Reasons Why FFXI is Declining

[Ziyyigo-Tipyigo]

Why is FFXI declining?

• The cap on experience gained is now higher for players who have equipment with item levels displayed equipped.

Because the developers still think this is a relevant thing.

[Camate]

Hello,

Below is a message from Akihiko Matsui.

Matsui here.

Apart from extremely unreasonable requests, we are really happy to see so many positive suggestions and feedback being made as it stimulates the community.

With that said, game development, especially online game development, is organic and constantly changing, and there are cases where what is currently impossible becomes possible, so there are situations where you won’t know whether the suggestion is unreasonable unless you try it. On the other hand, there are cases where what you think should be possible is actually not possible.

However, I’d very much like to respond to all of your suggestions, but as I cannot always answer them with a positive reply, there have been times I have not been able to reply or the reply was late.

With that said though, moving forward I will be making sure to let you all know when something is not possible and cannot be done. Likewise, I will be continuing to respond to your feedback and suggestions as well as letting you know new information while making sure it is accurate.

Thank you very much.

[Malthar]

Give Yuley his TH3 back, please. Is that possible? :-)

[Lynxis]

Thank you for the message, not that I feel it relates in any way to the content of this thread. That said, I think the biggest killer has been the shift in gear progression from a horizontal progression to a vertical progression. I remember when I started, ToAU expansion was just released. Back then, there were 4000-5000 people on during NA primetime with well over 1500 on during off-peak hours. I think ive seen over 6k on during JP primetime back then.

Back then, there was always a hole in your gear sets and a very wide variety of events to take part in and you needed to do them all in order to max out your character. You had HNMs, Sky, Sea, Dynamis, Nyzul Isle, Salvage, Einherjar and Limbus and each event offered something different for your character. Back then, a new event would be introduced which would provide mostly sidegrades and even some downgrades for most of your slots but there were always a few truly upgraded pieces. This is how vertical progression occurred, in tiny bits at a time. The sidegrades made people who were at a lower standard of gear have a reason to show up and the new top gears gave the top players a reason to show up too.

Then Abyssea came and changed all of it. The only event between level 75-90 was abyssea. There were no sidegrades, nearly everything was an upgrade. A single piece of gear would completely obsolete several others. Maxing out gear for a single job could be done in a few weeks where before it could take you years.

You also no longer had 1-3 jobs max level, you had 8-20 jobs max level and by the end of abyssea, perfectly geared.

Then you got Voidwatch from 90-99. Beyond repetitive with garbage drop rates on the top end stuff. At 99, they continued the vertical path. Neo Limbus and Neo Einherjar aren't worth doing, Neo Salvage had good situational upgrades and Neo Nyzul had the top level gear and after that, we have the iLevel crap.

The game has gotten to the point where the events are laughably easy for veteran players but the barrier for entry for new players is too high. You have people leaving because they aren't being challenged with a variety of meaningful content and they aren't being replaced because new people are turned off when the areas they arrive in are dead.

At this point, anyone new will go to FF14ARR instead where at least they aren't alone.

[Infidi]

Give Yuley his TH3 back, please. Is that possible? :-)

Only if they give us Cait Sith at same time.

[elqplau]

my opion ...i am a rogué RDM and a soloist the game started player decline when some abilities were cut for example when i started RDM was next to PLD on the goto jobs ...now the only reason i can solo effectively is because im lvl 99 abysea and audilin are a lost cause to me bbecause i die to fast and get almost no rewards from it ....spending 3 hours in a place to get 3 k in balyd is a waste of time

[Vivivivi]

I'm curious as to what the five-year ten year plan looks like for Final Fantasy 11. I completely understand if this information is sensitive and not for the general public to consume, however I would love to know if the games intent eventually is to be shut down completely or continue operating with no new content. Of course the diehard FF 11 fan in me would hope that the game receives the same sort of treatment that Final Fantasy 14 received with a realm reborn. A new graphics engine updated gameplay mechanics, streamlined user interface- which by the way it looks very promising on the test server.

Or is something completely different in the works for long term plans? Will we maybe see a potential to the remake of the game as a single player experience? Will it be integrated into Final Fantasy 14 somehow? Or don't we know yet is it that the game is just continuing to be successful and the development team only plans 6 to 12 months out ahead of time? I will admit most of my gaming time has been spent playing Final Fantasy 14 since it was released however as I reach endgame there I'm kind of itching for new final fantasy 11 content and I'm looking forward to the updates planned for October and November. As wonderful as the new Final Fantasy 14 a realm reborn is- conducive to casual players looking to knock something out in 10 to 15 minutes or an hour or two hours, there something special about the difficulty of Final Fantasy 11 and being able to organize groups of 18 people working together in the strategic manner for content like void watch and delve that is still appealing and makes me want to log back into Final Fantasy 11. I would love to know what the development team have planned for the long term. It's still my favorite video game of all time

[Battletree]

I'm curious as to what the five-year ten year plan looks like for Final Fantasy 11. I completely understand if this information is sensitive and not for the general public to consume, however I would love to know if the games intent eventually is to be shut down completely or continue operating with no new content. Of course the diehard FF 11 fan in me would hope that the game receives the same sort of treatment that Final Fantasy 14 received with a realm reborn. A new graphics engine updated gameplay mechanics, streamlined user interface- which by the way it looks very promising on the test server.

Or is something completely different in the works for long term plans? Will we maybe see a potential to the remake of the game as a single player experience? Will it be integrated into Final Fantasy 14 somehow? Or don't we know yet is it that the game is just continuing to be successful and the development team only plans 6 to 12 months out ahead of time? I will admit most of my gaming time has been spent playing Final Fantasy 14 since it was released however as I reach endgame there I'm kind of itching for new final fantasy 11 content and I'm looking forward to the updates planned for October and November. As wonderful as the new Final Fantasy 14 a realm reborn is- conducive to casual players looking to knock something out in 10 to 15 minutes or an hour or two hours, there something special about the difficulty of Final Fantasy 11 and being able to organize groups of 18 people working together in the strategic manner for content like void watch and delve that is still appealing and makes me want to log back into Final Fantasy 11. I would love to know what the development team have planned for the long term. It's still my favorite video game of all time

i am curious too. i hope the game stays around but needs a new engine. 14 is freaking pretty.. but way too weak and easy.

[Battletree]

Mean "Leetist" players who cant treat people with respect and courtesy who think they are gods gift to FFXI.. if your passing judgment on the "playerbase" then this might be you. some people just take this game too seriously and the returning players since Adoulin addon have left already from being treated as sub par players because they have been gone for 5 years. so next time your mean to someone remember its YOU who is ruining the game... relax already.

[Battletree]

game needs a new fight format.. a new battle type. say like storming a castle or city ect. not some tiny area like dynamis bs. something where mobs attack you. like a real battle format. in a large well done area.. also a new graphic engine for sure.. ive tried playing 14 and its way too weak.. players are already leet in a
month one.. its a joke.