New expansion?!?

[AoiX]

As the title of this post. Is FFXI going to get a new expansion now that Adoulin has "ended"? Can we hope to see new stuff on that scale?:confused:

[Catmato]

As the title of this post. Is FFXI going to get a new expansion now that Adoulin has "ended"? Can we hope to see new stuff on that scale?:confused:I doubt it. The way Adoulin screwed up the game way more than even Abyssea, it seems extremely unlikely they'd dedicate that kind of time an money to the few people still playing.

[Tidis]

I doubt it. The way Adoulin screwed up the game way more than even Abyssea, it seems extremely unlikely they'd dedicate that kind of time an money to the few people still playing.

This game is a lot better since Adoulin came out.

[Protey]

the way i see it, they just had a very small update this month. if we see another small update next month then that puts the probability that they are working on another expansion pretty high.

[RalphTheGalka]

I'm not sure if I want to see another expansion just yet if's just going to be new ways of upgrading old gear. Plopping down more tedious trials on top of old ones is getting stale and needs to be rethought if there's going to be a new expansion.

[Roja323]

I'm not sure if I want to see another expansion just yet if's just going to be new ways of upgrading old gear. Plopping down more tedious trials on top of old ones is getting stale and needs to be rethought if there's going to be a new expansion.

THe problem is the general populous isnt able to 'let it go'. Thats why there is reforged AF/RELIC armor, R/E/M weapons. This is the only mmo i have ever played that keeps the same gear you got 12 years ago relevant for the sake of 'but i spent so much time back then getting it why shouldnt it be relevant today'.

Seriously, every other mmo works on the system that each expansion works like this:
Current level / i level (99 / 119)
Group gear is i 109/ raid gear is 119

Expansion rolls around, new level/ilevel (105/i125)
New group gear = 117, new raid gear = 125 (*note that new group gear is comparable to old raid gear, but not as good, but better than old group gear).

They tried to not upgrade old gear into ilevel gear, and people flipped a shizlle when their R/M/E wasnt the best weapon anymore. Now if there was an ergon for every job and that was the new i level version of an end game weapon, i think it would be more in line with every other mmo.


The ffxi model is:
increase ilevel, add new trials to old equipment! Keep using that 5 year old bp with new trials!

[Elemmire]

THe problem is the general populous isnt able to 'let it go'. Thats why there is reforged AF/RELIC armor, R/E/M weapons. This is the only mmo i have ever played that keeps the same gear you got 12 years ago relevant for the sake of 'but i spent so much time back then getting it why shouldnt it be relevant today'.

Seriously, every other mmo works on the system that each expansion works like this:
Current level / i level (99 / 119)
Group gear is i 109/ raid gear is 119

Expansion rolls around, new level/ilevel (105/i125)
New group gear = 117, new raid gear = 125 (*note that new group gear is comparable to old raid gear, but not as good, but better than old group gear).

They tried to not upgrade old gear into ilevel gear, and people flipped a shizlle when their R/M/E wasnt the best weapon anymore. Now if there was an ergon for every job and that was the new i level version of an end game weapon, i think it would be more in line with every other mmo.


The ffxi model is:
increase ilevel, add new trials to old equipment! Keep using that 5 year old bp with new trials!

I personally like the FFXI model more. I like that it adds new gear and allows for upgrading old gear. That's how it should be imo. Some people do have ties to old gear the worked hard to get and want to keep. The model other MMOs use is far more annoying to me.

Personally, I hate that every MMO is even using gear score and item level and such bs. All it does is add to the increased elitism bs. I remember when FFXI (and other MMOs) could find people just trying random groups instead of the core set of ideal and having it work. MMOs need to not encourage the elitism.

[Roja323]

Thats your personal oppinion, and like mine, neither is right nor wrong.

I just find it annoying that i have to go do 12 year old artifcat quest, or expansion story lines to get relevant end game items for today. To me, its obnoxious to have to get mission rank 6, then finish cop, just to upgrade AF gear from 12 years ago into something for today. Thats a lot of back tracking for new people and makes it way less approachable.

