Make FFXI Free to play!

[Tagihi]

I know it's gonna be people who disagree with this but I'll be honest.
The game is 11 years + old, it has been very fun game until now. There are hardly people left who play all the friends you played with over there. I play mostly EU time and there are hardly people anymore now.

People are unhappy on the new expansion that has given the game a little hope to hang on.
But it is not worth the price o play anymore. XIV is coming out soon and it will be better the only few players who will be left in the XI all solo boxing players.

Then I can well understand that the server won't hold well for over 10,000 players a server as it would safely put down on a ps2.
But seriously who plays on a ps2 today? I did that, but no longer is because it is so limited.

I think XI has been among the best games online because of a good social game good community, but it has begun to die out very much.
Many will never experience the XI as it was the right at the beginning and before raised cap above 75+, but this game has fallen away and today everything is solo everything can be done yourself most of the time anyway.
I think SE should look at his game and think about what we'll do with XI?
Personally I think they should do that guild wars buy the game, and play as much as you want.

Assemble all server to one or two and do something for getting people to stay there.
I promise it will die out soon.

[PeaceWalker]

http://www.vg247.com/2013/05/13/square-enix-financials-%C2%A513-7-million-loss-cites-competitive-console-market/

Also: Pay 2 Win? {No Thanks.}

[Slaxx]

The day this game goes pay 2 win is the day i quit.

[Elexia]

XI made/makes them the most money, they'll lose far more people than they'd bring in forcing us to pay for everything. You enjoy going into Einherjar only paying gil? You enjoy..any content using in-game means? You better get ready to break out your wallet to do those things you used to do for free.

[Sarick]

They could make a new server or 2 free to play with DLC.

[Rezeak]

Free to play up to level 90, and only Zilart and CoP content would be cool to get new players into the game or just to experience the game it's self.

[Volarione]

how about no? how about just getting rid of the POS console system that has been obsolete for the past 8 years? if they would drop the ps2 and work on the graphics a little the game would get a boost. honestly I dont care about FFXIV I tried it once and it sucked horribly, I will not be returning. meanwhile I have been playing XI for ten years now and if they put some effort into revamping the graphics and put some new commercials out (instead of wasting money down the sinkhole XIV has become) I really think this game could get back on top.

free to play for this is a bad idea, drop the crap console revamp the games graphics and put everything out in a MASSIVE Update Package that costs $30 along with all the expansions and see how many people come to it.

hell some music and voice acting wouldnt hurt either.



what Im saying is there are a lot of problems with FFXI, but paying to PLAY isnt one of them.

[RAIST]

new graphics and such won't do jack to pull in and/or keep players if they don't fix fundamental flaws first.

So much is just out of whack now with various game elements, they need the revenues from subs to fix it...provided they actually will pump those profits back into XI and not other projects.

Not sure the typical F2P models out there will work with this game. It could potentially take too much away from what keeps people playing for the long haul....not to mention the impact it would have on future content additions. Quality has already been on a downward slope for quite a long time,even with all the revenues this game generates for them.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

The first 3 posts look just like the first 3 posts the last time this thread was made.

[Alhanelem]

worst idea ever. This would send the game further down the crapper, not make things better.

[nyheen]

whats with the people trying to get this free to play? seems to be doing fine with the monthly subs. why you think SE would want to drop it to F2P?

[Dazusu]

Get a job, $12 won't seem like so much then.

If the game was ever to go free to play, we wouldn't get monthly updates anymore - it would remain stagnant - much as GuildWars1 has.

[Tagihi]

free to play for this is a bad idea, drop the crap console revamp the games graphics and put everything out in a MASSIVE Update Package that costs $30 along with all the expansions and see how many people come to it.

hell some music and voice acting wouldnt hurt either.



what Im saying is there are a lot of problems with FFXI, but paying to PLAY isnt one of them.

Even it is bad idea but consider SE arent doing much for XI and they won't do any kind of update that change the graphics w/e we can dream off this game is out of date.

There will be 2 ways this game lose alot player base in the end they will shutt down the servers.

[Zemzerrett]

http://s3.amazonaws.com/dk-production/images/20911/large/tumblrl9s0oylfm21qz4w1g.png?1361928030

[Yinnyth]

Even it is bad idea but consider SE arent doing much for XI and they won't do any kind of update that change the graphics w/e we can dream off this game is out of date.

There will be 2 ways this game lose alot player base in the end they will shutt down the servers.

Whether you choose to believe it or not, there are still people who enjoy this game and are willing to pay for it. SE would sooner shut the whole game down than hemorrhage money by making it free to play.

[OmnysValefor]

Just imagine the recent weapon update release, but instead of the short-lived mystery of where the gear is obtained from, instead, it's got a "$9.99" or even "$1.99" on each of them.

That's what a lot of F2Ps look like, and why their called P2W by opponents.

{Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to pass.}

[Rustic]

Killing S-E's more reliable revenue by suddenly going FTP?

