Single Player/Offline Mode?

[Vivivivi]

This is no way a complaint about SE's decision to take the game offline. I completely understand and support it, and my thoughts go out to our friends in Japan during this time of crisis.

It does beg the question though: What happens when FFXI eventually goes dark forever? Will FFXI only exist as a memory after that? Or are there plans to provide new and old players the option to play through XI offline as a single player or p2p experience/third party private servers?

Would players even be interested in this option? I know I would, Vana'diel is the most incredible Final Fantasy world I've ever seen and there are so many quests and missions to make a single player experience fun. Of course many key features wouldn't work like the auction house, and things would have to be altered such as gil drops to make it playable. Much like I've come back and played FFIV three or four times through over the years, I'm certain in ten years if this game is no longer supported I would LOVE to at least play through some of the windy missions for nostalgia's sake.

Just curious what people think ^^

[Aerius]

I remember asking myself the same thing about Phantasy Star Online back on the Gamecube.
But sadly, like any other company, I think when it goes dark, it just goes dark.
Although with PSO, people were fortunate that it was easy to emulate (and that the game was re-chewed over and over for a lot of consoles, and eventually PC (again))

It would be great if SE could somehow make it an offline experience after they decide to kill the servers, but it's highly doubtful.
And they wouldn't release their server software nor support private server software simply because if there are enough hardcore XI players out there, or those that have not finished the game yet, they could lose those potential customers to other services rather than their new Final Fantasy MMO.

[Vivivivi]

/panic /cry :)

[Jamesruglia]

My old copy of Final Fantasy for the Nintendo still works after over twenty years, and in another ten(at LEAST) I expect it still will-especially if I replace the battery at some point.

In twenty, thirty, even fourty years, I'll still be able to play every Final Fantasy game(especially through all the ports and remakes)... Except for two.

Final Fantasy XI isn't just one of my favorite Final Fantasy titles, it's one of my favorite games. The fact that it's online and played alongside others is secondary to the game itself for me. Will amateur novels and one-sided RPG Maker games be all that's left one day?

In another topic I mentioned the creepy, awkward feeling I get when I try to connect to the servers right now, and about how one day I'll have the Playonline Viewer shortcut still on my desktop, just sitting there, an empty shell. I'll keep installing the game on newer computers, even if I can't ever update it(much less play it).

Then there are other worries; if they did port it, what would and wouldn't they implement? If they went barebones in story adaption, would you still be able to make a linkshell/get married/etc.? Could you make multiple characters and use more than one at a time? etc. I guess you could call your character select screen a "linkshell"...

[Kjara]

Final Fantasy is a series that makes history amongst videogames and thus I doubt FFXI will be cancelled (fans of the next generations who would wish to collect FF games would miss a title if they did), but I don't expect SE to spend money to keep servers up forever. I think eventually we will get a private servers version of the game, when the game will stop giving SE a substantial profit.

[Luvbunny]

Well they could tweak the game, make it so that you can play with your Xbox Live friends or PS3 friend list, release this version as the ultimate one (with all the online contents in one disc or two), and make us pay for it all over again as their last desperate attempt to cash in. Maybe upgrade the graphic so that it is playable via PS3. They can also create NPCs so that if you play offline you can hire Prishe, Lion, and all of your favorite NPCs from the missions you have completed.

[Scruffybub]

I've been wanting this for years, since I quit FFXI due to not having the time. Like you said, the multiplayer features like the AH, linkshells, and so on would have to either be changed or disabled, but most of the game features would be able to stay in. Rather than just a solely singleplayer game, I'd love it if it had a system similar to NWN, or Borderlands, where singleplayer is an option, but you also have the option to play multiplayer with a few people, either hosted externally, or on your own PC. I never got the chance to fully experience FFXI, and I would pay big bux to be able to do it with an offline mode option.

[CaelThunderwing]

we Did have a third party solution awhile back Which you guys probbly dont remember Anymore.

"pXI/ProjectXI" i haveto admit of only 2 years of reverse engineering JUST teh packet data between client and server, they had a system that was ok WAY no wheres near retail but as they got closer and closer, SE sent them an C&D Letter and that was the end of that.

[arlais]

It would be sort of cool if they released it in a few years on a virtual console (or even a console) per-expansion. (RotZ, CoP, ToAU) Party members could be AI'ed pretty well, in the manner 12's were. A lot would need to be tweaked, remarkably more exp per kill for instance, and we'd have to become remarkably more powerful to deal with the bosses.

But the storylines would become a lot more linear though; even if Vana'diel remained fully intact, playing the game isn't as fun solo as it is with friends. It'd be nice to have something to switch on when you're really missing something like manaclipper rides though.

[Mirage]

What would be best, I think, would be if they after they shut down the servers, released the server software as free for non-commercial purposes. Even better, as open-source so the community could continue to fix bugs on their own. Still under a non-commercial license, though.

If this was done, we could get an app to edit the server-selection list at the character creation screen, with each server name leading to a private server of your choice. Or something like that.

I think this would be a much easier option than converting the game to a single-player game, or to somehow run on xbox-live (how would you even make that happen? Xbox live online games still require servers).