[AoiX]

Well for me it would have to be something like Chains of Promathia. That, I think, was the best expansion this game has gotten. It had an awesome story. It was something hard to achieve but felt soooo rewarding after winning the battles. I felt good about achieving that. I was really happy about it. In contrast, Adoulin felt somewhat easy and rushed. Of course there are other aspects of Adoulin, but story wise it wasn't the best. I don't mind not having new areas, all I really want is a good extensive story that is not so easy to do. Something challenging and rewarding. Something I can say with a big smile that I accomplished it. Of course there has to be room for innovation and new stuff the developers want to try. New systems to add, maybe a job or two if they want. For me, i just want another awesome story.

[Stompa]

I just find it annoying that i have to go do 12 year old artifcat quest, or expansion story lines to get relevant end game items for today. To me, its obnoxious to have to get mission rank 6, then finish cop, just to upgrade AF gear from 12 years ago into something for today. Thats a lot of back tracking for new people and makes it way less approachable.

That is not an FFXI issue, that is an issue relating to the nature of all Role Playing Games.

RPG titles actually set their quality standards based on the immersive realism of the RPG world, usually modelled around the core concept of your unknown and hopeless new character gradually becoming more well-known in the world and eventually being noticed by the NPC Heroes who will invite you on missions. Having to attain ranks, finish quests and missions etc. in order for your character to become a "known face" in the RPG world, is not a negative facet of RPGs, on the contrary, the more situational plotline requirements are made of you, the better the RPG is.

If anything I would wish for more "background checks" on a character, more quests, more missions, harder fame requirements etc. But that is because I'm a roleplayer and I really go for all that lore requirement stuff. FFXI seems to have taken this central RPG concept and made it slightly easier to appeal to the arcade-gamer market, and this works fine too.

:p

[Zeargi]

Lately, I feel like SE has been more hush-hush on the update info. Which is usually a tell-tell sign of two things: Working on other important projects or Unsure of the direction to take things to maintain a happy user base.

[Seillan]

Thats your personal oppinion, and like mine, neither is right nor wrong.

I just find it annoying that i have to go do 12 year old artifcat quest, or expansion story lines to get relevant end game items for today. To me, its obnoxious to have to get mission rank 6, then finish cop, just to upgrade AF gear from 12 years ago into something for today. Thats a lot of back tracking for new people and makes it way less approachable.

You just described many of the reasons I prefer FFXI over just about any other MMORPG I've played in the last 10 years. It suits a niche that many of us aren't able to find anywhere else. If you want an online rpg that plays like "most of the others" then play one of the others. I like the "backtracking" and god forbid, having to go through those dreaded storylines! The nerve of an online rpg trying to tell an interesting story :rolleyes:

[Alhanelem]

I doubt it. The way Adoulin screwed up the game way more than even Abyssea, it seems extremely unlikely they'd dedicate that kind of time an money to the few people still playing.
The game is a lot better, not a lot worse, since audolin. It like... almost made up for abyssea. Almost. The reason abyssea broke the game was it made everyone feel powerful... but only while you're in it. Then any new content they came out with that wasn't abyssea wasn't nearly as compelling because it couldn't live up to abyssea with its power mechanics. The expansion is the first thing since abyssea to bring you a feeling of power outside of Abyssea. In other words, it was the first thing to come out that could compete with it, and offers a wider range of things to do.

They can do more expansions til the ps2 runs out of disk space again; after that they can't really do anything without dropping ps2 support everywhere.


the way i see it, they just had a very small update this month. if we see another small update next month then that puts the probability that they are working on another expansion pretty high. Update was more minor than usual because of the holiday season. Next update will be more significant.


or expansion story lines to get relevant end game items for today.You're annoyed that you have to do current relevant content to get relevant items? What?

I agree that the rather extensive amount of content that is needed to progress can be off putting, but at the same time it's also one of the game's strengths. I don't know how they can address this without really blunting the experience.

[Catmato]

This game is a lot better since Adoulin came out.

The game is a lot better, not a lot worse, since audolin.
It seems your opinion isn't shared by everyone. Plummeting server populations seem to show that. If Adoulin made the game so much better, where are the players?

If SE wants any new expansion to succeed, they have to do a hell of a lot better from the start than they did with Adoulin. I don't know anyone who stuck around after coming back for the start of Adoulin.