A fantastic method of finishing the job FFXIV started and killing the company entirely, thereby taking FFXI with it.

[Kojo]

I came to say this is a horrible idea, and suggest OP be introduced to the guy that suggested paying $10 per update and merging servers.

[Afania]

Get a job, $12 won't seem like so much then.

If the game was ever to go free to play, we wouldn't get monthly updates anymore - it would remain stagnant - much as GuildWars1 has.


Or it's probably going to be something as crappy as SWTOR....you can only do dynamis/salvage/legion/delve once a week if you don't pay, your EXP/cruor/plasm/bayld gain per hour is reduced by 50% if you don't pay. And you can buy a R/E/M for just 20$ each!

FFXI game mechanic isn't build around a F2P model, it's about grinding and if it goes F2P we'd just pay for gears and quit.

[Glamdring]

way off base, SE would have to be paying ME to play 14 before I go back, on the other hand, 11 is the best multiplayer game I've ever been on. That being said, XI Redux would be nice-taking the game as-is and redoing the software to be compatible with multi-processor environments, compatible with direct X, etc. And while they are at it, a roll out compatible with handhelds that have internet access-after all, they are nowhere near the memory capacities of those devices.

I have almost quit several times (in fact, I was playing WoW 90% of my gaming time for 3 months), not because of how jobs, gear, etc are being handled-despite my gripes there-but because they refuse to make the game compatible with my computer-which is over 4 years old itself. It's time to pull the plug on obsolete tech-unless the tech world wants to get together and make a massive backwards compatibility effort (playing Oddworld, Soul Reaver, Grim Fandango again, woot!), but we know that isn't happening. That might go a long way to putting butts back in the seats so to speak.

Devs, in case your English is weak, this is what is referred to as a HINT.

[Volarione]

What I would give to port this onto tablet. I would easy pay $50 for the game I already own to be tablet usable.

[Zumi]

I think F2P is a cool idea, would actually prefer it. Although at this late in the game I doubt SE would ever consider it since even if they did go F2P they won't get new players.

[Kaisha]

I doubt F2P would make them much income for new folks trying FFXI out, due to how archaic everything is about its interface, macros, server latency, lack of plug-ins, etc. Better off just maintaining the current subscribers.

[Volarione]

I doubt F2P would make them much income for new folks trying FFXI out, due to how archaic everything is about its interface, macros, server latency, lack of plug-ins, etc. Better off just maintaining the current subscribers.

I like the macros.

[Elexia]

they won't get new players.

Yeah, people been saying this since CoP release.

[Runespider]

I came back to have a play around with how the game has changed lately and was amazed by the player loss since I was on last. This game is not going to last much longer the way it is, the player loss will soon simply reach critical numbers and when that happens it won't be profitable anymore, XIV is also going to cut large numbers away (even though it's horrible). Not even counting the fact that this game's players have almost all fully leveled everything now, this game needs new players desperately.

Free to play will bring in lots of new and old players, all filling up the zones and hungry to do all the content (who doesn't wanna goto dunes or wherever and see masses of players?), it will also make the game a lot more profitable and hopefully that will spur new interest in SE to keep the game properly updated.

Is F2P desired under normal conditions? No. Is it a huge boost to a floundering title? You bet it is, look at Rift and how full the zones are compared to before. Sometimes you have to be a realist and F2P is what this game needs to keep it breathing and fun. Will the game continue to run for years to come even with massive player losses? maybe, but will you still want to play such a stale, dead game?

FFXI is still a great game, but it needs more love from the developers and a lot more fresh players. A free to play hybrid (with an optional subscription for extra benefits) will bring in a lot more money and most importantly players, the money F2P players spend on cash shops is insane compared to the measily £12.99 a month most of us spend.

The people that are hardcore against f2p when the game is dying are like parents refusing a blood transfusion for their baby due to religious reasons, sometimes you just gotta stop being pig headed and see the reality of the situation and although you might not like it see that it's the best for the game.

[Makenshi]

I find a monthly fee is like a filter for all those 12 year olds. I tried Tera a while back after it went F2P and it was like being on x box live all over again.

[Mirage]

No, do not do this.

[Jaall]

I moved on from this game a while ago and now play Guild Wars because it's free to play, but if this game became free to play I wouldn't come back. I don't think it matters whether people have to pay or not, it's the direction the game's taken and the content that has driven people away, and although some might argue that it's not worth the subscription, the content isn't designed for money shops. There are a lot of factors that come into it such as age and mechanics etc that just mean that no matter what they do to this game it will still fade away because times changed and people expect different from mmo's now than they did 11 years ago.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVED FFXI. Favourite mmo by far and definitely the game I played for the longest time, but it has lost a lot of what it was. The game's a little bit stuck because all these new competing mmo's are being released without subscription fees and completely different mechanics with fantastic graphics and the typical UI's, and to keep people playing it wouldn't be a case of making it free, but bringing new and exciting things to the table. FFXI has such a unique style and mechanics that it's virtually impossible to appeal to this whole new market. FFXIV however looks very promising as a recreation of FFXI, but up to date with recent trends. I don't think it'll appeal to everyone and there will always be die hard XI fans who want just another remake but that just can't happen for it to be successful unfortunately.

