What's With the No Future Expansion or Addons?

[Pofo]

As of recently, Sega had the balls to tell PS2/PC players of Phantasy Star Universe that they were no longer supporting those servers and shutting them down (Xbox servers will continue). SE needs to grow the same balls and just let go of the PS2, I'm sure one way or another all these PS2 players can come up with $200 to get a PC that will run the game just fine. If they drop PS2 support, they will lose some players, but I believe a majority of them will merely upgrade to a better console. As mentioned earlier, if they drop the PS2, they will lose some people, if they don't, they'll eventually lose everyone. I'm sure a majority of the player base feels the same every time we see a reskinned zone or recycled piece of equipment we want to kill a kitten. When i saw the most recent screenshots of Voidwatch, and I saw a Genie weskit reskinned with some feathers, a single tear fell from my eye.

P.s. 45 more pages to go.

[Zumi]

As of recently, Sega had the balls to tell PS2/PC players of Phantasy Star Universe that they were no longer supporting those servers and shutting them down (Xbox servers will continue). SE needs to grow the same balls and just let go of the PS2, I'm sure one way or another all these PS2 players can come up with $200 to get a PC that will run the game just fine. If they drop PS2 support, they will lose some players, but I believe a majority of them will merely upgrade to a better console. As mentioned earlier, if they drop the PS2, they will lose some people, if they don't, they'll eventually lose everyone. I'm sure a majority of the player base feels the same every time we see a reskinned zone or recycled piece of equipment we want to kill a kitten. When i saw the most recent screenshots of Voidwatch, and I saw a Genie weskit reskinned with some feathers, a single tear fell from my eye.

P.s. 45 more pages to go.

Your comparing Sega who wanted to shut down their game because they weren't making money off of it to square enix and FFXI. Microsoft provides their own servers for games. Its not really the same thing at all.

[Joslyn]

After reading everything being said there is one thing I haven't seen anyone ask or even think might be possible, When the HDD came out for ps2 Square and Sony contracted that as long as the game is still in service that they will not drop support, It might be a possibility that Squaresoft( yes to me it'll always be squaresoft) might have to support the system till they decide to shutdown the servers forever, Its just a thought that keeps crossing my mind. Oh and for Square to say it would be to hard to code the game for ps3, they need to call Ubisoft, Capcom, hell even there crew at Crystal Dynamics on how to code the game, Its not that they can't they just wont.

[Pofo]

Your comparing Sega who wanted to shut down their game because they weren't making money off of it to square enix and FFXI. Microsoft provides their own servers for games. Its not really the same thing at all.

Microsoft does not provide the 360 servers for PSU, and granted while PSU was a dying game, that's not what I'm pointing out here. I'm merely stating the fact that under certain circumstances, companies have to make hard choices like this. You can't please everyone, the fact remains that if this game stays on it's current track it's not going to last much longer without another expansion.

[Joslyn]

Microsoft does not provide the 360 servers for PSU, and granted while PSU was a dying game, that's not what I'm pointing out here. I'm merely stating the fact that under certain circumstances, companies have to make hard choices like this. You can't please everyone, the fact remains that if this game stays on it's current track it's not going to last much longer without another expansion.

or they could make a new exp and it would kill it, look at WoW, since cataclysm alot of the long time players left cause the game was no longer the way they remember it with the long grinding, raid parties they enjoyed, now they make the game for the more casual player and thats sending the longtime ones away.

[Seriha]

As long as the game is getting new content, it's technically being expanded. Demanding discs or boxes does not make this data any better or worse, it's merely a delivery medium. When you consider production, transportation, and all that jazz in today's economy, future updates remaining digital seems far more sensible and likely.

Meanwhile, all we've seen of the year plan is things that have pretty much been confirmed. The last thing SE wants to do is promise something, only to have to postpone it for whatever reason. Now and then you'll still see people grumbling about the Arena in Whitegate, for example, or how the new avatars panned out when were teased that they would play differently.

Personally, I have never been fond of how CoP, ToAU, and WotG progressed as partially finished products slowly bled out to us over time. It's still very much possible to portray a plot without an overarching banner, while at the same time still interconnecting various tidbits of the game world. Though, as I stated in the recent topic regarding Magian Trials and "holding back" on them, story is and should be secondary to actual content we interact with and control, and that will always be the case until decisions in telling tales affect outcomes in the long term. Sadly, that storytelling style is very risky, especially if leads to player segregation or imbalance in end rewards where a "wrong" choice is unknowingly made.

[Karbuncle]

As long as the game is getting new content, it's technically being expanded. Demanding discs or boxes does not make this data any better or worse, it's merely a delivery medium. When you consider production, transportation, and all that jazz in today's economy, future updates remaining digital seems far more sensible and likely.

