Why do you think SE does not want to support XI?

[Sindaregion]

I have different thoughts on why SE doesn't want to FFXI.

This game is over twenty years old and was originally made for the PS2. I still remember the excitement of getting that big white box to start my journey into FFXI. FFXI doesn't have the visual excitement with "in your face" graphics that other games have, which is what younger people are attracted to. Another storyline has concluded. What more can be said about FFXI lore to have another storyline for the players to go through? Maybe SE feels that there isn't money to be made on FFXI?

My other thoughts are because this is a twenty-year-old game there is an established player base who continue to pay monthly fees. This is a steady income source for SE, so why "kill the Golden Goose"? My LS has returning players who reactivated their accounts and are catching up to play endgame content. I had to take a break from FFXI because of real-life obligations and returned to find that FFXI was better than when I left. My guess is that returning players also approve of these improvements.

I have enjoyed playing this game for almost twenty years. It has been a constant source of enjoyment and despite the hundreds of hours of gameplay that have been logged I still have content to complete. It's relaxing to log on and chat with your LS-mates and spend a few hours doing some endgame content. I have tried other MMOs but keep returning to FFXI. How bad could this twenty-year-old game be if with FFXIV and other MMOs available players are returning to FFXI?

[Sirmarki]

I have different thoughts on why SE doesn't want to FFXI.

Anything can be remade, we have seen it multiple times before.

However, there is one determining factor that is, well, the ultimate factor...

Cost.

20 years of content is a lot to remake, at a lot of expense.

[Gwydion]

I think all of SE's developers are working on FF7-rebirth, which appears to lots of extras from the original FF7 still intact. (Chocobo breeding, Gold Saucer mini-games, even some Weapons) ....SE has made a lot of mistakes in the past 2 years and sadly main-line Final Fantasy games haven't been the most self-sustaining strategy. I think this is why they made FF7 remake, they're out of ideas, and needed a new cash cow, to help with a course-correction.

I hope SE improves soon, because their pace of development has appeared to be slow or with quality that is of speculative value.

[Dragoy]

Another storyline has concluded. What more can be said about FFXI lore to have another storyline for the players to go through?

The Voracious Resurgence spoilers ahead:

The epilogue was riddled with sequel treats, me thinks.

Not that I believe they will get the funding to make it true, but I'm sure they have ideas, including, but not limited to some of the unexplored areas talked about in the lore already for ages past...

It has been a constant source of enjoyment and despite the hundreds of hours of gameplay that have been logged I still have content to complete.

Same. Almost 1378 days here, and I haven't been doing the AFK bazaaring thing either.

That being said, I usually don't really do things if I'm not playing with a friend, aside from some unfinished business, which somehow I still have a lot laying around.

As long as the charts tell the management that game is OK to keep alive, the developers will do what they can to make it so, or so I might bet.

[Fawkes]

Just curious what the XI playerbase thinks beyond "Budget."

I think it's just money. Would a new expansion recoup costs by drawing in enough new subscribers? Or would they spend a bunch making an expansion just to keep roughly the same amount of people playing and paying?

[Stompa]

"Ignorance of your culture is not considered cool."

I heard that quote at University in 1993 nineteen-ninety-three, and I'm using that quote today, towards SE.

While it is true that, as many ppl on this OF have pointed out, that the Final Fantasy FF series is, by definition, a series, and so nobody should cry or complain when SE moves on to the next number in the series, there is one major factor in FFXI that will never be replicated or repeated, even if SE produces another million FF titles in the series.

FFXI was the first game to bring together Squaresoft fans from around the world. We had all played FF 1 to FF 10, alone in our rooms around the world. Suddenly, FF11 arrived, and for the first time, all of the FF fans around the world were meeting together in a FF game.

FFXI was a celebration, a homecoming, the first contact.

This will never be replicated, or repeated, even if SE makes ten trillion more FF titles in the series. It was a "once in history moment."

Then you must consider that for 20+ years, this celebration has continued day-and-night. The cultural homecoming of FFXI was cemented by 20+ years of daily and nightly play, by Squaresoft fans in every corner of this planet.

That atmosphere, will never be repeated, because it was the first time all the FF kids around the world were able to meet in-game and party up.