[Vivik]

The only way I would ever touch this game again is if it were to go ftp and it would be to just fish and craft. The development direction has been utter shit over the past couple months. I guess that's what you get when you let a level 40 player develop content for your game.

[Anjou]

Making it FTP after 11 years of service is a slap in the face to the people who've played for so long. Just because some people want it to be FTP, doesn't mean that it is the right course of action. For 11 long years FFXI has been in service, even today with their servers catering to 2000+ people on each server, that's roughly 2-3 million US dollars a month. Now into account that back in the day the game was much more active, you have to fathom the profits that they've made. Do you seriously think that even now SE will make it FTP with all of that potential money going poof just like that?

It's straight up bad business, and only when FFXI is neck-deep in the grave will they -ever- consider making it FTP. It's PTP and it'll stay PTP, no ifs ands or buts to it. Sorry for being so blunt but people who think that it should go FTP need to realize all of the money people have spent, and how going FTP will make all of that mean nothing to dedicated FFXI players.

[Runespider]

Making it FTP after 11 years of service is a slap in the face to the people who've played for so long. Just because some people want it to be FTP, doesn't mean that it is the right course of action. For 11 long years FFXI has been in service, even today with their servers catering to 2000+ people on each server, that's roughly 2-3 million US dollars a month. Now into account that back in the day the game was much more active, you have to fathom the profits that they've made. Do you seriously think that even now SE will make it FTP with all of that potential money going poof just like that?

It's straight up bad business, and only when FFXI is neck-deep in the grave will they -ever- consider making it FTP. It's PTP and it'll stay PTP, no ifs ands or buts to it. Sorry for being so blunt but people who think that it should go FTP need to realize all of the money people have spent, and how going FTP will make all of that mean nothing to dedicated FFXI players.

Would you prefer to see it stagnate further, losing more and more players? Genuine question because the game is depressing with how few people actually play it now. The current player loss is unsustainable and the game won't be here in a couple of years the way it's going.

There are a lot of ex players that would come back for f2p, there are a lot of players that main other mmos that would come back to XI part time if it was f2p. This is not something you can turn your nose up at, this game is very unhealthy and quite why you don't want the world to be alive with people is beyond me.

The content they are adding is horrible and it keeps getting worse, that's what you get for putting a part timer to run it that works full time on another game. All kinds of problems there, conflict of interest, lack of care about the game they are working on etc..

[Vil]

Would you prefer to see it stagnate further, losing more and more players? Genuine question because the game is depressing with how few people actually play it now. The current player loss is unsustainable and the game won't be here in a couple of years the way it's going.

There are a lot of ex players that would come back for f2p, there are a lot of players that main other mmos that would come back to XI part time if it was f2p. This is not something you can turn your nose up at, this game is very unhealthy and quite why you don't want the world to be alive with people is beyond me.

The content they are adding is horrible and it keeps getting worse, that's what you get for putting a part timer to run it that works full time on another game. All kinds of problems there, conflict of interest, lack of care about the game they are working on etc..

what the hell are you basing all this off of? LOL

The game is what it is...a dated 10 year old game. Naturally, it'd be harder for newer people to come in to it because the foundational mechanics are different from today's MMO standards, as are the graphics. Making it F2P wouldn't bring in a flood of people...the interest would be the same.

The old "the game won't be here in a couple of years" doomsday scenario has been tossed around since the Chains of Promathia days..like really. Maybe FFXI doesn't have the numbers WoW does...but then again, does it NEED to be mainstream and hot with 2mil+ subs to be successful? No. It is successful enough that it continually turns a profit for SE, especially in this generation where their console titles have not been performing as they had expected.

As with all other RL scenarios "free" doesn't really mean "free". It really means "pay to win". If you do a study of this model, you will find that it is actually more of a detriment to the life of a game than a sub fee is. When your income is dependant on impulsive sales, you never know if next month will net enough or not.

And that's not to mention the quality of the game would go down even further with F2P. If you say the development is garbage right now, then go ahead and insist on F2P and see how fast this game would die off with lack of balancing, content, and support.

F2P isn't the magical solution for FFXI, a reworking of game mechanics is.

[Anjou]

Would you prefer to see it stagnate further, losing more and more players?

No I don't, but I don't want cheap people swooping in on the game like a pack of angry vultures because they can't afford to pay for their monthly WoW subscription.


Genuine question because the game is depressing with how few people actually play it now. The current player loss is unsustainable and the game won't be here in a couple of years the way it's going.

The second they make it FTP, that's going to accelerate the death-rate of this game. The older players who put their money in will be offended and leave the game, leaving a 'dumbed down' community who knows next to nothing of the game.


There are a lot of ex players that would come back for f2p, there are a lot of players that main other mmos that would come back to XI part time if it was f2p.

