Reasons Why FFXI is Declining

[Gellvos]

Abyssea, it breeds noobs, those areas should be 75+ only!

But honestly, this is an old game. It is also a lot harder to get a hold of and not as user friendly as many other MMOs out there.

[Byrth]

Ignoring that the OP assumes that the number of FFXI subscriptions is decreasing, here is what I think they're doing wrong:

1) They're creating a two-tier system where the "hardcore" players are miles and miles and miles beyond the "casual" players due to Delve boss weapons.
Example: Last night I did Provenance Watcher on Monk. I did twice as much damage as the second closest DDs (a 99 Ryunohige DRG and 99 Ragnarok DRK about tied). It is not uncommon for me to out-DD people when I come a DD job, but normally I'm doing 33% more damage than them. This time it was 100% more damage, and to top it off... I have no H2H merits or Shijin Spiral. I haven't even unlocked Ascetic's Fury. I did so well simply because I won a pair of Oaxiturs earlier in the day from Tojil (the only person in my linkshell to comment them because everyone else already has).
Reason it is problematic: These weapons give players incredible DPS. You have made the game substantially easier for the small subsection of the playerbase that is perfectly capable of playing FFXI on hard mode. Apart from the danger that they will get bored and quit if more difficult content is not added (which seems like a legitimate problem, given the proposed update path), they may get bored even more quickly doing old content because it's not challenging at all anymore. My linkshell has Tojil and the Dakuwaka on farm status, and we'll probably take down the bee on Tuesday night. There aren't going to be any more Delve Fracture bosses until after August, unless I'm mistaken. What are we supposed to do? Grow Moko Grass? Pick up soon-to-be outdated Salvage equipment that we obviously don't need by doing brainless 30-minute runs? We already have literally millions of Plasm. This is a real problem, and it was entirely caused by too much player advancement in too little time.

2) They have removed "gear value" stability.
Example: Back at 75, gear retained its value for long periods of time. If you got an Armada Hauberk in 2005, it was still the best TP body in 2009. Abyssea overturned this paradigm and basically outdated everything. Once we reached the 99 cap, several more upgrades came out (Thaumas and some new abjurations), but the gear hierarchy was basically stable again. Player confidence in gear investments was slowly growing again. Since Adoulin, no one wants to invest in equipment anymore.
Reason it is problematic: This decreases the drive of both casual and hardcore players to obtain minor improvements, but SE has not awoken to this reality and continues to release upgrades that are minor but require a lot of effort. For instance, the last 5 Plasm armor upgrades take something like 4,000 points (2x Airlixir +2s = 8mil or 200k Plasm). They're also pretty likely to still be outdated by equipment released in this patch or the next patch. So why blow the gil for such minor improvements?

[Sfchakan]

Ignoring that the OP assumes that the number of FFXI subscriptions is decreasing, here is what I think they're doing wrong:

1) They're creating a two-tier system where the "hardcore" players are miles and miles and miles beyond the "casual" players due to Delve boss weapons.
Example: Last night I did Provenance Watcher on Monk. I did twice as much damage as the second closest DDs (a 99 Ryunohige DRG and 99 Ragnarok DRK about tied). It is not uncommon for me to out-DD people when I come a DD job, but normally I'm doing 33% more damage than them. This time it was 100% more damage, and to top it off... I have no H2H merits or Shijin Spiral. I haven't even unlocked Ascetic's Fury. I did so well simply because I won a pair of Oaxiturs earlier in the day from Tojil (the only person in my linkshell to comment them because everyone else already has).
Reason it is problematic: These weapons give players incredible DPS. You have made the game substantially easier for the small subsection of the playerbase that is perfectly capable of playing FFXI on hard mode. Apart from the danger that they will get bored and quit if more difficult content is not added (which seems like a legitimate problem, given the proposed update path), they may get bored even more quickly doing old content because it's not challenging at all anymore. My linkshell has Tojil and the Dakuwaka on farm status, and we'll probably take down the bee on Tuesday night. There aren't going to be any more Delve Fracture bosses until after August, unless I'm mistaken. What are we supposed to do? Grow Moko Grass? Pick up soon-to-be outdated Salvage equipment that we obviously don't need by doing brainless 30-minute runs? We already have literally millions of Plasm. This is a real problem, and it was entirely caused by too much player advancement in too little time.

2) They have removed "gear value" stability.
Example: Back at 75, gear retained its value for long periods of time. If you got an Armada Hauberk in 2005, it was still the best TP body in 2009. Abyssea overturned this paradigm and basically outdated everything. Once we reached the 99 cap, several more upgrades came out (Thaumas and some new abjurations), but the gear hierarchy was basically stable again. Player confidence in gear investments was slowly growing again. Since Adoulin, no one wants to invest in equipment anymore.
Reason it is problematic: This decreases the drive of both casual and hardcore players to obtain minor improvements, but SE has not awoken to this reality and continues to release upgrades that are minor but require a lot of effort. For instance, the last 5 Plasm armor upgrades take something like 4,000 points (2x Airlixir +2s = 8mil or 200k Plasm). They're also pretty likely to still be outdated by equipment released in this patch or the next patch. So why blow the gil for such minor improvements?

You, sir, can have all of my internets. Take them all!

[Torreto]

This is random and not to the point but guys I need help. I cancelled my relic upgrade and nothing happened he did not giv me my shield back or nothing... please help ; ;

[Daemon]

This is random and not to the point but guys I need help. I cancelled my relic upgrade and nothing happened he did not giv me my shield back or nothing... please help ; ;

You might want to call a GM or report it on the bug thread.

[Tamoa]

This is random and not to the point but guys I need help. I cancelled my relic upgrade and nothing happened he did not giv me my shield back or nothing... please help ; ;

If you trade in materials and currency to the goblin and then cancel it, you will not get your items/currency back.

[Creole]

Simple, elitist players ruining it for all new players who are capable of playing the game yet can't get into anything because they don't have the gear and can't buy a win cause they want 5million for an outdated item.

[Daemon]

Simple, elitist players ruining it for all new players who are capable of playing the game yet can't get into anything because they don't have the gear and can't buy a win cause they want 5million for an outdated item.

If you have a chance, check out my guide. I did leave an article on how you can earn up to 5 mil in 1 day.
It's possible.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/th...egy-Guide-FFXI

Although its not finished, I'm adding stuff when I can to help people get around the game more independently. If you like what you see, check in from time to time as more stuff will be added.

[Creole]

Regardless you shouldn't have to spend 5mill to get an rare/ex item on a dying game where people should want more players to come to. having a massive amount of gil will mean nothing when the game shuts down

[Zarchery]

Isn't the general response to this question "FFXI is declining because my personal interest is waning, I'm getting fed up with it, and my personal feelings are the only thing that exists."?

I mean, that's been the way it's gone since 2006.