Casual FFXI

[Rezeak]

Look honestly the way forward for FFXI is to meet the wants of the casual players.

Why ?

Before SE had expansions to keep casual players busy as they explored, discovered and leveled other jobs and completed the story based quests over time.

While the hardcore players would go to sea/sky/dyna/HNM and use there extra time to gain sort after gear.

Now the we're in a declining FFXI and new content which is added should be aimed at both groups not 1 (since it's limited how much SE can add)

The perfect example of this is abyssea

While a casual player could easily get 1 or 2 sets of gear for a job w/ an emperyan a hardcore player/s could do this for multiple jobs

Now we're moving on to VW and WoE

For hardcore players that can play everyday it kinda works the time sinks are still huge but it works for those that want the best of the best.
But for the casual player it's impossible for them (there is really no way a casual player is gonna spend month of a 95 woe weapon or years on 95 emperyan weapon) and the drops arn't that good to justify the time put in.

Anyway i guess what i'm asking for is that SE doesn't exclude casual players from certain event by make the rewards suck or need a huge amount of time to get so that FFXI can last longer with more people.

Btw imo the difference between casual and hardcore player imo should be this

A Hardcore player will have 5-10 jobs perfectly geared with multiple empyrean and maybe a relic or mythic on there favorite job

A Casual player will have 1 perfectly geared job with an emperyan and say 6-7 decently geared jobs.

[Krashport]

Most casual games have similar basic features:

Extremely simple gameplay, like a puzzle game that can be played entirely using a one-button mouse or cellphone keypad
Allowing gameplay in short bursts, during work breaks or, in the case of portable and cell phone games, on public transportation
The ability to quickly reach a final stage, or continuous play with no need to save the game
Some variant on a "try before you buy" business model or an advertising-based model

The word "casual" indicates that the games are produced for the casual consumer, who comes across the game and can get into gameplay almost immediately. Every month, an estimated 200 million consumers play casual games online, many of whom do not normally regard themselves as gamers, or fans of video games.

Casual games are usually free on-line or free to download and try (but may provide a revenue by in-game advertising). Commercial studios create downloadable games, primarily available on the PC. These games are typically addictive and are limited trials to encourage casual gamers to buy a permanent "deluxe" version for a small price (typically $20 or less). They usually have more intensive graphics and sound. Recently, 100% free "full licensed versions" of casual games have become available through advertising.

Indie game developers often create free games for online play. These games have a wide range of gameplay styles, can be played on almost any computer, and are often written to be played from within a web browser, using Flash, or Shockwave. They are more limited in the scope of action, graphics and sound than downloadable games since they are played through the browser. However, many of these developers have pushed the technological envelope in what is possible through the browser – often creating full 3D games, 2 player capabilities, save games and other advanced features.

FF11 is doomed... well maybe it'll go free to play like FF14!

Why not play Final Fantasy 11 casually and take it for what it is...

[Atomic_Skull]

Casual players are less likely to play long term than hardcore players.

[Vold]

Out of all of my friends in this game(dozens), right now every single one of them have basically quit except one. Those that quit I would call casual players. Some took it more seriously than others but at the end of the day they did not slave away at end game so I can not call them hardcore. At best, casual hardcore. Now, explain to me the logic behind catering to casual players all the time? We see how voidwatch turned out. It doesn't work. It's loot system is absolutely designed to appease casual gamers. There are plenty of linkshells that still exist with players who want to treat their MMOs like MMOs. It makes no logical or financial sense to cater to the solo player/low man group 100% of the time and give the middle finger to the hardcore gamer.

And for the record, the average casual player is never going to own an Empyrean and they darn sure will not have 6-7 jobs leveled to cap. You overestimate the casual gamer.

Finally, people need to get used to the idea where some content is simply out of your reach if you refuse to do what it takes to attain it. Those of us who's been around for years know this already. This is true in every MMO. What you are asking is for stuff to be handed to you on a silver platter. FFXI cannot afford to do that beyond transitional add ons like Abyssea that cost extra dollars. We're level 95 now. Casual players have an entire games worth of end game content that they were locked out of for years. Plenty of that gear and content is still relevant. Hardcores have Voidwatch, and to some extent Abyssea, but it's mostly just Voidwatch. Casuals - entire game. Hardcores - Voidwatch. Casuals - entire game. Hardcores - Voidwatch. Casuals - entire game. Hardcores - Voidwatch.

So, yeah. This thread is really about the weapon upgrades to 95. You didn't really think you were going to have a free ride all the way to 99, did you? After all that fuss about their damage and relics/mythics costing so much more time etc. So your weapon is stuck at 90. Big deal. It'll still be #3 behind the 95 and 99 versions. And #3 is like 0-100 fold better than #4 depending on the weapon type and it's relic counter part. You'll live.

[cidbahamut]

Since when do casual players participate in endgame content?

[Ryce]

Casual FFXI player here. I have to agree with Vold. I've been playing since the NA release. Went to Sky for the first time earlier this year. Went to Dyna for the first time after the update. There is a TON of content that is simply out of reach for the casual player, and that's a good thing. It has kept me interested for a long time. I /drool over these pimped out players and think that maybe one day I'll have the schedule and linkshell to get some of that stuff myself.

With the level cap increase and eased restrictions in older content, I can finally go back and play that content that I always wanted to be a part of. Yeah, the gear is no longer the cream of the crop, but it was still awesome to get the killshot on Kirin my first time up in sky. I still love my lvl 50 Soboro. The CoP cutscenes are still just as good.

I hope there is some new content for me to check out in the future, but I still have a lot of catching up to do. I'm just starting the first Abyssea stage of my first Emp. I'm close to finishing +2 sets on my 2 favorite jobs. There's still a lot of game to be played. I'd rather SE give some challenging content to the "hardcore" players so they will stick around to help out us casuals.

[Hayward]

People really need to get out of this mentality that game content needs to be out of reach of the "commoners" to be a good game. How far does that go before too many gamers just up and quit in frustration? The CoP era should have been the first and last lesson for S-E on catering too much toward the so-called hardcore players. Sadly, Aht Urghan proved they learned little about drawing and maintaining a casual base (see: Salvage, Mythic Weapons, etc.).

After so many years, S-E got it nearly perfect with Abyssea and now they're content to just throw that away in favor of pandering to a small constituency that couldn't care less about the overall game so long as they can feel superior to everyone else--in a video game.

[Insaniac]

There is a middle ground between .5% drop rates on unsharable r/e drops that you may not even be able to use and 1500plate/300mil/2000hour grinds and "the silver platter" that may be worth exploring.

[Avidon]

Casual or hardcore, at the end of the day when the game is off, what do you have? You can have the baddest gear in the game but all your accomplishments mean nothing outside of you're bedroom/office. This hardcore attitude doesn't impress anyone. It's a game. Just chill and have fun. It only took me 7 years to learn that.

[Bizniztyme]

Casual or hardcore, at the end of the day when the game is off, what do you have? You can have the baddest gear in the game but all your accomplishments mean nothing outside of you're bedroom/office. This hardcore attitude doesn't impress anyone. It's a game. Just chill and have fun. It only took me 7 years to learn that.

Very well said!!!!