What Vanadiel would we be in.... if SE DROPPED PS2!

[Scuro]

Alright guys lets get a list of people's post on what the world of Vanadiel would be if SE Dropped PS2. I'll start this off with:

We will actually get new content that is worth adding by means of expansions rather then excuses and add-ons.

[Catsby]

oh wow really? People still carrying on about this? Yes it needs to happen but not because we need "more content". What we have is a broken mess that needs fixing before anything else.

[Glamdring]

hmm... let me guess, the 2010's?

[Octaviane]

Oh no, not this again. Moderators, could you please flag this, lock and/or remove it before we get a bunch of PS2 hate posts. Thanks.

[Vold]

If they ever dropped PS2 I would demand a graphical update first thing. That's a Vana'diel I want to see in the future. But seriously the PS2 can't last for as long as FFXI... systems die eventually. Sony can't support the darn thing forever. So eventually they are going to have to make a choice. Drop PS2 or FFXI. It'd be a damn shame to drop FFXI without testing peoples will to play by making them jump to PC. Toss subscribers on PS2 a free PC download and see how it goes. And be all like, look, if you guys jump ship to the PC, we'll update this game to something better. It cannot hurt to try. I bet most if not all of the FFXI player base are packing computers that can run this game, and if they aren't then daaaaaamn I thought I had it rough.

[RushLynx]

lol, yeah... It really doesn't take much to play FFXI on a PC... You can even play it on a low-budget laptop...

The thing is, though, and I know people hate to think about it... but FFXI is drawing to an end... FFXIV is out, and they're working really hard to make it meet everyone's standards and get more people into it... I don't think they're planning on FFXI surviving for more than 2-3 more years...

[Shadotter]

I find it funny that looking by topic names, even the japanese want to move off of the ps2.

[Laraul]

Look at God of War II for the PS2.

Same hardware... way way way more graphical and RAM intensive then FFXI...

They take away PS2 version you will see less ppl playing. And nothing more. You want that?

Oh I guess you'd then start blaming 360 for things...

[Starcade]

Alright guys lets get a list of people's post on what the world of Vanadiel would be if SE Dropped PS2.


There would be almost no JP players.

The End. (And the reason why this "Drop PS2 Support" idiocy needs to freaking stop. Square-Enix prefers the JP playerbase, and will cater to them as necessary.)

[xiozen]

I personally play on the PC, always have... in saying that, I completely and utterly disagree with this post.

All games eventually run their course--FFXI will be no exception. SE made the correct move in creating FFXIV in that you'll have a Final Fantasy game capable of so much more than SE was able to deliver with FFXI primarily due to the system constraints--(and please spare me w/ the ...oh but look at what happened to FFXIV)--we all know what happened with FFXIV but that's not the point of my post... anyway...
...any company deciding on dropping the support on a platform, which it was originally released for... (keep that in mind, FFXI was created for the PS2 and only later migrated over to the PC and XBOX360)... would be completely shutting out a significant chunk of it's consumer base.

All-in-all this thread should be locked... and any thread suggesting such a thing should be locked. If you want an updated pseudo-version of FFXI, then look to FFXIV... if not please stop suggesting something you know, will never happen because it is "INFEASIBLE".

[Wheels]

Nothing is infeasible, all they really need to do is release the game in ps3 format. I am almost 100% sure that most ps2 users have a ps3 or a pc or a 360. I even know people who no longer play cause they can't even find replacement hard drives or other items they need for ps2. Do yourself a favor and upgrade your gaming system. You will be much happier.

[Octaviane]

I do not have a pc or an xbox, nor do I plan on getting one. I do have a laptop, but it is for work purposes, not gaming. All you crybabies who have more money than sense need to realize that there are some of us who have larger priorities in life than buying/having/needing every system/game so you can be more of a couch potato than you already are, who whine because their account is suspended because they don't have the money on their CC to pay FFXI fees, those who have no jobs, can't pay bills, yet can still afford to buy and play games all day long, those whose parents foot all the bills, thanks, I will stick with my trusty PS2 until SE decides to stop support for it. Then what will happen is that you will all complain that xbox and pc's are holding back the game and so it will go on ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

[Wheels]

I do not have a pc or an xbox, nor do I plan on getting one. I do have a laptop, but it is for work purposes, not gaming. All you crybabies who have more money than sense need to realize that there are some of us who have larger priorities in life than buying/having/needing every system/game so you can be more of a couch potato than you already are, who whine because their account is suspended because they don't have the money on their CC to pay FFXI fees, those who have no jobs, can't pay bills, yet can still afford to buy and play games all day long, those whose parents foot all the bills, thanks, I will stick with my trusty PS2 until SE decides to stop support for it. Then what will happen is that you will all complain that xbox and pc's are holding back the game and so it will go on ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

I'm retired I served my country and raised my family so it's time to enjoy my remaining years.

[Twille]

I fully support dropping PS2.

[Zarchery]

Probably a Vanadiel where people didn't beat this dead horse every week.

[Starcade]

Nothing is infeasible, all they really need to do is release the game in ps3 format. I am almost 100% sure that most ps2 users have a ps3 or a pc or a 360. I even know people who no longer play cause they can't even find replacement hard drives or other items they need for ps2. Do yourself a favor and upgrade your gaming system. You will be much happier.

And people think I'm a sanctimonious prick.

Look, you may not have noticed, sir, but I would almost think that anyone who could upgrade, would.

It's clear that you want to leave the better number of players, especially in Japan, in the dust.

Facts are facts: Their preferred playerbase is Japanese, and it's largely PS2.

Issue -- settled.

[Starcade]

I do not have a pc or an xbox, nor do I plan on getting one. I do have a laptop, but it is for work purposes, not gaming. All you crybabies who have more money than sense need to realize that there are some of us who have larger priorities in life than buying/having/needing every system/game so you can be more of a couch potato than you already are, who whine because their account is suspended because they don't have the money on their CC to pay FFXI fees, those who have no jobs, can't pay bills, yet can still afford to buy and play games all day long, those whose parents foot all the bills, thanks, I will stick with my trusty PS2 until SE decides to stop support for it. Then what will happen is that you will all complain that xbox and pc's are holding back the game and so it will go on ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

It all comes back to the concept of the likes that they believe they are the only players entitled to play.

They don't want us around.

[Catsby]

All games eventually run their course--FFXI will be no exception. SE made the correct move in creating FFXIV in that you'll have a Final Fantasy game capable of so much more than SE was able to deliver with FFXI primarily due to the system constraints--(and please spare me w/ the ...oh but look at what happened to FFXIV)--we all know what happened with FFXIV but that's not the point of my post... anyway...
...any company deciding on dropping the support on a platform, which it was originally released for... (keep that in mind, FFXI was created for the PS2 and only later migrated over to the PC and XBOX360)... would be completely shutting out a significant chunk of it's consumer base.

