Make FFXI Free to play!

[Runespider]

Have you ever played a P2P mmo that went F2P?

Would you like to submit your own work then? Because I highly doubt you can make things like the people working at SE can. Put up or shut up.

This is quite possibly the dumbest thing I've read, ever. So let me get this straight, if a surgeon labotomised someone you love by mistake it would be ok because you can't do any better?

These are professionals, the quality of work they are offering is terrible compared to previous years.

The fact the game is in this horrible state right after a new expansion speaks volumes.

[Anjou]

Have you ever played a P2P mmo that went F2P?

Star Trek Online, Lord of the Rings Online.

I indeed have and I won't go back to them

[Runespider]

I've played Tera and Rift and the difference after they went free to play compared to how deserted they were before was/is staggering. F2P does bring old players back, it does make the games more profitable and it is a good thing.

Wgeb FF14 comes out the already terrible state of the servers will be amplified as you see large portions of the playerbase leave overnight, from my experience the players that fight against f2p the hardest are the ones that leave before it even happens due to such low player numbers.

[Anjou]

I've played Tera and Rift and the difference after they went free to play compared to how deserted they were before was/is staggering.

I won't lie to you, I've hardly heard about Tera or Rift despite those ads I keep seeing on the internet. Having something advertised in your face as FREE NOW!!! will typically attract people. If in the beginning FFXI had a bigger advertising campaign, I guarantee it would have been more active, maybe even today since SoA came out this year.

F2P does bring old players back, it does make the games more profitable and it is a good thing.

It also drives old players away, and sometimes drives them further away. In terms of profit, that monthly fee suddenly disappearing is going to rob SE of -roughly- 24-36 million dollars a year, in terms of business do you think they'll just drop the monthly fee, and lose that profit that could be used to pay a worker's pay check just because some people arguing on an internet forum are angry and want the monthly fee dropped? Business isn't conducted like that, if FFXI is neck-deep in the grave, I can see them making it FTP, but not while it's got profit still being made.

Wgeb FF14 comes out the already terrible state of the servers will be amplified as you see large portions of the playerbase leave overnight, from my experience the players that fight against f2p the hardest are the ones that leave before it even happens due to such low player numbers.

If that is the case then so be it, when FFXI is on its death bed and is no longer seen as profitable, I'll have no qualms if SE makes it FTP, but I will find it utterly stupid for them to make it FTP when they can still make money to make good games.

[Demon6324236]

Wanna know the difference between FFXI, STO, Tera, and Rift, that would make all of the difference in the world? FFXI is 10 years old, STO is a 3 year old game, Rift and Tera are each 2 years old. If tomorrow they said FFXI went free, how many people would really join this game if they looked at its graphics, its age, its player base size, or its forums with all of our complaints? No one would try it, no one would care, and even those who did join, what would they do? Run around the abandoned low level areas where no one goes, hoping that a high level will come swoop them up and explain the game to them and where to go so they can actually do something fun?

Another thing, advertisement, look at SoA, how many places did you see advertisements for SoA? I saw one, from the time SoA was announced till its release I saw a single advertisement for the expansion, if the game went F2P would anyone even know about it? Like Anjou said Rift and Tera have advertisements up on sites saying FREE NOW, but what if SE does not have those up on sites, informing people of the newly F2P FFXI? One might say it would be stupid to change their game in such a way but not tell people, but then again, someone might say it would be stupid for them to make an entire game, fail, and then throw money back at the project to rebuild it in hopes of it working while your company goes down the drain as a result. I do not have faith that if they for some stupid reason made this game F2P that they would by any means do it in a way that would not kill the game, because between SoA's lack of advertisement, FFXIV, and its age, I doubt anyone would know or care about this game being F2P or not.

[Anjou]

Wanna know the difference between FFXI, STO, Tera, and Rift, that would make all of the difference in the world? FFXI is 10 years old, STO is a 3 year old game, Rift and Tera are each 2 years old. If tomorrow they said FFXI went free, how many people would really join this game if they looked at its graphics, its age, its player base size, or its forums with all of our complaints? No one would try it, no one would care, and even those who did join, what would they do? Run around the abandoned low level areas where no one goes, hoping that a high level will come swoop them up and explain the game to them and where to go so they can actually do something fun?

Another thing, advertisement, look at SoA, how many places did you see advertisements for SoA? I saw one, from the time SoA was announced till its release I saw a single advertisement for the expansion, if the game went F2P would anyone even know about it? Like Anjou said Rift and Tera have advertisements up on sites saying FREE NOW, but what if SE does not have those up on sites, informing people of the newly F2P FFXI? One might say it would be stupid to change their game in such a way but not tell people, but then again, someone might say it would be stupid for them to make an entire game, fail, and then throw money back at the project to rebuild it in hopes of it working while your company goes down the drain as a result. I do not have faith that if they for some stupid reason made this game F2P that they would by any means do it in a way that would not kill the game, because between SoA's lack of advertisement, FFXIV, and its age, I doubt anyone would know or care about this game being F2P or not.

^^^^^^^^

This man speaks pure truth.

[Glamdring]

yep, the barrier to new (I mean truly new, not returning) players is the age of the software and SE's decision not to modernize it. it's their decision, I'm not going to argue it because I don't have their data. would the loss of PS2 players cripple the financial model? idunno Would the cost of a redux of the graphics engine prove higher than anticipated revenue? Idunno would the current playerbase support a redux that would likely require buying the game again? Idunno would the loss of dial-up support kill the revenue stream? Idunno

And that's just the stuff I can think of off the top of my head in 30 seconds. How does F2P address any of that? that is putting up the $ without back-end numbers. BUT I can tell you this, if you can just buy your way into top end-game form at least 70% of the players that I know personally are GONE. We didn't put in all this time and effort just to see some noob a**wipe come in and be playing with stuff at least as good as ours.

[Anjou]

To put this topic in the can.

"Make FFXI FTP"

The typical response from both SE and community.

[Anjou]

[Demon6324236]

What?.....