Letter to SE Development Team: Tanka I hope you read this

[Scuro]

And a really bad business move.

I don't understand how its a "Bad Business Move" lol, it was a bad business move for them to take a game that players have been dedicated to for a decade, and make a whole new game that has virtually no carry over from its predecessor. It was a bad business move for them to try and start two MMORPGs at the same time (which any business major can tell you, you never want to create competition amongst your own products, cuz its a gamble of a suicide business model if the new product can't effectively phase out the old product). It was a bad business move for them to try and develop both games simultaneously, it was a bad business move for them to release FFXIV before it was finished. It was a bad business move for them to not plan more content for FFXI after Abyssea content.

I mean hell, if you think the idea of having 11 integrated into 14 is a "Bad Business Move"... than just where the f*ck have you been after they announced fairly recently that they were going to practically REMAKE FFXIV, which, if you have been reading... IS A BAD BUSINESS MOVE! So I'm pretty sure doing what will guarantee subscribers, wouldn't be as bad of a move as all the other problems that both games are having to suffer from incompetent game developers. I can tell you right now, if I could play a tailless galka BLU in FFXIV, I would buy a new rig and rock the sh*t out of FFXIV in a heart beat! And wouldn't be planning on unsubscribing after the announcements of Vanafest if nothing new is coming out for FFXI.

The bad business model here is that they are forcibly removing their dedicated audience that has played FFXI for a decade, for an audience that bounces from MMORPG to the newest MMORPG. Why get rid of the people paying your bills for years, for that one night stand? SE has adequately taken an oversized s**t on its own dinner table for doing this to be entirely honest.

P.S
CoP's was a great story line don't get me wrong, and it layed much of the foundation for this game to expand to some great areas and great game mechanics, but honestly, there was no greater boom in player population for all worlds across the board than ToAU. Thats indisputable and proven by statistical fact! I mean hell, take it from someone that has been playing this game since N.A. release back when all there was was the game, RotZ and CoP expansions, the game got HUGE when ToAU was announced.

[FrankReynolds]

P.S
CoP's was a great story line don't get me wrong, and it layed much of the foundation for this game to expand to some great areas and great game mechanics, but honestly, there was no greater boom in player population for all worlds across the board than ToAU. Thats indisputable and proven by statistical fact! I mean hell, take it from someone that has been playing this game since N.A. release back when all there was was the game, RotZ and CoP expansions, the game got HUGE when ToAU was announced.

Splitting hairs here sorta, but ToAU was also timed with the release of the XBOX 360 version, and they gave away millions of free 360 beta discs in gaming magazines to prime that launch. They then allowed people to transfer their beta characters to the live servers. That was probably more of a factor than ToAU release in the increase in players.

[Dazusu]

I don't understand how its a "Bad Business Move" lol

There was so much mad in your post it made my eyes stream with joy. Thanks for the morning lift.

Of course it's a bad business move - because it alienates people who disliked FFXI, or associates XIV with the stigma of 'grind' attached to XI (not that XIV is less grindy, but it's not the image you want to perpetuate during a mostly casual gaming era to new clients). Let's say FFXI has 300K subscribers - you're saying SE should settle for that and create a cloned/updated FFXI, and not try draw in new customers when spending years developing a new game? That's a pretty delusional idea. (I feel I should mention that if they made an FFXI-2, I'd be all over it like a rash - but it just makes no sense)

If games companies went along that train of thought there would be zero forward progress in gaming. We'd now be playing PONG 3D.

It's a new game, new storyline, new characters. It's a fresh start, a chance to draw in new customers. Why on earth would a game that's 3 numerical iterations and two gaming generations the successor of XI be based on it? It makes no logical sense.

If you think anything is 'guaranteed' when it comes to subscription MMOs you are very much mistaken. Don't you keep up with the amount of threads on this very forum which scream "If you don't fix this, I'm quitting."? People make snap decisions and minds can change like the wind.

I'd assume that XIV has less subscribers than XI; and as a lot of people point out on this forum (this is not my opinion, but that of others) that most XI subscribers are still here due to loyalty and friends or nostalgia/habit/addiction. The fact that XIV was made with today's technology advances in rendering, system power and development speed but now fails to attract new or old gamers shows it needed a kick up the ass. Whether that comes in the form of redevelopment, or closing down, something had to be done to attract gamers.

Somehow I doubt that attracting the dwindling FFXI population and being content with just that, was an option.

By your reckoning, NCSOft shouldn't have multiple MMO's out at the same time (as they do now), nor should SONY. Yet they both do - and they both do it well.