All-in-all this thread should be locked... and any thread suggesting such a thing should be locked. If you want an updated pseudo-version of FFXI, then look to FFXIV... if not please stop suggesting something you know, will never happen because it is "INFEASIBLE".

It would be difficult to make this any more wrong. Many online services are thriving on old game sales. Droves of old MMOs are still going strong. FFXIV failed and might have taken FFXI down with it if SE didn't experiment with Microtransactions and a few pushes forward with their development.

You should have seen FFXIV in alpha and beta. FFXIV tried to be completely different FFXI and tried it in an oldschool way. There was so much missing and so much that development refused to change that it is really no wonder why it failed so damn hard. The days where you can cling to an idea or mechanic that you think is awesome or sneak it into game and call it done are long, Looong gone.

The community is partially to blame too. There is literally nothing stopping a PS2 user from moving to PC,xbox or ps3 besides their own stubbornness. They've had the better part of a decade to either upgrade their computer or get a newer console. No, it's not selfish or inconsiderate to expect them to either since the community as a whole benefits from a push to newer technology.

[xiozen]

There is literally nothing stopping a PS2 user from moving to PC,xbox or ps3 besides their own stubbornness. They've had the better part of a decade to either upgrade their computer or get a newer console. No, it's not selfish or inconsiderate to expect them to either since the community as a whole benefits from a push to newer technology.

This is a very very ignorant comment. You have no idea what the community's financial situation is...no one person possibly can... as such your point is completely lost and you should just stop posting... PERIOD. Anyone reading this type of comment can't possibly take you serious... and how dare you force your position onto others. As one person previously posted, he/she cannot afford to upgrade...end of story. So /palmface... I have no more patience to chastise you any further. THE END.

[Catsby]

This is a very very ignorant comment. You have no idea what the community's financial situation is...no one person possibly can... as such your point is completely lost and you should just stop posting... PERIOD. Anyone reading this type of comment can't possibly take you serious... and how dare you force your position onto others. As one person previously posted, he/she cannot afford to upgrade...end of story. So /palmface... I have no more patience to chastise you any further. THE END.

Yes, how dare I assume that members of the community work for money, buy new things and hope for pushes forward in the games they enjoy.

[Twille]

You have no idea what the community's financial situation is...

Right, but they manage to pay for a monthly subscription to FFXI as well as a monthly fee for their ISP.
If you're so financially destitute that you can't afford a $200 laptop to run FFXI, you need to rethink you're spending habits.

[Shadobi]

Well NINTENDO coming out with a new system. If possible the system is better then a standard PC or PS3/Xbox 360 they should really think of making a (FFXI-2) I would get it to upgrade this game which I enjoy. Add new features some general ideas... maybe crazy..

*Updated facial features that I can upgrade to as I play though the years.

*Characters have Capes on that can be seen....

*Quivers That can be seen on the back in arrows in them...

*A form of wagon or carriage take you from city to destination...maybe attacked from time to time.

*Other forms of "Saddle beast" then chocobo's some new option doesn't have to be fancy.

*Chocobo's that are raised by the player should not run off when dismounted, players should have a option to send them off magical to the stable or remain.

*Swimming and Climbing, Jumping... and can we possibly can we walk over pebbles this time...

*Region that are beastsmen controlled should be outlawed land making player versus player.

*Players caught Rmting or botting should have a wanted sign in let player hunt them and place them in Sandoria jail so I can "lol" all day at there faces...Ahem sorry lost myself there moving on.

*Corsairs or "players" should get there own ship >.> If they have the funds to maintain them.

*Naval battles and pirate attacks would be nice if I had my own ship ahem.. I mean players had there own ships...

*Mini-Region(zone) where players have there homes with grass or mountain or what ever option scene they choose.

Just a few ideas... but of course not everyone will agree.

[Catsby]

Bunch of stuff

Stop suggesting new and exciting things! We need to be more focused on stagnating and remaining insular.

[Shadobi]

Stop suggesting new and exciting things! We need to be more focused on stagnating and remaining insular.

Understood >.> sorry lost my mind there. I am back now though..

[Nephilipitou]

Look at God of War II for the PS2.

Same hardware... way way way more graphical and RAM intensive then FFXI...

They take away PS2 version you will see less ppl playing. And nothing more. You want that?

Oh I guess you'd then start blaming 360 for things...

That's a horribly flawed argument. I doubt there are that many people that are like "If I can't play FFXI in SD on my PS2 then I dont' want to play it at all!" so most of them will probably just get onto the PC version if they care that much.

What Square Enix really has to worry about is not getting enough new people because the game looks too stagnated, and has issues that they could fix, but would require PS2 to be dropped. Fact is, if they did Drop PS2 support they could redo the whole Interface and make the game feel and play not only differently, but better and more updated.

What will kill FFXI is the game being too dated to get enough new people to cancel out all the people leaving temporarily or permanently. While the PS2 userbase is substantial, it's not like it's cost prohibitive to play on PC. I mean imagine seeing cool down timers rather than highlighting a spell or ability. There are countless things they could do to make FFXI not only look more modern, but seem reinvigorated. Someone might give FFXI a chance if it looks like it's going strong, and a new UI makes it look strong.

The compromises we have to deal with from the PS2 just make it look dated and stagnated. Besides there is a valid argument to the content that they could give us without PS2. In fact, there are far less valid arguments to keep the PS2 than to ditch it. Most of the "keep it" argument are just people who don't like change, and I'd say 80 percent of them left because of Abyssea.

Besides, a second hand computer that can run the game at the same specs or better than the PS2 version is hardly anything. People that don't have a computer really can't argue very much on these boards as they aren't available on PS2 and so you kinda need a computer. FFXI costs 150 a year plus expansions give or take. To say that they can't afford a PC that low end, kinda means that they probably can't afford to be playing FFXI anyway. Their PS2 will fail eventually. Their hard drive on their PS2 will fail eventually. Every year the chance of failure for a hard drive increases about 10 percent or so. How much longer do most of those hard drives have left anyway? 1 year? 2 months? Some might last 5 years more years from now, but eventually they will all stop working and then what? They don't care because FFXI servers are shutting down, because they can't breathe enough life into the game, because of how hard it is to persuade people to spend their monthly fees of FFXI versus (insert competing MMO here)

[Wheels]

All i gotta say is, if you have no money to buy a pc or 360, then how are you posting on here? And if it's your workplace then you should be working harder instead of reading topics about a video game. Want more money work harder want less money stay at Burger King.

