Notice to SE about Xbox and your possibilitys!

[Demon6324236]

Xbox is currently home to very few MMO games like Final Fantasy XI, the only other notable one that comes to mind even is Phantasy Star Universe, now you may not know this but Phantasy Star Universe(PSU) is ending its services this September.

This means players of the Xbox360 will be unable to play many/any MMOs on this console anymore. Now I know you have stopped production of Xbox360 copies of this game (or any disk copies of any form to my knowledge!) but there is a solution. Rather than restarting the production of Final Fantasy XI for the Xbox360 I was wondering if it is possible FFXI could be put onto the Xbox Live Marketplace. Up till now the Games on Demand feature has had PSU on this for players to buy & play, I understand Square & Microsoft might be butting heads with games like Final Fantasy XIV, but FFXI has been around for many years, surely they could allow this to be placed on the Games on Demand. Now that PSU is effectively dying, it is the perfect time for players to look for a new MMO, since so few are on consoles it is hard for players mainly console bound to play any, but FFXI is already on Xbox, and digital download is possible for the Xbox same as it is for PC (which is the only way to get the game now.) so it seems like a logical step to take.

I know many people who would gladly move to this game especially once PSU is gone, however it is impossible for them as of now, many of them have old PCs or Laptops unable to run this game, due to the lost support of new copies to the Xbox platform it has made it impossible for my friends to find the game and buy it. As it stands Xbox players looking to buy this game must goto unreal lengths to attempt to get this game! A few examples are even on the US PlayOnline Website (http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/intro/shop.html) where you only list 3 places to buy the game for Xbox, but this is very outdated. You may not know but EBGames is no more, they are one and the same with Gamestop now, Gamestop does not carry FFXI due to the fact production of the game was stopped. Amazon does however carry the game but at a price of nearly 200 dollars for the game new. And 60 dollars for it used. This means for a copy of FFXI for the Xbox 360 you must pay approximately the same price as a brand new blockbuster hit game such as Call of Duty:Black Ops 2 or Halo 4 will be upon release. In fact this is not even the end, as you still will want to buy the Abyssea add-ons and need the code to register your account which you must buy for what I think is $10, meaning a total of $100 for a used copy of this game.

All I ask is that it is looked into that Final Fantasy XI could be placed on the Xbox Live Marketplace in the Games on Demand section, it houses many full games for prices much like in-store, and would allow digital downloads as you have chosen to be the only option for PC gamers. It would also allow you a larger market of gamers due to the soon ending lifespan of the only other MMO I even know of on this console and that all of these MMO players will be looking for their next game, what better time to put it on the marketplace and allow these players to see there is another MMO to look forward to at the end of September! Take this chance, talk with Microsoft and convince them to allow this MMO to live on for the Xbox players, inform them this is their chance to keep MMO players on their consoles, rather than losing them to PCs due to PC having a wide verity of MMOs the likes of which Xbox has never seen!

[Kaisha]

I always wondered why XI wasn't on Games on Demand years ago.

360 users would probably buy it just to not have to deal with putting the damn disc in to boot it up.

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

I'd wager Microsoft would frown upon it as online play doesn't require a (paying) Gold membership.

This is the reason why Microsoft would like XI to go away to begin with, and why you won't be seeing XIV on the 360 any time this century.

[Demon6324236]

I'd wager Microsoft would frown upon it as online play doesn't require a (paying) Gold membership.

This is the reason why Microsoft would like XI to go away to begin with, and why you won't be seeing XIV on the 360 any time this century.

I was under the assumption that FFXI was like PSU in the fact you couldn't get on it without a working gold membership, hmm~ idk, Microsoft fucks up alot of shit with their unwilling to do anything without charging more money like Team Fortress 2 and Monday Night Combat. I was thinking FFXIV was more because they wanted closed Xbox only servers and such, either way it was just an idea because Square is able to get those MMOers PSU is about to drop, and Xbox in general is about to lose the people wanting MMOs because of low Xbox support for FFXI and almost no MMOs on the console to begin with.

