Swan Song of Vana'diel; ~Why I Won't Play the Mobile Native App~

[Moppet]

You won't be playing the native app because it's not coming to NA, not because of your choice

The native app is being release in NA and EU, it's the spin-off game that's not.

[Atomic_Skull]

The catgirls in XIV look pretty much exactly the same as in XI. In BOTH cases they're generic anime catgirls,

Uh no mithras are more cat-like in FFXI, in FFXIV they're just girls with ears and a tail.

[steellords]

You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink. SE created FFXI, and it is my solemn opinion that FFXI is the single greatest videogame in the history of videogames. I've played most decent games starting in 1979 on the seriously wierd kit-build computers. I really do rate FFXI higher than any game I've played in like 36~ years as a gamer. I would be happy to write out a long user report on the game to explain why it is better than other games, but tbh nobody here cares.

SE made and then added to FFXI, improved it, great advances were made, some big mistakes were made too, but overall they kept the core game bouncing along. And FFXI is here today, in all its retro majesty. I went fishing today and watched the pink fluffy clouds streaming across the Vana sky. I went and battled ferocious mobs, they still look great to me, and are exciting to battle. It is all still here. But people don't want to play it. The water is here and the horses are not drinking. Standing in town on Saturday, 430 ppl (including mules lol) on the server, no shouts for over an hour.

In summary. I blame the players. Not SE. SE created a masterpiece of videogame genius called FFXI, but people are instead playing inferior games just because those games are newer and have sugarfrosted eyecandy graphics. So, I will blame the horses that don't drink, and not the people who carried the water for the horses to drink.

There's some truth to this, but it's not just the games are newer. You only do the same thing so many times before getting bored and you run out of new things to accomplish. Look at Vagary for instace. Already my LS has cleared 5/5 multiple times. OK, back to being bored.

It's also difficult when it began as a heavily multiplayer adventure, but all your friends move on. It begins to feel like not the same game. The fact i can solo all lv75 content, that used to take 40+ players, kind of drives that point. Compare pre ToA with exp PT, sc+mb, to bird PT...then abyssea leveling...then trusts which are intended to replace actual players.

There's nostalgia to be had with simple things like you say, but it's not helpful to blame players for moving on, or SE for that matter.

[steellords]

I was really hoping they would have:
- Made a PS4 port of the FFXI client (The PS4 has a -much- easier framework to deal with then the PS3).
- This would also make it possible to remote play it with the Vita's remote play functionality.
- Have the FFXI PS4 client available for digital purchase/download from PSN.
- Reinstate the FFXI/FFXIV combo subscription discount.
- Plan more collaboration between FFXI and FFXIV events.

This would do a number of things:
- Give players who left friends on FFXI to play FFXIV a good reason to keep a FFXI sub.
- Give new players that liked FFXIV an easy way to try out FFXI.
- Have a central console location for all the FF SE MMOs.
- Allow for more media exposure of FFXI through the PS4's streaming/sharing options.
- Foster a feeling of the two player bases being unified instead of FFXI vs. FFXIV.
- Give players left in the cold from the PS2/XBox service ending an excuse to buy a PS4.

It feels like they are directly marketing to the Japanese game market now with their move to mobile. Such an odd choice... Do they really think that platform with resonate with people who love and still play a 12 year old game that is considered "outdated" by many people?

It's pretty heartbreaking that one game we won't even get, and the other is disconnected from actual FFXI.

They are trying to milk what they can out of it still, rather than breath new life into it with lower subs or a cash shop. If after the updates stop they're still charging $13/mo how many will stick around? Very few, it's like paying monthly to play final fantasy 10 or other offline game. It's hard to justify on its face.

After years of our subs being used to keep 14 alive, you'd think 14 could sustain the minimal server costs for 11 and just make it FTP. That is a huge slap in face and can undo whatever goodwill the "finale" brings. I believe private servers will take over at that point and the main servers are in trouble after november

[Finuve]

cant wait to see how terrible the combat is on the mobile version. Nexon + mobile is such a great match

[Stompa]

There's some truth to this, but it's not just the games are newer. You only do the same thing so many times before getting bored and you run out of new things to accomplish. Look at Vagary for instace. Already my LS has cleared 5/5 multiple times. OK, back to being bored.