Meanwhile, all we've seen of the year plan is things that have pretty much been confirmed. The last thing SE wants to do is promise something, only to have to postpone it for whatever reason. Now and then you'll still see people grumbling about the Arena in Whitegate, for example, or how the new avatars panned out when were teased that they would play differently.

Personally, I have never been fond of how CoP, ToAU, and WotG progressed as partially finished products slowly bled out to us over time. It's still very much possible to portray a plot without an overarching banner, while at the same time still interconnecting various tidbits of the game world. Though, as I stated in the recent topic regarding Magian Trials and "holding back" on them, story is and should be secondary to actual content we interact with and control, and that will always be the case until decisions in telling tales affect outcomes in the long term. Sadly, that storytelling style is very risky, especially if leads to player segregation or imbalance in end rewards where a "wrong" choice is unknowingly made.

Only touching on one aspect. One misconception, We're not "Demanding" anything, Demanding sounds like a forceful word. We're all expressing our interest in the idea of a completely new world to explore.

People are asking for a new Box expansion cause a Box-Expansion is the most likely source of us getting Brand-New Zones/etc To explore. Abyssea gave us new zones, But they were just rehashes of current zone.

Most people want Brand-new Areas to explore, Like the Southern Continent, Western, Far East, etc. We are far less likely (if its even possible?) to see those types of things without a CD.

If they offered us a Add-on Expansion that gave us access to the Mithra Homeworld, or the Far Eastern Continent, I'd Fking download it in a heartbeat.

Its just as it stands in FFXI, When people think of New Jobs, Brand-New Zones, a new experience, they think "Box Expansion", because so far Add-on Scenarios have been nothing but either Small Quests in existing zones, Or rehashes zones with a twist.

We all just want the possibility that some day, SOME DAY, we will be able to explore the Far east, Or Explore the Mithra Homeland. To take that long boat ride to a new world (like with ToAU) and feel the thrill of exploring completely unknown territory.

We of course will all be happy with new content, However we're trying to express our combined interest in seeing more of our Precious Vana'Diel. and that we are willing to pay Box-price (~30/50$) to get it, instead of the ~10 our Mini-add-ons have costed.

It doesn't necessarily need new jobs, It was just something suggested, Since im 99% sure Every Box expansion has offered new jobs (Except CoP...)

Edit: Fixed some spelling errors, I swear to god my Keyboard screws with me :|

[Gwynplaine]

As long as the game is getting new content, it's technically being expanded. Demanding discs or boxes does not make this data any better or worse, it's merely a delivery medium. When you consider production, transportation, and all that jazz in today's economy, future updates remaining digital seems far more sensible and likely.

It's not that. I'm all for quality and fun over quantity. It's that every new development cycle is like a massive tease with Lucy setting up the phantom football for us to kick. "Someeeee dayyyyy there will be all this cool unknown stuff to see in foreign lands!" the game keeps telling us. And then doesn't put out. So like either they need to just stop referencing stuff like that or do it. Cockteasing is lame.

And I swear to god all this new gross Voidwatch gear looks like it will probably reference those same things. I can see it now: "tailored in the far west with the frumpiest of bland white fabric is the Foofoo gown". Yeah whatever. Cold comfort is what that is Square. Cold comfort.

[Seriha]

I'm just wondering what you actually expect, though? Environmentally, the game encompasses a wide variety of habitats ranging from plains, to swamps, to jungles, to deserts, to floating islands linked by little portals. I can understand being angry over reskins akin to [S] zones and Abyssea, but a zone is only as useful as players find it, and very rarely that long-term application actually involves a story. Instead, people flock to easy EXP, good loot, and I guess an okay place to grind out trials.

But let's say they did churn out the Mithran homeland. Okay, we see a few more male mithra, maybe learn a bit more about the culture, and then get exposed to some kind of threat or political situation via associated quests/missions. We'll have that new car smell for a bit, romping around and figuring out various this and thats while avoiding the next equivalent to soulflayers that'll be in the most inconvenient places possible. After? It's back to the treadmill, and this is where I reiterate the "where" of what players do doesn't matter as much as what they're getting from it. Meanwhile, I see plenty of currently existing zones often considered useless and vacant, a problem one might say SE recognizes with the pending adjustments to some older content, mob redistribution, and so on. I would expect quests to follow, as they often do with each update.

[Gwynplaine]

I don't advocate egalitarianism. I don't care if some zones/gear/content is better and less useless than others. Mucking out to freaking Dangruf Wadi because some whiney snot thinks its unfair that some zones are less used is just lame. I want something new to see and new places to do it in, that's the point. I don't know about you but I done played out that there FFXI game. Voidwatch could be fun and interesting, but so far it looks like the thrown bone among a bunch of remaking.