[Spero]

Why should I buy another system,when I have a computer, a ps3 and a ps2. I like playing ffxi on my 46 inch hi-def tv. If se would upgrade to the ps3 , it would be ok for them to do away with ps2 support. I'd have no complaint, but I can't see buying anothet console just to play a game I've played since 2004.

[Spero]

In my case, I have a computer,a ps3&ps2. I prefer to play ffxi on my hd tv, which is 46 inch. I will not buy another system to play ffxi on my tv. I prefer playing on a consol,so if se would upgrade ffxi to the ps3, I'd be happy with that. I will not buy another system just to play a game I've played since 2004.

[Catsby]

In my case, I have a computer,a ps3&ps2. I prefer to play ffxi on my hd tv, which is 46 inch. I will not buy another system to play ffxi on my tv. I prefer playing on a consol,so if se would upgrade ffxi to the ps3, I'd be happy with that. I will not buy another system just to play a game I've played since 2004.

Nobody is arguing that you should be forced to buy a specific platform. They are arguing that development for a specific platform (PS2) needs to end. I suppose that subsequently you would need to buy a new platform but the new platforms in question are generally PC,Xbox360 or a PC.

[Wheels]

Just an fyi, there is 30-42 inch hd monitors for pc. I currently play at 2560 x 1900. Also I am saying PS2 support really needs removed so the game can get a fresh rebuild and may attract people to return or purchase the game. Ps2 is like 20 years old. the way technology is today ps2 would be the atari 2600 of this era. I have no issues with 360, ps3 or pc users, why should we all suffer cause of people who want to hold back the future of FFXI.

[Cursed]

SOLUTION:
Open New Servers for NON-PS2 players - Migration
Keep current servers open as they currently exist, for 3 months.
Do a study on how many servers the PS2 players need.
Merge servers, eliminate old redundant servers.

1-Make separate forums for the PS2 players. Call it FFXI Gold community.
-1.5wait, these forums aren't great....scratch that.
2-Make separate forums for people who live in 2011 with 2011 technology. Let the PS2 players keep these forums.
3-Reskin as many zones as you want for PS2 players. Keep pumping that stuff out. They love it.
4-Give the rest of us an upgraded FFXI that looks as good as FFXIV and plays as well as FFXI.
4.5-]Then post screenshots of it on the PS2 gold Community forums.


Focus on the rest of us who play on PC/PS3.

Sony will love you SE, because no doubt if you have any FFXI fanbase left, they will see a rise in PS3 sales, which is something they could use at the moment since the entire hacking thing has cost them 100's of millions in losses.

SOLUTION PARY DEAUX (SPL CHECK)
1.Announce to all FFXIV players that the game has come to an end.
"it was fun y'all, sorry it sucked. don't forget to pick up a copy of versus, in 2020"
2.Announce to all FFXI players that their FFXI accounts, and all their character info, including gear and job levels, quests and mission progress, will be moved to FFXIV.
3.Change FFXI name to FFXIV-2
4. Press conference - invite me, I like free finger food.
5.Tell PS2 players they're not invited.
6. Have sage Sundi dress up as a PS2 (representing PS2 players) and give us all wooden katanas.
7. Throw a "who can break the PS2" competition.

[Spero]

If they do a rebuild of ffxi to eliminate ps2 then they should include ps3 in the rebuild. I think that would make most people happy and get a new player base.

[Tamarsamar]

Ps2 is like 20 years old.

Er, dude? I'm 20 years old. My first system was the SNES, and I remember the advent of the PlayStation quite vividly (yes, the just . . . PlayStation, the system that introduced me to the concepts of loading screens and memory cards . . . naturally, I hated it). Methinks you're exaggerating by about a decade here, give or take a few years.

[Wheels]

It was made in like 96-97, exaggerated alittle but still, there is better systems out there and if they can post on here then obviously they have access to a pc to play on. Dell even has pc starting at 300$ and they can run game better then ps2 and you never have to worry about memory issues with every update and the game can be revamped so it looks 100 times better.

[Yugl]

Er, dude? I'm 20 years old. My first system was the SNES, and I remember the advent of the PlayStation quite vividly (yes, the just . . . PlayStation, the system that introduced me to the concepts of loading screens and memory cards . . . naturally, I hated it). Methinks you're exaggerating by about a decade here, give or take a few years.

You have to understand how people like Wheels think: "I'm 15, that's almost 21!"

On that note, I'll only support the move to drop PS2 if it means dropping Galkas that used outdated swords and melee in full AF (Though I should be able to demand a lot more).

[Wheels]

Seriously guys wouldn't you like to see and hear actual things like /laugh actually laughs with a sound or /hurray they also shout something like hoo rah and spells or songs would actually look different and sound different, summons could have more of an intro like Ifrit could split the ground and rise from a flaming pit since there would be no more limitations.

[Arcon]

No one mentioned inventory space?

When people on /l said "Arcon PLD", I used to reply with "ok". These days I reply with "What are we doing? What's my subjob? What's our strategy? What is our party/alliance setup? What is my support? What are we fighting? Do I have to kite? Do I have to melee? Does the mob have spikes on? Is it weak to magic? Will I take lots of magic damage and if yes, which element? Will there be space to safely recover? Is time of an issue? When are we due to start? Do mobs cast Paralyze?"

Why am I asking all of this and more, and still end up fed up because I was missing some information? Because right now I can't even gear half my Paladin, so I have to be very selective. So many gear choices to consider for so many situations. I have to use a fresh toolbag for shihei beforehand, because I don't have the inventory space to use another one during the battle. I only have one inventory space (if any) and I need that to swap food, medicines and enchanted items (Reraise, Teleports, Movement Speed, etc.), which takes me ages too because I have to browse my satchel for ages. God forbid I wanna lot on an item, or some random junk drops to my inventory, so I have to keep passing everything as well.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

rather then excuses and add-ons.These were actualy not because of the PS2, but because SE was terminating FFXI support in favor of FFXIV and we all know how that went.
Do a study on how many servers the PS2 players need.A third party did a study that showed PS2 players less then 8% of the player base.

[Monkeynutz]

Without PS2 support the game would be almost exactly the same. They could begin to make some small changes that aren't currently possible, but what most people seem to be asking for is a completely overhauled game somewhere in the ballpark of a $30 million investment. Both the PC and 360 versions of the game are ports just barely tweaked beyond PS2 emulation. Even if all of the assets were redesigned to look as nice as FFXIV the game would run like sludge through a straw until they rewrote the graphics engine, which would be necessary for several of the lighting techniques to work at all anyway. As it happens SE is having trouble making FFXIV work on PS3, let alone the 360 and they have the luxury of developing it for those platforms in the first place (technically porting from PC, though I don't have any private knowledge of their PS3 development -- it could be ground up for all I know) so to retroactively pull an old game up to par with FFXIV is setting your sights a bit too high without considering all of the other obstacles (ie. time and money).

