PS2 Devkits: Are the Devs still keeping an eye out for more machinery?

[peculiar]

On the positive side there will always be fans who continue to keep the games alive privately.

Even if Square shuts down XI, it will still exist to be playable. Same as XIV v1 is.

[Elexia]

On the positive side there will always be fans who continue to keep the games alive privately.

Even if Square shuts down XI, it will still exist to be playable. Same as XIV v1 is.

Biggest problem: a lot of them don't care for certain content so they don't even bother coding it. So realistically, you would need SE to release XI's source if you truly want it to be kept alive. In all reality the only reason they won't preserve XI is because of XIV. There's no way to get around that fact - if XIV wasn't their current baby, they'd have done everything to streamline or modernize XI because no company would get rid of a product or let it die if it prints as much money as XI did. Keeping it around wouldn't be a risk, they simply would have to dedicate the time and money to bringing XI "up to code" and they don't want to. Maybe once XIV continues it's trend and pushes most of its players away eventually they'll think about it. I mean, XI somehow manages to offers content and systems it's "sibling" XIV doesn't and seemingly can't based on recent interviews, so in all honesty, I think SE will have plans for XI, just not yet.

[peculiar]

Biggest problem: a lot of them don't care for certain content so they don't even bother coding it. So realistically, you would need SE to release XI's source if you truly want it to be kept alive. In all reality the only reason they won't preserve XI is because of XIV. There's no way to get around that fact - if XIV wasn't their current baby, they'd have done everything to streamline or modernize XI because no company would get rid of a product or let it die if it prints as much money as XI did. Keeping it around wouldn't be a risk, they simply would have to dedicate the time and money to bringing XI "up to code" and they don't want to. Maybe once XIV continues it's trend and pushes most of its players away eventually they'll think about it. I mean, XI somehow manages to offers content and systems it's "sibling" XIV doesn't and seemingly can't based on recent interviews, so in all honesty, I think SE will have plans for XI, just not yet.

Yes, if not for xiv xi would never of been allowed to get into the state it is, that is unquestionable. Money would of been allocated and it would of been pushed forward with enhanced graphics and whatever else it needed just as wow was. They also realize they are direct competition for each other so buffing xi when xiv has a cash shop is not something they really want to do.

Why is XIV more important to them now? Well it costs a lot more in upkeep than xi ever could, it's not even more popular in real terms than what xi was before it was left to stagnate. So what could it be... oh yes of course, it's because just like mobile games it's less of an mmo and more of a virtual shopping mall. All those hundreds of "optional items" or micro-transactions really make the difference in their profitability going forward.

The profits from a cosmetic that cost a few hundred dollars to make and that can be duplicated infinity is incredible, they started off cheap and are now pushing upto $20 each. This is the real reason xiv has the limelight and xi is being put into the cupboard.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...e-piece-outfit

Irregardless my hope is that Square wises up and sees that at this point in time they have milked as many xi players that would goto xiv as possible and instead of losing us as a customer base they properly support this game to keep us around. They don't need to upgrade the graphics, I know that will cause issues with xiv but they do need to treat their xi players with respect...or lose them. As I say, most of us that are still here are not going to transition and they need to realize that.

[Elexia]

I think people need to get over the whole "if FFXIV didn't exist" thing.

It's common sense and business practice - XI generated SE the most funds, of any project, continously. No company would shrug that off and would do whatever it takes to maintain that or even have it generate more. You seen the lengths they went to for XIV alone. Now...extrapolate that to a project already earning them over a billion+ yen.

The decison to re-build FFXI away from consoles and onto PC-only, would have needed to occur much earlier in the game's lifetime.

Incorrect - Moving a game to a new engine or even dedicated platform can come at any time it'd be viable to and possible to do - Meaning if XIV wasn't their forefront focus, it'd have a better chance because instead of dedicating the resources they are to a new mmo that requires much more allocation, it would go to a preexisting one. The only thing we personally don't know is if they started to revamp XI (think about all the core changes the past 4 years) but can't go about it due to various reasons.

The only reason FFXI existed in the first place, was that SE are constantly adding to the Final Fantasy series, always looking to add another Roman Numeral to the list, lol. So FFXIV was inevitable.

XI exists because they wanted to step into the MMO realm after being inspired by EverQuest - It makes no sense to say that a 2nd FF MMO was inevitable when they already took both main series into the MMO world (Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.) XIV could have been an offline title or even a new tactics title, for example.

So in all actuality, it's nothing to do with XIV as a game itself..it's the simple fact of the matter: What MMO would you dedicate resources to, especially given the circumstances? FFXI or FFXIV? Even DQX has slowed development a bit when XIV revved up (since Yoshida was the lead designer for it after all.) So think about that: If XIV hadn't come around, 2007-2010 could have been ample time to enhance and even port XI over, instead of wasting hundreds of millions on XIV 1.0, then later 2.0. That extra income wouldn't have gone to many other projects that wasn't already being developed or going to be developed because the MMO division (3?) doesn't work on offline titles.

[machini]

Stompa, the point is that they had the resources, in time, money, and programmers, to move XI from PS2 and PC to solely PC, and give it a graphical update, and an updated UI. They had years to do this, but instead of putting money back into XI, they shoved money into the bottomless pit that was XIV 1.0. And then, instead of just letting XIV die, they continued to neglect their other MMO, the one that actually was making them lots of money, and diverted even more money to a game that had already failed, in large part due to the fact that it wasn't XI 2.0, which was what the majority of players who played Squeenix MMOs wanted.

They made XI to ride the EQ bandwagon, and much like how EQ is still going strong nearly 16 years later, XI still exists. Unlike EQ, however, XI got abandoned and neglected and languished for years, all because WoW came out, and Squeenix wanted to jump on the WoW bandwagon with XIV. They just forgot that everyone who wanted to play WoW was already playing it, and everyone who wanted to play a Final Fantasy MMO was already on XI.

[Atomic_Skull]

I would love to know what goes through the mind of those people when they think about this. You know they do. They have their little round table meetings and discuss things. So FFXI comes up, and no one suggests that millions of dollars of profit every year is worth keeping around for a small investment? FFXI has given them so much money that they couldn't invest a bigger investment to keep it's profits around? "OOOOH MAN! We'd basically have to create a new game to facelift the graphics" So freakin do it. The work would be paid for in a freakin year or less from XI subs, just don't sit there and whine. Of course, many years have passed since that amazing decision to go with XIV instead.

Even today they aren't getting chump change for FFXI. I find it mind boggling that they are so willing to be rid of XI, given they are a company that struggles financially every year

I think it should be abundantly clear by now that Square Enix is a company that makes bad choices. Poor decision making like that is the reason they are struggling.