[Ageofwar]

Lately, I feel like SE has been more hush-hush on the update info. Which is usually a tell-tell sign of two things: Working on other important projects or Unsure of the direction to take things to maintain a happy user base.

i've been rather disappointed with recent updates to FFXI, so much so that i can't will myself to login

I believe it more a case that SE have more important projects on its books like FFXIV - Heavensward

[bungiefanNA]

They can do more expansions til the ps2 runs out of disk space again; after that they can't really do anything without dropping ps2 support everywhere.

Pulling the data from the PS2 partiton, FFXI is still under 10 GB on PS2. The extra partition size is for room for duplicating files while patching, until the new copy replaces the old one at the end of the patching process. They're nowhere near using the full 40 GB on the drive.

[Bluestar2kx]

THe problem is the general populous isnt able to 'let it go'. Thats why there is reforged AF/RELIC armor, R/E/M weapons. This is the only mmo i have ever played that keeps the same gear you got 12 years ago relevant for the sake of 'but i spent so much time back then getting it why shouldnt it be relevant today'.

Seriously, every other mmo works on the system that each expansion works like this:
Current level / i level (99 / 119)
Group gear is i 109/ raid gear is 119

Expansion rolls around, new level/ilevel (105/i125)
New group gear = 117, new raid gear = 125 (*note that new group gear is comparable to old raid gear, but not as good, but better than old group gear).

They tried to not upgrade old gear into ilevel gear, and people flipped a shizlle when their R/M/E wasnt the best weapon anymore. Now if there was an ergon for every job and that was the new i level version of an end game weapon, i think it would be more in line with every other mmo.


The ffxi model is:
increase ilevel, add new trials to old equipment! Keep using that 5 year old bp with new trials!

So basically, every other MMO, a new gear update comes out, you toss the old stuff after getting the new stuff. So nothing is really valuable at all?
Maybe thats why FFXI has survived, and on a sub model at that, when few others can but the almighty (crappy and stale?) wow.

FFXI makes you feel like getting that gear, however old the original was, was actually worth something, that it was an accomplishment, which is why so many got into FFXI I'd wager, because getting somewhere made you feel like you really actually DID get somewhere.

I still treasure my kikoku long after I got it, even though I moved to a different character, because that was a major accomplishment for me. Sure some have multiple relic weapons, but for me, just having that one, is worth more then all of them. I imagine other people feel the same way about a lot of things they have.

So naturally, players will have a cow when that work is trashed for no reason (other mmo models), when that isn't how FFXI works.
And personally, I'm quite happy with FFXI's model, I really like it, and I hope they continue on the same path.

[Roja323]

Survived is a very loose term... Sorry if basing things off popular MMO that have 2-3x the active player base is frowned upon, but thats what they did with ff14 and it has worked okay so far.

Like i said its my oppinion vs your oppinion, but in the end its both oppinions.

Abyssea killed ffxi
No it didnt
Adoulin killed ffxi
No it didnt
etc etc

FFXI has been slowly decreasing for years, and no one things put a nail in its coffin, but the fact that the devs are coppying from other more successful mmo should indicate that they have an idea of what needs to be done.

[Bluestar2kx]

Survived in this case is a very direct term, not a loose one.
As I said, FFXI has done it with a sub model the entire life of it, which little likelihood of that changing.

The only other old school MMO to make out better then FFXI on a sub model is WoW.
Everyone else either died, or went F2P to break even or make a profit (Hell even Elder scrolls online is going that route now). So while the population has declined over the years, it's still one of the few that can actually be called successful, I'd sooner borrow ideas from FFXI, then almost every other game, even if they have more people now then the borrowing game does. (they only have those subs because it's f2p, we both know that.)

So borrowing from other MMO's in the way you suggested, is not the way FFXI should be, if dev's felt differently, it wouldn't be here. To add to that, while ideas are fine and dandy, I wouldn't say taking ideas from games that had to go F2P just to stay online makes them a great target for borrowing from, even if their population is higher, it's done using a flawed and quite honestly, a model that milks the consumer. That's why they're still dying.

