN.pdf

It shows the major UI overhaul, change of graphics system, new functions, new server design (one world), and new content.

I remember that this April a roadmap for FFXI was also released:
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/th...ing-April-2011

So my question is devs - can we expect the similar roadmap as for FFXIV? (graphics engine overhaul maybe? vana'diel + eorzea merger?) Or at least some update of the roadmap previously released? The graphics for the roadmap ends on September - show us the future of FFXI!

[Selzak]

Hey there fellow veteran!

I think our best hope for FFXI is the rumored Vita port. This game is a sort of hidden gem because of its slow beginnings. It's aged well, it's established, and a lot of Final Fantasy and MMO fans in general who aren't aware of FFXI would love to be a part of it but they don't realize it yet.

The potential is there (however unlikely) for FFXI to get a big revival with that port, and that would open the opportunity for a new focus on keeping it up and refreshed as the stronghold of SE's established MMO while FFXIV tries to become a future, next-gen successor for a more graphically-focused and casual base. There's room for the games to co-exist, and I believe (perhaps controversially) that FFXI has a lot of room to grow. The Final Fantasy name, and the playability that this game has achieved over the years (combined with its beautifully aging graphics) could make it as big as it's ever been if SE pushes it to become the handheld MMO. I just hope they realize how significant a title like that would be financially and in many other senses too.

Right now, I think SE sees FFXIV as a successor to FFXI, but despite their plans they're stuck with FFXI because it works and FFXIV doesn't. I think it would take the situation above (and that's really the last hope) for FFXI to see significant new content like full expansions going forward. Otherwise, I suspect it will continue in much the same way it has been.

[svengalis]

Still no mention of an actual auction house which is one of the major reasons I gave up on that game such fail.

[Vold]

I hope they do new music in the reboot of the reboot of FFXIV. For some reason that music got on my nerves... maybe it was too repetitive. But then I say that assuming I ever bother with the game. Also, when they say the games will co exist I wish they meant it and not 14 gets 250 people working on it while 11 gets like 10. It's just fricking wrong to not want to conserve your success in the other MMO. I'm just wondering how long will it be before they wake up and realize, oh shit we dropped the ball not only on 14 but on 11 too by ignoring it. Too late.

[Buffy]

I hope they do new music in the reboot of the reboot of FFXIV. For some reason that music got on my nerves... maybe it was too repetitive. But then I say that assuming I ever bother with the game. Also, when they say the games will co exist I wish they meant it and not 14 gets 250 people working on it while 11 gets like 10. It's just fricking wrong to not want to conserve your success in the other MMO. I'm just wondering how long will it be before they wake up and realize, oh shit we dropped the ball not only on 14 but on 11 too by ignoring it. Too late.

These repeated tin-foil hat posts complaining about the # of people developing ffxi or programming the future or creating new content are getting beyond old. This game is 10 years old (roughly from Beta in Japan), which means 15 years ago someone had an idea for a great game, and then made it happen. You've had fun playing, SE has made a killing off subscriptions.

They aren't going to invest a DIME (or more accurately, a yen) into the game they aren't going to get back. They haven't dropped the ball on XI, the last update was considered lame because the previous 3 updates all included abyssea, which also had a cost associated with it. So in return for your normal subscription fee, you got a new level cap increase, new magian trials, and new levels to voidwatch, expansions to GoV and tweaks including the automatically repeating GoV option, a host of new items, and a revamp of the CoP Dynamis system (Which if you jumped on it early, should have made you 15-20m gil or about 25% of a stage 5 for a relic, before they adjusted drop rates).

You're getting new content, and varied content for people of different play styles and difficulties. It wasn't another abyssea add-on, because it wasn't supposed to be.

FFXIV has 250 people because they are trying to make it work right. Its rare to say a single game can turn a company's fortunes, but SE has a lot of eggs in that basket, and they have a responsibility to their shareholders to make that game turn a profit at some point in the next five years.

What *I* wish SE would do is release more add-ons like abyssea (not the abyssea style, just additional content). I don't mind paying 20-30$ a year for new content with the length and breath of abyssea. Think about it - abyssea changed ffxi permanently. How we level, what's a proc, jobs, balance, everything. And it happened over the course of 9-12 months for 3 $10 add-ons. Charge me that much extra every year for new content, and I'll happily keep buying crack. The monthly fee maintains the game, extra charges pay for additional content - this makes sense to me.

