Suggestion: Break the game, SE

[Aquilla]

I think what's going to kill FFXI is lack of new players, not the desperate clinging-on of old ones. Yeah, I do want an exciting game. I don't really apologize for it, mainly because I'm not queen of the universe and SE doesn't have to do anything I want.

I don't think that being able to 'steamroll' is the answer, but is the answer 'here's another sidegrade/another event that you've already done'?

Look at this board. Underneath the jaded sarcasm and outright trolling, you'll find a ton of great suggestions by people who probably know more about games than I do, about how the game could be made more fun *without* retitling it World of Mogcraft.

Yeah, I do want something exciting. There was a lot of stuff in XI that was exciting. A lot of it could be made exciting, without 'steamrolling'.

[Anapingofness]

I couldn't agree more with the thread starter.

FFXI has the potential to succeed... Even in this MMO saturated market. SE simply needs to open its mind to other possibilities/ways of doing things. They really need to start paying attention to what works in other MMO's and see how they can apply it to FFXI to make it a better game. They also need to start paying attention to what their player base is saying.

There is a reason Abyssea was such a success. For the first time in the history of FFXI players could sign on, do an event for a relatively short amount of time and still walk away with something. It's sad that it took doubling everyone's stats in Abyssea to make the game both refreshing and fun. For the first time in FFXI history I was able to freely cast my WHM spells without running out of MP after x3 spells! It was as if Abyssea allowed players to play jobs to their fullest potential.

The problem now is that SE is regressing to their old ways. They know that players enjoyed Abyssea immensely and that it cut the unbelievable grind down. So why regress?

This isn't 2005 where the only competition FFXI had was EQ and Ultima. Right now what we have is a very MMO saturated market. There are F2P MMO's that work a lot harder to retain their players and more importantly attract new ones. The fact that they are F2P means that those games have an instant head start on FFXI. That means that FFXI and SE need to work doubly as hard to attract players. People are cheap, nobody wants to spend money when they don't have to. Therefore, SE really needs to focus on the fun factor of the game. Yes, balancing the game is important but they're taking it too far. They're focused so much on balancing the game that they're killing the fun.


Like the thread started stated, the nostalgia train will only go so far. SE needs to see this as a serious problem and change accordingly. They have to stop relying on nostalgia because that will not attract new players.

[Elexia]

I couldn't agree more with the thread starter.

FFXI has the potential to succeed...

Uh...XI already succeeded lol..did you forget about the 2002 - 2012 time frame it's been running?

[Anapingofness]

Uh...XI already succeeded lol..did you forget about the 2002 - 2012 time frame it's been running?

Ahem-ahem.


FFXI has the potential to succeed*

---> * After surviving for ten years.

[Michae]

The Forums killed XI imo.

Aby had potential at first but all the QQ of the forum posters about how 'hard' everything was caused alot of 'fixes' dumbing down the game and nerfing it to hell. Now that its nerfed ppl QQ about how easy it has become and they are loosing alot of us long time vets and the newbies dont stay long cause between the ease of getting everything and completing everything there is not much to hold ppls attn

canceling my 6 yr account today in fact, sad days

[Camiie]

Uh...XI already succeeded lol..did you forget about the 2002 - 2012 time frame it's been running?

It did OK, but never garnered the numbers a game with the Final Fantasy (+roman numeral) name attached to it should have.

As for the topic, I'd be more than thrilled with more Abyssea style content. I don't know that making the entire game "broken" in the sense of universal atma or flying chocobos is a good idea, but send us to different areas in a rebuilding Abyssea or to other alternate dimensions where we can have similar experiences.

[Runespider]

canceling my 6 yr account today in fact, sad days

I'm very close to it myself, 7-8 years uninterupted subscriber and only what they have done the last year or so has lead me to not want to give them anymore of my money.

I log in only to be bored, the stuff they add is horrible, the goals they offer are out of my reach, the content they are adding in the roadmap look to be trash (lollegion).