What makes FFXI unique, is part of it's model, and that's why it's still going. Take that away, and you get what we saw: people will leave.
So while "opinions are opinions, and neither right or wrong inherently", there's plenty of basis in fact to say which applies to FFXI.

But I will give you credit, FFXIV is quite popular, and maybe one of the only games I'd trust "ideas" coming from to XI, as long as it doesn't get as stupidly easy and boring as it.
We just have to see if it can keep the strength in the way so many others couldn't.

[Zeargi]

Survived is a very loose term... Sorry if basing things off popular MMO that have 2-3x the active player base is frowned upon, but thats what they did with ff14 and it has worked okay so far.

Like i said its my oppinion vs your oppinion, but in the end its both oppinions.

Abyssea killed ffxi
No it didnt
Adoulin killed ffxi
No it didnt
etc etc

FFXI has been slowly decreasing for years, and no one things put a nail in its coffin, but the fact that the devs are coppying from other more successful mmo should indicate that they have an idea of what needs to be done.

Well, the other thing that is holding the game back some is it's lack of marketability. I love my PS2, It's where I started, and I moved on to the Xbox 360, because I had friends that played the game and it was usually a good thing, minus the freezing here and there. But the PC players have a digital download for this, which in today's society seems to be a must. I, personally, enjoy have a physical copy of something, I like the box art. But without the ability to reach a multitude of people, there's not a huge growth in population. And people may argue with this statement, I feel that console gamers tend to out number PC gamers. So if Sony and Microsoft would allow for a joint experience like we have now on the PS4 and XBone, the digital marketing would help get people into the game, and with the new gen systems, we could possibly see changes that are currently just not doable. But then again, that's just a pipe dream and an endeavor like that would take A LOT of money, and I'm not sure SE is willing to put that much money back into a 12 yr old game.

[PlumbGame]

Survived is a very loose term... Sorry if basing things off popular MMO that have 2-3x the active player base is frowned upon, but thats what they did with ff14 and it has worked okay so far.

Like i said its my oppinion vs your oppinion, but in the end its both oppinions.

Abyssea killed ffxi
No it didnt
Adoulin killed ffxi
No it didnt
etc etc

FFXI has been slowly decreasing for years, and no one things put a nail in its coffin, but the fact that the devs are coppying from other more successful mmo should indicate that they have an idea of what needs to be done.

Not really "slowly". There has been certain points in FFXIs history that has had significant drops. There was several people who dropped in adoulin because of some of the new gear that came out and RMEs they made that weren't 119 yet. Some came back, but a lot just stayed away.

It's also hard to put a nail in the coffin when a game can still be successful without millions of players. IDK SEs costs since they obviously wouldn't share that stuff with us, but even 100 players could still be a financial gain.

[Bluestar2kx]

FFXI has been SE's most profitable final fantasy title ever. And while we don't have any numbers, from bits and pieces it doesn't sound like this game takes much to keep running, so I would definitely agree that even with a smaller population then we have now, FFXI could still turn a profit.

But given it's history as a money maker, and it's devoted fanbase, I don't think they're going to cut the cord anytime soon.
Though we all know, there's a fair bit they could do to improve FFXI's population, but that of course, takes a lot of money.

I think an engine/graphical overhaul/update would do wonders, but that's essentially re-writing the entire game, and we know that comes with a steep cost.

[Elemmire]

Thats your personal oppinion, and like mine, neither is right nor wrong.

I just find it annoying that i have to go do 12 year old artifcat quest, or expansion story lines to get relevant end game items for today. To me, its obnoxious to have to get mission rank 6, then finish cop, just to upgrade AF gear from 12 years ago into something for today. Thats a lot of back tracking for new people and makes it way less approachable.

You could play those other MMOs though if you like that system more. Or embrace the new gear they add. I could agree that they should try and get new gear to be comparable to old gear that's upgraded, but a lot of new gear is pretty good still.

[Stompa]

On the whole "FFXI is dead / Aby killed it / Adoulin killed it" etc. stuff which is always good for a laugh, I would relate some quotes;

Qufim Island 2005; Party member; "This game is dead. It was fun a year ago, but it sucks now. This game won't be around in a year, you mark my words."

