December 2022 FINAL FANTASY XI Digest

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pixela

No it goes to XIV operations, they are a combined service. All money paid into XI is paid into the XIV account system.

---

Dude just stop it already with the false BS. The fact is some of CBU3's income is going to FF16 and not either other FF game, because that's their primary project right now.

This whole argument is silly and pointless in the first place. It's like complaining that the money I spent to buy Final Fantasy III (that is VI in Japan) was used to fund the completion of FF7 which was on a diffrent platform. I hate Sony and therefore they screwed me over using my money to make something I"ll never buy!

IT'S JUST HOW A CORPORATION WORKS. They can spend their money however they see fit. All I'm telling you is that income is not allocated the way you think it is or want it to be. They simply do not individually decide, okay, these FFXI sub fees will be used to pay the FFXIV server costs, and these server transfer fees will be used to pay the XIV developers, etc. It simply does not work that way, no matter how much you want it to.

does it matter? I mean what is this argument about? it's lack of funds going into ffxi, you honestly think it's fair, how much they spend?

do you not want to see new zones? new mobs? just want to see the game given a fresh breath of life?

se do the best they can, but without a clear plan for the future, how to retain players, how do you keep them entertained?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sp1cyryan

You don't know how SE handles things internally so just stop it already.

---

Analhelm seems to know how everything is handled, despite never providing any kind of proof for it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Catmato

Analhelm seems to know how everything is handled, despite never providing any kind of proof for it.

---

I don't know everything, but the stuff i've said about Creative Business Unit 3 is all factual. Yoshida is its head, Yoshida is thus in charge on FFXI, FFXIV, and FFXVI, and possibly other projects, and I just have a good basic grasp on how corporations and business work. Basic economics, basic business and corporation concepts. The information about CBU3 and its projects is publicly available on Square Enix's website. And if you think this CBU3 thing is something im just making up, I mean, they have a logo, the name is prominently featured in the opening cutscene/trailer for FFXIV's Endwalker expansion.

It's worth noting that despite constantly referring to some financial report, Pixela has never linked to it or given any basis for his assertions, while I at least have my basic facts straight.

I will, by the way, report every post in which you deliberately change my username to be inappropriate.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stuzey

does it matter? I mean what is this argument about? it's lack of funds going into ffxi, you honestly think it's fair, how much they spend?

do you not want to see new zones? new mobs? just want to see the game given a fresh breath of life?

se do the best they can, but without a clear plan for the future, how to retain players, how do you keep them entertained?

---

I'd love to see new stuff. where'd you get the idea that I wouldn't want to?

Be realistic: Why would you or anyone expect SE to suddenly invest tons of money in a 20 year old game and give it tons of new content? It just isn't going to happen. There's no way anyone on the FFXI team or even anyone at CBU3 would be able to convince SE's investors that doing so would have a substantial impact on their business. Now, I don't have clairvoyance, I don't know what any specific person at SE is thinking. Maybe they might have plans for a remaster or something somewhere down the line. A "new" product can make new money. FFXI, even with major new content announced, is unlikely to make significant gains in its playerbase. Not even if FFXIV suddenly stopped existing tomorrow. But a "new" product, like a re-released remaster or something like that, where we can carry over our progress or something, might MAYBE be able to do that.

As for what the argument is about- I just spoke to refute Pixela's false notions that SE is specifically and explicitly "funding" FFXIV with FFXI money, that we're specifically paying for them to develop FFXI and not simply enrich SE's business as a whole. This comes from Pixela being heavily biased against FFXIV and being convinced that everything about FFXI's current state is entirely FFXIV's fault, so he wants to smear it as much as possible.

Games industry companies do not allocate income from one product specifically towards another (unless it's the only other product, perhaps). But all game projects fund all other ongoing and future projects. Pixela is trying to argue that literally every dollar we pay to play this game pays an FFXIV developer's salary and that FFXIV is the *only* thing those developers work on.

It simply is not how companies and corporations work. Money goes into a pot (Accounts receivable) and money is taken out of that pot (accounts payable) to finance its operations. You simply can not directly connect one dollar of income to another specific dollar of expenses. It just doesn't work that way, and Pixela lives in this fantasy land where it does.

I don't really want to spend forever discussing this but I can't abide false information being tossed around.

I am realistic, I see people coming back and then leaving again, It just feels like such a wasted opportunity, we all care about the game, we want it to go on for many years and it probably will, but it could be so much more

Quote:

---

I don't know everything, but the stuff i've said about Creative Business Unit 3 is all factual.