Add to that, the fact that IMHO this game FFXI is the greatest actual computer-game in human history, in terms of playability, game mechanics, RPG atmosphere, customisability, augmentability, etc. I played my first computer-game in 1981, 42 years ago, and I have never played a computer-game that just played as smoothly and intuitively as FFXI plays. It is just a great great game, even if you ignore the monumental cultural factor of being the first time FF fans could play together.

I believe those two factors, the brilliance of FFXI as a playable game, and the sense of celebration, homecoming, and friendship, that exploded when all the FF fans got together after playing 1-10 FF titles alone, it is an atmosphere that permeates the world of Vana'diel. No other computer-game feels <This way.>

Recently, Devs said they got another 10 year server hardware upgrade, so it seems XI will be around for 10 years. The problem of XI being shackled to PS2 architecture, is an understandable issue, but also remember that "Lord Of The Rings" was shackled to paper-and-ink-print architecture, and yet because screenwriters and directors invested time and money into reading those long books and converting it to Film, a new generation of LOTR fans were born, and they went back and bought the original books after seeing the movies.

LOTR had a huge cultural following in the 20th Century, when it was restricted to paper-ink media only, but now it is in movies and computer games etc. It just comes down to the IP owners recognising the cultural value of their IP, and investing in keeping it alive for future generations.

[RichLester]

I think what we need is a huge area as large as Wajoam Woodlands or Meriphataud Mountains, which has an outposts like Abyssea where we do mini-quests & areas like Domain invasion where we kill mobs for higher rate of gallimaufry, exempler pts & capacity pts than normal. All sorts of drops appear (aug items, KIs, etc.) that would help us do all the upgrades we need. It's like a present for completing all the missions of all the expansions & add-ons.

[Bubolino]

I believe that this game still has a lot of potential. I don't know of another one that has such a good story, executed so well. I think FFXI would be perfect for a makeover with AI. Everything in this game is heavily text-based, and that's something AI can excel at. I just heard of some old JPRGs being voiced over by an AI.

[Haldarn]

The whole devs moving on to greener pastures and the game being 20yrs old holds ZERO weight when you consider that EQ, EQ2, Ultima, LotRO and WoW are all of a comparable age and are still continuing to be worthwhile investments for the games' producers.

I appreciate that some individuals don't want to work on old tech, but there are plenty that would, if given the opportunity.

FFXIV is the poster boy of the successful reboot and even now the teams involved are working to update graphics to the current gen and provide new types of content.

I strongly agree with the posters above who have said that S-E do not recognise the intrinsic value of the FFXI IP. They have only comparatively recently understood the intrinsic value of the FFVII IP, and its current development arguably exceeds both XV and XVI in accomplishment.

The fact is that S-E refuse to consider what they see as a gamble of investment in bringing FFXI into the modern day. They have no conviction of their own product, because the only staff that share our conviction are weak leaders. A parallel example of this could play out differently is how the Dragon Quest MMO was treated. There are ways to make persistent worlds attractive that don't just involve power creep, but no-one is working to conceive that.

My observation is that the reason for this is that S-E have lost nearly all individuals who have creative capability to make Final Fantasy games (I think the VII-R team are the current exception). I think this has been shown with the lack of innovation shown with FFXIV after Heavensward and very obviously with FFXV, FFXVI and nearly all of the FF-adjacent games across all platforms (especially mobile). I am not particularly knocking the technical skill of programmers and creative skill of artists and story-writers who have proven that they can produce games that appear to be at the AAA-level.

What FFXI is lacking is a leader with vision and drive. A leader who can put together a ten-year plan for the game, balance the financial expectation with the investment, and ensure that the risk wouldn't preclude further progress.

[Dragoy]

The whole devs moving on to greener pastures and the game being 20yrs old holds ZERO weight when you consider that EQ, EQ2, Ultima, LotRO and WoW are all of a comparable age and are still continuing to be worthwhile investments for the games' producers.

Were any of those titles designed and developed with the PlayStation 2 in mind though? ^^;

Had they moved to a more open platform on the side already ages past, perhaps things would be different. It is very difficult to imagine them to get the funding now, but would definitely be nice to see (perhaps if they open-sourced certain parts so the community could help for free... ha, yeah, probably getting towards the impossible territory).