Discontinue PS2 support!!

[ShadowHeart]

Discontinue PS2 support!!

Its been over 10 years since the initial release of the PS2 and as a console system has come to its end. It was a great system for its ERA but with XBOX 360 and PS3 and the current PC gaming systems playing on a PS2 is about the same as trying to play FFXI on a pentium 2 or pentium 3 pc on Windows ME or if u were lucky windows 2000 LOL.

With the advancing times and the release of newer MMORPG's like FFXIV and others using Cry Engine 3 or newer Unreal technologies. FFXI should discontinue ps2 supports for the rest of the gaming expansions starting in 6 months or around the end of the year. Then SE can start to upgrade the graphics also save time and stop money wasting time for programming on a dinosaur system and put it to use into making FFXI better graphically and in game design and content instead. I am sure there are probably many others out here who feel the same.

I understand there will be a few thousand players out there on PS2 still but u can get a brand new laptop for 200-300 bucks or even a used PC/Laptop or PS3 even cheaper still.

[Rambus]

we have other threads like this, I would like SE to discontinue PS2 support or have new content that a PS2 cannot get.

if a PS2 brakes are you really going to fix it? or just replace it with PS3? I really do not get the reason in trying to support ps2 anymore

[Doombringer]

just throwing it out there... i can run ffxi on my netbook.. and IT'S over 2 years old at this point. we don't need to support the ps2 anymore

[RAIST]

One thing you have to realize though is that it's not JUST the PS2 HARDWARE creating issues. The PC version is somewhat an emulated PS2. It is more or less the PS2 version with a wrapper so it runs in Winblows. So, you may well have some of the same limitations built into the engine. Oh, and playing it on a PS3 is still playing the PS2, just on either the PS3's Emotion daughterboard or through software emulation (if it is even still out there and works with FFXI).

To get some of the updates you guys are anticipating with the dropping of PS2 support, it would require a make-over pretty much from the ground up. They already looked into a big DirectX update and decided it wasn't worth it. At best...you might get a new wrapper that pulls in the Xbox version as your graphics update maybe. But then, you would just be dealing with another console's issues eventually.

[Runespider]

have new content that a PS2 cannot get.

This, easy fix. People that want to play ps2 can still do so, new content will be ps3 only encouraging them to update to a new machine.

[rog]

How many ps2 threads do we really need?

[cidbahamut]

How many ps2 threads do we really need?

You know as well as I do that they will continue spawning until the console finally dies.

[Jamesaji]

I totally agree with RAIST.

When developing for cross-platform, developers create code which can be used on each platform (platform-independant code); this saves development time and makes the code easier to maintain. There is code unerlying this platform-independant code, which deals with features unique to the platform(s) it's running on (platform-specific code); this code deals with tasks the platform-independant code wants to do, then the platform-specific code carries out that task based on which platform it's on (e.g. 3D rendering is different on all 3 platforms). It's safe to assume that the platform-independant code and platform-specific code (of all 3 platforms) of FFXI has been coded with the PS2 limitations taken into serious consideration.

So yes, the PS2 may be outdated but removing PS2 support from the game would be a huge task, from a programming perspective, and, in my opinion, it's a task not worth doing.

[Kingofgeeks]

Discontinue PS2 support!!

I understand there will be a few thousand players out there on PS2 still but u can get a brand new laptop for 200-300 bucks or even a used PC/Laptop or PS3 even cheaper still.

UGH another anti-ps2 thread? look at your statment! last night there was only 1,000 players online. if a few thousand people use ps2 to play the game then imagin how many people we will lose? good business > expansion

and honestly? expecting people to just buy a new computer is blatantly inconsiderate

[Andylynn]

Discontinue PS2 support!!

Its been over 10 years since the initial release of the PS2 and as a console system has come to its end. It was a great system for its ERA but with XBOX 360 and PS3 and the current PC gaming systems playing on a PS2 is about the same as trying to play FFXI on a pentium 2 or pentium 3 pc on Windows ME or if u were lucky windows 2000 LOL.

