Square Enix obviously wants to kill FFXI

[mkultrafanboy]

deleted ... .

[Stompa]

... it's still way too obtuse for anyone to get into the game as a fresh brand new player.


I joined FFXI in 2004, and I was a fresh brand new player. The game was harder back then, with slower Exp, slower Gil, no mounts, no warp-books or warp-HPs.

I absolutely adored FFXI from day one, as a "fresh brand new player." I loved the enormity of the challenge, and the danger that the world contained. It was a very life-or-death struggle, just to level up, or to kill placeholders and NMs, or even just to travel. It was dangerous, and it was exciting, and I loved it.

I played my first computer-game in 1981. Since then, in 39 years of gaming, I have played a lot of games. FFXI is the greatest computer-game that I have ever played. The whole menu / macro battle system is a work of genius, it is a masterpiece, and it is still far more enjoyable and user-friendly than any other game in 2020.

Vana'diel is beautiful. The graphics are perfect, they are not too hyper-realistic, they are simple enough to convey meaning, and to facilitate a sense of kinetic freedom in the actual fast-paced gaming / battle scenarios. Characters and NPCs look like toy soldiers and dolls, they have an inherent simplicity that actually makes them more attractive to me as a gamer, than the cumbersome hyper-realistic graphics of new 2020 eye-candy games.

FFXI graphics hit a Goldilocks "sweet spot" in between "too simple" and "too detailed." It was the perfect marriage of graphics and playability.

Vana'diel is so full of magical spells, job abilities, equipment, quests, missions, role-playing atmosphere, that it literally dwarfs all other games in terms of immersive complexity, and in personalised unique Customisable Game Play.

I reject the notion that "fresh new players" can not enjoy FFXI. We were all fresh new players at one time, and we really enjoyed FFXI, long before the QOL / other improvements.

As to the "they want to kill FFXI" thing, I will repost my reply to your previous thread ;

>>>

On the Fake News subject of *they have abandoned FFXI and they want to kill FFXI and they want the players to stop playing FFXI* thing.

These kind of sweeping vague generalisations, are not true, and also this kind of negative speculation sabotages people's hopes and tramples on optimism, and also is the opposite of all the recent official statements, and it ignores the EPIC amount of hard work that the slimmed-down Dev Team are doing to make FFXI players happy ;

[May 16th 2017 : Official Playonline Dot Com.]

"Celebrating Fifteen Years Of FFXI."

"The development and operations team will continue to work as hard as ever so that those new to Vana'diel can experience all that has to offer and that veterans will be able to enjoy each new day of adventures more than the last. Here's to fifteen years of Vana'diel, and to fifteen more!"

[Year 2017 + 15 years = year 2032.]
:cool:

[Zehira]

I highly doubt they really want to kill FFXI at least not until the 20th anniversary. Long-term players really prefer more EverQuest styles (old school MMORPG) and not a WoW clone. The problem is we all have different preferences. Some want a classic server, some want a console port, some want to see a remaster of FFXI, and some are fine with the way FFXI is. FFXI dev team (small team) doesn't have time for that.

[Typral]

Despite his brash way of putting things, SE needs to support FFXI more. They are letting the game stagnate so badly... We need new content and new things, something like the avatar they just added are amazing and I was surprised but we need more!

[mkultrafanboy]

deleted ....

[Sirmarki]

Despite his brash way of putting things, SE needs to support FFXI more. They are letting the game stagnate so badly... We need new content and new things, something like the avatar they just added are amazing and I was surprised but we need more!

What is the point of adding new content when it is just sold by the overkill of mercs? Nobody has to participate in anything anymore, they can stand there and lot/buy it...... Then they quit because 'they are bored'.
"Look at me, I've got that new shiny weapon/armour piece that I didn't earn whatsoever...."

It has become the accepted nature of the game now, I'm sure 80% of the server thinks that is the norm now, and that there is no longer a need to join/form a group.

The whole thing has lost the plot.....

[Beastorizer]

They want to kill BST for sure, because they hate it. FFXI? Doubt it...

The goal of maintenance mode games appear to be utilize the least amount of resources, being time, money, & effort, but still find a way to pull the most possible $$. However, in maintenance mode, resources usually refer to time. So, most of the time, they have no interest in putting a lot of effort into dated titles. The DC IP is considering taking crowdfunding for their potential MMO; if it were really about money, they would do the same.