It's also difficult when it began as a heavily multiplayer adventure, but all your friends move on. It begins to feel like not the same game. The fact i can solo all lv75 content, that used to take 40+ players, kind of drives that point. Compare pre ToA with exp PT, sc+mb, to bird PT...then abyssea leveling...then trusts which are intended to replace actual players.

There's nostalgia to be had with simple things like you say, but it's not helpful to blame players for moving on, or SE for that matter.

I do understand what you're saying, and I do agree with you to some extent. But my point was a more general point, not entirely about FFXI players moving on, but the more general trend of modern gamers, and how they seem to me as I am an almost extinct gaming dinosaur. When I started it really was a huge mindblowing omg moment when we saw the first platformer games arrive, with mister stickman hopping over some blank spaces. It was a revolution to us, after playing "move the letter D across the screen while avoiding the full-stops (.)" games for the previous years.

And when the platformers arrived, we played them into the ground. Joysticks were worn down to stumps lol. We made mister stickman jump over the blank spaces for a decade. I failed school because of staying up all night playing Chuckie Egg, lol. And we didn't get bored at all, and those games were really really dull compared to FFXI.

So I have this trench-warfare kind of mentality, and see the kids today getting bored with games after like a week, and talking about how FFXI graphics suck because the graphics are ten years old, etc. The FFXI graphics are beautiful, and imho the core game engine is a living miracle. It is just not as shiny looking as the stuff that came after it. But I do rate playability much higher than super-realistic graphics, and FFXI has nice enough graphics for me, and it has huge playability.

So I think my main point is really about playability vs. eyecandy graphics. Some new games have graphics that look so realistic and mega-shiny, but I don't really get any traction in playing them, those games often feel like they're playing themselves. I never felt that way about FFXI, I always felt (and still do) that my responses are critical in outcomes, and also that FFXI offered me far more choice in terms of direct user input, than any other RPG / fightingfantasy game I've played.

But of course we are all different people, and others want more new stuff all the time etc. and thats cool, nobody's opinion is more right or wrong on gaming, because it is such a personal experience. And I totally see what you're saying.

[Alhanelem]

Uh no mithras are more cat-like in FFXI, in FFXIV they're just girls with ears and a tail.

That's a stretch, the only thing that makes them look more catlike is the color of their skin, which you can pick from a wide range in XIV.

[Skyrant_Kangaroomouse]

They will soon realize that they made a huge mistake. FF14 is not going to go anywhere because the content locusts that crave instant gratification are already rushing through every update even with the hard caps in place to slow them down. The cost of these updates is 10x that of a FFXI update due to the increased graphical fidelity. Long term they will not be able to produce quality content fast enough and subscriptions will decline. That is when they realize they should have continued to support FFXI and update it to the new engine instead.

I was really looking forward to a mobile client until i heard it was not a client for FFXI but a completely new game with no character import at all. The mobile client will be a disaster. It's made by nexxon and the ADD riddled instant gratification crowd on mobile phones is worse than on PC. Monetisation which will most likely come in form of play time restrictions or content pay walls is going to scare away a lot of players.

[Alhanelem]

They will soon realize that they made a huge mistake. FF14 is not going to go anywhere

Too late, it's already gone somewhere.

I love FFXI as much as the next guy. It's why i'm still subscribed. But crapping all over FFXIV just because you think it's the reason for XI's demise is not exactly a fair or reasonable argument. Most FFXI updates even those with "new battle content" or some other major new feature, don't even add new graphics at all. FFXIV could recycle tons of their graphics if they wanted to (and they do to some extent, just not nearly as much as XI). If in the future they need to lower the cost of updates, then I'm sure they will apply a cost cutting strategy as XI did. But right now that's not needed, because the game is still growing.

You're totally right, however, about the mobile app. Any chance there was for me to use it was lost when they said it was seperate from the main game.

[Finuve]

That's a stretch, the only thing that makes them look more catlike is the color of their skin, which you can pick from a wide range in XIV.

I just wanted to let you know you are wrong