Grauberg(S) 2009; Another party member ; "This game is dead. It used to be fun but it sucks now. Everyone knows this game will be shut down soon."

I laughed when she said that, because it was almost the exact same words another person said four years earlier.

What I remembered on both occasions was that I was having fun playing the game, I was having as much fun in Vanadiel in 2004 as I was in 2009. And today I am still having as much fun in Vanadiel as I had eleven years ago.

I don't think Aby or SoA killed the game, I don't think the game is dead. I think it is an old game, and old games lose the mainstream playerbase who traditionally will go for the newest eyecandy titles. Old games retain their devoted fanbase, like a cult. The same is true of some diehard fans playing 1980s games in 2015 lol.

I actually liked Aby a lot, the battlefields were fun and I liked proccing mobs to build popsets etc. The Empy weaps and armors are cool, NMs in Aby were cool. I just wish they had put a lvl75 lock on the Aby doors to stop everyone zombie leech bimbo airhead mode from 30 to 99.

SoA is okay too, I do love the city of Adoulin and I really enjoyed the SoA mission storyline. I like some of the new monster types they created in SoA too, especially the big floppy white gorilla mob lol.

I'm just reading the version update notes and the Vanadiel Digest stuff, and really you can see the enthusiasm being put into these announcements, they are really trying to give people fun stuff on a regular basis, and they are really putting effort into the game. My only actual problem with FFXI was paying for it lol, but now they have fixed the payment options, I totally don't see any problems. FFXI is a fun game, if you know how to enjoy yourself and don't expect miracles. And it isn't dead either. :p

[Elemmire]

Survived in this case is a very direct term, not a loose one.
As I said, FFXI has done it with a sub model the entire life of it, which little likelihood of that changing.

The only other old school MMO to make out better then FFXI on a sub model is WoW.
Everyone else either died, or went F2P to break even or make a profit (Hell even Elder scrolls online is going that route now). So while the population has declined over the years, it's still one of the few that can actually be called successful, I'd sooner borrow ideas from FFXI, then almost every other game, even if they have more people now then the borrowing game does. (they only have those subs because it's f2p, we both know that.)

So borrowing from other MMO's in the way you suggested, is not the way FFXI should be, if dev's felt differently, it wouldn't be here. To add to that, while ideas are fine and dandy, I wouldn't say taking ideas from games that had to go F2P just to stay online makes them a great target for borrowing from, even if their population is higher, it's done using a flawed and quite honestly, a model that milks the consumer. That's why they're still dying.

What makes FFXI unique, is part of it's model, and that's why it's still going. Take that away, and you get what we saw: people will leave.
So while "opinions are opinions, and neither right or wrong inherently", there's plenty of basis in fact to say which applies to FFXI.

But I will give you credit, FFXIV is quite popular, and maybe one of the only games I'd trust "ideas" coming from to XI, as long as it doesn't get as stupidly easy and boring as it.
We just have to see if it can keep the strength in the way so many others couldn't.

Personally, I agree. What I loved about FFXI was how that team play mattered most to maximize your efficiency/success rate than individual performance. Maximizing damage didn't come from maximizing gear alone, it came from working in line with others to skillchain and magic burst. That was a REAL MMO experience, having to work together to get somewhere. Hell, even leveling was like that. But I am happy I can actually just go out and do stuff in the world on my own too so I don't sit around the cities bored. Though, that's why I'm happy to have left an MMO and come back years later. Old content for solo'ing fun, new content for group fun.


FFXI has been SE's most profitable final fantasy title ever. And while we don't have any numbers, from bits and pieces it doesn't sound like this game takes much to keep running, so I would definitely agree that even with a smaller population then we have now, FFXI could still turn a profit.

But given it's history as a money maker, and it's devoted fanbase, I don't think they're going to cut the cord anytime soon.
Though we all know, there's a fair bit they could do to improve FFXI's population, but that of course, takes a lot of money.

I think an engine/graphical overhaul/update would do wonders, but that's essentially re-writing the entire game, and we know that comes with a steep cost.

I don't mind the graphics, even this old they are still nice. Some animations could be improved maybe, but ya. Part of me really wants a UI/interface/controls overhaul for PC, but also worried it might not feel like FFXI if they did that too.