---

I've provided tons of evidence that XI was absorbed into XIV operations many times, you refute it no matter what becasue you think it somehow hurts XIV.

Dragonquest10 is also in BS3 and has zero connection with any of the other games, in any way. XI and XIV are merged, with XIV being the dominant product.

To put it into perspective, XI is to XIV what Tetramaster used to be to XI.

XI effectively just works as a few extra servers clamped onto XIV operationrs, everything XI does or achieves is counted towards XIV.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Catmato

Analhelm seems to know how everything is handled, despite never providing any kind of proof for it.

---

Hahahahahahahaha.

Whew—that is right. So don't stoop to that level either, lol.

https://i.imgur.com/GEsyYEY.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Alhanelem

It's worth noting that despite constantly referring to some financial report, Pixela has never linked to it or given any basis for his assertions, while I at least have my basic facts straight.

---

You haven't linked to anything either, yet you keep asserting what you say as true. Having a name in FFXIV's expansion credits doesn't mean it has anything to do with FFXI.

Quote:

---

I will, by the way, report every post in which you deliberately change my username to be inappropriate.

---

I honestly thought that's what your name was. I have mild dyslexia.

They just did a "Square Enix news!" and no mention at all about FFXI, yet the other MMO and games were mentioned :(

Is it possible to increase the maximum cap of Gallimaufry from 100k?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Catmato

I honestly thought that's what your name was

---

I'm really not sure about this, but I'll give you benefit of the doubt. I can assure you that SE would not allow me to use "anal" in a name, in fact that's why I use AlhanElem as opposed to the correct spelling AlhanAlem. Many games see the A word in there and won't let me use it. though some do.

Quote:

---

Having a name in FFXIV's expansion credits doesn't mean it has anything to do with FFXI.

---

I'm not sure what you're referring to here, I never claimed my name in the credits meant anything. If you're referring to Creative Business Unit 3, it is a wholly owned subsidary of Square-Enix, of which Naoki Yoshida is the head. He also happens to be executive producer and director for FFXIV, but the FFXI project is also controlled by CBU3 and the FFXI staff has to go through Yoshida to get development resources. That is why there's no separate listing in the financial report, but it has nothing to do with how income is distributed and spent, which is the issue at hand here. The facts im talking about are the basic facts about how corporations and businesses are run.

Pixela can wave numbers on a financial report around all he wants, but public financial reports are deliberately vague and can not tell him all the things he's trying to extrapolate from them. He also has yet to actually link to this financial report or any other sources for his claims. As for you, if there's something specific you want to demand proof of, I will endavor to provide it. But suffice it to say for now that Pixela's assertions run counter to how corporations budget their time and money. There is absolutely no way to prove that any given dollar of income from one project was directly spent on another. Money goes into one big pool and gets allocated to all projects as needed. They don't specifically assign dollars from one project to another.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sp1cyryan

Hahahahahahahaha.

Whew—that is right. So don't stoop to that level either, lol.

---

It's not right at all. I'm willing to go and dig up sources if someone's calling BS on me, and/or label hypotheses or conjecture as such. If you cast doubt on something that I'm specifically asserting as a fact, then say so and I will either find where I got that from or label it as what it is accordingly.

But as far as how monies are collected and distributed in a company, that's just basic accounting, not some Square-Enix specific insider info of mine.

No company goes, "oh, the income from product A will fund the development of product C, and the income from product B will fund the development of product D." Income is generally received into a company account or accounts ("Accounts Receivable"), and then dispersed from that account to cover expenses ("Accounts Payable"). Because income is collected and money is spent seperately, there is normally no way to identify any specific monies spent as having come from a specific source. It can be different for things like charitable foundations, because there are restrictions on how donation money can be spent. But normally, that's now how companies process income.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Stuzey

I am realistic, I see people coming back and then leaving again, It just feels like such a wasted opportunity, we all care about the game, we want it to go on for many years and it probably will, but it could be so much more

---

Coming and going happens with every game, not just FFXI. Yes, we all care about the game, but any big new thing has to be financially justified. Companies use what's called a cost-benefit analysis or CBA to determine if an idea is worth the effort and expense. And while some major new update may certainly bring some players back for longer, FFXI is still FFXI, it's not likely to bring in many new users that haven't played before, which makes it harder to justify the cost. Companies want to see growth, existing cancelled players resubbing isn't really growth. A remaster *could* grow the playerbase, but they seem to still feel that the cost of doing that wouldn't be justified by the income they'd gain.