Additionally, if they set out tomorrow to do this when do you expect they'd actually finish? It would be a tremendous amount of work, likely spanning multiple years. The reason developers spend huge sums of time and money on developing content is in hopes people will pay for it (and in the case of MMOs continue to pay for it). By the time they finished PS4 will likely be around the corner and people will just be bitching about how outdated the newly redesigned FFXI looks compared to all the shiny new games. It would truly be an exercise in futility.

However, if they do drop PS2 support at some time in the near future, there are a few things they could reasonably do. The first and probably most significant thing would be to loosen inventory constraints dramatically (I'd say remove them, but that could get out of hand. It shouldn't be any problem to increase inventory size to a few hundred spaces or so, maybe 1,000 just to be sure that they're done with it). I'm not sure what considerations there are to 360 HDD sizes, as it is quite possible to have an even smaller HDD on the 360 than the PS2, but given that like PC users 360 users at least have the option of upgrading HDDs as they need them I'll assume none. In that case if the development team had the means and will they could make new, more traditional expansion content without worrying about how large the digital footprint becomes. Some amount of programming should be possible to remove the current 32MB cap on usable RAM for the game (an obvious relic from the PS2 origins) increasing performance and a slew of other things (like the previously mentioned inventory). Higher resolutions are already possible (on PC anyway) though SE hasn't officially added them, which just makes me think most of the enhancements that would require work to implement just wouldn't happen as PC options for higher resolution/ background resolution from the menu would be simple to add but haven't been.

The list of possibilities goes on, but really I don't see why people have this notion that if PS2 support is dropped SE is just going to go nuts and pour huge sums of time and money into FFXI. It's not as if they have nothing else going on.

[Apocalypse]

first of all its pretty sad when people only think for themselves and wanting to end ps2 support - ur not helping FFXI community and top of that FFXI is almost a decade old. and u want a entire revamped into a FFXI-2, are u willing to pay more than what ur paying for and now i say either quit FFXI or shut up and play as it is :p

[Tsukino_Kaji]

first of all its pretty sad when people only think for themselves and wanting to end ps2 support - ur not helping FFXI community and top of that FFXI is almost a decade old. and u want a entire revamped into a FFXI-2, are u willing to pay more than what ur paying for and now i say either quit FFXI or shut up and play as it is :pYou're wrong here. Most people are not thinking of themselves. They are thinking of the game as a whole. The PS2 support is not helping the FFXI community.

[Apocalypse]

so ur implying its ok to push PS2 user off and happen to be the main of playerbase / fanbase for this game, and lets not forget jp also is part this. and image how much will it cost SE to revamp whole thing to HD like FFXIV... so either keep as it is or end it cuz obviously SE isnt gonna kill PS2 anytime soon.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

They don't need to revamp anything, and PS2 players are the smallest minority playerbase.

[Romanova]

I wanted to post two misconceptions in this thread:

1. "this game is only going to last X more years"

Ultima Online is still active. EQ1 is still active. Hosting servers doesn't cost too much, and FFXI is far from being as small a population as some failed games (Warhammer comes to mind, and it's still going with only 6 servers). Saying this game will die anytime soon is a huge leap based off of contrary evidence towards older MMOs. (basically older mmos have shown companies will keep running them until the servers cost more than the subscriptions, which is rather small)

2. "SE only cares about their Japanese playerbase, and they are PS2 users"

This statement would have been true back in '05. Time has GREATLY changed since then. Unless you can actually read the Japanese forums (both here and elsewhere), stop spreading an outdated assumption. For a long time Japanese centered forums have had many demanding to stop ps2 support. Most of them have moved on at this point and no longer use the ps2 and have become pc users. (heck there's a big thing going on atm where a huge majority of SE MMOers moved to WoW because they are sick of SE's games, and there is finally enough addons for WoW for them to understand it).


Now, you can argue about whether or not they should get rid of it, idk either way. I just wanted to say using those two comments to support your statements are not really true.

[Tsukino_Kaji]

Ultima Online is still active. EQ1 is still active.You can hardly call that active. lol

[Romanova]

You can hardly call that active. lol

Then you know very little of what Sony has been doing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCoizs0wwTk

[Tsukino_Kaji]

Youtube is for people who can't use the internet, care to voice it yourself?

[Wheels]

The player base for ps2 is smaller then you think Apocalypse. They are at like 8% of the player base everyone but those 8% has upgraded. Get with the times and upgrade. As for games that are old and still online, look at Diablo 1 & 2 they are still active and the system is always being updated. Over the 2 week break from Japans flood and earthquake i reinstalled those to play them for something to do and found new armor and items that were not in there before. Nothing is impossible and the guy who said 30 million to revamp game, dude stop smoking crack.

[Romanova]

Youtube is for people who can't use the internet, care to voice it yourself?

Actually, zam does a really good job in that episode explaining it in the youtube video, and it's more likely you can't handle being wrong so are trying to delay responding, but here it goes:

Sony has been heavily active in keeping EQ updated. They have fully revamped the graphics, added quests, added classes, but most importantly:

They've created something called progression servers.

Basically, the server starts exactly the way the game was when it was first released in 1999 (you can see the comparison in graphics if you actually try the link). The server has to do certain objectives to slowly release later updates/expansions in the game.

Since I don't know if you ever actually played eq, imagine starting on a FFXI server where the cap is 50 and only the first six jobs are available. (Everyone has to start new characters too). Perhaps once X amount of people have managed to get caught up in the nation missions or something similar, then the cap gets extended to 60. (eventually zilart, extra jobs, et. al. would get added in the order they appeared).

Initially, they started with 1 server, but people couldn't get in because the server was always full, so they added a second, I've seen places where it's rumored a 3rd might get started (this is on top of 14 regular servers, again Warhammer only manages to have 6 atm for comparison).

Now am I saying it's popular? No. That never was that my statement.

Am I saying it's active? Absolutely, and if you want to counter that, you'd have a hard time convincing me a game where you have 1.developers actively making changes, 2. unique servers that are having to increase due to demand 3. insane graphical updates (seriously can't describe it, the youtube episode of zam does just fine) 3. Is big enough to be able to have 14 regular servers 4. is still able to survive as a pay to play; should be considered something I "could hardly call that active".

It is still active, and is older than ffxi by three years.

Going back to my original point, even Sony has stated they will not stop developing the game until it is no longer profitable, but it still is. Why would SE be any different? They are not developing games because they are "fun" they are developing them to keep making money. People want the game to be "dead" because they are frustrated/bored/feel it's old/ etc. etc. That is not how a company looks at it.