WB is kind of a big brand. WB & SE kind of hover around the same territory in terms of revenue. Neither appears to be hurting for money. They are not Tencent by any means.

It is about not wanting to; because most of what people ask for is already part of the game & not new assets. Updating EMP will require no new assets, Giving BST a Gambodge Beetle instead of repeats is not new assets (Rhinowrecker....), giving SMN Bahamut is not new assets, Un-gimping jobs is not new assets, updating monstrosity species & areas will require no new assets, etc.

[Alhanelem]

I think we could all do without this sort of cynicsm, to be honest.

[Typral]

What is the point of adding new content when it is just sold by the overkill of mercs? Nobody has to participate in anything anymore, they can stand there and lot/buy it...... Then they quit because 'they are bored'.
"Look at me, I've got that new shiny weapon/armour piece that I didn't earn whatsoever...."

It has become the accepted nature of the game now, I'm sure 80% of the server thinks that is the norm now, and that there is no longer a need to join/form a group.

The whole thing has lost the plot.....

What is the point of not adding content? Just causes the game to die faster. I hate to break it to you, but mercs have existed since day1 and they are in every MMO. What they do has no effect on you to create groups or join established linkshells that do content. If people want to buy clears or items, they can be allowed to, its no different than going to the AH and buying something.

[TullemoreAsuraFFXI]

Thanks to nearly 20 years of service, FFXI has undergone 5 full expansions, 3 small dlc, 3 large battle packs + Dynamis (D) and countless additional version updates and battlefield additions. As of 2020 FFXI has one of the top robust accumulations of content in gaming. Those who persist with this idea that they've exhausted the content available should increase their perceptions to explore FFXI's full offerings beyond what is just considered current tier equipment acquisitions. That being said, the most desirable and effective action SE could implement would be to upgrade/evolve the /seacom system to allow for a more modernized way for players to coordinate party formations for objectives designed for players to accomplish as a team.

[Sirmarki]

What is the point of not adding content? Just causes the game to die faster. I hate to break it to you, but mercs have existed since day1 and they are in every MMO. What they do has no effect on you to create groups or join established linkshells that do content. If people want to buy clears or items, they can be allowed to, its no different than going to the AH and buying something.

They have never existed at this sheer volume and this vocal. I never even heard of a merc until I came to Asura.

Oh yes, it is very different. There is a reason SE put rare/ex items into the game....

Mercing as it is done now is also breaking the mechanics of the game. Using multiple accounts, running multiple instances of FFXI and scripting commands on one computer is against the TOS. End of story.
Unless, of course they are sitting around 6 desktops with incredible multitasking skills.

[Typral]

They don't impact your gameplay though, so why do you care who multi-boxes?

[Sirmarki]

They don't impact your gameplay though, so why do you care who multi-boxes?

They kind of do though. Yell used to be full of people creating content. Now it is 99% mercs.
Mercs are mainly the same person controlling a party of characters. These people would not be able to sell this content by playing on their own with one character.

Sure, people multibox, and that is their style. Just don't sell everything under the sun.

This has a devastating effect on the game. I have been back one month, left myself logged in for hours while I was doing other things. I have seen virtually 5% of yell with people creating groups and 95% mercs, RMT, Exp/JP sellers.
Every single yell I have seen relating to the new battle content added over the past few months has been people selling the items from said battlefields.

[Alhanelem]

Can always come to Shiva if the mercs and RMT are annoying you. The smaller servers are much better when it comes to this stuff. IMO it's totally worth the legwork you need to make friends and such.

[mkultrafanboy]

the FACT that Square Enix, a massive AAA company, chose NOT to devote more resources to making this game more accessible, is proof that they want this game to die, so that people will have no choice but to play FF14.

Why did they create 14 only 6 years after their first MMO 11? Because they were super greedy to get that huge WoW money so they rushed out a WoW clone of sorts. Then they fully turned it into a WoW clone with ARR. Square Enix is an extremely greedy company and all the original devs left by 2004 at the latest. Even still, 14 is the best MMORPG on the market right now, which proves how bad the MMO genre is presently.

[Zehira]

so that people will have no choice but to play FF14.

Nothing can stop them from playing FF11. They could just quit doing any business with Square Enix and move to private servers.