Let me stop you right there and tell you something. If you mean to tell me that you can't pay $12 dollars a MONTH on something, how in the hell do you expect to pay for utilities? If you want an FTP MMO so bad, go look at Runescape and tell me what you think of it. The quality will literally drop so fast that people will think FFXI's quality dropped off a cliff if it was charted on a line.


This is not something you can turn your nose up at, this game is very unhealthy and quite why you don't want the world to be alive with people is beyond me.

I'd love to see FFXI alive again, but not with FTP people who will ruin the game. You don't have things for free, all good things come at a price. If you can't pay for it, then that is just tough.


The content they are adding is horrible and it keeps getting worse, that's what you get for putting a part timer to run it that works full time on another game.

Would you like to submit your own work then? Because I highly doubt you can make things like the people working at SE can. Put up or shut up.


All kinds of problems there, conflict of interest, lack of care about the game they are working on etc..

Lack of care? If they stopped caring do you think FFXI would have lasted for 11 long years? There's a fine line between being ignorant and flat out foolish, and right now you're one side of the line that you shouldn't be right now.

[Runespider]

Have you ever played a P2P mmo that went F2P?


Would you like to submit your own work then? Because I highly doubt you can make things like the people working at SE can. Put up or shut up.

This is quite possibly the dumbest thing I've read, ever. So let me get this straight, if a surgeon labotomised someone you love by mistake it would be ok because you can't do any better?

These are professionals, the quality of work they are offering is terrible compared to previous years.

The fact the game is in this horrible state right after a new expansion speaks volumes.

[Anjou]

Have you ever played a P2P mmo that went F2P?

Star Trek Online, Lord of the Rings Online.

I indeed have and I won't go back to them

[Runespider]

I've played Tera and Rift and the difference after they went free to play compared to how deserted they were before was/is staggering. F2P does bring old players back, it does make the games more profitable and it is a good thing.

Wgeb FF14 comes out the already terrible state of the servers will be amplified as you see large portions of the playerbase leave overnight, from my experience the players that fight against f2p the hardest are the ones that leave before it even happens due to such low player numbers.

[Anjou]

I've played Tera and Rift and the difference after they went free to play compared to how deserted they were before was/is staggering.

I won't lie to you, I've hardly heard about Tera or Rift despite those ads I keep seeing on the internet. Having something advertised in your face as FREE NOW!!! will typically attract people. If in the beginning FFXI had a bigger advertising campaign, I guarantee it would have been more active, maybe even today since SoA came out this year.


F2P does bring old players back, it does make the games more profitable and it is a good thing.

It also drives old players away, and sometimes drives them further away. In terms of profit, that monthly fee suddenly disappearing is going to rob SE of -roughly- 24-36 million dollars a year, in terms of business do you think they'll just drop the monthly fee, and lose that profit that could be used to pay a worker's pay check just because some people arguing on an internet forum are angry and want the monthly fee dropped? Business isn't conducted like that, if FFXI is neck-deep in the grave, I can see them making it FTP, but not while it's got profit still being made.


Wgeb FF14 comes out the already terrible state of the servers will be amplified as you see large portions of the playerbase leave overnight, from my experience the players that fight against f2p the hardest are the ones that leave before it even happens due to such low player numbers.

If that is the case then so be it, when FFXI is on its death bed and is no longer seen as profitable, I'll have no qualms if SE makes it FTP, but I will find it utterly stupid for them to make it FTP when they can still make money to make good games.

[Demon6324236]

Wanna know the difference between FFXI, STO, Tera, and Rift, that would make all of the difference in the world? FFXI is 10 years old, STO is a 3 year old game, Rift and Tera are each 2 years old. If tomorrow they said FFXI went free, how many people would really join this game if they looked at its graphics, its age, its player base size, or its forums with all of our complaints? No one would try it, no one would care, and even those who did join, what would they do? Run around the abandoned low level areas where no one goes, hoping that a high level will come swoop them up and explain the game to them and where to go so they can actually do something fun?

Another thing, advertisement, look at SoA, how many places did you see advertisements for SoA? I saw one, from the time SoA was announced till its release I saw a single advertisement for the expansion, if the game went F2P would anyone even know about it? Like Anjou said Rift and Tera have advertisements up on sites saying FREE NOW, but what if SE does not have those up on sites, informing people of the newly F2P FFXI? One might say it would be stupid to change their game in such a way but not tell people, but then again, someone might say it would be stupid for them to make an entire game, fail, and then throw money back at the project to rebuild it in hopes of it working while your company goes down the drain as a result. I do not have faith that if they for some stupid reason made this game F2P that they would by any means do it in a way that would not kill the game, because between SoA's lack of advertisement, FFXIV, and its age, I doubt anyone would know or care about this game being F2P or not.

