Reasons Why FFXI is Declining

[Daemon]

I don't know. I've been grinding since diablo. It seems to work as a main game mechanic.

Yeah but that's the problem. To many of us Final Fantasy players.

Back in the day during Nintendo Era. Many games were simple, easy to beat. Not really much depth and storyline. To many of us this way of gaming was boring. I mean Mario brothers?

RPG games filled the role other games didn't. Storyline, depth, a system of working on your character by leveling, purchasing gear so you could advance to the next area of the game. Not skip it.

Exploring different areas and finding out which places were death because your level wasn't high enough. Remember those boats , airships? Villains like Kafka in FF6? The evil mysterious Witch in 8?

We fell in love with RPG games because they took longer to beat. RPG games like Final Fantasy really got you into the story like a great book.

Look even at FF7. A whole world to explore. Rares to find. Summons to collect. But the content wasn't irrelevant because you had to search and find things in various places. And no matter what, you still had to pause and work on yourself.

Diablo is not the same. That type of game is more instant. A quick rush because many items drop and you just take whatever is the best one. This game is mostly grinding, grinding. Storyline was just in the way. You didn't have to spend a lot of time to get past it. It's meant for people who don't want to waste a lot of time but login and do stuff right away. Good for people who don't have patience for a real RPG.

It's meant to pass each area and never look back but keep moving forward. Which was not how we knew Final Fantasy to be.

Final fantasy games, storyline is what makes up everything about it. You are more involved with the characters and the people in towns. It was there to lead you into part by part. And leveling wasn't made easy, it was made to stop you at every part of the game so you could explore each area and take your time working on yourself in order to advance.

This is what FFXI has failed now. By speed racing to 99 asap so you could participate with others who already at the end and grind grind grind. Content has been made irrelevant. Abandoned with no reason to go back. People cannot enjoy the game because at 99 we are at the end of it.

Like skipping high school and college, working and coming at the point of retirement. What more is there to do? You are already at the end of the game.

I remember when I first played. Meeting people all over each map. Everyone at different levels. Everyone talking about different gear, skillchain and how their new gear made a difference. Your accomplishment in level and gear was part of everyday socialism. Leveling together even though took so much time.. What did you do during that time with others made it count. Getting to know each other was much more personal.

Because you were high level you could go to areas where low levels needed help and they were grateful that you did. While giving you the feeling of being like an older brother or mentor, teaching others how to get through the stuff you already accomplished.

But now at 99. Gear doesn't matter because its all about reaching capped sets and grinding.

Storyline? Irrelevant because we all don't care anymore. More likely, it's just in the way and we want to speed right past it.

This game is going in the direction of Diablo but fails to do it because we are caught in the middle of trying to be RPG, yet try to be instant like Diablo. And this is where I see confusion lies between old players and new generation players.

FFXI was good at the start because we all were new, exploring each town, meeting people at different levels. But here's where I see FFXI Dev team made wrong.

Making the player base depend on each other so hardcore that we could not accomplish things without others. Missions, Quest, etc.

What SE fails at, forcing everyone this way, people started having problems because not everyone is a people person. Or can make friends to help do stuff together.

If SE had given us more ability to solo level and earn our gears without depending on others, then add content for teaming up would be better.

How many people cannot join events because they didn't have the gear for it? Yet the fault here is that we depend on others too much that its hard to even collect our gears and be ready to participate.

18 man alliances ruined the game because now we are getting to the point where it's hard to find 18 people to do things.

I think the difference would have been much greater in a positive direction if SE wasn't afraid to allow us power enough to solo things like our own gear and be independent individuals.

An entire server full of people. Would we ever ignore and not team up?

http://m.ign.com/articles/2009/06/18...-final-fantasy

[Tsukino_Kaji]

You say that, but the second time I played FFIV, I leveled Ridia to 99 right after I got her. Before I even entered that town right there.
The key is killing Cecil off after she's high enough to solo.
Grind is grind, it's in everything that has XP or random drops.

[Daemon]

You say that, but the second time I played FFIV, I leveled Ridia to 99 right after I got her. Before I even entered that town right there.
The key is killing Cecil off after she's high enough to solo.
Grind is grind, it's in everything that has XP or random drops.

Well you are talking about 14. Which from what I hear is made to be the new generation style RPG.

[Sfchakan]

Well you are talking about 14. Which from what I hear is made to be the new generation style RPG.

He's talking about Final Fantasy IV, guy, not XIV. You should know where Rydia is from!!!

[Tsukino_Kaji]

4, no X.

Or did we both missread something?

[Daemon]

Oh my bad lol. Mis read it while proof reading. Btw I'm writing all of this on a cellphone wah wah...

[Daemon]

“After switching over to the Famicom, there was a time when I wasn't happy with anything I was creating. I thought of retiring from the game industry and I created Final Fantasy as my final project. That's why the title includes the word 'final' but for me, the title 'Final Fantasy' reflects my emotional state at the time and the feeling that time had stopped. They say that technologically, it's good to keep going, and each time, we give it our all and expend our skills and energy until we can go no further; this is what I consider to be the "final fantasy".”
—Hironobu Sakaguchi

http://m.ign.com/articles/2009/06/18...-final-fantasy

[Daemon]

4, no X.

Or did we both missread something?

I misread and thought Ridia was the name of a server in 14.

Rydia however yes I remember in IV.

I don't know much about 14 but I had a double disappointment over it. I bought collectors edition... Got mugged on my home and went back to buy another one. Spent $200. Then found the game too disappointing. But I hear great reviews about 14 now and that they did an amazing job.

[Oceanz]

#1. Opinion: Enix isn't Soft enough.
#2. Solution: Time travel

[Daemon]

Reposted my Guide under a new title much better than the last one.
Solution: read it here http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/th...egy-Guide-FFXI