Edit:To add onto this its actually a problem Xbox faces in general, due to the fact Microsoft wont get Xbox Live Gold out of their ass most MMOs are unable to goto it, companys already charge the monthly fees, but if they started having 2, 1 for Xbox & 1 for FFXI it would be hell on a scale I'm sure most would set down their controllers and quit.

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

I was under the assumption that FFXI was like PSU in the fact you couldn't get on it without a working gold membership,

Nope, you can play FFXI on Xbox 360 with just a free Silver membership. I think I remember reading speculation that FFXI is why there is a Silver tier to begin with, and I suspect that's a decision that both Microsoft (who doesn't get any money) and Square-Enix (who still has to deal with XBL headaches) have come to regret.

[Kaisha]

This was back when 360 had no pay-to-play online content beyond the XBL subscription though, so they had to pull some strings anyways since the console was hurting for any kind of 'RPG' back in the day.

[Demon6324236]

This was back when 360 had no pay-to-play online content beyond the XBL subscription though, so they had to pull some strings anyways since the console was hurting for any kind of 'RPG' back in the day.

Yes but its still hurting for MMOs, as I said, PSU and FFXI are the only MMOs I have ever seen for Xbox, and so since its losing PSU, and FFXI has no production of new copies, it basically has lost both MMOs it once had, this is the perfect time for SE to step in, have FFXI out for Xbox, and get everyone from PSU on this game.

[Zumi]

FFXI is 10 years old any PC within the last 10 years can play it. If people have a PC at all.

[Demon6324236]

FFXI is 10 years old any PC within the last 10 years can play it. If people have a PC at all.

My friend Trever is unable to play it on his Laptop, tried with the trial ><; have been trying for about 6 months or more to find a copy of the game for Xbox, lowest we found in stock for Xbox 360 was the old original with only RotZ and that was 86 dollars new I think... This game is 10 years old, and you pay monthly, at most it should be maybe 20~30, not even...

[Zumi]

My friend Trever is unable to play it on his Laptop, tried with the trial ><; have been trying for about 6 months or more to find a copy of the game for Xbox, lowest we found in stock for Xbox 360 was the old original with only RotZ and that was 86 dollars new I think... This game is 10 years old, and you pay monthly, at most it should be maybe 20~30, not even...

Still need to have directx and some graphics drivers installed. Probably one of those 2 issues.

[Cabalabob]

Buy it on steam it's like £5

[Demon6324236]

Buy it on steam it's like £5

You ignored everything that was said...

[Cahlum]

If your friend can't run it get a new laptop, seriously anything made within the last 6 years (being generous) can run it with ease. $100 pile of crap could run this game.

[svengalis]

If your friend can't run it get a new laptop, seriously anything made within the last 6 years (being generous) can run it with ease. $100 pile of crap could run this game.

Netbooks can't run it.

[Zerich]

Netbooks can't run it.

netbooks can barely handle youtube

[wildsprite]

I agree with the whole xblive games on demand thing, MS would go for it, think about it, MS gets a fee for every copy of every XB360 game sold, so even in digital format they would still get something out of it, so there is no real reason not to do this except for laziness on SE's part, it would allow new players to hop on the bandwagon without hunting down an overpriced copy of the game, c'mon SE you should do this, its a smart move

[Mostfowl]

This is the reason why Microsoft would like XI to go away to begin with, and why you won't be seeing XIV on the 360 any time this century.

They stated after the PS3 version of xiv is released we may see it on 360 and wii as well as they are in negotiations for it to happen already.

Outside of that, stop and think of why its no longer available...could it be its in its final phase? With player base dropping rapidly and the launch of 2.0 around the corner we may see xi fade away. Especially if its not accessible anymore

[Eric]

How would they distribute the registration codes for the game if it were sold on Xbox LIVE?

AFAIK, Xbox Games On Demand doesn't have a method for distributing the codes.

I'm not saying it would be hard to do, but the Xbox 360 has always been the platform that SE cares about least, and maybe they're just not willing to put in the (however little) additional effort it would take to make it available on Games On Demand.

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

They stated after the PS3 version of xiv is released we may see it on 360 and wii as well as they are in negotiations for it to happen already.

