The Future of FFXI

[Daemon]

I just wanted to point out that nothing is ever "promised". Roadmaps, content plans, anything announced is ALWAYS subject to change. The recent post about not releasing more roadmaps is a clear indication of this. Releasing a tentative schedule that people adhere to as concrete and final is doing them more harm than good. Yet when these roadmaps aren't release, the community is screaming for some kind of info, some kind of update, and when they get a small piece of information, again, they adhere to it as concrete and final, even if its still in development. Devs are in a "damned if they do, damned if they don't" situation.

XIV is getting attention right now because it's new, and because this game will essentially make or break the company. The stakes are high. They can't afford to have a lackluster launch. Whereas most companies would just abandon a failed MMO, SE poured a lot of money and resources into restructuring and relaunching the game to reestablish the FF brand and their company reputation.

I'll say it once again, XI has been in decline even without the fiasco that was XIV 1.0. The company refuses to do away with PS2, making it harder to go back and revise years worth of content to give this game the update it desperately needs. Instead of fixing things at the foundational level (coding, UI, portability) they just keep slapping work-around bandaids (gobbie bags for inventory for ex) that keep piling on.

Which is understood however we are still paying customers and a good loyal fanbase too, not new clients just entering the world of Final Fantasy. Slapping on band aids is one thing, rushing to release content and unbalancing the game carelessly is another. Had SoA been released with better thoughtout plan and care people who spent endless amounts of time on previous content would have nothing to gripe about and making a good portion of content put out of its place is also an issue.

I'm just generalizing the fact that a lot of us are disappointed. Work on FF14 because its the next big thing, sure but don't forget about us who has stayed supporting the company allowing to create 14 in the first place. To me money is the big thing in the world that companies today are more focused on how we can get a good chunk of it. But don't leave behind the crowd who has endured so much over the years especially us who are becoming heart broken over 11 in the direction it's going.

You can easily say "Get over it" if you want but I'm sure some people can agree the amount of time in this game we have invested, the amount of money we have used to support FFXI, If SE cannot handle both 11 and 14, then we should deserve more attention being that we are the backbone fanbase that SE has. Not new clients jumping on the game for the first time. Already a good portion has loss interest in 11 because of the direction is been going dating back a few years.