With the advancing times and the release of newer MMORPG's like FFXIV and others using Cry Engine 3 or newer Unreal technologies. FFXI should discontinue ps2 supports for the rest of the gaming expansions starting in 6 months or around the end of the year. Then SE can start to upgrade the graphics also save time and stop money wasting time for programming on a dinosaur system and put it to use into making FFXI better graphically and in game design and content instead. I am sure there are probably many others out here who feel the same.

I understand there will be a few thousand players out there on PS2 still but u can get a brand new laptop for 200-300 bucks or even a used PC/Laptop or PS3 even cheaper still.

This is never going to happen, SE would never alienate even the smallest source of income, as it's horrible business practice. That would be a significant chunk of lost customers and money being put into the game, that we want/need if we want the game to continue running. (revenue is probably the only reason the game is still in development after 9? years)

[Sp1cyryan]

Discontinue arrogance support SE. That way there are no threads bitching about the PS2. :P

[Scuro]

This should happen, enough said. Why keep a limb that is rotting and will lead to the death of the game? Its time to amputate imo.

[rog]

Because it's not going to lead to the death of the game. I'm pretty sure no one is quitting over things like 80 max inventory, limited auto translate phrases, etc.

[Scuro]

With no new content coming after these last few updates coming, we will see a decline that is inevitable, and to say otherwise is just ignorance. The game will decline because the PS2 puts a limitation on content, and it is because of that limitation that it should be eliminated. Or as someone mentioned, let 2 versions come out:
First Version: PS2 whcih allows for small updates and the final "expansion" is Abyssea
Second Version: Xbox 360 and PC which allows for new expansions and content.

[rog]

The game will decline because the PS2 puts a limitation on contentNo it does not.

[wildsprite]

first off, the limitation is what the PS2 can handle at any given time in RAM, the hard drive is a 40GB hard drive, , lesse the game is what? 9GB at current? unless you have a lot of garbage on your PS2 hard drive you should be able to take more expanded content for a while, as for the graphics on the Windows version, if you use registry tweaks you will see it looks considerably better than the XB360 version if you max out the settings(in the registry not the configuration) if you do a search you will see what registry settings you can modify without much issue, the max 3D res for windows version is 2048x2048, the 360 version doesn't even come close to doing that, I have mine set to 2048x2048 with 1366x768(max res of my laptop display, this is a non standard background and must be set in the config first before you tweak the 3D res, don't try to go above your max res for the background, the game will crash) background, this might not seem like much of a tweak but you should see it in play :)

[Scuro]

And how much of these upgrades you have made are commonly/readily available to any/all PS2 users? If it something you could easily do by running to some local GameStop, then cool! That gives me faith in PS2, but if thats like someone saying I have an I9 processor computer and it runs my games beautifully.... ya... no. An I9 is not a common computer, and is bad ass surely, but not accessable. Being able to augment your tech because you have a tech background is awesome, but when the vast majority or every day person cannot do it, that does not make it efficient or effective. Also rog, you can't make a statement like that because it obviously does. How many times have you read an update on "Content being adjusted because of limited PS2 space" to say otherwise is just ignoring what is being stated. Now certainly people have told me countless times that SE just isn't using the space efficiently or w/e, cool, but still when it comes down too it, if the way they are using the PS2 isn't going to allow more content to be added to this game when the other systems could easily handle it. Its time to knock it out. Your point of view Rog has no merit, not counterpoint, and in the end is just PS2 biased.

