The nerf scattergun approach?

[Sparthos]

Oh yeah. That claim sounds so much more convincing than it did in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. Every year, all the time, disgruntled players saying "the game is dying, isn't it obvious????"

Are you trying to deny that SE hasn't been in hot water the past few years? Even the CEO has agreed on that front that things need to change. FFXIII-2 has launched to some praise which is a nice change of pace after the recent bashing SE has been witness to.

The game is "dying" as subs are going down yet what's happening in FFXI is SE pushing customers away because of largely silly/incompetent decisions. Things like nerfs, convoluted solutions to player issues and a return to the hardcore timesink/skinner box style gameplay. We know this is an MMO and needs people to stick around but getting people to keep playing doesn't have to involve crushing challenges.

Let's put it this way: Without these forums someone at SE actually thought that hundreds of ADL/PW/T6 VWNM was reasonable for a 99 trial. That encompasses everything wrong with the dev team thinking. You mean to tell me in years of feedback SE didn't get the message that this is too much, too early '00s style MMO development?

Everyone can agree this game is aging but the issue isn't that the game is aging but moreso that the decisions made by the devs give the company a bad name and negatively affect the brand going out years ahead of time. If you choose to ignore the state of SE over the past few years then you merely leave yourself ignorant to the truth lay bare in front of you.