Other than that, I dunno what I'd want changed for FFXI if anything other than maybe some minor class changes (RDM needs love and BLU should get to use all its magic by default, just equip magic to set up how you want your traits/passives/whatnot to be, etc).

I would hope that if FFXI were to ever go offline, they'd give everyone who still plays the ability to download a patch to play offline in their own world and rework content towards being able to solo or use trusts everywhere. But, that might be asking too much. *shrugs* would be nice.

The other thing would be a nice FF sigle player game in vana'diel. I'd love everyone to see how awesome the world is. I really do love the general layout and the stories and the characters and whatnot. They did a fantastic job with that (better than FFXIV, imo, FFXIV was pretty dull to me)

[Alhanelem]

It seems your opinion isn't shared by everyone.Nor is yours. Different people have different perspectives. I'm just telling it how I see it. Some people are happier than others.

From my perspective, the year prior to audolin was the game's lowest point. Although subbed much of it, I played the game very little during that time; I play it much more now. There just wasnt much interesting in the new content during that time, largely because abyssea set the bar too high in power levels which compromised the potential enjoyment of the content that came after. Audolin solved that problem and did so in a reasonably good way.

Is the game perfect or close to it? Hell no. But I'm enjoying it a lot more than I have in a long time, and I know other people who are too. So please, don't poop on people's opinions because of your judgement of the number of people who share them (which isn't really even accurate). Some people like it, some people don't, I get that. But I can say with relative confidence that more people are happy now than were prior to audolin's release.


There was several people who dropped in adoulin because of some of the new gear that came out and RMEs they made that weren't 119 yet.The % of people with R/M/E (prior to audolin) is pretty low and I extremely doubt that anyone quit the game permanently because they didn't immediately offer upgrades to them. I don't know how anyone could have believed that they were never going to do that (therefore throwing their hardest-to-earn-items-in-the-game down the drain), especially considering that relic and artifact armor upgrades were made available. If a person was invested in the game enough to make these, and DID take a break from the game, odds are they'd have been following the news and came back when they found out their work wasn't in vain.

[Allestra]

I hope they do have another expansion.

ffxi will never totally die but it is close to it atm. The fanbase (as small as it is) will always be there to support the game imo.

I prefer the game more now then at the beginning of my 10 yr journey. The QoL changes to me personally have really helped me enjoy things but sadly they come at minimum, 5 yrs too late.
Too many have left already and even myself, its been so long for these changes to come, I have already found other games that have taken ffxis' place as a main mmo :(

although ffxi will never be my main mmo again, (the ancient graphics alone are hard to stomach)....it holds a special place to at least jump in on occasion and do a few things.

[Tidis]

I'd love at least one more expansion that covers the whole of Vana'diel, as of right now we've dealt with missions that encompass a specific region, perhaps when FFXI looks like it's declining to the point they only have 1 more expansion in them, they can do this final expansion which will cover all areas, 4 nations, zilart, CoP, AU, Adoulin, maybe even WotG plus any other areas that might have been introduced, include all the established hero's and heroines, alongside new ones in defending Vana'diel.

Despite expansions in the past dealing with the end of the world, it was very much focussed on one region, obviously that helped players experience the areas introduced in each expansion but it doesn't feel like a world crisis if only one particular area is getting all the action.

[evanwimbish]

Id like to see ffxi-2 eventually come out where you can revisit all the old areas and more, along with tetra master being re-released along with mobile app support!

[bungiefanNA]

I'd love at least one more expansion that covers the whole of Vana'diel, as of right now we've dealt with missions that encompass a specific region, perhaps when FFXI looks like it's declining to the point they only have 1 more expansion in them, they can do this final expansion which will cover all areas, 4 nations, zilart, CoP, AU, Adoulin, maybe even WotG plus any other areas that might have been introduced, include all the established hero's and heroines, alongside new ones in defending Vana'diel.

Despite expansions in the past dealing with the end of the world, it was very much focussed on one region, obviously that helped players experience the areas introduced in each expansion but it doesn't feel like a world crisis if only one particular area is getting all the action.

