A fix for the older players around

[Cyrusskorrey]

Hi, Cyrusskorrey here. i recently came across a small problem.

I play on PS2 PC and now 360, however this is where the problem occurs

I have Discs for all the expansions on PS2 and PC, but not 360. i dont know how
my PS2 got access to the abyssea data, it just updated one day with all 3 intact.
but my problem lies with the 360.

I got a disc with only the first 3 expansions on it. now i can understand why
Wings of the goddess did not load on my 360, because i dont have the disc.

I went online and found out that the 360 version of the disc can be pricey and hard to find.

to cut to the chase and ask my question:

Is there anyway for us Older gamers who already have these expansion's registered to our accounts can download and install the expansion data?

i would really like to be able to explore my registered content on all of my systems but that's hard when FFXI discs are costing anywhere from 20-200 bucks ; ; and no major game store sells them anymore.

[RAIST]

no other legitimate way to do it....that I know of.

[SE_James]

Cyrusskorrey,

RAIST is correct. The only way to install FINAL FANTASY XI and the first four expansions is through the physical software. Unfortunately it is not possible to ‘download’ the expansions through the client, as their size warranted a physical release. Only the newer add-on packs are released as part of the regular update, as they build off the expansions. And this is the case for all three platforms, not just the Xbox 360.

[autopatch]

Dear SE_James -

I'm going to quibble a bit with your reply concerning "as their size warranted physical release" and "this is the case for all platforms".

While this may have been the case at the time of the original release, it was not entirely correct at the time of your reply.

I purchased an full electronic copy (original content including all expansions) of Final Fantasy XI for the PC platform from Amazon.com in late 2011; I do not own any physical media for the PC version. The publish date listed on Amazon is May 2011. This title is also available on Steam and D2D electronically for the PC.

There is precedent for successful complete digital delivery of this title, particularly in today's broadband environment.

I am surprised that Square Enix has not made the title available for digital delivery on Xbox Live Marketplace (now called "Games On Demand"). There are many examples of publishers (including Square Enix) making full size titles available or re-releasing full size titles through digital delivery across Xbox Live. Among the 370 titles listed in "Games on Demand: Top Downloads" are "Deus Ex: Human Revolution" (Square Enix title), "Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" (similar title) and "LA Noire" (equivalent to three 6 GB physical discs).

I can comprehend the concerns Square Enix might have regarding the expense to press another run of physical media for Xbox or PS2/3. On the other hand without digital delivery as an alternative the organization is abandoning the market to dwindling supplies and increasing demand which is leaving revenue on the table that Square Enix is not earning which could be used to support the game.

Square Enix publishes 15 titles on Xbox 360 .... the in-house infrastructure exists to do a limited run reprint.

http://store.na.square-enix.com/stor...oryID.16256100

As it stands today, new Xbox players are willing to spend the time to track down a used copy, and are willing to shell out between $54 to $189 (or more) for used versions of Final Fantasy XI: Ultimate Collection for Xbox 360 -- This is what I did for my Xbox version - I paid $60.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing is that on the Square Enix site this title (Final Fantasy XI: Ultimate Collection for Xbox 360) is listed as $14.99, but is always marked as "Out of Stock".

http://store.na.square-enix.com/stor...ctID.171134700

This Playonline Store web page advertises the Final Fantasy XI: Ultimate Collection for Xbox 360 version being available at a discounted price of $9.99 with links to Amazon, GameStop and EB Games (interesting to note that there is NOT a link to the Square Enix Store from the PlayOnline Store).

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/intro/shop.html

The problem is that this title is not available anywhere at the advertised price. There are no new copies available on Amazon for the Xbox 360; GameStop discontinued carrying new copies and will no longer purchase used copies for resale (verified by talking to several store managers); and EB Games is out of business, purchased by GameStop.

When you follow the links for Online Retailers on the Playonline Store, the GameStop and EB Games links are broken - "The page you are looking for has been eliminated."

http://www.ebgames.com/Catalog/Produ...oduct_id=76114

And the same message for this link:

http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/Prod...oduct_id=76114

What is Square Enix's position on digital delivery or pressing new run of physical media (a anniversary reprint of the 11/2009 version perhaps) for the Xbox 360 or PS3? Has the development team considered or tested Xbox Live Marketplace?

Will the product pages above be updated to correctly reflect the product's true availability and to indicate the publisher's position on support for new players on the console platforms?

Sincerely,

Chris

[RAIST]

IDK the specifics, but there may be more involved to pack something up for DLC to XB360 versus PC. Even if it isn't a coding issue, there may be some licensing issues. Sony sure enough had them over the barrel for years with the PS2 and the partition restrictions in their licensing agreement...there may be something making it less attractive for the 360 as well. Also, bear in mind at the time of evaluation, there may have still been a large enough portion of people not on 1+Mb/s broadband to make a 4GB+ download a nightmare for those users. Who knows.

Bottom line though, is that console releases routinely go through pressing cycles, scheduled according to anticipated demand (ever see a title be out of stock everywhere for short periods of time--it's not too uncommon). Likely, the bean counters somewhere in the SE conglomerate determined it was not a good financial decision to issue another pressing for the 360. Maybe they conducted a study and determined with all the problems they've run into with consoles in general, they were better off in the long run to put their money into the PC platform, relying on attrition kicking in and everyone eventually migrating to the PC platform for which they can crank out DLC at a fraction of the cost, making more profit in the end. You can also run into a cost issue with your digital lines for hosting data. Many plans will charge different rates based on how much data you are pushing in a set time frame--this may have somehow come into play somewhere in their financial analysis as well (whether this was a cost directly to SE, or somehow tied into hosting the data third party).

Conspiracy theories can abound...but ultimately, it probably all boiled down to where they could get the most bang for the buck over the long term.

[bungiefanNA]

Microsoft charges a certification fee for every bit of content released to their download service, including patches. Also, Xbox 360 FFXI is coded to need the game disc in the drive to play, so a downloadable copy would have to be changed. FFXI is also the only online game on the system that doesn't require a Gold membership, and MS has been giving SE grief over that for a while now, even though they conceded to it in the first place to get an MMO on the platform.

[RagingAvatar]

Also, Xbox 360 FFXI is coded to need the game disc in the drive to play, so a downloadable copy would have to be changed.

No it wouldn't. You can play the game on a 360, booting from the original pre-WOTG release, and still play WOTG if you've installed it to the HDD and have the license on your account.

By providing a download version, yes, you'd still need to be an owner of the original version of the game (though equally the 360's 'Games on Demand' system could do this as a download) and that's it.

[Arkitan]

Japanese logic will give you a brain aneurysm eventually! >.>

[Saenomo]

If you walk into an area you have on one console, then log out, when you try to log in on the console without the expansion for the area, what happens?

[Laraul]

If you walk into an area you have on one console, then log out, when you try to log in on the console without the expansion for the area, what happens?

You get a message explaining one or more expansions have not been properly installed and are taken back to the title screen.