I completely agree that we need a new expansion, or some epic content - a new continent (not rehashed zones and monsters). Vanafest is going to be make or break for myself. A rehash of Nyzul, Salvage, Einherjar, Dynamis and Limbus is all well and good - but the development team stretching it out over 2-4 years is taking the proverbial piss.

[FrankReynolds]

The problem isn't that they operate 2 MMOs (they actually have a third coming this year). There are plenty of other companies that do that. The problem is that they made another FF MMO, Expecting everyone to jump from here to there without doing anything to tie the two games together. Then they came out and publicly stated that the people who were paying for this game were getting a smaller development staff, and support staff because of it, while not lowering the price for this game, or listening to any feedback on the other. This is of course completely ignoring the myriad of other problems with FFXIV.

<customer> hey, thanks for the free beta trial, but there are major problems here. Can you fix this?

<SE> No, just pay us. Our game is perfect. You no understand.

<customer> wow, I spent like $1200 bucks on a rig to play this garbage heap, and now you want monthly fees too? Never mind, I think I'll just take this sour taste you left in my mouth and spread it all over the internet. Good luck with your MMO.

[Dazusu]

Expecting everyone to jump from here to there without doing anything to tie the two games together. Then they came out and publicly stated that the people who were paying for this game were getting a smaller development staff

Square actually publicly said in interviews (Which are still available on the net) that FFXIV wasn't meant to be a replacement for XI, and at most they thought some people would choose to play both, some would choose to stay on XI, and some would choose to move to XIV - and that they were aiming for a whole new audience.

Granted they failed on almost every point - but that was their intention.

[FrankReynolds]

Square actually publicly said in interviews (Which are still available on the net) that FFXIV wasn't meant to be a replacement for XI, and at most they thought some people would choose to play both, some would choose to stay on XI, and some would choose to move to XIV - and that they were aiming for a whole new audience.

Granted they failed on almost every point - but that was their intention.

They just flat out lied.

[Monchat]

there was a poll about 1 year ago on FF14 about that; only like 15% of XIV players had played XI before, which surprised me a lot. SE said they were surpirsed there were that many ( ithink 15% is not a lot lol).

[Scuro]

There was so much mad in your post it made my eyes stream with joy. Thanks for the morning lift.

Of course it's a bad business move - because it alienates people who disliked FFXI, or associates XIV with the stigma of 'grind' attached to XI (not that XIV is less grindy, but it's not the image you want to perpetuate during a mostly casual gaming era to new clients). Let's say FFXI has 300K subscribers - you're saying SE should settle for that and create a cloned/updated FFXI, and not try draw in new customers when spending years developing a new game? That's a pretty delusional idea. (I feel I should mention that if they made an FFXI-2, I'd be all over it like a rash - but it just makes no sense)

It's a new game, new storyline, new characters. It's a fresh start, a chance to draw in new customers. Why on earth would a game that's 3 numerical iterations and two gaming generations the successor of XI be based on it? It makes no logical sense....

Somehow I doubt that attracting the dwindling FFXI population and being content with just that, was an option...

By your reckoning, NCSOft shouldn't have multiple MMO's out at the same time (as they do now), nor should SONY. Yet they both do - and they both do it well....

1. A new game of the same content or an extended universe of content, draws new audience no matter what, Call of Duty, Halo, etc. Doesn't matter, anything that is more and is eye catching, is going to bring new people.

2. It can be all new, but it can also pay some respect to the audience that has dedicated a very long time into this game, as a sort of side perk. Instead of entirely alienating them and offering up this crap of a game as a forced alternative, by giving nothing new on FFXI, and pretty much endorsing the hell out of a shinny turd.

3. FFXI community wouldn't have been a dwindling one in FFXIV, if it made FFXIV a Version 2 of FFXI. (This meaning, keep the FFXIV game the way it is, but allow us to transfer over our characters and their respectful jobs)

4. you comparing guild wars and crap games like that that literally had a 3-5 year strong run (which even at its best didn't rival FFXI) VS a game that had at least a solid 8 year run.... discussion over.

[FrankReynolds]

there was a poll about 1 year ago on FF14 about that; only like 15% of XIV players had played XI before, which surprised me a lot. SE said they were surpirsed there were that many ( ithink 15% is not a lot lol).

I suspect that most of the players who came from XI quit almost immediately. The 10-15 people that I know in RL / from in game all quit within a few months. Only 1 or 2 came back to ffxi ; ;.