Fun FFXIV 1.0 story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWIrju3F6nU

[Alhanelem]

the FACT that Square Enix, a massive AAA company, chose NOT to devote more resources to making this game more accessible, is proof that they want this game to die, so that people will have no choice but to play FF14.

Why did they create 14 only 6 years after their first MMO 11? Because they were super greedy to get that huge WoW money so they rushed out a WoW clone of sorts. Then they fully turned it into a WoW clone with ARR. Square Enix is an extremely greedy company and all the original devs left by 2004 at the latest. Even still, 14 is the best MMORPG on the market right now, which proves how bad the MMO genre is presently.You really dont understand how businesses and investments/investors work do you?

This has nothing to do with desire on SE's part. SE, like any other corporation, devotes the bulk of its resources to things that, based on cost-benefit analyses it conducts, it finds likely to lead to the most growth and profit in the company. This leads to more people buying stock (shareholders) based on the promise that the company will continue to grow.

You're really kidding yourself if you think dumping a big pile of cash into FFXI itself is going to suddenly print tons of money for SE. While it in fact may be possible that they might do a true remastered version of the game with updated interfaces, graphics, controls, engine, etc (hell it could even be this surprise they've been talking about, although i doubt it), it would probably be a separate project (like the mobile project, but not mobile), and we'd probably be starting from scratch.

If SE actually wanted the game to die they would have just pulled the plug years ago. The fact is, that while FFXI may be a shadow of its former self, it still makes money for SE, and they're not going to just terminate the game and lose those relatively easy subscription dollars. So no, they don't want it to die. But at the same time, they probably don't think a big cash infusion is going to make huge waves.

[Sirmarki]

So no, they don't want it to die. But at the same time, they probably don't think a big cash infusion is going to make huge waves.

However...

Things do need to change....

1. A clamp down on people selling content.. (The mass of botting/RMT).
2. Better moderation (and if not, EXTEND the BLACKLIST past 100).
3. More forms of content, be it through even the simple things such as RoE quests etc.. (Not just copy and paste jobs).

After all, we are paying FULL market rate.....

[Zehira]

While it in fact may be possible that they might do a true remastered version of the game with updated interfaces, graphics, controls, engine, etc (hell it could even be this surprise they've been talking about, although i doubt it), it would probably be a separate project (like the mobile project, but not mobile), and we'd probably be starting from scratch.

Here is an interesting article: Final Fantasy XI Mobile Reboot Still in The Works; Nexon Will Target Consoles With its Online Games (https://twinfinite.net/2020/02/nexon-final-fantasy-xi-r2-consoles/?fbclid=IwAR27ysuWwcoww5I_NOYAnLy7ZHHurE-n1eBb7id-_MRvGliLVSOyFBgit2U)


It’s worth mentioning that, while this talk about consoles and multiple platforms is promising, the Final Fantasy XI reboot is still marked as mobile-only in the presentation. We don’t know if this will change going forward.

[Alhanelem]

Yeah, i know hte mobile game is still a thing, but it's also entirely seperate and to the best of my understanding, is aimed at bringing the main story of the game out to people who aren't willing to pay for this. You can be pretty certain you won't get anything for your hard work here in that game except maybe some trinkets for having played the original.

While not a bad idea, it doesn't really do anything for most of us who want to keep the FFXI experience but being updated for modern systems and MMO conventions. It's difficult to say what the release of it will mean for the game, as most people who have invested any significant amount of time into FFXI aren't going to want to start fresh in what is certain to be a free-to-play and possibly pay-to-win experience. Thus if it did lead to the death of FFXI, I think few FFXI veterans would be on board with playing that. Remember also that while SE obviously has some creative control, they aren't developing it in a studio under their own banner.

[Zehira]

However...

Things do need to change....

1. A clamp down on people selling content.. (The mass of botting/RMT).
2. Better moderation (and if not, EXTEND the BLACKLIST past 100).
3. More forms of content, be it through even the simple things such as RoE quests etc.. (Not just copy and paste jobs).

After all, we are paying FULL market rate.....

Too late, you were gone for how long? 6 months? Since the GMs don't trust us enough to help the community (crazy people on Asura), I have came here to change everything in order to stop that madness. Too many crazy separate threads that will never get an answer from the STF which in fact did affect Asura greatly. I know the STF did a weird thing against me from the last summer but they stopped doing that after I posted here. I have never made any reports, never GM call, never been banned, never been sent to Mordion Gaol, never grief another player in my life. FFXI is just different that everyone else I know is just happy.