The Wii would be pointless at this point, since XIV 2.0 will hit around the same time as the Wii U. Besides, it lacks a hard drive. Besides that, I suspect Microsoft will take a wait-and-see attitude on 2.0 before signing anything.


Outside of that, stop and think of why its no longer available...could it be its in its final phase? With player base dropping rapidly and the launch of 2.0 around the corner we may see xi fade away. Especially if its not accessible anymore

To play devil's advocate (or perhaps more "angel's advocate"), S-E still heavily promotes XI for PC via download channels (remember: Destrier Beret is download-only). Meanwhile, while no console version is available for sale, S-E is working on many PC-only UI tweaks for XI.

XI is still profitable enough for S-E to justify (if not outright pay for) attempting to save XIV. They're naturally looking for ways to cut costs (and reducing most updates to PC-only will do that), but S-E seems more than willing to try riding XI into the ground rather than yank the plug outright.

[Rosalie]

Netbooks can't run it.

I had a ls leader back in 2008 who was running FFXI on her netbook constantly.

[Mostfowl]

XI is still profitable enough for S-E to justify (if not outright pay for) attempting to save XIV. They're naturally looking for ways to cut costs (and reducing most updates to PC-only will do that), but S-E seems more than willing to try riding XI into the ground rather than yank the plug outright.

Hopefully, I've been playing this game since about 06 and would hate to see it crash and when you have a dev dept that seems to consist of 10 ppl its easy to keep costs low and a game going LOL

[Zumi]

I have a gateway computer from 2001 which was top of the line back then and it still runs FFXI with almost no graphical lag. I don't use this computer anymore gave it to my dad, but yea if a 11 year old computer can run FFXI very well you think anything you bought now could easily.

[Mifaco]

Any computer - and I do mean any computer - released in the last ten years - can run FFXI fine. This is a game released in 2002. This is a game that has a minimum requirement of DirectX 8 and a PIII 800MHz. If your PC can't run it, get a better PC.

[Mirabelle]

I'm just waiting for them to make an iPad version.

[Demon6324236]

They stated after the PS3 version of xiv is released we may see it on 360 and wii as well as they are in negotiations for it to happen already.

Outside of that, stop and think of why its no longer available...could it be its in its final phase? With player base dropping rapidly and the launch of 2.0 around the corner we may see xi fade away. Especially if its not accessible anymore

After what we just saw at Vanafest... No, I think this is still going, no fading away anytime soon ^_^;

[Demon6324236]

How would they distribute the registration codes for the game if it were sold on Xbox LIVE?

AFAIK, Xbox Games On Demand doesn't have a method for distributing the codes.

I'm not saying it would be hard to do, but the Xbox 360 has always been the platform that SE cares about least, and maybe they're just not willing to put in the (however little) additional effort it would take to make it available on Games On Demand.

To distribute codes they have a few options options, Live can send you a message containing it when it is bought, they do this for a few reasons they could add this I think. If not Live send you a message, than have an Email sent to you with it, or have it shown to you on Xbox.com like with when you buy the game for PC on sites like Amazon. There are many paths they can take, and the fact of a PC being needed for the code isn't a problem because you need a PC either way to the site & start your membership/playing.

[Demon6324236]

They said something about shipping new disks, wonder if this could include for Xbox as well :)

[Eric]

To distribute codes they have a few options options, Live can send you a message containing it when it is bought, they do this for a few reasons they could add this I think. If not Live send you a message, than have an Email sent to you with it, or have it shown to you on Xbox.com like with when you buy the game for PC on sites like Amazon. There are many paths they can take, and the fact of a PC being needed for the code isn't a problem because you need a PC either way to the site & start your membership/playing.

I meant something that already exists through Xbox Live's current system. Microsoft already doesn't like FFXI, so i dont think they would be too happy to incorporate a new system for delivering registration codes just for SE. :(

[katiekat]

it could work like this

1. create SE id on the web page

2. bye game and install it

3 enter new SE id game dl then sends the inbeded code to the se servers and regasters the codes.

kind of how the abyssea add ons were dun

[wildsprite]

it could work like this

1. create SE id on the web page

2. bye game and install it

3 enter new SE id game dl then sends the inbeded code to the se servers and regasters the codes.

kind of how the abyssea add ons were dun

this is not a bad idea for most players, would still suck on low bandwidth connections though

[Kaisha]

this is not a bad idea for most players, would still suck on low bandwidth connections though
360 requires a broadband connection anyways, so I hope people aren't playing or downloading games on it with sub-3mbps connections.