[ZeDingo]

Upgrading your system is the same thing S-E was asking of us to play FFXIV, so I don't think we're hypocritical in wanting FFXI players to upgrade. There's a few client-side mechanics problems (that cause 3rd party programs) that the PS2 is causing, such as macros and inventory. We can't have a single bag at 160 because the PS2 is somehow limited to 80.

[Yugl]

Upgrading your system is the same thing S-E was asking of us to play FFXIV, so I don't think we're hypocritical in wanting FFXI players to upgrade. There's a few client-side mechanics problems (that cause 3rd party programs) that the PS2 is causing, such as macros and inventory. We can't have a single bag at 160 because the PS2 is somehow limited to 80.

FFXIV is a different game. You upgrade your system before you buy it and invest YEARS in it.

[Retsujo]

FFXIV may be a different game, but I treated upgrading my PC for FFXIV the same way I did for FFXI when it first came out.

The technology is more advanced, but it's still the same concept. Every few years a game you want to play is coming out that requires specs higher than your current rig, so you do what you can to upgrade.

I'd like to see a dev's response to this matter, though I doubt PS2 support will ever come to light. The dev team is so small at this point.

[Catsby]

I'd like to see a dev's response to this matter, though I doubt PS2 support will ever come to light. The dev team is so small at this point.

not according to the credits I found. It was something like 150ish people. But then again the titles were generic and there were no credits for specific parts of the game.

[Starcade]

I'd like a source for that 8% number.

And, even if that were true, I'd like to know what percentage of JP players are PS2, by that same source.

The fact is, until a significant number of Japanese players no longer use PS2, PS2 support will continue, because Square-Enix shows open preference for the Japanese playerbase.

[thefinalrune]

I've been thinking and reading for a long time about the way the PS2 limits the game growth, and I am a big supporter of the idea of tossing it aside to allow for improvement. But, as of late I've come to the conclusion that it's simply not going to happen. The game itself is coded to fit PS2 tech. Real update to the graphics and capabilities of the game would likely require a complete rewriting of the game code.

I think of the DAT modders to make an example. All the 2D elements in the game are hard coded. That is, maps, visual effects, icons, etc. the flat things. These items cannot be HighDef'd unlike the textures used to wrap the game's polygons (land, armor, weapons, players, etc.). The coding for the 2D aspects is literally tied into the game's executable. Even if they did adjust the coding to allow for greater resolution there would still be the need to increase the polygon counts on players, mobs and environment to get increased visuals. Which would require a complete reworking of every single animation, armor piece and weapon in the game.

For the most part, every "new" thing the game has added has been in some way a rehash of some "old" thing. Very little truly originally new content exists outside of a few new mobs added in with an expansion.

Now, that's not to say I don't want new content. Even if its the same content we've already got (i.e. more rehash) I'd be okay with it. I just want more story. But, I don't really think the PS2 is actually preventing us from getting more story based content. I know there's technical limitations, but I think they just need some reworked thinking to get around the problems instead of alienating any percentage of the community.

[Wheels]

They really can not introduce another expansion due to the ps2. If a new expansion came out it would completely exceed the HD of the ps2 and lucky if you are even able to log in let alone get repeated errors of low memory. I would like to see this game go another 10 years but we all know it won't and the reason being is low population across servers except a chosen few, ps2 limiting the ability of a new expansion(not a rehash of old areas), I personally would like the access to the far east and many new mobs to fight and battle arenas(bc type). The coming update will probably give at most 3 months of enjoyment if lucky then back to old stuff til next update.

[Lanette]

FFXI could be given a new look and be the game they tried to make FFXIV into.......

[Dazusu]

There would be almost no JP players.

The End. (And the reason why this "Drop PS2 Support" idiocy needs to freaking stop. Square-Enix prefers the JP playerbase, and will cater to them as necessary.)

So long as it gets rid of you, i'll be happy.

[Lanette]

Well If SE expects to stay in the international market, they need to keep be able to communicate with all customers world wide. If SE is afraid of lousing its JP players as a result of moving away from PS2 then i see them as having a much bigger problem with their business model.

Other games upgrade graphic requirements and gave their game a new and exiting look that helped keep it going into the future. (You should know what game i'm talking about) I kinda felt like SE slapped us in the face when it announced FFXIV as being ANOTHER MMO. Yes it looked cool and and the videos were awesome. However as soon as I left the opening movie and was like....wtf am i doing reading mission and quest content. FFXI would be dead or dyeing faster if not for the disappointment that was FFXIV.

If we really want to be angry, I would say you PS2 people want us PC people to leave you behind because thats what happening. PC players are exploring other games given FFXI is stuck recycling content because your hardrive can't hold anymore. I give FFXI another 2 years....or until FFXIV is 1000 time better. Star Wars might even do it.

[thefinalrune]

I don't understand the obsession some players have with the game's graphics. Personally, I think FFXI still looks damn good for its age, especially if you tweak it right for PC. I don't see SE ever altering the graphics, its simply too much of an overhaul.

[Arcon]

I don't understand the obsession some players have with the game's graphics. Personally, I think FFXI still looks damn good for its age, especially if you tweak it right for PC. I don't see SE ever altering the graphics, its simply too much of an overhaul.

Same and I couldn't care less. I still side with dropping the PS2 support though, because there's so many gameplay related issues caused by the PS2 that easily make graphics the absolute least priority.

[Mezzopiano]

Even if they did drop PS2 support, what makes anyone think they would give this game a graphics update (which, as mentioned above, it doesn't even need)?

[Tsukino_Kaji]

Even if they did drop PS2 support, what makes anyone think they would give this game a graphics update (which, as mentioned above, it doesn't even need)?There would be no such update to graphics, nor would one be needed. Without PS2 support though, we'd be able to get increases in nearly every other aspect of the game.

[Mezzopiano]

So...taking out PS2 support would automatically fill the void of new content? Really, I don't get it.

[Retsujo]

"PS2 Limitations" has been SE's excuse for a few aspects, and also their reasoning behind not updating certain things. One good example is inventory space. I remember them saying that they could only increase inventory space in increments of 80 due to PS2 or something around those lines. It has something or another to do with PS2's internal memory, which is apparently incapable of dealing with too many things at once.

It wouldn't necessarily fill any voids, but it would open quite a few doors that can't be opened as of right now.

[Zindel]

Likewise the graphics for FFXI do require an update. It is nice for its age does not really cut it. For new players the game is in competition with newer games. For retaining players the game is likewise in competition with newer games. This includes graphics.

