Diablo 3 and Abyssea 2.0

With the Diablo 3 launch just around the corner, it's going to be interesting to see how many FFXI players hang up the gloves to switch over to it (if only for a little while).

Diablo 3 is a pretty huge title/franchise with a lot of market share, but I feel even new yet smaller games are becoming a big threat to FFXI. I personally don't think I'd ever "quit" ffxi indefinitely, but I'm likely going to go on a hiatus to play Diablo 3 for a little while, if for no other reason than the lack of meaningful content in FFXI right now. Most of us forum-goers have seen the thread titled, "The OFFICIAL 'I intend on Quitting, and here is why' Thread" - this is not one of those threads. This thread is more, "I love FFXI, I want to keep playing it, but I can only kill Qilin so many thousand times before it starts to get boring". For that reason, this thread is as much "Hey SE, remember boxed expansions? We love those and are willing to pay $ for them!".

I know FFXI's leadership has labeled Abyssea as a mistake (in that by the end of it, it allowed for such higher stats and game mechanic boosts that there wasn't any room left to grow), but it seems to me they should just look at making a second Abyssea, "Abyssea 2.0". All new items, new stuff to collect, etc - but include some meaningful story and cutscenes to keep it interesting. If they were creative, there could be a connection between the first Abyssea and the new, such that you would get certain benefits from having completed some of that content. I know there are a lot of people who are opposed to Abyssea, but I would estimate there are a majority more who did like it - and if there's any question, they should run an in-game poll like they did for the, "Do you play on a PS2" question that popped up a while back. Regardless of Abyssea 2.0, or some derivative, this game needs a major boxed expansion; including a new character or two, new zones, and a rich story line we can progress through and find some worthwhile loot - or else I feel people will really start to thin out like we've never seen before.


tldr; SE, we need a new boxed expansion!

Agreed! FFXI is dying, I doubt FFXIV is going to go anywhere. FFXI needs a complete revamp, new expansions, areas, epic storylines. I know grinding and repetition has always been FFXI's key elements but so has its story-telling compared to most of the other MMOs.

Making a new expansion would do nothing. Expansions rarely add new players, mostly they only serve to retain current ones. That doesn't change much without the game actually being marketed and promoted- And it's really hard to promote something so old. A full refresh of everything- graphics, polish of old and new content, general improvements, and then re-promoting the game to appeal to the people that are who we were when the game started all those years ago- might do the trick. The thing is, you'd have to convince SE's top brass that it would be a worthy investment. And that's honestly a pretty hard sell even though it could work.

I'm really tired of 'ffxi is dying!" threads. God dang, it's lasted 10 years! They should be proud it has gone on this long. Nothing lasts forever. Be happy you've enjoyed it for so long, instead of sinking into gloom over its supposedly imminent doom (Which I honestly don't see being all that soon- FFXI still has more servers and more players than a lot of MMOs that have existed to date)

Sadly for the "FFXI is dying, and ffxiv will suck" crowd, it's FFXIV that's being revamped- and they're doing everything they can to make it enticing. Maybe some of you naysayers should actually try it so you can give a fair opinion.

On the whole, I don't even like one more than the other, personally- What keeps me on it are a few things- mainly the more modern look-and-feel, more traditional MMO UI, and the content, while lacking in quantity, feels fresh and engaging. Its main issue right now is key gameplay conveniences that are still missing, e.g. delivery system, too many junk drops cluttering inventory, and the search and grouping functionality is cumbersome.

what keeps me attached to XI, besides my character i've invested so much time into, is the sheer amount of stuff you can do, the existence of a fun pvp system, however unpopular it may be, Stronger storyline characters that are developed well (The core storyline in XIV has yet to be significantly added to due to the new team having to spend their time fixing all the stuff that was broke by the first team). Also the presence of certain jobs that i'm not seeing as likely to come to XIV.

Both games have their pros and cons, and I'm sick of the fanboyism. I honestly wish they'd balance the resources spent on each- But I'm not going to crap all over one game or say they should axe one of them or expect them to be doomed to faliure.

All of this can very much come true, but unfortunately SE has not been willing to do what it takes to make it happen. They are simply sticking with the safe bet at this point, which is milking the game for all it's worth.

I've already opted to not renew my subscription this month for the first time in 8 years. I probably won't be gone too long and will renew to take care of some odds and ends and to see if I care to play any longer into the future. But the fact that I of all people have managed to say goodbye is a very bad sign for the state of the game. I'm sure things are great for every one but us lifers, but as I am finding out now perhaps I am not as "lifer" as I thought I was. I'm angry with the crafting changes. I'm angry with the continuous focus on temp fix battle content that screams "we devs give up trying". I'm angry with several decisions regarding level 99 items. I'm angry with their ideals and dropping of the ball because of those ideals. I'm mostly angry that to be the absolute best at anything it now requires ten times the time sink as ever before simply because they lack the man power to create timely content so they compensate by making us work like slaves.