[Anjou]

Wanna know the difference between FFXI, STO, Tera, and Rift, that would make all of the difference in the world? FFXI is 10 years old, STO is a 3 year old game, Rift and Tera are each 2 years old. If tomorrow they said FFXI went free, how many people would really join this game if they looked at its graphics, its age, its player base size, or its forums with all of our complaints? No one would try it, no one would care, and even those who did join, what would they do? Run around the abandoned low level areas where no one goes, hoping that a high level will come swoop them up and explain the game to them and where to go so they can actually do something fun?

Another thing, advertisement, look at SoA, how many places did you see advertisements for SoA? I saw one, from the time SoA was announced till its release I saw a single advertisement for the expansion, if the game went F2P would anyone even know about it? Like Anjou said Rift and Tera have advertisements up on sites saying FREE NOW, but what if SE does not have those up on sites, informing people of the newly F2P FFXI? One might say it would be stupid to change their game in such a way but not tell people, but then again, someone might say it would be stupid for them to make an entire game, fail, and then throw money back at the project to rebuild it in hopes of it working while your company goes down the drain as a result. I do not have faith that if they for some stupid reason made this game F2P that they would by any means do it in a way that would not kill the game, because between SoA's lack of advertisement, FFXIV, and its age, I doubt anyone would know or care about this game being F2P or not.


^^^^^^^^

This man speaks pure truth.

[Glamdring]

yep, the barrier to new (I mean truly new, not returning) players is the age of the software and SE's decision not to modernize it. it's their decision, I'm not going to argue it because I don't have their data. would the loss of PS2 players cripple the financial model? idunno Would the cost of a redux of the graphics engine prove higher than anticipated revenue? Idunno would the current playerbase support a redux that would likely require buying the game again? Idunno would the loss of dial-up support kill the revenue stream? Idunno

And that's just the stuff I can think of off the top of my head in 30 seconds. How does F2P address any of that? that is putting up the $ without back-end numbers. BUT I can tell you this, if you can just buy your way into top end-game form at least 70% of the players that I know personally are GONE. We didn't put in all this time and effort just to see some noob a**wipe come in and be playing with stuff at least as good as ours.

[Anjou]

To put this topic in the can.

"Make FFXI FTP"

The typical response from both SE and community. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lITBGjNEp08)

[Rustic]

I came back to have a play around with how the game has changed lately and was amazed by the player loss since I was on last. This game is not going to last much longer the way it is, the player loss will soon simply reach critical numbers and when that happens it won't be profitable anymore, XIV is also going to cut large numbers away (even though it's horrible). Not even counting the fact that this game's players have almost all fully leveled everything now, this game needs new players desperately.

What's the flaw here was Abyssea utterly wrecking the lifecycle of players- and in a sense, deliberately hobbling the game by not merely streamlining, but outright excising portions of how it was designed to work. It's a broken newbie experience. Why? Because Abyssea was meant to be the last bit before FFXI was put to pasture. It turned the game into an endgame-heavy system, without tending to the roots. The top of the tree is showered with love, but without the roots, it will eventually wither.

F2P won't get you that. What you need are reasons for high-level players to be in low-level areas and KEEP them there.



Free to play will bring in lots of new and old players, all filling up the zones and hungry to do all the content (who doesn't wanna goto dunes or wherever and see masses of players?), it will also make the game a lot more profitable and hopefully that will spur new interest in SE to keep the game properly updated.

No it won't. It'll channel everyone through Gusgen -> Crawler's/Abyssea again. Players will flow to the points of lowest effort, just like they do now, and ignore the rest. They'll just do it in greater numbers. The only thing that will fix the non-endgame is simple.

You have to make people go through it. Not "optional", because people generally skip optional for optimal. You -have- to build content that's relevant, and given a limited development team, the most relevant is endgame. Thus, Adoulin- and the impossibility of making the game relevant for new players.


Is F2P desired under normal conditions? No. Is it a huge boost to a floundering title? You bet it is, look at Rift and how full the zones are compared to before. Sometimes you have to be a realist and F2P is what this game needs to keep it breathing and fun. Will the game continue to run for years to come even with massive player losses? maybe, but will you still want to play such a stale, dead game?

FFXI is already "dead", in that sense- it'll go the way of Everquest. A loyal hardcore retro-gaming base, and that'll be about it. The stay of execution for this game is FFXIV. If it succeeds, FFXI will die. If it fails, FFXI may die anyway. F2P won't change that. I can wander through Everquest, which is a F2P'd version of it's prior self.

It's the same way. Dead almost entirely, with the endgame being the only thriving portion of the game. FFXI did it to itself the second Abyssea's exp system became active, and honestly, the only way to even start to revive it would be excising the exp fountain the same way they did the blinker-Gil fountain. Because THAT entire deal was the previous dev lead surrendering to what he considered the inevitable failure of everything prior to it, that 1-75 was no longer meaningful content and the rest was only meaningful until FFXIV supplanted it.

You can't even -find- most lower-level gear on the AH anymore. Why? Because nobody needs it. Mostly, the game now starts around 50th gearwise to the obvious conclusions, and Adoulin in turn renders everything prior to it meaningless.