[Dew]

We will see amazing "Major" version updates with stuff like, 100 skill levels with no new ws's, AV like hnms with tunnel worm like drops, copy and paste of amazing new mobs we killed 10,000 of before, and very challenging trials for +1 dmg and +1 stat. The future looks bright. lol

In all reality wouldn't except much update wise now. Tho some word on if/when we will see stuff like +2 relic armor, salvage updates, homam/nashira updates, and other things.

[Laraul]

They game is nearly 10 years old... it needs to come to an end... adding content on top of the enormous amount of content that already exists is a bad idea.

[Seriha]

What *I* wish SE would do is release more add-ons like abyssea (not the abyssea style, just additional content). I don't mind paying 20-30$ a year for new content with the length and breath of abyssea. Think about it - abyssea changed ffxi permanently. How we level, what's a proc, jobs, balance, everything. And it happened over the course of 9-12 months for 3 $10 add-ons. Charge me that much extra every year for new content, and I'll happily keep buying crack. The monthly fee maintains the game, extra charges pay for additional content - this makes sense to me.

And why should we have to pay more just to get what we should be getting as subscribers? I doubt that $20-30 would magically materialize a new team to work independently of the current. Rather, it'd just pull from what's currently there to do whatever. Overall, SE's been terrible about releasing expansions in incomplete states, and while the collective whole of Abyssea is good for what it did, it's also a reflection of the lacking team size with a "second" expansion of rehashed zones, WotG being the first... and it needing years to run its course.

So, qq on BG to your heart's content, but people wanting their money's worth is the customer's right. An individual subscriber pulling their support with no voice leads to next to nothing when dealing with hundreds of thousands. Organizing mass cancellations is probably next to impossible since people who visit any kind of XI forum regularly is a minority with some accounts logging in minimally, and SE's willingly pulled team members from the game when it was doing better than it had been in a while in both content and perception. So, it's not entirely surprising that enough people choosing to quit in protest would harm the game's future irreparably and those realizing it aren't so quick to close their wallets. Like it or not, us "whiners" have helped give things you've also enjoyed in the game over time with our subs. And if Voidwatch (casual unfriendly) and poorly thought out magian trials (too much for too little) are FFXI's future under the current team, then concern is warranted. Eventually even the dirty casuals will exhaust Abyssea content pertaining to their interests. Then what? GoV (leveling is finite) and Dynamis (not everyone will chase a relic for months of daily work) certainly can't and won't satisfy these people in the long term.

SE basically has two choices here to encourage customer satisfaction: 1) Give us more than they currently are for our money. If over 4 mil a month with 350k subscribers is not enough to do this, I don't know what is. 2) Dramatically lower the subscription fee. I'm talking like 50% or more. Low-budget service does not justify premium cost. Personally, I'd guess #1 the more profitable route, as even if a larger production team sapped 1 mil a month to its thing, 3 mil is better than 2 mil at #2's rate. And with XIV set to start charging its own fee soon, they've got little excuse to not look into either alternative short of just being greedy, uncaring bastards. Given the current global economic climate, that's not a PR image you want to be conveying.

[Buffy]

SE basically has two choices here to encourage customer satisfaction: 1) Give us more than they currently are for our money. If over 4 mil a month with 350k subscribers is not enough to do this, I don't know what is. 2) Dramatically lower the subscription fee. I'm talking like 50% or more. Low-budget service does not justify premium cost. Personally, I'd guess #1 the more profitable route, as even if a larger production team sapped 1 mil a month to its thing, 3 mil is better than 2 mil at #2's rate. And with XIV set to start charging its own fee soon, they've got little excuse to not look into either alternative short of just being greedy, uncaring bastards. Given the current global economic climate, that's not a PR image you want to be conveying.

SE hasn't raised their rates since the game was released. Name another company that hasn't raised prices in 10 years.

[Seriha]

Other companies also don't charge per character and tend to offer discounts for bulk subscription purchases. Some have even gone F2P while adopting cash shop models, but I'm sure that's anathema to some since "free" offers no filter to block out the kiddies.

Like I said, they're options. Just as MMOs are meant to grow and evolve based on the subs we pay, the companies behind them also need to adapt. There is nothing going on within FFXI now that warrants an increase in subscription fees, and if C&B charging little bits of extra got people uppity, well, I'd hate to see the fallout here if they tried.