What's With the No Future Expansion or Addons?

[Gwynplaine]

I'm having a hard time being inspired looking at what's in store for FFXI up until 2012. The planned content looks all right, but not interesting enough to justify a full year of subscription. And so I expect I'll probably be dipping in and out; subscribing to check out new stuff for updates, and then unsubscribing during the in-between. 2011 feels to me like it's preparing to be another 2009 (read: dull and drawn-out).

I guess what I'm mostly wondering is why Square is so steadfastly resistant to giving players what they so obviously want, a regular expansion or series of add-ons in a new region of Vana'diel. The lore within the game itself fuels frustration by dropping teasing lines about how interesting foreign continents are. And then instead of following some kind of logical routine that logically extends after Aht Urghan we keep getting this bewildering content based upon other times and dimensions.

I mean, I guess I don't really know where I'm going with this. I think to most long-time players it feels like the most obvious thing, but nonetheless one that simply aint happening year after year. I could tell you that many players, such as myself, are virtually waving their dollars in the air asking to be spent on something like this. So why so resistant? Most people (or at least I) would probably speculate that:

-FFXI is too old and doesn't generate enough profit to justify a legit new expansion. (However if this were true wouldn't you want to give players what they're demanding to make more profit?)

-The team that works on FFXI is too small and not capable of creating an entire new expansion.

-Square is putting all their focus right now on saving their years of work put into FFXIV.

-PS2 limitations. Maybe there really is something to it we don't know about, but actually PS2 limitations are mostly imagined or overstated by players. I really don't want to go there yet again.

-Paying programmers to work on the clunky old PS2 spaghetti code is difficult and painful to subject a human being to and could potentially be raised as cruel and inhumane. (Just kidding... I hope)

This is what many players are thinking and wondering about. It feels a little like Square is just sick and tired of FFXI and just quietly pampering it as it declines. But we don't have any real info to go on except that every year brings renewed hopes, followed by disappointment. But if the team at Square would want to supply us with any, even vague, info then that'd be interesting for sure.

TL;DR Wtf y no espansion?

[Vold]

I always did have a very bad feeling that WotG was going to be the last of the expansions. The timing and what it is(essentially the perfect "ending" to expansions. A go back in time storyline where we see the crystal war firsthand etc etc etc. Such a storyline is typically saved for when you run out of ideas. It just spoke volumes to me that they were expecting it to be the end of their FFXI work by going that route over the other options, not to mention the fact that they spread it out over THREE YEARS ugh)was a little too perfect with FFXIV on the horizon. They probably figured FFXI would be dropped like a hot potato by us for it. Then it didn't happen and they're like... oh... crap... noooo.

I really will be amazed if we ever see another expansion again, and until I see it I'll remain confident that they are content with giving us bread crumb add ons and the like as a replacement for expansions while they try to save their other game from extinction. They could do the expansion thing and have it download only and all that jazz at some point. But now any expansions after WotG would just seem awkward to me.

It's all a damn shame, really. But you got to look at it from my point of view - I damn well know I won't be playing this game to my death(at least old age wise, 50 years down the road...) Whatever time I have here I know it's limited. All I can do is take it one day at a time and make the best of it, and hope there's something after it that's as worthy as FFXI to take up my time. I'm not going to get all depressed and leave because I know the future isn't bliss. I know better than to expect whatever I'm playing will last forever. If I want something to last forever I'll stop playing video games and start playing real life because THAT will last until I die without question. It's the ultimate challenge to boot. But I'm content with the standard dull and boring normal life for the time being...

[Fiarlia]

You know what really grinds my gears?

No new expansions. I'd gladly pay $50 bucks for a new expansion. >_>

Just don't take forever like with WotG.

[Arcon]

I believe there will be at least one last expansion. However, it may take a while. there's been lots of mini expansions lately, to hold us over, I believe SE still has one big release in the works. Something that will be hard and lots of effort, to keep people playing for as long as possible. I just don't expect it to be anytime soon, I never believed it would be released this year, maybe by summer next year or something, quite possibly later. Or they do it like WotG and release it in increments. We'll see what to do until then.