FFXI is still a great game, but it needs more love from the developers and a lot more fresh players. A free to play hybrid (with an optional subscription for extra benefits) will bring in a lot more money and most importantly players, the money F2P players spend on cash shops is insane compared to the measily £12.99 a month most of us spend.

It won't get the dev love. S-E doesn't have the money to do so, and it doesn't have the capacity to make F2P appealing other than re-establishing the grind for F2P- which is about the only way I'd appreciate it. Let them sweat it out the old-fashioned way and we'd actually have a low-level game again. No books, no Abyssea exp bonus effects, having to 6-man it in the fields and dungeons.


The people that are hardcore against f2p when the game is dying are like parents refusing a blood transfusion for their baby due to religious reasons, sometimes you just gotta stop being pig headed and see the reality of the situation and although you might not like it see that it's the best for the game.

See above. Simply making the game F2P would do nothing to restore life to it, unless you literally cripple the exp gain system to oldschool levels in the process.

[Psxpert2011]

whats with the people trying to get this free to play? seems to be doing fine with the monthly subs. why you think SE would want to drop it to F2P?

Sometimes it's a pain in the butt getting you character deactivated because you forgot to add Crysta or funds to your bank account on payday. I would consider a F2P option but most of the game content would be restricted except the LS chat and Say.

If SE made Vana'diel more player friendly but restrictive to progression unless you pay your sub, I would think that would be reasonable. Maybe if you son't pay your sub, you can't leave your Mog House,lol! Your under house arrest until taxes are paid in full! =P

If you cant, well so what! At least we can still log into PoL and send messages to our friends. I tried XD

[Anjou]

http://www.datgif.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/sad-old-man.gif

[Volarione]

Sometimes it's a pain in the butt getting you character deactivated because you forgot to add Crysta or funds to your bank account on payday. I would consider a F2P option but most of the game content would be restricted except the LS chat and Say.

If SE made Vana'diel more player friendly but restrictive to progression unless you pay your sub, I would think that would be reasonable. Maybe if you son't pay your sub, you can't leave your Mog House,lol! Your under house arrest until taxes are paid in full! =P

If you cant, well so what! At least we can still log into PoL and send messages to our friends. I tried XD

You know you can reactivate characters for up to a year right?

[Demon6324236]

What?.....

[Anjou]

Idk I got bored....

[Venat]

Even with us paying them there hasn't been much improvement to this game.

Sorry to say but XI isnt selling great anymore then what it was from launch.
Do I think they game should go free to play? No but I do think we are paying too much for a game thats 11 years old.

[Anjou]

Um it isn't selling very good because it's an old game. The only people who are going to buy it now are:

"Returning players"
"Friends of current/former players who were recommended the game"

I would think at least when XIV is released and (Hopefully) if it's successful, a reduction on XI's monthly fee will be in order.

[Crimsonsky]

Free to play is a bad idea and brings in the wrong kind of people. Just look at when frre to play did to EQ2. There are less people playing the game now that its free to play then when it was paid to play. Its hard to build a community when the game is full of game jumpers.

[Prestorian]

F2P is a bad idea like other said. However a good point was brought up. The lack of new players will kill this game. Veterans are concentrating more on end game content and that leaves no one to level in gunmen mines and crawlers nest. People don't like others leeching in abyssea. People quit after a week trying desperately to catch up to mid level players.

Veterans quitting will cause a snowball effect and will lead ffxi to its grave.

The best way to avoid that is to make soloing easier up to lvl 75. By 75 you have a chance to be admitted to an abyssea party.

Make all previous missions easier such as Rise of Zilart and Promathia. I don't mean the nostalgic but the actual mission length. It took me a week and a half to get about 3/4 of Promathia done with a lvl 99 beastmaster. The running around is nuts.

Also making trial of magians weapons easier to get will also help. Eliminating the need to proc for areas would also be nice.

I know people will bring up well veterans will be upset.... We'll veterans played at a time when there were more people to team up with. You have to realize that there aren't a whole lot of people who need atma nm's. Leave SoA and beyond content the way it is. Make everything else attainable either by solo or duo.

[Prestorian]

F2P is a bad idea like other said. However a good point was brought up. The lack of new players will kill this game. Veterans are concentrating more on end game content and that leaves no one to level in gunmen mines and crawlers nest. People don't like others leeching in abyssea. People quit after a week trying desperately to catch up to mid level players.

Veterans quitting will cause a snowball effect and will lead ffxi to its grave.

The best way to avoid that is to make soloing easier up to lvl 75. By 75 you have a chance to be admitted to an abyssea party.

Make all previous missions easier such as Rise of Zilart and Promathia. I don't mean the nostalgic but the actual mission length. It took me a week and a half to get about 3/4 of Promathia done with a lvl 99 beastmaster. The running around is nuts.

Also making trial of magians weapons easier to get will also help. Eliminating the need to proc for areas would also be nice.