[Sirmarki]

Too late, you were gone for how long? 6 months?

Yes, and before I left for that time SE a few months back released a statement about how they are going to come down hard on RMT/Bots.
Nothing, however, seems to have changed. In fact, it seems to have gotten worse.

Anyone advertising the selling of job points and then saying it is a '24/7 service'. Is either botting, or has a warehouse of people doing night shifts. Unless somebody has invented a magic pill
whereby you no longer need to sleep anymore(?)

Seriously though, all I ever asked for was the ability to blacklist people past 100. It was even confirmed as an "Accepted Bug" back in October 2019....

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/55294-Failed-to-add-to-Blacklist?highlight=blacklist

[Stompa]

Why did they create 14 only 6 years after their first MMO 11?.

FFXI was released in 2002.
FFXIV was released in 2013.
So, that is eleven years, not six years.


is proof that they want this game to die, so that people will have no choice but to play FF14.

I have thousands of computer-games, including 1980s cassette tape games that I made in the 1980s. Quite honestly, if there was no more FFXI, I would play a lot of those 1980s games again. I would also play Baldur's Gate series again, on PC, because that is my favourite PC game series of all time. I will buy the new Baldur's Gate 3 eventually, and play that.

I wouldn't play FF14. I will just keep using that disk-box to kill bugs. It is very effective.

[Zehira]

Yes, and before I left for that time SE a few months back released a statement about how they are going to come down hard on RMT/Bots.
Nothing, however, seems to have changed. In fact, it seems to have gotten worse.

Anyone advertising the selling of job points and then saying it is a '24/7 service'. Is either botting, or has a warehouse of people doing night shifts. Unless somebody has invented a magic pill
whereby you no longer need to sleep anymore(?)

Seriously though, all I ever asked for was the ability to blacklist people past 100. It was even confirmed as an "Accepted Bug" back in October 2019....

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/55294-Failed-to-add-to-Blacklist?highlight=blacklist

That thread is too sad to read. It's just people have had a bad temper so I don't know what to say. I guess I can support your idea just because... Nothing can be done to help the community. People have turned a blind eye.

I honestly believe this official forums deserve more love. Look at FFXIV's official forums, they can either have fun or complain and that's not a problem. Moreover, community reps and GMs have so much love and respect for them and not us. Where is the fun here? That's not fair. What I don't understand is why is this official forums the only place people come here to complain and moan and then move on back to their other forums to have a good time. That's not cool.

Mind you, bots in FFXIV are more worse than bots in FFXI. What I mean is bots are very smart like nobody can guess they are botting. Don't tell me about PvP, they are very easy to be detected. I can show you an example how that work in step by step. The safest way to bot is White Mage.

Auto-Queue for duty > Auto-message to party: "hi" > Auto-healing party on way to end > beat final boss > Party: "Wow. What a perfect healer you are. Thanks! You get commendations." > exit the duty > repeat

Today, FFXIV has the new trust system. More safe to bot with trusts

They will not stop developing bots because they are making money unlike tools for FFXI which are free to use. Making bots in Vana'diel so perfect is very impossible because the battle system is so random which is why I prefer FFXI better. You can be very lucky to be in Vana'diel and find the real people to play with and see if they are not a bot (No PUGs like FFXIV's duty finder). Thankfully, bots in Vana'diel are not rocket science. Unless bots are smartass, I know how to mess with them and pull them into a corner. Watching them stuck there makes me smile.

However, I haven't been playing FFXI for almost two months because of all the complaints.

[Alhanelem]

I wouldn't play FF14. I will just keep using that disk-box to kill bugs. It is very effective.
The salt runs deep, I see.

[mkultrafanboy]

I can't believe that so many toxic elitist types freaked out and quit once they introduced TRUSTs. I mean that is the least they should have done in terms of making the game more accessible. Next they should have streamlined the quests, added direction, cleaned up the UI, to name a few. Square Enix chose not to do this.

The probable reason is because they wanted to kill off 11, to make room for 14, because they are greedy and wanted a slice of the big money WoW was making. Square Enix lost it's soul around 2004 or so, and only cared about money after that. I guess that is when they merged with Enix, and the original FF creator left the company.

[Stompa]

The salt runs deep, I see.

