Thread: Diablo 3 and Abyssea 2.0

With the Diablo 3 launch just around the corner, it's going to be interesting to see how many FFXI players hang up the gloves to switch over to it (if only for a little while).

Diablo 3 is a pretty huge title/franchise with a lot of market share, but I feel even new yet smaller games are becoming a big threat to FFXI. I personally don't think I'd ever "quit" ffxi indefinitely, but I'm likely going to go on a hiatus to play Diablo 3 for a little while, if for no other reason than the lack of meaningful content in FFXI right now. Most of us forum-goers have seen the thread titled, "The OFFICIAL 'I intend on Quitting, and here is why' Thread" - this is not one of those threads. This thread is more, "I love FFXI, I want to keep playing it, but I can only kill Qilin so many thousand times before it starts to get boring". For that reason, this thread is as much "Hey SE, remember boxed expansions? We love those and are willing to pay $ for them!".

I know FFXI's leadership has labeled Abyssea as a mistake (in that by the end of it, it allowed for such higher stats and game mechanic boosts that there wasn't any room left to grow), but it seems to me they should just look at making a second Abyssea, "Abyssea 2.0". All new items, new stuff to collect, etc - but include some meaningful story and cutscenes to keep it interesting. If they were creative, there could be a connection between the first Abyssea and the new, such that you would get certain benefits from having completed some of that content. I know there are a lot of people who are opposed to Abyssea, but I would estimate there are a majority more who did like it - and if there's any question, they should run an in-game poll like they did for the, "Do you play on a PS2" question that popped up a while back. Regardless of Abyssea 2.0, or some derivative, this game needs a major boxed expansion; including a new character or two, new zones, and a rich story line we can progress through and find some worthwhile loot - or else I feel people will really start to thin out like we've never seen before.


tldr; SE, we need a new boxed expansion!

Agreed! FFXI is dying, I doubt FFXIV is going to go anywhere. FFXI needs a complete revamp, new expansions, areas, epic storylines. I know grinding and repetition has always been FFXI's key elements but so has its story-telling compared to most of the other MMOs.

Just for you. <3

Originally Posted by Alhanelem

Expansions rarely add new players, mostly they only serve to retain current ones.

That's really all I'm asking for - thinking they have the marketing capacity to obtain new players is obviously beyond them. I'm clearly suggesting to try and at least keep those of us that are here.

Originally Posted by wildsprite

FFXI isn't dying, not yet anyway,

That's exactly what I'm saying, 'not yet' (where I mention, "I feel people will really start to thin out like we've never seen before. " in the OP) - implying, they haven't yet, but I predict they will (and like never before).

Originally Posted by wildsprite

what I'm saying though is, if we want new blood, it is us the player base that will have to convince them to join at the moment,

You couldn't be any more wrong. Most gamers are not marketers, they certainly can be indirectly (through word of mouth, social media, etc). However what most gamers are, are gamers - they login to whatever they want to play because they draw some amount of fun out of the content set by the creators, and don't get off on running a free awareness campaign for the company that created the game. Sure, many of us say to our RL buddy, "hey, you should come try out this game!" but the degree of effort in this context is an entirely different universe. Most of us do what Vold has posted, and look elsewhere for gaming kicks, it's much easier - we play games for fun, not work, right? It's like why planets and bubbles are round, they require the least amount of energy to exist.

While there are things in this game I would like to see more than a new Abyssea add on (Orcish Empire, Mithra Homeland, Far East, Tavnazia in Crystal War era), I wouldn't mind seeing three more Abyssea zones, and a set of storyline missions to accompany them.

When I actually started doing the Abyssea quests and beat Shinryu I thought the storyline was actually extremely creative and enjoyable, it in fact reminded me of the end of FFVIII, IX, and V in different ways.

Zones that could be fun to roll into a new Abyssea add on (imo) could include:
ANY Aht Urhgan area
Yuhtunga Jungle (with confluxes it wouldn't be so bad!!)
Ro'Meave
Sea
Sky
Sarutabaruta
Ronfaure
Gustaberg
Beastmen Strongholds, speaking of, is there a storyline explanation as to why the only beastmen we see in Abyssea are goblins?

Blizzard still promotes wow and it only came out one year after ffxi.

Originally Posted by Vold

All of this can very much come true, but unfortunately SE has not been willing to do what it takes to make it happen. They are simply sticking with the safe bet at this point, which is milking the game for all it's worth.

I've already opted to not renew my subscription this month for the first time in 8 years. I probably won't be gone too long and will renew to take care of some odds and ends and to see if I care to play any longer into the future. But the fact that I of all people have managed to say goodbye is a very bad sign for the state of the game. I'm sure things are great for every one but us lifers, but as I am finding out now perhaps I am not as "lifer" as I thought I was. I'm angry with the crafting changes. I'm angry with the continuous focus on temp fix battle content that screams "we devs give up trying". I'm angry with several decisions regarding level 99 items. I'm angry with their ideals and dropping of the ball because of those ideals. I'm mostly angry that to be the absolute best at anything it now requires ten times the time sink as ever before simply because they lack the man power to create timely content so they compensate by making us work like slaves.

So, you know, best of luck to everyone who's happy to eat what SE is feeding them. It's just not my kind of food any longer. So when I come back, if for good or not, may be tomorrow or weeks from now, I will simply forget everything that displeases me and focus on the goals I was chasing before I left. It'll be no different from pretending Alien Resurrection never existed to spare my sanity. Easy peasy.

In before Alh.... ah shit.