[Alhanelem]

There's not going to be another expansion disc anywhere. If they can do something about the space limitations, then there may be more add ons. With the current population, the add-on structure makes more sense as they don't have to produce discs or anything associated with that. All abyssea add-ons put together are more or less an expansion as a whole.

SE isn't "steadfastly resistant" to giving us stuff. They are simply more limited in what they are able to do at this point due to the age of the game, console limitations (mostly but not just PS2), etc.

[Runespider]

I believe there will be at least one last expansion. However, it may take a while. there's been lots of mini expansions lately, to hold us over, I believe SE still has one big release in the works.

If they were going to why would they not tell us? They don't even say they have any more "abyssea style addons" to give us in the future, if they do have such things coming they should put out a teaser now while a lot have returned and are slowly getting bored of Abyssea. I like the roadmap but they really do need to state if they have any plans for any kind of expansions/addons now before people lose intrest again.

Right now it looks like there will be no more expansions ever and no addons either, if there were there would be no reason not to say so. It's not hard to say "we do have plans to release more expansions/addons in the future" to keep intrest there.

[Karbuncle]

This thread needs to get at least 50+ Pages. I'm throwing my word in.

I really want a new Box Expansion that Visits another Continent, The Far East, the Northern Gigas homeland, the Western lands, or the Southern, I really don't care. Completely NEW and refreshing zones like Whitegate was.

Does anyone remember the super-long Boat ride? how exciting it was to be going to the new place? your first steps into Whitegate? I do, And it was worth the money.

Anyone remember looking at Teaser photos for ToAU? looking at Arrapago Reef? the glowing mist and the ghost-ships? yah, I do. And i want that feeling again, not "oh, Its this zone again... okay"

The thrill of an entirely new unexplored world... I want it back

I'd gladly, gladly pay full price for a box-expansion. Its obvious the vast Majority of your playerbase wants a new expansion. This game can live for several more years... please consider the please from us...

It doesn't even need to contain new jobs, We just want new worlds to explore, the ones we repeatedly hear about. (the Far west wouldn't really offer more jobs, SAM/NIN come from there, The North i could only Imagine Vikings, but thats WAR, and The West could lend to some new jobs, but i think the south is mostly RNG/THF/etc, the typical Mithran jobs shown in WoTG)

[Seha]

I'd love to see a new expansion as much as you, but we have to look at the truth. WotG was finished few months ago(sucks I know, but that's how it went), I doubt we can expect a new one before 2012(remember the time gap between ToAU and WotG? Gonna be the same). I'm impatient of seeing new stories as well, but I'm also dealing with accepting that it can't be soon.

[Karbuncle]

I'd love to see a new expansion as much as you, but we have to look at the truth. WotG was finished few months ago(sucks I know, but that's how it went), I doubt we can expect a new one before 2012(remember the time gap between ToAU and WotG? Gonna be the same). I'm impatient of seeing new stories as well, but I'm also dealing with accepting that it can't be soon.

I Don't expect one anytime soon either. I can realize that.

My Only fear is that they may think it wouldn't be worth the Effort, Maybe not enough people would buy it, etc. I just want to let them know they have heavy support and want for one

[Venrymel]

I guess what I'm mostly wondering is why Square is so steadfastly resistant to giving players what they so obviously want, a regular expansion or series of add-ons in a new region of Vana'diel. The lore within the game itself fuels frustration by dropping teasing lines about how interesting foreign continents are. And then instead of following some kind of logical routine that logically extends after Aht Urghan we keep getting this bewildering content based upon other times and dimensions.

Apologies, I haven't read the rest, I just wanted to respond to this:

Beginning with ファイナルファンタジーＸ, we have not seen a map of the entire planet. As with many of the other entries, we do see some strange other dimension, however.

XI did what I think would be neat for sequels to XII and XIII to do, which is suddenly have reason to visit new areas after a particular story line has been resolved, while maintaining game mechanics (the way X-2 did not). I don't want to get into this point, despite having more to say about it, because it's beyond the reason for this post. lol