@SquareEnix: Kickstarter campaign to get a graphic upgrade?

[Hercule]

Found this screens long time ago on FFXIAH

[Emdief]

[Alhanelem]

So, our solution to obtain something very specific that we want is to offer to pay for it if enough people are willing to contribute, which is what Kickstarters are for. Except maybe that if SE actually agreed to it we'd have a much better chance of actually getting what we are paying for.

Kickstarters are to fund new and unreleased projects and events that are yet to happen. Not to fund an already funded project that does not and should not need additional money.

You can be nearly 100% sure that they already have highres master versions of all the textures in the game. E.g. do you really think their original art for the mog house rugs is that pixelated? No, it's not. Artists do everything in the highest quality possible and then it's reduced to the resolution needed for the game (based on what the platform they originally released on is capable of and how well it would look- placing high resolution textures on the ps2 with its giant pixels for the 3D environement would not improve the appearance). The only work involved here is swapping texture versions. Tedious work because of just how many there are, but they've proven they don't need our help to do this on multiple occasions by upgrading various textures in the past including those used for fonts, icons and the title screen.

Kickstarter is a terrible idea. It's not appropriate for this type of project and IT'S SOMETHING THEY SHOULD BE DOING ANYWAY. It is beyond me why anyone would support such an idea. Neither I nor anyone else should have to throw extra money at SE for them to do this.

This would be like Blizzard not releasing its latest game or withholding a new WoW expansion unless they did a kickstarter and it was successfully funded. it would be a giant PR stunt and nothing more. They don't need the money, nor do they need incentive. They will make plenty of money by just doing it, and they have plenty of capital to do just that. SE has plenty of capital. If we can't encourage them to just do it, we're not even going to get them to do a kickstarter or any other kind of silly stunt for it.

I totally understand that some of you have a strong enough desire for this to want to do "whatever it takes" to make this idea happen. But, it's not going to happen until and unless SE just decides to do it. If this thread and all the "shut up and take my money" pics won't do it, nothing will. Believe me, I want it too. I just know they have the means to do it without extra help from us, and nothing outside of this forum is likely to have a greater effect. petitions, kickstarters, etc. SE is just going to do whatever they're going to do.

Personally I would just hope for an official comment on this. If they can consider it at all, even if it takes years, I'd be happy. I only wouldn't be happy to hear something like "oh, we'll do it, but you have to pay extra!" I've paid at least $1500 in subscription fees for this game over the years, as have many other people here who have been playing since the beginning or close to it. Is that not enough to get some updated textures?

[Zarchery]

Admit it Alhalenem... you secretly want this Kickstarter to exist so you can fund it, but you already spent all your spare money on Microsoft's Kickstarter for Windows 9.

[Alhanelem]

Admit it Alhalenem... you secretly want this Kickstarter to exist so you can fund it, but you already spent all your spare money on Microsoft's Kickstarter for Windows 9.

I'd sooner fund a kickstarter for paying down the national debt.

[Hercule]

I've paid at least $1500 in subscription fees for this game over the years, as have many other people here who have been playing since the beginning or close to it. Is that not enough to get some updated textures?

I agreee with this

[Emdief]

Nobody is forcing anyone to pay anything, but if they didn't update the graphics until now I don't see them doing it for free, as it would require a lot of work. The team currently working on FFXI is pretty small right now, and they would need to get more designers and programmers from SE for sure, which has a cost.
We have payed a lot of money and invested a lot of time in this game, I've been playing for 11 years now, almost non stop. Our money went on updates, expansions, servers and what else, so we basically got what we payed for. The point now is asking for something that they didn't plan, as they would most likely continue with the regular updates till the game dies.
That's why I believe we could really help them out funding the project. I just hope they are discussing about this within the team right now, they should respond to let us know what they think.

[Alhanelem]

Nobody is forcing anyone to pay anything, but if they didn't update the graphics until now I don't see them doing it for free,

They won't be doing it for free. They'll be doing it for the $12.95 (or more) everyone here pays them every month.

If I paid them extra money, it would be for an expansion or other large swath of new content. I'm not about to pay for something I feel they should be doing as a patch or update for the money we're already paying them.

Other games have modernized to support new graphics tech or other audiovisual improvements. Why should we have to pay for what's included in the cost of paying for almost any other MMO?

Did the players of WoW have to pay for the graphic refresh of the entire original continents of the game? No. (It happened with the release of Cataclysm, but you saw the improved/changed graphics whether you bought the expansion or not, unless I've gone crazy)

[Raydeus]

They won't be doing it for free. They'll be doing it for the $12.95 (or more) everyone here pays them every month.

If I paid them extra money, it would be for an expansion or other large swath of new content. I'm not about to pay for something I feel they should be doing as a patch or update for the money we're already paying them.

Other games have modernized to support new graphics tech or other audiovisual improvements. Why should we have to pay for what's included in the cost of paying for almost any other MMO?

Did the players of WoW have to pay for the graphic refresh of the entire original continents of the game? No. (It happened with the release of Cataclysm, but you saw the improved/changed graphics whether you bought the expansion or not, unless I've gone crazy)

Are you really comparing WoW's situation with XI's? At this point you are just throwing tantrums and offering zero solutions other that more tantrums.

But hey it's a free forum, keep doing that if it makes you feel better. I would just recommend people to stop replying to your posts because I don't want this thread to be locked before we get at least some response to the proposal.

[Ritsuka]

You are right XI was sacrificed in order to make XIV "succeed" (although that success still remains in question long term considering how disposable content is in that game), but SE isn't allergic to money either. So if XI could still make money for them and players were willing to pay for the upgrade they have no reason to say no to that extra profit.





Most of what you say is precisely why a Kickstarter would be the best option for something like this.

Although personally I wouldn't want a change in models at all, just hi-res textures and a client upgrade (like I said DX11/12 support, Open GL and maybe Mantle for a stretch goal) that was completely focused on optimizations for PC. The performance gains the game would get would far surpass the extra requirements better textures would need so it would actually allow weaker PCs to run it much better. But gameplaywise nothing would/should change.

They wont do it cuz they don't wanna block out there Japanese player base most still play on ps2. This game was made for ps2 no PC everything forgets that.