Releasing the server (and client) software as either free-noncommercial, or opensource-noncommercial would let the programmers of the FF11 community do all the work themselves, not costing SE a penny.

[Coldbrand]

If they were big men about it they'd give out the necessary info and tech to let the community perpetuate the game's lifespan posthumously with their own servers.

[Mirage]

That info would be the source code and and software I mentioned in my previous post

[Randwolf]

Longest Running MMORPG's (http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/feature/4117/page/1)

I wouldn't fret too much. The Realm has been going for 16 years, so far. If there are players, there will be a game.

[Mirage]

I hope FF11 gets on that list before it dies.

[Tezz]

I think if it ever "went dark" then SE might be inspired to create an offline version(remake) years later.

[Vivivivi]

I think if it ever "went dark" then SE might be inspired to create an offline version(remake) years later.
I bet you're right, SE has a good track record of doing updates and remakes to the core FF titles, just look at the FF3 remake, it's AMAZING on the DS, and the upcoming iOS version looks to be even better. When and if it eventually does go dark, I would venture to say it will come back in some form later. I just hope it's not anytime soon! /panic

[JagerForrester]

If FFXI ever goes dark, maybe it'll get them to do the next FF-MMO a combination of the two. FFXIV's great graphics, character customization, and updated tech (which is all I know about it) with FFXI's group-oriented gameplay that has proven to work for so many years.

[Neika]

I would so buy an off-line version! the story is awesome!

[Vivivivi]

I would so buy an off-line version! the story is awesome!

I know! Yet another thing about this game that blows me away/over delivers. I was a little underwhelmed at first, but once I got to about Windhurst mission 2-3, I was like "ohhhhhh". It would be great to capture this story forever in some form :)

[Miera]

This remindes me of how Sega Team did all of their Phantasy Star series. Because you could go on Offline mode and use the saves people were able to hack into the game and dupe money and items using the offline method.

[JagerForrester]

Took me a while, but I just thought of this. What Square-game had multiple characters that you could use to create a party with? Chrono Cross. Build a FFXI (Offline Version) around that game mechanic?

[Vivivivi]

This remindes me of how Sega Team did all of their Phantasy Star series. Because you could go on Offline mode and use the saves people were able to hack into the game and dupe money and items using the offline method.

Yeah if this ever did get implemented, I'd be fine with it being after the online servers go away to prevent exactly what you mentioned. It'd just be great to experience this game again in another 10-15 years much like I have I and IV :)

[Mirage]

I'm still hoping for a public release of the server software rather than an offline version.

Am I the only one? Think about it, how cool wouldn't it be to run your very own FF11 server where you were the head GM and you could play with all the people who were in your old LS on the official servers?

[Vivivivi]

I'm still hoping for a public release of the server software rather than an offline version.

Am I the only one?

Nope! I'd be happy with either. Just some way to play the game in the distant future.

[Alhanelem]

It does beg the question though: What happens when FFXI eventually goes dark forever? Will FFXI only exist as a memory after that?Yes, it will just disappear. No single player mode. SE won't have control of the game anymore if it's still able to be played.

The game will run until such a time when it doesn't earn them any money, and then it will stop for good. MMOs disappear when they die, they don't turn into offline games. You'd be basically asking them to spend more money to change almost everything int he game so that it can be done single player, which is A lot of work and money investment when they are no longer collecting money from players.


I'm still hoping for a public release of the server software rather than an offline version. Will never, ever, ever happen and I would bet my life on it. All the known unofficial server projects have also been shut down by SE so there's no chance of that either.

Releasing the server software potentially means someone else can make money off SE's work.

[Mirage]

Don't be so negative! It has happened before.

[ValronXI]

Yes, it will just disappear. No single player mode. SE won't have control of the game anymore if it's still able to be played.

The game will run until such a time when it doesn't earn them any money, and then it will stop for good. MMOs disappear when they die, they don't turn into offline games. You'd be basically asking them to spend more money to change almost everything int he game so that it can be done single player, which is A lot of work and money investment when they are no longer collecting money from players.

Will never, ever, ever happen and I would bet my life on it. All the known unofficial server projects have also been shut down by SE so there's no chance of that either.

Releasing the server software potentially means someone else can make money off SE's work.

ever heard of ragnarok online?
zzZzzZ

its deja vu~

[ValronXI]

except Ragnarok i think still keeps its servers up and running?

[Mirage]

As far as I know, private RO servers aren't running on officially released server software. It's all reverse engineering or an old leaked version of the real servers.

However, RO is still officially running, isn't it? I'm talking about when there's no more money in the game for SE, what so ever.

I seem to recall someone from SE saying that they would like for there to be a way to continue after official support for the game was ended. Can't find the source of that though.

[Aerius]

As far as I recall, Ragnarok Online's implementation was much easier than FFXI. FFXI has such an incredible amount of work that needs to go into quests, events, npc implementations, spell implementations, not to mention all the content and stuff that has to be programmed and or set up, it's a lot more work than Ragnarok Online.