[Scuro]

Having started this madness of a post, I'll be jumping in now to give more of my opinion. The PS2 base has downsized drastically, this figure of 8% is the product of players getting tired of recycled content and want to see more of the world! The game storyline paints this beautiful world, that we can only stay in 2 continents of. Thats like going to Hawaii and having to only stay in you're hotel, that sucks! Which is how people are feeling when they leave this game, yes this game was developed for PS2.... Should it always stay that way? Should SAM and RDM be the most epic bad asses of all time? Should Sky and Sea be "THE" End game Content til the servers close? Hell no! If this game is going to keep on living, it needs to keep moving. The best defense is an offense, and that is what SE needs to do now.

Someone asked "What I want to know is how much of that 8% is JP".... wtf does it matter? The point is the % of JPs making the player base of PS2 was massive, and now its obviously not. You gotta think that this 8% PS2 playerbase is not just including JPs, so its obviously seen a MASSIVE downsize from what it was. Now when FFXIV launched, I was one of the first people to say "THIS IS BS! I've invested 6 years of my life to this game! To only have to be forced to a new game in order to enjoy the game's active community! Why in the hell did SE not have the foresight to make FFXI character's carry over to FFXIV!" The thing is, SE said from the beginning the point is they want you to play FFXI and FFXIV, they never wanted it to phase out, and unfortunatly because FFXIV is a failure, FFXI has gotten slow which makes its player base not want to play either. How do you fix this? You introduce new content of the world that is Vanadiel to the game! ToAU sized content! Now how can you do that? By dropping PS2! When people are saying "I don't see how PS2 gets in the way of new content?" Well you obviously haven't been keeping tabs on the DEV posts in this forum to people's fantastic ideas for this game being "PS2 Limitations" at this point its really just the generic answer you get from a college that denies you're application, or a bank that declines you're request for a loan. It's a heartless response that has no real thought into it other then to default to it as an answer

As it has been mentioned PC and Xbox isn't hard to buy these days, especially a PC, chances are if you are on this site, you are able to play FFXI on a PC. You're PC you have been using since 2000 or whatever could not possibly be alive by now, and if it is it probably isn't even good enough to play iTunes music on. By now (It is 2011) you must have updated in some form or fashion you're PC and anything by now can run FFXI (if you are so committed to the game). If PS2 is left to bring down this game, we will NOT see new content, and only see this refurbished content that we have seen since WotG! I mean hell someone mentioned that they want to play FFXI on their PS2 on their HD fancy ass tv.... for what! I can tell you right now the graphics you are putting out on a PS2 is completely wasting any potential of buying a nice HD TV. You would see the same graphics on a old ass non-HD tv of the same size for 5x less the price of what you payed for you're nice fancy TV (that would show PS3's sexy graphics).

Now with graphics, who cares, honestly would I wanna see FFXI look as sexy as FFXIV, sure I would! Yet is that really the necissary point we are trying to make here? No, if you wanted sexy graphics you obviously were not in the right frame of mind by picking up a game that was made in 2002. The game is just fine as it is, what the problem is is the story! We have SOOOOO MMMMMMUUUUCCCCCHHHHH to see! So much this game could be, if the graphics were maintained and the investment went into new storylines, new content, new locations, hell maybe even new jobs, new gear, new EVERYTHING! Who would need shiny new graphics (Although what I would ask is that the optimize the graphics so they don't lag a kick ass PC on a 6 year old game). Not every game with shiny graphics is a good game, it just looks pretty! People play this game for the fun community, the epic storylines, and the fun as hell game play, not so that they can see a game from 2002 try to compete with games like Crysis in graphics.... Thats just absurd. In short, get with the times guys, before you bury this game along with you when you're hard drive burns out, because that will eventually happen. And would you rather suck it up and fork over SOME cash for a low grade system that can play the game you love. Or to see the game you love DIE because you were too stubborn to help advance the game?

[Dazusu]

but FFXI is drawing to an end ... I don't think they're planning on FFXI surviving for more than 2-3 more years...

Considering it's their main source of income at the moment (according to official figures released for their last financial year), I would go as far as to say you're wrong.

People have been saying FFXI is coming to an end since WoTG was released; then the mini mission expansions; then Abyssea was the end of the world - but now there's no focal point, you just pull a length of time out of your ass, let's call it two or three more years.

Got it, oh master of business and planning.

But now for something with actual substance; I've read and heard Square Enix repeat this sentence over and over again: "While there are still people playing, we'll keep making content".

So long as you keep forking over money, I don't think there's any worry.

Take EQ1 for example, that's still running and now in its 11th year (and still getting expansion/content releases). Why would any sane person stop supporting something that's making them stupid amounts of money with little to no outlay. It's going to take many years before XIV starts making a profit. I'd bet that they're going to try keep FFXI as active as possible until it does start making profit. They'd be stupid not to.

[Babekeke]

The issue really isn't whether they should drop PS2 support, but rather, simply upgrade to PS3 support instead. I'd bet that a substantial number of the 'PS2' players are actually 'PS3 60GB' players, and those that aren't also own a PS3 that isn't backwards compatable. I personally know someone who played on PS2 until his PS2 broke, and not being able to afford a 60GB PS3, he bought a 2nd hand PS2. This then broke too but reluctant to continuously chase up 2nd hand out-of date consoles he went to the PS3 market. Unfortunately the 60GB model is in short supply, and highly sought after so he had to settle for a non-backwards compatable PS3. He had to leave the game until he eventually bought a laptop, and is now looking to come abck to ffxi on PC (due to ff14 being 'meh'). I wonder how many other cases there are like this, compared to the few PS2 only players that SE fights so hard to keep.

The ideal solution, of course, would be to upgrade to include PS3 AND PS2 for 6 months to a year, then finally drop PS2 and allow us to all enjoy a full auto-translate dictionary and fewer memory issues in all other areas etc.

This game isn't going to die for many years to come. FF14 had it's chance. We tried it, it was sub-par, we forgot about it.

[Windblade]

Oh no, not this again. Moderators, could you please flag this, lock and/or remove it before we get a bunch of PS2 hate posts. Thanks.

If you want censorship, why don't you move to Afghanistan and live with it.

[Windblade]

If they ever dropped PS2 I would demand a graphical update first thing. That's a Vana'diel I want to see in the future. But seriously the PS2 can't last for as long as FFXI... systems die eventually. Sony can't support the darn thing forever. So eventually they are going to have to make a choice. Drop PS2 or FFXI. It'd be a damn shame to drop FFXI without testing peoples will to play by making them jump to PC. Toss subscribers on PS2 a free PC download and see how it goes. And be all like, look, if you guys jump ship to the PC, we'll update this game to something better. It cannot hurt to try. I bet most if not all of the FFXI player base are packing computers that can run this game, and if they aren't then daaaaaamn I thought I had it rough.