The reason they do expansions by region is because they have players that don't buy some expansions, so they can't make an expansion require a previous expansion. They broke that rule with add-ons, but never with another expansion. That seems to be one of the rules they hold themselves to, making expansions only require the base game, no matter what other expansions are available. They would have to really break that rule to have an expansion take place inside of all the other expansion areas.

There's also the matter of just how much manipulation of data they would have to do. Each expansion mainly has its content in its own ROM folder. Adoulin is ROM9 for example. Except for a handful of scenes in Jeuno, all the data they modify to make Adoulin work is in that one folder. Abyssea and previous expansions work that way too. That would be a humongous patch to do if they messed with that many files.

[Dazusu]

the way i see it, they just had a very small update this month. if we see another small update next month then that puts the probability that they are working on another expansion pretty high.

Wishful thinking. More like they're winding down development and preparing for a semi auto-pilot mode of operation. Never know, if you're lucky, you might get another Crystalline Prophecy. (Though truth be told, I would love to see another expansion)


On the whole "FFXI is dead / Aby killed it / Adoulin killed it" etc. stuff which is always good for a laugh, I would relate some quotes;

Qufim Island 2005; Party member; "This game is dead. It was fun a year ago, but it sucks now. This game won't be around in a year, you mark my words."

Grauberg(S) 2009; Another party member ; "This game is dead. It used to be fun but it sucks now. Everyone knows this game will be shut down soon."


Yes, because in 2005 and 2009 - people saying those things were directly reflected by concurrent populations of 500-600 for most of the day. Oh wait. No they weren't. Back then those were the opinions of a few individuals. However, in 2014 - it appears the masses have spoken, and they did so with their wallet. All we have left are the vocal minority that continue to post about how the game is awesome, and so much more fun than it ever has been.

Sure. You keep taking that medicine.

[Stompa]

Yes, because in 2005 and 2009 - people saying those things were directly reflected by concurrent populations of 500-600 for most of the day. Oh wait. No they weren't. Back then those were the opinions of a few individuals. However, in 2014 - it appears the masses have spoken, and they did so with their wallet. All we have left are the vocal minority that continue to post about how the game is awesome, and so much more fun than it ever has been.

Sure. You keep taking that medicine.

In my post that you snipped that paragraph out of, I also said that the game is now old, and old games lose the transitory mass of mainstream players who will typically buy games when they are new and shiny, play them until they are old, and then move on to newer shinier games. And today FFXI is old, and has lost that transitory mainstream player group, who moved on to other newer games with eyecandy graphics etc.

So yes I already said that the population is lower now. My point was that even in its prime days, FFXI had people saying the game is dead, ten years ago people were making predictions about FFXI having less than a year of life left in it. My point was that it is dangerous to make predictions in the marketplace, there are too many variables to consider, and we don't know how long a classic videogame will last.

I do keep taking my medicine, it is for severe Cerebral Palsy. Thankyou for your concern. :p

[Zarchery]

But the server populations have been low for years now.... that doesn't mean that the game's impending death is nigh. What were the populations in 2009?

[Dazusu]

I never implied the game was going to die with my post; just that the current direction the game is (and has been taking since the latter half of Adoulin) is not the one the vast majority of players wanted to see. I feel this is reflected by the drastic population decline since Adoulin. What else could be considered the causation? I know from first hand experience, my own Linkshell stopped playing almost entirely because of the epic gap in group content between Delve I and Delve II. Most other Linkshells (people who enjoyed playing together in groups of 12+) also stopped playing around this time.

Before anyone goes on a "solo/3man/6man is better / linkshells are for assholes / I never liked end-game" crusade, I'm not saying large group play is for everyone - I'm saying it wasn't catered for; and those that enjoyed it stopped playing in considerable numbers. Around 16~20 people quit from my own group.

It was getting incredibly boring arranging events for 18 people when the options were "Do we kill Tojil, Bee or the Shark?"; whereas at level 75 end-game, you had options such as Sky, Sea, HNM camps periodically, fights like Alastor Antlion (and other poppable NMs), Limbus, Einherjar.

The problem now that content is deprecated within a couple of months of being released. Or it's designed for small groups. There's no variety or real options for large groups. (Again, I think low man play should be catered, as well as larger groups.)