So, you know, best of luck to everyone who's happy to eat what SE is feeding them. It's just not my kind of food any longer. So when I come back, if for good or not, may be tomorrow or weeks from now, I will simply forget everything that displeases me and focus on the goals I was chasing before I left. It'll be no different from pretending Alien Resurrection never existed to spare my sanity. Easy peasy.

In before Alh.... ah shit.

Just for you. <3

FFXI isn't dying, not yet anyway, with an MMO like it word of mouth is what gets fresh blood on it, so if you want to get new players convince your friends to join up.

the majority of you that keep saying that it's dying aren't willing to do that though are ya? hate to break it to you but if you want FFXI to stay around and get fresh new content(I mean the real stuff not the trickle as of late) then we need to get new players in the game ourselves. SE isn't going to invest in this game unless they see a surge of new blood.

they are giving us some nice new UI features on the windows version that kinda points to them wanting to get the players on the PC, perhaps they do, who knows, what I'm saying though is, if we want new blood, it is us the player base that will have to convince them to join at the moment, I for one would love to see SE invest in this game to give us a fresher look and feel and have the game last a lot longer, I put a lot of time and effort into this game and feel kinda sad that it might actually go to the way side. just my 2 cents, but hey I wanna see fresh blood.

you know I help new players because its kinda neat to see the same through their eyes, kinda like showing a kid something new

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Originally Posted by Alhanelem

Expansions rarely add new players, mostly they only serve to retain current ones.

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That's really all I'm asking for - thinking they have the marketing capacity to obtain new players is obviously beyond them. I'm clearly suggesting to try and at least keep those of us that are here.

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Originally Posted by wildsprite

FFXI isn't dying, not yet anyway,

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That's exactly what I'm saying, 'not yet' (where I mention, "I feel people will really start to thin out like we've never seen before. " in the OP) - implying, they haven't yet, but I predict they will (and like never before).

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Originally Posted by wildsprite

what I'm saying though is, if we want new blood, it is us the player base that will have to convince them to join at the moment,

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You couldn't be any more wrong. Most gamers are not marketers, they certainly can be indirectly (through word of mouth, social media, etc). However what most gamers are, are gamers - they login to whatever they want to play because they draw some amount of fun out of the content set by the creators, and don't get off on running a free awareness campaign for the company that created the game. Sure, many of us say to our RL buddy, "hey, you should come try out this game!" but the degree of effort in this context is an entirely different universe. Most of us do what Vold has posted, and look elsewhere for gaming kicks, it's much easier - we play games for fun, not work, right? It's like why planets and bubbles are round, they require the least amount of energy to exist.

While there are things in this game I would like to see more than a new Abyssea add on (Orcish Empire, Mithra Homeland, Far East, Tavnazia in Crystal War era), I wouldn't mind seeing three more Abyssea zones, and a set of storyline missions to accompany them.

When I actually started doing the Abyssea quests and beat Shinryu I thought the storyline was actually extremely creative and enjoyable, it in fact reminded me of the end of FFVIII, IX, and V in different ways.

Zones that could be fun to roll into a new Abyssea add on (imo) could include:
ANY Aht Urhgan area
Yuhtunga Jungle (with confluxes it wouldn't be so bad!!)
Ro'Meave
Sea
Sky
Sarutabaruta
Ronfaure
Gustaberg
Beastmen Strongholds, speaking of, is there a storyline explanation as to why the only beastmen we see in Abyssea are goblins?

Blizzard still promotes wow and it only came out one year after ffxi.

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Originally Posted by Vold

All of this can very much come true, but unfortunately SE has not been willing to do what it takes to make it happen. They are simply sticking with the safe bet at this point, which is milking the game for all it's worth.

I've already opted to not renew my subscription this month for the first time in 8 years. I probably won't be gone too long and will renew to take care of some odds and ends and to see if I care to play any longer into the future. But the fact that I of all people have managed to say goodbye is a very bad sign for the state of the game. I'm sure things are great for every one but us lifers, but as I am finding out now perhaps I am not as "lifer" as I thought I was. I'm angry with the crafting changes. I'm angry with the continuous focus on temp fix battle content that screams "we devs give up trying". I'm angry with several decisions regarding level 99 items. I'm angry with their ideals and dropping of the ball because of those ideals. I'm mostly angry that to be the absolute best at anything it now requires ten times the time sink as ever before simply because they lack the man power to create timely content so they compensate by making us work like slaves.

So, you know, best of luck to everyone who's happy to eat what SE is feeding them. It's just not my kind of food any longer. So when I come back, if for good or not, may be tomorrow or weeks from now, I will simply forget everything that displeases me and focus on the goals I was chasing before I left. It'll be no different from pretending Alien Resurrection never existed to spare my sanity. Easy peasy.

In before Alh.... ah shit.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vivivivi

When I actually started doing the Abyssea quests and beat Shinryu I thought the storyline was actually extremely creative and enjoyable, it in fact reminded me of the end of FFVIII, IX, and V in different ways.

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Oh you're right, well on FFVIII part. Didn't even think about that. Not so sure on IX, but I guess that's a matter of opinion too. Also, there's other beastmen besides goblins. There's also gigas. Though I completely agree with you. Abyssea was devoid of alot of beastmen tribes.