[wildsprite]

MS has plenty of ways to give codes for things you download on xblive, how about in the download information page when you get the game and have it there for your specific xblive account? this wouldn't be something new either, I'm certain they have done it for other games in games on demand

[Yokai]

If I recall correctly, doesn't XBL Games On Demand have a maximum game size?

If so, I would be surprised if FFXI doesn't exceed that limit.

Even if it doesn't, I would not be surprised in the least if SE would be on the hook for XBox Live-side bandwidth costs for FFXI downloads.



Additionally, in case anyone looking at this thread is thinking "why oh why would you want to play FFXI on <not a PC> when you could play it on a PC?" please keep in mind that some people prefer to keep gaming separate from other social or professional matters, and therefore intentionally keep their gaming off of their (primary) PC. It can be difficult to justify the cost of an additional PC solely for gaming, while a console system allows for a great deal of non-MMO gaming - and in the case of the XBox, also allows for playing FFXI as part of that games library - and is generally cheaper than a gaming-oriented PC that can play the same library of games.

Yes, I know a dirt-cheap second PC can run FFXI, but generally someone who falls under this use case is looking at more games than just FFXI. Your general dirt-cheap computer won't be able to run Mass Effect 3 or the forthcoming Borderlands 2, for example.

[Demon6324236]

One way around a possible limit is they could make it so it is Final Fantasy XI without the expansions, and then the code you get with it would give all expansions, then it would only have to download FFXI+POL from the dashboard while the 10 expansions are given via updates on POL. I believe thats how it works when you buy the expansions separately, so in theory it should work just fine.

Also I'm not sure how much space FFXI takes. I was under the idea that the Ultimate collection was probably around 6Gigs as most games are on the 360, which would also be the same for most GoD games, meaning it shouldn't make much problem unless Add-ons/Abyssea pushes it over the limit, but those are downloaded via updates anyways so thats not very likely.

[airsparrowhawk]

Also I'm not sure how much space FFXI takes. I was under the idea that the Ultimate collection was probably around 6Gigs as most games are on the 360, which would also be the same for most GoD games, meaning it shouldn't make much problem unless Add-ons/Abyssea pushes it over the limit, but those are downloaded via updates anyways so thats not very likely.

Most of that 6gb is in updated content rather than in the expansions alone, PSU was 1.8gb in size if I remember correctly so I'd imagine FFXI's base download minus the updates would be something similar, it'd easily be under any maximum size that may be in place. Then once the base download is on your HDD you'd just need to spend the three-or-so hours updating it, but considering BF3 takes a couple hours to update with the latest patches and no one is really complaining about that, I don't think it'd be much of a bother for most players, especially the patient MMO players.

[wildsprite]

If I recall correctly, doesn't XBL Games On Demand have a maximum game size?

If so, I would be surprised if FFXI doesn't exceed that limit.

Even if it doesn't, I would not be surprised in the least if SE would be on the hook for XBox Live-side bandwidth costs for FFXI downloads.



Additionally, in case anyone looking at this thread is thinking "why oh why would you want to play FFXI on <not a PC> when you could play it on a PC?" please keep in mind that some people prefer to keep gaming separate from other social or professional matters, and therefore intentionally keep their gaming off of their (primary) PC. It can be difficult to justify the cost of an additional PC solely for gaming, while a console system allows for a great deal of non-MMO gaming - and in the case of the XBox, also allows for playing FFXI as part of that games library - and is generally cheaper than a gaming-oriented PC that can play the same library of games.

Yes, I know a dirt-cheap second PC can run FFXI, but generally someone who falls under this use case is looking at more games than just FFXI. Your general dirt-cheap computer won't be able to run Mass Effect 3 or the forthcoming Borderlands 2, for example.
pretty sure the xb360 FFXI DVD is under 5GB so they could do it well within the limits, besides most of the space FFXI takes up as of now is updates so they could easily do it