The low man experience in FFXI right now is consistent. If that's not your style; you find yourself bored; really quickly.

This is probably why it feels like an anti-community ghost town when I login and see not a single person moving or shouting/yelling for pretty much an entire day.

Anyway, I digress. A new expansion would be great... it might cause people to return. I'm not holding my breath though.

[Meyi]

If we get a new expansion, can we venture in the past of Kuluu and Zilart days? Rise of the Zilart and Chains of Promathia were my favorite expansions, and all the other expansions since them have been nice, but haven't really touched what I felt to be the heart of Vana'diel.

[Finuve]

The gear treadmill design of modern MMOs is absolutely the worst thing to ever infest the genre. I just hope that if FFXI gets another expansion it doesn't continue that trend. Gear is incredibly diverse in this game and collecting all of it far more interesting than tossing it out when the developers decide to up the item level number.

[Rainehx]

If people want any chance at a new expansion the threads that pop up weekly from people who cannot see the bigger picture
demanding server merges need to be renounced and stopped.

We all know SE will eventually pander to them, after all the people are more than willing to post complaints than support.

Once the servers merge and there is no chance (room) of recruiting new players or bringing back older players, there is
no financial reason to expand anything if you've just retracted, it will offer them very little new revenue aside from the upfront fee compared to the work
involved in developing and continued development of such an amount of content.
Its about subs, and reducing the amount of subs they can earn while expecting them to invest is rather stupid.

Some people in their bubbles think SE owes them and don't understand its a company to make money, careful what you demand and wish for.

[Dazusu]

I don't see a reason to merge servers, purely because all current relevant content can be taken on with 6 or less people; it's not like you need to gather alliances or more anymore.

[Rainehx]

I don't see a reason to merge servers, purely because all current relevant content can be taken on with 6 or less people; it's not like you need to gather alliances or more anymore.

Exactly! Trust, scaleable content 6 person bcnm rather than 18.

Had SE not introduced such things id understand yet not agree with people wanting merges.

Yet despite these things people still don't get it, why exactly would SE go to the effort of developing such content
if it was easier and made more financial sense to merge?

I didn't mean to high-jack or go off topic but it does go hand in hand.

[Protey]

I never implied the game was going to die with my post; just that the current direction the game is (and has been taking since the latter half of Adoulin) is not the one the vast majority of players wanted to see. I feel this is reflected by the drastic population decline since Adoulin. What else could be considered the causation? I know from first hand experience, my own Linkshell stopped playing almost entirely because of the epic gap in group content between Delve I and Delve II. Most other Linkshells (people who enjoyed playing together in groups of 12+) also stopped playing around this time.

Before anyone goes on a "solo/3man/6man is better / linkshells are for assholes / I never liked end-game" crusade, I'm not saying large group play is for everyone - I'm saying it wasn't catered for; and those that enjoyed it stopped playing in considerable numbers. Around 16~20 people quit from my own group.

It was getting incredibly boring arranging events for 18 people when the options were "Do we kill Tojil, Bee or the Shark?"; whereas at level 75 end-game, you had options such as Sky, Sea, HNM camps periodically, fights like Alastor Antlion (and other poppable NMs), Limbus, Einherjar.

The problem now that content is deprecated within a couple of months of being released. Or it's designed for small groups. There's no variety or real options for large groups. (Again, I think low man play should be catered, as well as larger groups.)

The low man experience in FFXI right now is consistent. If that's not your style; you find yourself bored; really quickly.

This is probably why it feels like an anti-community ghost town when I login and see not a single person moving or shouting/yelling for pretty much an entire day.

Anyway, I digress. A new expansion would be great... it might cause people to return. I'm not holding my breath though.


What do you expect, there are people on these forums that beg and plead for SE to make getting everything easier. And unfortunately SE has been pandering to them. They can't see beyond their own instant gratification to see that they are ruining the game.

[Lyncath]

I would like to see a new expansion, especially one in the southern isles of the Mithra homeland or in the northern continent of the Elvaan homeland.

If they do come out with a new expansion... please learn the mistakes of Adoulin and not drive away R/E/M owners by botching the iLevel increases.