It is not salt I assure you. I paid cash money for the FF14 luxury box set with the books and fancy stuff. I am happy to pay money to SE, because they have made some of my favourite games in the past, most notably FF7 FF8 and FF11.

I bought the game, and I played it for a while, and I did not enjoy it at all. That is not salt. That is just personal preference.

And although I am from Northern Europe, my work takes me to various places around the world, in tropical SE Asia at the moment. There's a lot of mosquitoes and flies! And I found, quite by chance, that the FF14 disk-box was a very satisfying thing to smash pests with. It feels cathartic. I don't know why.

Here's my post on this OF on February 16th. I am clearly not motivated by salt. I am wishing lots of positive energy towards FF14 and all who play it. I simply chose not to play it myself, because it is not my kind of game.


I don't ever insult FF14, and also, I sincerely hope that FF14 players are always very happy, and they find great joy and solace in their FF14 game. I wish FF14, and all who play it, great happiness and success in the future.

[Zehira]

I am supporting FF11 since 2003 and FF14 since 2011. FF11's engine is still PS2 and DirectX 8.1 even you can play it on Windows 98. I haven't tested it.

[Alhanelem]

I bought the game, and I played it for a while, and I did not enjoy it at all. That is not salt. That is just personal preference.

Okay, that's fair. There's just a lot of hate here at its mere existence not based on its perceived merits or lack thereof.

[Rwolf]

They do need to start more aggressively dealing with major problems like RMT, the market being flooded with duplicated items, whales and mercing.

One of the biggest problems is accessibility to content. Most current content is either time gated, player gated or both. And while not inheritantly bad, it can lead to a culture of what I see is people wanting to pay to progress.

I am in a shell that gets a large amount of returnee players. They get really disheartened when they are told you gotta be at this high gear and JP level to be useful. We know that not to be true but it's still a stigma and barrier to content. Very few want to group up, waste time and lose anymore.

The item level and content system is another big issue. Unless you've been actively playing the past few years and forum/wiki scouring, it's hard to understand what the current gear ladder is. And given players, they'll tell you different gear ladder efficiencies through their own bias.

It's just harder to PUG in general. Making mercs, buying gil, duplicating items, cheating and running multiple accounts become more attractive options. Even Ambuscade which is supposed to be the casual catch-up content. Has deterred most players away from it, at least on Bismarck.

Now it's mostly just mercs, multi-boxers and statics that run it. This affects the economy too. Less PUGs in the economy lowering prices, more price control/expense. As things get more expensive, people are more enticed to pay to progress.

They are trying but the scale needs to be larger.

[Beastorizer]

If this were a F2P mmo, I would cut Yoji Fujito and Akihiko Matsui some slack. However, when you have a full priced mmo, that is sub-based, there are no excuses, be it resources or time. So basically, you have to buy copies of the game at $29.99, I believe is the retrail price? Then, you have to purchase a sub.

I kind of understand how a scaled down team will spell the end of expansions or DLC. However, I have acquaintances in the indy scene who make games with a small team. So a DLC every 3 years or so would be cake-work.

[Beastorizer]

Also, the realization that they could squeeze money out of players without doing any major updates pushed them to shutdown any DLC or expansions. Again, least amount of effort, while milking the most possible amount of money.

That is why I keep whining about Monstrosity (& I know ya'll hate my broken record), but it is like damn......Ya'll aint doing nothing else...LOL. So why not go back & update content like Campaign, Meebles. What are you working on that is so paramount? I know those reskin BST jugs take so much time out of your schedule, but a little effort would not kill ya'll devs.

No shade, no disrespect, no troll, just want to see a game I played for nearly 2 decades to be the best it can. You guys have a full retail price, full sub game that managed to survive nearly 2 decades. You know how? The fans...... Show some appreciation to the people who kept your game running for 2 nearly decades.

This is not about resources it is about effort. BST is a shining example of how the effort with this is not there. A re-skin jug is not an update (Another broken record ya'll are tired of hearing from me...). They are not trying to kill XI, but they put very little effort at all in this game. None of the updates are actually helping most of the jobs to make matters worst.....

Again, no shade, I got love for ya'lll, but put in some work. I seen small studios with smaller teams & budgets do more, with less. I believe 2 people created the mmo Project Gorgon, & it has very positive reviews on the negative zone, aka cesspoool known as Steam Review.