[RAIST]

first off, the limitation is what the PS2 can handle at any given time in RAM, the hard drive is a 40GB hard drive, , lesse the game is what? 9GB at current? unless you have a lot of garbage on your PS2 hard drive you should be able to take more expanded content for a while, as for the graphics on the Windows version, if you use registry tweaks you will see it looks considerably better than the XB360 version if you max out the settings(in the registry not the configuration) if you do a search you will see what registry settings you can modify without much issue, the max 3D res for windows version is 2048x2048, the 360 version doesn't even come close to doing that, I have mine set to 2048x2048 with 1366x768(max res of my laptop display, this is a non standard background and must be set in the config first before you tweak the 3D res, don't try to go above your max res for the background, the game will crash) background, this might not seem like much of a tweak but you should see it in play :)

All you are doing is supersampling lower quality textures though. Garbage in, garbage out. Granted, they do look better when super sampled because youa re getting rid of the jaggies, but the textures have the same granularity of detail. The source textures are the difference--Xbox got new texture models that are a higher quality to begin with. So if they were to drop the PS2 wrapper and textures and transfer the Xbox components to the PC, you would see even more detail in them. But, that would involve transfering resources away from more important issues in the game and they are already working with a reduced number of people working on the game. I would rather they fix issues with content/gameplay first, then work on the aesthetic(sp?) issues.

[wildsprite]

actually you're wrong, the XB360 version is the same quality textures super sampled, they are not higher quality, the xb360 port is PS2 emulation just like the windows port, all you need to do is look at them closely side by side, there is no more detail on the 360 textures than the windows ones, the 360 version is super sampled when put on an HDTV

[Rambus]

they update the game and actually have content that appeals to new players ( hint abyssea is bad) there is a good chance you will see increasing numbers to the game.

you will need advertisements though... like on T.V...

[RAIST]

don't have an xbox...Micro$oft gets enough of my money as as. Just basing it on what I've heard from others--that graphics are better on xbox versus PS2. But that was not the point of my post--the point was that raising the resolution doesn't do anything to improve the games graphics directly, it just smooths the edges out between pixels by blending them. There is a limit to what you can do when your source has a low pixel count to begin with.

[rog]

the max 3D res for windows version is 2048x2048, the 360 version doesn't even come close to doing that, I have mine set to 2048x2048 with 1366x768(max res of my laptop display, this is a non standard background and must be set in the config first before you tweak the 3D res, don't try to go above your max res for the background, the game will crash) background
I set my bg res to 3200x1800, and it works fine.

Also, setting it to 2x your main resolution will be better than using square resolutions.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

My thread had the perfect solution to the PS2 problem.

Put all of them on their own server.

[wildsprite]

try to remember that even though the PS2 can do component video it isn't capable of HD and the XB360 is capable of 720P/1080i(this is what it was capable of when I had my 360 pro, the slim might be capable of 1080P I don't know), the graphics are gonna look better because they will be clearer once you put them in HD but on non HD the graphics for XI look almost identical, but weather effects wont slow down the 360 like they do the PS2


don't have an xbox...Micro$oft gets enough of my money as as. Just basing it on what I've heard from others--that graphics are better on xbox versus PS2. But that was not the point of my post--the point was that raising the resolution doesn't do anything to improve the games graphics directly, it just smooths the edges out between pixels by blending them. There is a limit to what you can do when your source has a low pixel count to begin with.

[ShadowHeart]

putting them on their own server still requires support and updates though :s

[Tsukino_Kaji]

putting them on their own server still requires support and updates though :sThey don't have room for updates, it only requires minimal support. lol

[Atomic_Skull]

They already looked into a big DirectX update and decided it wasn't worth it.

Converting to DirextX 9.0 wouldn't have been hard if the Windows version is just the PS2 code compiled with a Windows wrapper. I think it was more like they didn't want to bother.

[Atomic_Skull]

actually you're wrong, the XB360 version is the same quality textures super sampled, they are not higher quality, the xb360 port is PS2 emulation just like the windows port


It's not emulation. It's the PS2 code compiled with a wrapper. Emulation is virtual hardware that runs the machine instructions of the original hardware that it is emulating. PS2 emulation didn't even become possible until a few years ago because PC's just weren't fast enough until then.