Make FFXI Free to play!

[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.

[Rustic]

I came back to have a play around with how the game has changed lately and was amazed by the player loss since I was on last. This game is not going to last much longer the way it is, the player loss will soon simply reach critical numbers and when that happens it won't be profitable anymore, XIV is also going to cut large numbers away (even though it's horrible). Not even counting the fact that this game's players have almost all fully leveled everything now, this game needs new players desperately.

What's the flaw here was Abyssea utterly wrecking the lifecycle of players- and in a sense, deliberately hobbling the game by not merely streamlining, but outright excising portions of how it was designed to work. It's a broken newbie experience. Why? Because Abyssea was meant to be the last bit before FFXI was put to pasture. It turned the game into an endgame-heavy system, without tending to the roots. The top of the tree is showered with love, but without the roots, it will eventually wither.

F2P won't get you that. What you need are reasons for high-level players to be in low-level areas and KEEP them there.

Free to play will bring in lots of new and old players, all filling up the zones and hungry to do all the content (who doesn't wanna goto dunes or wherever and see masses of players?), it will also make the game a lot more profitable and hopefully that will spur new interest in SE to keep the game properly updated.

No it won't. It'll channel everyone through Gusgen -> Crawler's/Abyssea again. Players will flow to the points of lowest effort, just like they do now, and ignore the rest. They'll just do it in greater numbers. The only thing that will fix the non-endgame is simple.

You have to make people go through it. Not "optional", because people generally skip optional for optimal. You -have- to build content that's relevant, and given a limited development team, the most relevant is endgame. Thus, Adoulin- and the impossibility of making the game relevant for new players.

Is F2P desired under normal conditions? No. Is it a huge boost to a floundering title? You bet it is, look at Rift and how full the zones are compared to before. Sometimes you have to be a realist and F2P is what this game needs to keep it breathing and fun. Will the game continue to run for years to come even with massive player losses? maybe, but will you still want to play such a stale, dead game?

FFXI is already "dead", in that sense- it'll go the way of Everquest. A loyal hardcore retro-gaming base, and that'll be about it. The stay of execution for this game is FFXIV. If it succeeds, FFXI will die. If it fails, FFXI may die anyway. F2P won't change that. I can wander through Everquest, which is a F2P'd version of it's prior self.

It's the same way. Dead almost entirely, with the endgame being the only thriving portion of the game. FFXI did it to itself the second Abyssea's exp system became active, and honestly, the only way to even start to revive it would be excising the exp fountain the same way they did the blinker-Gil fountain. Because THAT entire deal was the previous dev lead surrendering to what he considered the inevitable failure of everything prior to it, that 1-75 was no longer meaningful content and the rest was only meaningful until FFXIV supplanted it.

You can't even -find- most lower-level gear on the AH anymore. Why? Because nobody needs it. Mostly, the game now starts around 50th gearwise to the obvious conclusions, and Adoulin in turn renders everything prior to it meaningless.

FFXI is still a great game, but it needs more love from the developers and a lot more fresh players. A free to play hybrid (with an optional subscription for extra benefits) will bring in a lot more money and most importantly players, the money F2P players spend on cash shops is insane compared to the measily £12.99 a month most of us spend.

It won't get the dev love. S-E doesn't have the money to do so, and it doesn't have the capacity to make F2P appealing other than re-establishing the grind for F2P- which is about the only way I'd appreciate it. Let them sweat it out the old-fashioned way and we'd actually have a low-level game again. No books, no Abyssea exp bonus effects, having to 6-man it in the fields and dungeons.

The people that are hardcore against f2p when the game is dying are like parents refusing a blood transfusion for their baby due to religious reasons, sometimes you just gotta stop being pig headed and see the reality of the situation and although you might not like it see that it's the best for the game.

See above. Simply making the game F2P would do nothing to restore life to it, unless you literally cripple the exp gain system to oldschool levels in the process.

[Psxpert2011]

whats with the people trying to get this free to play? seems to be doing fine with the monthly subs. why you think SE would want to drop it to F2P?

Sometimes it's a pain in the butt getting you character deactivated because you forgot to add Crysta or funds to your bank account on payday. I would consider a F2P option but most of the game content would be restricted except the LS chat and Say.

If SE made Vana'diel more player friendly but restrictive to progression unless you pay your sub, I would think that would be reasonable. Maybe if you son't pay your sub, you can't leave your Mog House,lol! Your under house arrest until taxes are paid in full! =P

If you cant, well so what! At least we can still log into PoL and send messages to our friends. I tried XD

[Anjou]

[Volarione]

Sometimes it's a pain in the butt getting you character deactivated because you forgot to add Crysta or funds to your bank account on payday. I would consider a F2P option but most of the game content would be restricted except the LS chat and Say.

If SE made Vana'diel more player friendly but restrictive to progression unless you pay your sub, I would think that would be reasonable. Maybe if you son't pay your sub, you can't leave your Mog House,lol! Your under house arrest until taxes are paid in full! =P

If you cant, well so what! At least we can still log into PoL and send messages to our friends. I tried XD

You know you can reactivate characters for up to a year right?

[Demon6324236]

What?.....

[Anjou]

Idk I got bored....

[Venat]

Even with us paying them there hasn't been much improvement to this game.

Sorry to say but XI isnt selling great anymore then what it was from launch.
Do I think they game should go free to play? No but I do think we are paying too much for a game thats 11 years old.

[Anjou]

Um it isn't selling very good because it's an old game. The only people who are going to buy it now are:

"Returning players"
"Friends of current/former players who were recommended the game"

I would think at least when XIV is released and (Hopefully) if it's successful, a reduction on XI's monthly fee will be in order.