I've actually held on to my subscription to FFXI beyond my frustration point with the whole mess....taking so long to level solo (I like fighting solo and don't want to have to join a party to get a million experience points in one day in Abyssea) and I'm sick and tired of being punished for being a loner in the game compared to some other players. I'm okay with occasional duos or trios, but I don't want to have to depend on them for fast experience gains.

So I'm hoping for a time when FFXI is no longer a money-maker as an online game. Then I'm hoping SE will make one final revamp to the whole game, making it more like a real offline Final Fantasy game where you can level fast, get all crafts to Lv.100. The game options should include a solo option to make everything solo-able if you want. And there should also be an option to have a party of NPCs which you can program with gambits... have your tank provoke every 30 seconds, have him programmed to cure himself when he hits yellow HP. Have your NPC WHM programmed to cure the tank when his HP hits orange, have your RDM programmed to keep enfeebles up, etc...

I'll miss the living online community of gamers, but honestly I'm so tired of depending on the availability, whims and limitations of other players when trying to get things accomplished in this game. Having spent nearly $2,000 since 2005 on subscription fees, plus the cost of the games and expansions themselves, I'd like to think SE would do this one last thing so we can continue playing after the game is no longer online. I just imagine that there are lots of people who never played it BECAUSE it was an online game. I didn't play it at first because of that very reason, but I have never regretted joining the game.

I've told people in my linkshells that I think experience gains should be doubled yet again, and crafting skill ups should be more frequent. People have replied: "No, that would make it too easy!" Yet those people never complain when experience yields are raised. I just point out: "Okay, then suggest SE makes gear you can equip that cuts your experience gains in half and use that to make YOUR game more difficult. I'm tired of spending my life trying to get things done in FFXI, and I'm nowhere near being through all the quests and missions, even after 390 days of play time, not to mention leveling crafts.

So there we go... I'm ready to take my game offline, just as soon as SE offers the option, even if it means I can't play online anymore.

[Dazusu]

even after 390 days of play time

390 days of played time after playing for 6 years? You sir are what is known as "casual", you're not meant to complete the game or get all the best gear. It's an MMO, not a single player game.

"Offline play" will never happen for technical reasons. It's good to dream, though.

[Windblade]

390 days of played time after playing for 6 years? You sir are what is known as "casual", you're not meant to complete the game or get all the best gear. It's an MMO, not a single player game.

"Offline play" will never happen for technical reasons. It's good to dream, though.

I put most of those hours in within one year's time, thank you. I have not played that much in the last few years. Plus there are lots of people who never log out of the game. In one year, I spent literally one third of the year playing, one third working, and I sacrificed sleep. I was not "casual" in that year.

As for going offline, interviews with the developers say that they have considered making it an offline game in the future, after it dies as an online game. I don't think they would have said if there were technical reasons to make it impossible.

[Dazusu]

Link me to these interviews, or anything surrounding them.

When SE decide to stop hosting this game, it's likely they will sell the rights to run it to the highest bidder and license it to them. If you think they're going to invest hundreds of thousands of man hours into writing a closed, and emulated server for offline play, and changing every last bit of math to support solo play, plus changing the story to be linear or at least followable by a single character, you're severely mistaken.

[Dazusu]

The issue really isn't whether they should drop PS2 support, but rather, simply upgrade to PS3 support instead.

Which is essentially dropping PS2 support. Way to shoot yourself in the foot.

[Zener]

There is literally nothing stopping a PS2 user from moving to PC,xbox or ps3 besides their own stubbornness. They've had the better part of a decade to either upgrade their computer or get a newer console. No, it's not selfish or inconsiderate to expect them to either since the community as a whole benefits from a push to newer technology.[/QUOTE]

I'm sorry, but I disagree. I still play on a PS2. I only play one day a week, if I have time. I have a fulltime job. I have obligations that do not allow me the luxury of just paying out the money to upgrade a PC to play a game. Nor do I have the extra funds needed to purchase other game console. I have a family to raise. A home to maintain. The expenses needed to keep working. Gaming is a luxury...not a necessity. I have maintained my PS2, even to the point of disassembling it and blowing out the dust drawn in by the ventilation system. If Square would make an affordable backwards compatible PS3 that does not cost a house payment, then I'll consider it. Until then, the PS2 is what I will be playing FFXI on.

[RAIST]

There is literally nothing stopping a PS2 user from moving to PC,xbox or ps3 besides their own stubbornness. They've had the better part of a decade to either upgrade their computer or get a newer console. No, it's not selfish or inconsiderate to expect them to either since the community as a whole benefits from a push to newer technology.

I'm sorry, but I disagree. I still play on a PS2. I only play one day a week, if I have time. I have a fulltime job. I have obligations that do not allow me the luxury of just paying out the money to upgrade a PC to play a game. Nor do I have the extra funds needed to purchase other game console. I have a family to raise. A home to maintain. The expenses needed to keep working. Gaming is a luxury...not a necessity. I have maintained my PS2, even to the point of disassembling it and blowing out the dust drawn in by the ventilation system. If Square would make an affordable backwards compatible PS3 that does not cost a house payment, then I'll consider it. Until then, the PS2 is what I will be playing FFXI on.

Huh? If you have a PC that needs to be upgraded to play FFXI.....you have bigger issues with that PC. Any system bought in the last 4 or 5 years should be able to play this game--worst case it might need a $50 ebay purchase if it runs off crappy on-board graphics. You can buy a new barebones system, or just a complete core (just hookup your old keyboard, mouse, monitor) for $200 or less with more than enough horsepower to play FFXI. Even the cheap $400 laptops will play it just fine--a friend of mine just bought one from Best Buy 2 weeks ago so he could play and it does just fine.

[Wheels]

This is where i state yet again, if you are posting on here then obviously you have a pc to play on, and if it's a work pc, DO YOUR JOB instead of typing on a forum. People complain "I can't buy a new pc, I can't do this I can't do that it cost too much". Last I checked places still offer layaway or atleast a credit purchase with payments as low as 20$.

[erevan]

[QUOTE=Scuro;80613]Alright guys lets get a list of people's post on what the world of Vanadiel would be if SE Dropped PS2. I'll start this off with:

Ok, I've been hearing alot about PS2 issues, but since my wife and I use PC's, both son's use Xbox, I am not at all clear on what the problem is with the PS2(other than that one update when users had to completely reload the game due to a glitch). Maybe this isn't the place to ask, but rather curious. We like the PC versions, works quite well for us, along with the Xbox, 1 is here, the other with other son.