I know people will bring up well veterans will be upset.... We'll veterans played at a time when there were more people to team up with. You have to realize that there aren't a whole lot of people who need atma nm's. Leave SoA and beyond content the way it is. Make everything else attainable either by solo or duo. Make it like any other drop. Proc would give you a higher chance but I think killing the nm should also give you a chance to have the atma drop regardless of the proc.

I love this game so much that I want it to continue on a successful path. Getting new players is the only way to make this game like it used to be.

[Venat]

F2P is a bad idea like other said. However a good point was brought up. The lack of new players will kill this game. Veterans are concentrating more on end game content and that leaves no one to level in gunmen mines and crawlers nest. People don't like others leeching in abyssea. People quit after a week trying desperately to catch up to mid level players.

Veterans quitting will cause a snowball effect and will lead ffxi to its grave.

The best way to avoid that is to make soloing easier up to lvl 75. By 75 you have a chance to be admitted to an abyssea party.

Make all previous missions easier such as Rise of Zilart and Promathia. I don't mean the nostalgic but the actual mission length. It took me a week and a half to get about 3/4 of Promathia done with a lvl 99 beastmaster. The running around is nuts.

Also making trial of magians weapons easier to get will also help. Eliminating the need to proc for areas would also be nice.

I know people will bring up well veterans will be upset.... We'll veterans played at a time when there were more people to team up with. You have to realize that there aren't a whole lot of people who need atma nm's. Leave SoA and beyond content the way it is. Make everything else attainable either by solo or duo. Make it like any other drop. Proc would give you a higher chance but I think killing the nm should also give you a chance to have the atma drop regardless of the proc.

I love this game so much that I want it to continue on a successful path. Getting new players is the only way to make this game like it used to be.

Game not about the exping anymore. This game does need improvements on traveling to next spot toget next cutscene. Found that most cutscenes in the game dont need you to be actually in the room. Alot of older content needs to be done much easyer and newer content needs major improvements aswell. Abyssea... think we need to remove travel stones, (raise timer cap), entry unlimited, and add double/tripple the chance of getting procs.

SoA needs better designed content, not unbeatable content for 1 year+.
Graphic upgrade is very important.
UI & Character Animations need major improvements.

FFXIV will probably just replace this game if FFXIV combat becomes more like FFXI.

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

S-E doesn't have the money to do so, and it doesn't have the capacity to make F2P appealing other than re-establishing the grind for F2P- which is about the only way I'd appreciate it. Let them sweat it out the old-fashioned way and we'd actually have a low-level game again. No books, no Abyssea exp bonus effects, having to 6-man it in the fields and dungeons.

I recall another thread that suggested the (little-known) 14-day free trial be extended indefinitely. It's hobbled to prevent RMT's by only including core game (i.e. pre-Zilart) content, a level cap of 30, and no shouting/trading/bazaaring/auction. Find a way to get these people into a linkshell in spite of the "no trading" restriction, and that's pretty much what you've just described.

[Demon6324236]

I recall another thread that suggested the (little-known) 14-day free trial be extended indefinitely. It's hobbled to prevent RMT's by only including core game (i.e. pre-Zilart) content, a level cap of 30, and no shouting/trading/bazaaring/auction. Find a way to get these people into a linkshell in spite of the "no trading" restriction, and that's pretty much what you've just described.Don't forget you cant invite people to parties either, you have to be invited to a party... wonderfully stupid.

[Mirage]

Yeah, it is too limited. Should probably level cap you to 50, and allow trades to some extent. Like one trade per day.

Should also be allowed to tell people who are on your friend list, and create parties.

[Demon6324236]

I honestly wish there was a way to simply allow it to be a real trial rather than having to work around stupid assholes who would abuse the damn thing, without it there is hardly anyone who would try this game out, let alone with it when it makes the game look like its dead, abandoned, and terrible.

[Alhanelem]

You know you can reactivate characters for up to a year right?
Actually you can reactivate characters forever now.

[sc4500]

After reading all the post there is one thing no one brought up. There are more then one type of free to play systems that can and do work, but i doubt square will even attempt to look into it, since one them could make them even more money.

One such system is just keep the subs base model as is. You get a discount on any add on's if any come along if have paid enough months on a subscription. and if need a content code same price as currently and server swap same price. for those on subs model nothing will change and get all updates for free.

Next you allow anyone to play up to lv99 , but only in the old areas for free and there gear is cap at lv 65. unless they pay 5 dollars get one week weapons unlocked. or are on a subscription. gear is back to normal.

Mules will be 10 dollars under this free to play model and be locked same as main account for gear and access. if you have no subscription and then it will become unlocked: example max lv99 and lv65 gear or where ever your main account content you got, if monthly subscription then same as always.

Next you charged for each expansion + , Example You charge people like 30 dollars for zilart and if subscription runs out still get access to zilart all the time for life and lv cap be 99 and gear be cap at 70 with no subscription. You have all expansion +'s then they will cap at lv 99 and lv95 gear if buy all the expansions pluses and no subscriptions will be needed. And if they do it right that could make them about 300 bucks, and that be like 2 years of subscriptions fees. and allows a influx of new people. And the rest of us wouldn't notice much beside alot of new players and shouts.