Plus, Ragnarok Online was fortunate to have a whole community to help out as well, and ofcourse Gravity not being that aggressive towards them (granted, the eAthena server was coded from scratch without using any official files/etc, so technically it's legal.)

(I'm not even sure if it's "okay" to talk about it on here, but since the ProjectXI project is gone I'm assuming it's safe, if not, please feel free to remove this post, mods.)
However, emulating FFXI is a whole different thing. Granted the original team of ProjectXI was small, only about 3-4 main programmers, and 2 LUA programmers for events and such, and a community of roughly 30-60 contributors they got it where it was. And that was barely functional (a lot of stuff was not working yet.)
But they were using official data grabbed/dumped right off SE's servers, which was (one of) the illegal part on their end, which eventually also is one of the things that was the demise of the project.

I guess all I'm saying is, I've never heard big companies release their server software, and those who got emulated were lucky to have an incredibly huge fanbase, and or being easy enough to be emulated. Unless some sort of magical group suddenly gets together somewhere in the coming years and decides to get it done, that would be one of the only ways. But once the game is offline, it's going to be extremely hard to get anywhere without reference/etc. (Especially since no matter how much private server developers like to say their stuff is legal, most of them get their data for implementations from analyzing packets that are sent between the client and server, which in pretty much any case, is illegal.)

As much as I'd like to think positive of it, seeing all odds, I really doubt a private server would be made.

(All above is from a pretty rusty memory being away from private server development scene for a whole while, so I could be wrong ofcourse.)

[Mirage]

Well, better hope it'll get anywhere close to what the currently oldest MMOS are at today then, which is like 15 years.

But reverse engineering isn't illegal in many areas of the world. It's what was used in Openoffice to let them view and save MS Office documents, for example. I guess it could be against some EULA somewhere, but EULAs can't usually override actual laws.

[Alhanelem]

ever heard of ragnarok online? Show me information from the company that made the game (directly from their source) that announced the release of a private server or singleplayer version.

Ah, so there isn't one. Nevermind.

[Amerlyn]

I'll just cross my fingers and hope. Nothing wrong with hoping something happens. But don't get them too high that if doesn't happen you get disappointed. Whose to say (unless you work for SE), they might actually be working on a solution that either keeps the game up and running online, or makes it offline. After all wouldn't the best time to rewrite all that code for offline use be during the time its still making money? Or as I read earlier from another user. Its quite possible SE might use XI as a remake for a later game. They have remade and updated graphics in some of they're older games. I'll just keep my fingers crossed and hope, but not going to let it disappoint me if they don't.

***Edit: Think it would be cool if a mod moved this to "Suggestions/Feedback". I kinda feel this belongs more to that subject than it does General Discussion.***

[svengalis]

I remember asking myself the same thing about Phantasy Star Online back on the Gamecube.
But sadly, like any other company, I think when it goes dark, it just goes dark.
Although with PSO, people were fortunate that it was easy to emulate (and that the game was re-chewed over and over for a lot of consoles, and eventually PC (again))

It would be great if SE could somehow make it an offline experience after they decide to kill the servers, but it's highly doubtful.
And they wouldn't release their server software nor support private server software simply because if there are enough hardcore XI players out there, or those that have not finished the game yet, they could lose those potential customers to other services rather than their new Final Fantasy MMO.

What was your character name on PSO on Gamecube? mine was C-Lo.

[RAIST]

I'd like to see them take a cue from something like Volition's Freespace. You could set yourself up to be the host and people coud run missions off your machine. Granted, this was instanced battlefields and not full scale real-time environment like FFXI, but it would be nice if something like that could be done when they do finally go offline. At least then you could give out IP's to friends and such and still run events and what not for shits and giggles.

Raist

[NightDagger]

The game will be maintained until 2013 then they will pull the plug ^^

[Tsukino_Kaji]

Go play FFXII, it's the same thing.

[Capn]

If SE ever did shut XI down for good, those C&D letters would be moot, and there would be (hopefully) a load of more kiddies opening private servers. At least I would be poking around creating one.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

Do it liek that one chick that got sued by blizzard for having a pirate WoW server! lol

[Alhanelem]

those C&D letters would be moot, Where did you get the idea that them shutting down the servers for their game means people suddenly have the right to reverse enginner their tech and make private servers? SE can still shut them down all it wants.

[Meyi]

Oh my God I would love to have the offline version of FFXI. (Even more than online, I think! XD)

Monster difficulties would have to be altered and/or more characters added to our party (like Adventuring Fellows) that we could call upon when we need them.

[Capn]

Where did you get the idea that them shutting down the servers for their game means people suddenly have the right to reverse enginner their tech and make private servers? SE can still shut them down all it wants.

The software is still out there, and moot or not, there will be people out there hosting.

[Alhanelem]

The software is still out there, and moot or not, there will be people out there hosting. And SE will C&D/sue them into the ground.

[windrider]

As much as i would love to play this game offline, it just wouldn't be the same, it's only a small % of they way the game presently is designed that makes it enjoyable, what makes this an exceptional game is the people within it. If you did get it put onto (client) single servers you would lose alot of the games charisma, different ppl different races, different ideals all would be lost......