What Vanadiel would we be in.... if SE DROPPED PS2!

[Scuro]

Alright guys lets get a list of people's post on what the world of Vanadiel would be if SE Dropped PS2. I'll start this off with:

We will actually get new content that is worth adding by means of expansions rather then excuses and add-ons.

[Catsby]

oh wow really? People still carrying on about this? Yes it needs to happen but not because we need "more content". What we have is a broken mess that needs fixing before anything else.

[Glamdring]

hmm... let me guess, the 2010's?

[Octaviane]

Oh no, not this again. Moderators, could you please flag this, lock and/or remove it before we get a bunch of PS2 hate posts. Thanks.

[Windblade]

Oh no, not this again. Moderators, could you please flag this, lock and/or remove it before we get a bunch of PS2 hate posts. Thanks.

If you want censorship, why don't you move to Afghanistan and live with it.

[Vold]

If they ever dropped PS2 I would demand a graphical update first thing. That's a Vana'diel I want to see in the future. But seriously the PS2 can't last for as long as FFXI... systems die eventually. Sony can't support the darn thing forever. So eventually they are going to have to make a choice. Drop PS2 or FFXI. It'd be a damn shame to drop FFXI without testing peoples will to play by making them jump to PC. Toss subscribers on PS2 a free PC download and see how it goes. And be all like, look, if you guys jump ship to the PC, we'll update this game to something better. It cannot hurt to try. I bet most if not all of the FFXI player base are packing computers that can run this game, and if they aren't then daaaaaamn I thought I had it rough.

[Windblade]

If they ever dropped PS2 I would demand a graphical update first thing. That's a Vana'diel I want to see in the future. But seriously the PS2 can't last for as long as FFXI... systems die eventually. Sony can't support the darn thing forever. So eventually they are going to have to make a choice. Drop PS2 or FFXI. It'd be a damn shame to drop FFXI without testing peoples will to play by making them jump to PC. Toss subscribers on PS2 a free PC download and see how it goes. And be all like, look, if you guys jump ship to the PC, we'll update this game to something better. It cannot hurt to try. I bet most if not all of the FFXI player base are packing computers that can run this game, and if they aren't then daaaaaamn I thought I had it rough.

I've actually held on to my subscription to FFXI beyond my frustration point with the whole mess....taking so long to level solo (I like fighting solo and don't want to have to join a party to get a million experience points in one day in Abyssea) and I'm sick and tired of being punished for being a loner in the game compared to some other players. I'm okay with occasional duos or trios, but I don't want to have to depend on them for fast experience gains.

So I'm hoping for a time when FFXI is no longer a money-maker as an online game. Then I'm hoping SE will make one final revamp to the whole game, making it more like a real offline Final Fantasy game where you can level fast, get all crafts to Lv.100. The game options should include a solo option to make everything solo-able if you want. And there should also be an option to have a party of NPCs which you can program with gambits... have your tank provoke every 30 seconds, have him programmed to cure himself when he hits yellow HP. Have your NPC WHM programmed to cure the tank when his HP hits orange, have your RDM programmed to keep enfeebles up, etc...

I'll miss the living online community of gamers, but honestly I'm so tired of depending on the availability, whims and limitations of other players when trying to get things accomplished in this game. Having spent nearly $2,000 since 2005 on subscription fees, plus the cost of the games and expansions themselves, I'd like to think SE would do this one last thing so we can continue playing after the game is no longer online. I just imagine that there are lots of people who never played it BECAUSE it was an online game. I didn't play it at first because of that very reason, but I have never regretted joining the game.

I've told people in my linkshells that I think experience gains should be doubled yet again, and crafting skill ups should be more frequent. People have replied: "No, that would make it too easy!" Yet those people never complain when experience yields are raised. I just point out: "Okay, then suggest SE makes gear you can equip that cuts your experience gains in half and use that to make YOUR game more difficult. I'm tired of spending my life trying to get things done in FFXI, and I'm nowhere near being through all the quests and missions, even after 390 days of play time, not to mention leveling crafts.

So there we go... I'm ready to take my game offline, just as soon as SE offers the option, even if it means I can't play online anymore.

[Dazusu]

even after 390 days of play time

390 days of played time after playing for 6 years? You sir are what is known as "casual", you're not meant to complete the game or get all the best gear. It's an MMO, not a single player game.

"Offline play" will never happen for technical reasons. It's good to dream, though.

[Windblade]

390 days of played time after playing for 6 years? You sir are what is known as "casual", you're not meant to complete the game or get all the best gear. It's an MMO, not a single player game.

"Offline play" will never happen for technical reasons. It's good to dream, though.

I put most of those hours in within one year's time, thank you. I have not played that much in the last few years. Plus there are lots of people who never log out of the game. In one year, I spent literally one third of the year playing, one third working, and I sacrificed sleep. I was not "casual" in that year.

As for going offline, interviews with the developers say that they have considered making it an offline game in the future, after it dies as an online game. I don't think they would have said if there were technical reasons to make it impossible.

[Dazusu]

Link me to these interviews, or anything surrounding them.

When SE decide to stop hosting this game, it's likely they will sell the rights to run it to the highest bidder and license it to them. If you think they're going to invest hundreds of thousands of man hours into writing a closed, and emulated server for offline play, and changing every last bit of math to support solo play, plus changing the story to be linear or at least followable by a single character, you're severely mistaken.