FFXI Outline and Future

[Atomic_Skull]

I sort of agree.. I've been playing off and on for a few years, and one of the things which makes me give up is the sheer amount of things like story-missions that it is difficult to get a party for nowadays.

I think new content is an excellent thing, but I also feel that they should replace some of the old content. A 2.0 reboot for FF11 would be very welcome in my eyes, not least because they could re-do the server and make the possibility of playing on future platforms more likely. After all, one day, there will probably be a Windows platform that FF11 doesn't work on.

From what I have heard Windows 8 does not include DirectX 8 emulation like Vista and Windows 7 did.

[wildsprite]

From what I have heard Windows 8 does not include DirectX 8 emulation like Vista and Windows 7 did.

everything seen about windows 8 shows that it is mostly a frame for using other operating systems and not an actual OS, it runs mostly xml and silverlight code, and uses virtual PC for everything else

ofcourse all I have seen is an unfinished beta, but usually when MS puts something in their head as a good idea they go with it even if it is terrible, I wont be using it unless they do something spectacular with it, and even then I'll be keeping my copies of XP and 7 as well as ububtu ready to use

[Atomic_Skull]

They game is nearly 10 years old... it needs to come to an end... adding content on top of the enormous amount of content that already exists is a bad idea.

CCP would like to have a word with you.

[Seriha]

What *I* wish SE would do is release more add-ons like abyssea (not the abyssea style, just additional content). I don't mind paying 20-30$ a year for new content with the length and breath of abyssea. Think about it - abyssea changed ffxi permanently. How we level, what's a proc, jobs, balance, everything. And it happened over the course of 9-12 months for 3 $10 add-ons. Charge me that much extra every year for new content, and I'll happily keep buying crack. The monthly fee maintains the game, extra charges pay for additional content - this makes sense to me.

And why should we have to pay more just to get what we should be getting as subscribers? I doubt that $20-30 would magically materialize a new team to work independently of the current. Rather, it'd just pull from what's currently there to do whatever. Overall, SE's been terrible about releasing expansions in incomplete states, and while the collective whole of Abyssea is good for what it did, it's also a reflection of the lacking team size with a "second" expansion of rehashed zones, WotG being the first... and it needing years to run its course.

So, qq on BG to your heart's content, but people wanting their money's worth is the customer's right. An individual subscriber pulling their support with no voice leads to next to nothing when dealing with hundreds of thousands. Organizing mass cancellations is probably next to impossible since people who visit any kind of XI forum regularly is a minority with some accounts logging in minimally, and SE's willingly pulled team members from the game when it was doing better than it had been in a while in both content and perception. So, it's not entirely surprising that enough people choosing to quit in protest would harm the game's future irreparably and those realizing it aren't so quick to close their wallets. Like it or not, us "whiners" have helped give things you've also enjoyed in the game over time with our subs. And if Voidwatch (casual unfriendly) and poorly thought out magian trials (too much for too little) are FFXI's future under the current team, then concern is warranted. Eventually even the dirty casuals will exhaust Abyssea content pertaining to their interests. Then what? GoV (leveling is finite) and Dynamis (not everyone will chase a relic for months of daily work) certainly can't and won't satisfy these people in the long term.

SE basically has two choices here to encourage customer satisfaction: 1) Give us more than they currently are for our money. If over 4 mil a month with 350k subscribers is not enough to do this, I don't know what is. 2) Dramatically lower the subscription fee. I'm talking like 50% or more. Low-budget service does not justify premium cost. Personally, I'd guess #1 the more profitable route, as even if a larger production team sapped 1 mil a month to its thing, 3 mil is better than 2 mil at #2's rate. And with XIV set to start charging its own fee soon, they've got little excuse to not look into either alternative short of just being greedy, uncaring bastards. Given the current global economic climate, that's not a PR image you want to be conveying.

[Buffy]

SE basically has two choices here to encourage customer satisfaction: 1) Give us more than they currently are for our money. If over 4 mil a month with 350k subscribers is not enough to do this, I don't know what is. 2) Dramatically lower the subscription fee. I'm talking like 50% or more. Low-budget service does not justify premium cost. Personally, I'd guess #1 the more profitable route, as even if a larger production team sapped 1 mil a month to its thing, 3 mil is better than 2 mil at #2's rate. And with XIV set to start charging its own fee soon, they've got little excuse to not look into either alternative short of just being greedy, uncaring bastards. Given the current global economic climate, that's not a PR image you want to be conveying.

SE hasn't raised their rates since the game was released. Name another company that hasn't raised prices in 10 years.

[Arcon]

SE hasn't raised their rates since the game was released. Name another company that hasn't raised prices in 10 years.

You can spin that one any way you want it. I'm paying over 30% more now than when I started, while I'm technically, in one way, still paying the same price.

[Seriha]

Other companies also don't charge per character and tend to offer discounts for bulk subscription purchases. Some have even gone F2P while adopting cash shop models, but I'm sure that's anathema to some since "free" offers no filter to block out the kiddies.

Like I said, they're options. Just as MMOs are meant to grow and evolve based on the subs we pay, the companies behind them also need to adapt. There is nothing going on within FFXI now that warrants an increase in subscription fees, and if C&B charging little bits of extra got people uppity, well, I'd hate to see the fallout here if they tried.

[Airget]

It would be nice to get some update on the future of XI, when you consider how a game like Everquest is still around it's a tad troublesome how when SE claims that Final Fantasy is an important franchise to them they in a sense neglect XI in favor of XI with a V. I do hope in the next few days they might say something but seeing how they are putting so many resources into XIV it does appear they are trying to kill their own MMO. Before they said they wanted to make another mmo in which you would still be able to play both and have unique experiences, but with all the changes coming into XIV it looks like they are trying to defeat their own product.

I still wish they'd at least tell us why they had that survey it's kinda annoying that they ask us the survey yet don't even release the numbers or make an announcement over it. Something as simple as that would be nice even if it came down to why they can't cut ps2 support. Content wise the game has just been one dimensional challenge after another, there hasnt' really been any "new" places to explore just reskinned mobs and 1 or 2 new NMs to fight in an instance that you have 30 minutes to complete. To me the voidwatch concept isn't to compelling with how NM oriented it is with a true lack of adventuring, it's just hey we can warp you to think location and you can fight the NM right away. I hope in the next VU we could see some more intriguing content, with the last LB I imagine the Ki recieved may prove to make it an interesting quest to reach 99. But ya just seeing how much effort is being put into XIV should make it discouraging to those play XI since you don't see a game that has had a loyal fanbase get much respect when they still pay and play in hopes that there may be a true expansion we can look forward to.

[kewitt]

I would like to see a new road map for FFXI as the last one is pasted the last date of info.

But WOW. I think SE may have highered people from Wow. or maybe consulting with them because 2.0 just gave me new hopes for FFXIV..

[Atomic_Skull]

I would like to see a new road map for FFXI as the last one is pasted the last date of info.

But WOW. I think SE may have highered people from Wow. or maybe consulting with them because 2.0 just gave me new hopes for FFXIV..

Honestly I hate the new UI, it looks way too cluttered.