Please make FFXI f2p!

[Rainehx]

The problem with this is that most of the players are happy with the system, the players that have subbed for 10+ years like and enjoy the game as is.
These players have sustained the game thought the bad times, so to make the jump to a f2p system where people can buy progress is going to upset a lot of people, they will
likely lose that part of the player base, while yes attracting those more akin to the f2p system.

Id really hope SE would rather a consistent income and security from subs they know will come as in times past. rather than a bunch of people who will come
along sink a little money in it on month one and either leave with no real investment to stay or possibly not buying anything again.

But who knows, its like Stompa said, this is a classic game, people do enjoy it as is as many did when the updates had stoped previously
But SE foolishly catered for those who demanded everything easy and on a plate, which drove away a lot of people, and now that the updates are stopping
all those who demanded everything was given to them will leave, they cant have their new easy to obtain shinny s every month.

So I really do hope SE learned and wont add f2p and screw over their current player base, because imo it will die even faster if they do.

[Castanica]

The problem with this is that most of the players are happy with the system, the players that have subbed for 10+ years like and enjoy the game as is.
These players have sustained the game thought the bad times, so to make the jump to a f2p system where people can buy progress is going to upset a lot of people, they will
likely lose that part of the player base, while yes attracting those more akin to the f2p system.

Id really hope SE would rather a consistent income and security from subs they know will come as in times past. rather than a bunch of people who will come
along sink a little money in it on month one and either leave with no real investment to stay or possibly not buying anything again.

But who knows, its like Stompa said, this is a classic game, people do enjoy it as is as many did when the updates had stoped previously
But SE foolishly catered for those who demanded everything easy and on a plate, which drove away a lot of people, and now that the updates are stopping
all those who demanded everything was given to them will leave, they cant have their new easy to obtain shinny s every month.

So I really do hope SE learned and wont add f2p and screw over their current player base, because imo it will die even faster if they do.

The current player numbers aren't good enough, there aren't enough of them. That's why they are abandoning the game right?

If the players that stick around want a rapid decline after November followed by a swift death you will get your wish in 2016, Square have shown they only care about profits.

People that actually don't want to see the game die and be gone forever will hopefully have a more sensible view when they see the player numbers on November the 2nd.

[Ageofwar]

from what I read in an interview (can't remember what interview to quote it) the issue isn't quite cut and dry as simply changing FFXI to F2P
the development tools that SE use to create content is unsupported (Sony PS2???) and i'm guessing will soon pull extended support for them (which i'm guessing is November).

Only way around this would be to do a ground up rebuild of FFXI which due to the decreasing playbase is pointless (yes I know SE have done this with FFXIV -> FFXIV:ARR) and would cost too much for the returns they will get.

SE will more likely shut down the servers when the time comes rather that make FFXI F2P

[Castanica]

from what I read in an interview (can't remember what interview to quote it) the issue isn't quite cut and dry as simply changing FFXI to F2P
the development tools that SE use to create content is unsupported (Sony PS2???) and i'm guessing will soon pull extended support for them (which i'm guessing is November).

Only way around this would be to do a ground up rebuild of FFXI which due to the decreasing playbase is pointless (yes I know SE have done this with FFXIV -> FFXIV:ARR) and would cost too much for the returns they will get.

SE will more likely shut down the servers when the time comes rather that make FFXI F2P

Well I think those of us that have played this game for a long while know that Square like to use easy excuses, ps2 limitations! So I wouldn't put too much weight behind that. If what they said was true they would be unable to do anything at all after November, which is not the case since they said they would still do balance changes etc.

[Ageofwar]

Well I think those of us that have played this game for a long while know that Square like to use easy excuses, ps2 limitations! So I wouldn't put too much weight behind that. If what they said was true they would be unable to do anything at all after November, which is not the case since they said they would still do balance changes etc.

I didn't say PS2 limitation, i said that the development tools are unsupported which would mean they will have a hard time generating new content

[Sapphire]

Well I think those of us that have played this game for a long while know that Square like to use easy excuses, ps2 limitations! So I wouldn't put too much weight behind that. If what they said was true they would be unable to do anything at all after November, which is not the case since they said they would still do balance changes etc.

My one point is going to be, there is a GIANT difference between "limited by what the PS2 can do" and "there are almost no PS2 dev kits left in the world, we bought as many as we can and when they die, they can't get repaired."

Sony is being amazingly NICE and keeping the DNS server they need up. the FFXI team is the only people who access it. And Sony has agreed to keep it up until FFXI actually goes away, even with PS2 support being pulled. Which is why they can still do tweeks after November. But those dev kits are basically ticking bombs. :P

[Castanica]

My one point is going to be, there is a GIANT difference between "limited by what the PS2 can do" and "there are almost no PS2 dev kits left in the world, we bought as many as we can and when they die, they can't get repaired."

Sony is being amazingly NICE and keeping the DNS server they need up. the FFXI team is the only people who access it. And Sony has agreed to keep it up until FFXI actually goes away, even with PS2 support being pulled. Which is why they can still do tweeks after November. But those dev kits are basically ticking bombs. :P

Well it's all down to if you buy that or not, I personally don't.

[Isal]

It shows the races and characters that will be used on the android game in the logo.

The only logos I see there are for the Vana'diel Project, which encompasses Rhapsodies, the mobile client, and Grandmasters... They're the same character sprites you see in the banner on the top of these forums, hardly an indicator of anything related to the mobile client...

[Alhanelem]

I'm thinking SE believes at this point that they won't likely make more money with an F2P option. The fact that the only way they feel they can go that route is by going mobile speaks volumes towards this.

[Sapphire]

Well it's all down to if you buy that or not, I personally don't.

Wow. Just wow.