I think the thing is, because of Abyssea people no longer like working or playing with others outside of a few friends or a clique, not even in an LS at times.

So its not that "new FFXI is boring", its that it's back to where people have to play together, but abyssea spoiled the hell out of everyone, made everyone lazy and unwilling to do anything unless you're showered in rewards for almost no work (Abyssea.)

They did it, it's like a parent giving their child sweets and candy for a month then trying to go back to carrots and potatoes, with a slap across the face for desert. Most people didn't really like the old big shells but there was no choice, points, drama, guilt trips (you got your drop now stay forever to get everyone else theirs), the drop you want taking a year+, favouritism etc and people don't really wanna go back to that again when they have jobs/responsibilites..or just cba with it.

I did the old HNMLS stuff, I had shells and schedules for every event, worked my butt off for points...big scale events were cool but the negative aspects of it were far worse than the tiny amount of enjoyment you got from any of it. How often did people complain about having to leave their friends and join some big LS because only the serious shells that devoured your playtime could achieve anything, that's what we are going back to.

Players want to be able to do stuff with friends and not have to join a behemoth of a linkshell which they don't even like half the people in, that's why games like Tera are looking so appealing.

[Shipp]

The Forums killed XI imo.

Aby had potential at first but all the QQ of the forum posters about how 'hard' everything was caused alot of 'fixes' dumbing down the game and nerfing it to hell. Now that its nerfed ppl QQ about how easy it has become and they are loosing alot of us long time vets and the newbies dont stay long cause between the ease of getting everything and completing everything there is not much to hold ppls attn

canceling my 6 yr account today in fact, sad days

All the QQ... like you mentioning canceling your account?

Guess what, I'm a vet that was doing endgame while most NAs were still fiddle-farting around on their AF1. I enjoy Abyssea far more than old-school FFXI. The fact that I could come back after a 3-4 year hiatus and get geared in an acceptable timeframe, as well as participate with old and new friends, is what brought me back. There is plenty to do in XI. Nobody is going to complete everything there is to do in a short amount of time, as you suggest.

[Glamdring]

The Forums killed XI imo.

Aby had potential at first but all the QQ of the forum posters about how 'hard' everything was caused alot of 'fixes' dumbing down the game and nerfing it to hell. Now that its nerfed ppl QQ about how easy it has become and they are loosing alot of us long time vets and the newbies dont stay long cause between the ease of getting everything and completing everything there is not much to hold ppls attn

canceling my 6 yr account today in fact, sad days

I'm on board with just about everything said here. The only reasons I still play are the desire to tie up some loose ends I've left dangling for years and to spend time with some in-game friends. There is NOTHING challenging in the game anymore in terms of difficulty, the only difficulty is finding enough people to do things that require multiple bodies (Assault, etc.). So as far as any of the feeling of accomplishment that I used to get in here... nope, not happening. I mean seriously, I can solo a third of the end-game stuff on my BARD, wtf is that about?

Trials? well, I solod 1-75 as a bst/brd (before the introduction of dancer), grinding is no problem for me, but the CHALLENGE is gone. The only real risk of death is if the random number generator that governs hit/miss/damage calculation hits one of those periodic times when every "roll" is against me. How is that "fun"? The only other challenge is trying to see a difference in drops between TH3 and TH4+, and I'll be damned if I'm going to get my satisfaction from a game by reading a 2k kill parser report.

[Shipp]

Trials? well, I solod 1-75 as a bst/brd (before the introduction of dancer), grinding is no problem for me, but the CHALLENGE is gone. The only real risk of death is if the random number generator that governs hit/miss/damage calculation hits one of those periodic times when every "roll" is against me. How is that "fun"? The only other challenge is trying to see a difference in drops between TH3 and TH4+, and I'll be damned if I'm going to get my satisfaction from a game by reading a 2k kill parser report.

RNG is how every MMO has ever been, including XI. This is not new from abyssea. If you don't enjoy the game, quit. Just don't pretend as though this wasn't how XI always was, to a much worse degree in the past.