[Wheels]

The issue we all have with ps2 is.
1 Can not do anymore expansions due to ps2 harddrive limitations that is why they are revamping old zones and adding new mobs.
2 Can not get more then 80 spaces in inventory due to ps2 limitations
3 All gear is rehashed but changed colors cause ps2 can't handle new gear looks
4 Graphics can not be boosted due to ps2 limitations(yet it's too late to redo graphics)

There are alot more reasons but atm this is what alot of us want more of.

[Arcon]

The issue we all have with ps2 is.
1 Can not do anymore expansions due to ps2 harddrive limitations that is why they are revamping old zones and adding new mobs.
2 Can not get more then 80 spaces in inventory due to ps2 limitations
3 All gear is rehashed but changed colors cause ps2 can't handle new gear looks
4 Graphics can not be boosted due to ps2 limitations(yet it's too late to redo graphics)

I'm not sure about 1, but 3 and 4 are not (entirely) correct. They just released a massive chunk of completely new looking gear with the Abyssea expansions, all requiring new models and textures. And graphics could still be boosted for other systems, it would cost them the same as it would do with the PS2 (probably even less). Since graphics are handled client side, the PS2 could still render it with old graphics, it wouldn't change the game at all. It would simply look better on other systems, something that's already happening with menus. The question is, whether SE will invest their time to do this, as this would actually require a massive rehaul.

About the zone thing, I'm not sure, were the Abyssea zones just differently rendered DATs? I thought they had their own DAT files, which were just as big as the normal zones, or am I mistaken? I think the HDD issue was download related, although if that's happening, chances are the zone thing won't be far off either way.

[Scuro]

While the gear now are new dats, the files had to be condensed just prior to the update, which is why there was that big PS2 hard drive issue before Abyssea's release. When SE found a way to squash some of its content, it gave it just enough wiggle room to give people a taste of what they wanted. Yet now, its not enough, it was fine for when it came, but even then it was treading the line. Now if SE does anything less then come out with a new expansion, there will be some serious outcry spanning the whole SE community in outrage over the lack of content. WotG was exciting because we all wanted to know what the past was like, and it conveniently fit with SE's schedule. Abyssea was treading the line with content, but new NMs, New battle system, new gear, I mean who wouldn't be excited, but now that is still all short term content. The community doesn't want rehashed zones and mobs and gear. We want to see the world that this game is built upon, and actually play a storyline as this game is widely known for. FFXI wasn't known particularly for its gear, and material things, but for the storyline that has enthralled its audience for years. Yet SE has forgotten that by providing us with content that is a ludology out look that game play is more important then storyline. Rather then their original outlook of narratology being the driving force behind the ludology of its games. SE, go back to what your good at, before we loose more people to frustrations.

[Rakam]

First of all, tab key fonction is out of memorie. I would like to be able to type <Abyssea "insert zone name here">. 200 save items name only!!! Im playing whit any ppl on any language i wish ppl understand me faster. PS2 FFXI version need to move to PS3 as soon as possible and i hope SE is already working on it.

[Wheels]

Arcon I could give you an extensive list of abyssea gear that is rehashed but i will list a few, pretty much entire whm gear is rehashed af 1 and relic af, blm af body is a mix of tidal talisman and the dinner jacket(more so dinner jacket) ninja afv3 is also rehashed gear the legs are the same as hachiryu haidatejust made plain black, body same as ninja chainmail just added some metal plates. the list can go on but if you look at all the gear from 2003- til now it all is in some way rehashed just change in color and 1-2 things added to give it some pizaz.

[Arcon]

Arcon I could give you an extensive list of abyssea gear that is rehashed [..]

Rehashing gear is an entirely different story though. Even if you just change a button on a shirt it would require a completely new DAT (well, technically not, but I doubt they read parts of DATs from different gear to assemble one piece). So, even if there's only a minor change, it would still require new storage space, the same amount as if it was completely different gear, which applies to almost all new gear from Abyssea (only exceptions might be Perle, Teal and Aurore set, since they're actually the same models, just a different color, that's comparably easy to achieve).

[Rhianu]

PS2 FFXI version need to move to PS3 as soon as possible and i hope SE is already working on it.
SE said a long time ago that porting FFXI over to the PS3 wasn't logistically feasible, which is why they made FFXIV instead.

Also, I've done some DAT modding in my time, and I would like to point out that even doing a simple color-swap would require a whole new DAT file. The reason SE re-hashes things isn't to save on storage space, but rather to save on development time and money.

[Habiki]

Right, but they manage to pay for a monthly subscription to FFXI as well as a monthly fee for their ISP.
If you're so financially destitute that you can't afford a $200 laptop to run FFXI, you need to rethink you're spending habits.

You do realize if they dropped the PS2 those 200 dollar laptops won't be able to play the game if they did a major graphical overhaul, you yourself might not even be able to play it. On top of that theres alot of younger kids that play the game and I doubt their parents would buy their child a new computer to continue playing a game that they probably spend all their free time on.

If they did decide to drop support expect more Server mergers and a much smaller community, which in turn would mean less funding for FFXI and less of a chance at ever seeing a new expansion. Truthfully it probably should have never been released for any consoles as they limit its capabilitys even if it came out for PS3 it would be limited in what they could do since its a console system as well.

All I've seen since this website was introduced is how most of the FFXI community is a bunch of crybabys constantly asking for new stufff everyday, while ignoring the problems the game actually has and in SE's eyes PS2 isn't one of them since it draws in alot of money, if you don't like the graphics go play 14 it will eventually get better.

[Arcon]

You do realize if they dropped the PS2 those 200 dollar laptops won't be able to play the game if they did a major graphical overhaul, you yourself might not even be able to play it.

First of all, those two things are completely seperate issues. Most people are asking SE to cancel PS2 support for plenty of other things than graphics. Secondly, just making better graphics available doesn't mean they have to force you to use them, they could just have both options available and people could choose what kinda graphics they wanna use.


On top of that theres alot of younger kids that play the game and I doubt their parents would buy their child a new computer to continue playing a game that they probably spend all their free time on.

There are? In my many years playing I only once met a guy who was 14 and that was it. I don't know any people under 18 who are playing this (I myself was 17 when I started and I was the youngest person I've known for a long time). And especially lately, since this game is very old and attracts less and less new people, I doubt the ones who join are as young as you make it out to be.


All I've seen since this website was introduced is how most of the FFXI community is a bunch of crybabys constantly asking for new stufff everyday, while ignoring the problems the game actually has and in SE's eyes PS2 isn't one of them since it draws in alot of money, if you don't like the graphics go play 14 it will eventually get better.

I can't really argue this argument objectively, but I am very sure the PS2 playerbase is very small these days. A few years ago it was 8% of the total playerbase, I would really love to see a new census on this.