You still get the codes from the registration works fine for the way it is if paying monthly, but the areas become locked if not paying the subscription and if in a area when the subscription runs out it warps back to starting city unless got expansion + bought or subscription fees working.

This help old players returning and for them to bring along new players. To get there friends to try the game and become addicted to the game. Since the money from them not even coming to square since they have been afk for years or if it a new player never played this game. Also if someone get a use copy then they got to pay through the teeth. For the registration codes.

You do not need a registration code to start the free to play element. Just a copy of the disk rest stuff be on square account manager. This way people can just jump in and install and play the game and forces square work on there account management system to be more casual friendly.

[Amaroq]

Would be kinda cool if FFXI was free to play if you were paying for a character in FFXIV....would be incentive for all XI players to check out XIV.

Wont happen of course ^^

[Spectreman]

FFXI wouldn't succeed as a F2P model simply because it's the most time consuming MMORPG out there. Almost everything takes forever to accomplish (even walking through areas), almost everything requires help from multiple people to get stuff done (even your own artifact armor). That was cool in the beginning of the MMO era when interaction was the biggest thing but nowadays nobody wants that. Its all about time spent/reward. Well besides us crazy people that are addicted to this.

FFXI might even be rediscovered by a new generation of players but for them to stay the game has to change A LOT. And honestly i doubt the majority here that are getting their Adoulin gear through endgame linkshells would like the changes.


Like someone already said the market for low level gear is basically dead. Its scary to be honest that i came back to the game after 3 years to find it near impossible to gear yourself through the AH. Actually almost the whole Auction House seems dead right now. As a returning player i sincerely gave up on the idea of doing Abyssea.


There are no linkshells doing them and i came to a conclusion that either SE close the gap between Adoulin and pre Adoulin themselves or we might start recording youtube videos to remember our good times before the servers are shut down, because when veteran players start quitting the game the gap that Abyssea created between players will kill endgame linkshells and the game itself right after.

[sc4500]

FFXI might even be rediscovered by a new generation of players but for them to stay the game has to change A LOT. And honestly i doubt the majority here that are getting their Adoulin gear through endgame linkshells would like the changes.

They had it with abby , just that guy, he got pulled off of ff11, before he was able to finish all the stuff and was forced to fix ff14 with a big fat raise, and, Then we got the guy that wanted to change the game back to his way(the old style and He would not listen to the fans). Now this new guy got a mess to clean up again with seekers and it sucks he got to fix issues instead adding stuff., because this game was on the verge of being amazing again with abby system and if they could have just added FF14 gear in ff11 then . Your able to bring to FF14 some the gear you earn in FF11 that would have been a game breaker for mmos and this game would even been crazier then any mmo in the world in a amazing way.

[Anjou]

I'm really going to miss FF11 when it finally comes time for it to be shut down.

[Amaroq]

I'm really going to miss FF11 when it finally comes time for it to be shut down.

I really don't think the game is in a rush anyway...maybe some server merges. I believe EverQuest is still running since 1999 and is on its 19th expansion. Hosting a server is getting cheaper and cheaper.

Would be nice if fees could at least go down...maybe by half.

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

Hosting a server is getting cheaper and cheaper.

Oh, I'm sure all the servers are hosted out of a shoebox at this point, but that codebase for new content doesn't get any younger or less Byzantine. And SOE, ironically enough, doesn't have to worry about keeping people who still understand the PS2 on the payroll.

[Numquam]

FFXI is F2P for me. My mommy pays the monthly fee.

[Hayward]

I cannot say one way or another whether F2P is the last hope for FFXI. Part of me would argue that it would only cover up the things that are still wrong with the game--archaic game philosophy, misguided job balancing, catering to endgamers only, among other issues. Another part would say that F2P couldn't hurt if S-E found it in them to change to the FFXIV engine and spruce up the UI.

I'm not sure going to the Guild Wars 2 model would work at this point (One-off payment to play, for those who don't know), but it couldn't hurt.

[Rustic]

They had it with abby , just that guy, he got pulled off of ff11, before he was able to finish all the stuff and was forced to fix ff14 with a big fat raise, and, Then we got the guy that wanted to change the game back to his way(the old style and He would not listen to the fans). Now this new guy got a mess to clean up again with seekers and it sucks he got to fix issues instead adding stuff., because this game was on the verge of being amazing again with abby system and if they could have just added FF14 gear in ff11 then . Your able to bring to FF14 some the gear you earn in FF11 that would have been a game breaker for mmos and this game would even been crazier then any mmo in the world in a amazing way.

The second S-E murdered (rather than fixed) the lower-level play by giving people an amazingly trivial road to 30-99 and similar tactics for new players to 10-70, they'd basically cut the roots out from under the game. Now the game is essentially starting when you can enter Dynamis -> 99.