New expansion?!?

[Dazusu]

I never implied the game was going to die with my post; just that the current direction the game is (and has been taking since the latter half of Adoulin) is not the one the vast majority of players wanted to see. I feel this is reflected by the drastic population decline since Adoulin. What else could be considered the causation? I know from first hand experience, my own Linkshell stopped playing almost entirely because of the epic gap in group content between Delve I and Delve II. Most other Linkshells (people who enjoyed playing together in groups of 12+) also stopped playing around this time.

Before anyone goes on a "solo/3man/6man is better / linkshells are for assholes / I never liked end-game" crusade, I'm not saying large group play is for everyone - I'm saying it wasn't catered for; and those that enjoyed it stopped playing in considerable numbers. Around 16~20 people quit from my own group.

It was getting incredibly boring arranging events for 18 people when the options were "Do we kill Tojil, Bee or the Shark?"; whereas at level 75 end-game, you had options such as Sky, Sea, HNM camps periodically, fights like Alastor Antlion (and other poppable NMs), Limbus, Einherjar.

The problem now that content is deprecated within a couple of months of being released. Or it's designed for small groups. There's no variety or real options for large groups. (Again, I think low man play should be catered, as well as larger groups.)

The low man experience in FFXI right now is consistent. If that's not your style; you find yourself bored; really quickly.

This is probably why it feels like an anti-community ghost town when I login and see not a single person moving or shouting/yelling for pretty much an entire day.

Anyway, I digress. A new expansion would be great... it might cause people to return. I'm not holding my breath though.

[Protey]

I never implied the game was going to die with my post; just that the current direction the game is (and has been taking since the latter half of Adoulin) is not the one the vast majority of players wanted to see. I feel this is reflected by the drastic population decline since Adoulin. What else could be considered the causation? I know from first hand experience, my own Linkshell stopped playing almost entirely because of the epic gap in group content between Delve I and Delve II. Most other Linkshells (people who enjoyed playing together in groups of 12+) also stopped playing around this time.

Before anyone goes on a "solo/3man/6man is better / linkshells are for assholes / I never liked end-game" crusade, I'm not saying large group play is for everyone - I'm saying it wasn't catered for; and those that enjoyed it stopped playing in considerable numbers. Around 16~20 people quit from my own group.

It was getting incredibly boring arranging events for 18 people when the options were "Do we kill Tojil, Bee or the Shark?"; whereas at level 75 end-game, you had options such as Sky, Sea, HNM camps periodically, fights like Alastor Antlion (and other poppable NMs), Limbus, Einherjar.

The problem now that content is deprecated within a couple of months of being released. Or it's designed for small groups. There's no variety or real options for large groups. (Again, I think low man play should be catered, as well as larger groups.)

The low man experience in FFXI right now is consistent. If that's not your style; you find yourself bored; really quickly.

This is probably why it feels like an anti-community ghost town when I login and see not a single person moving or shouting/yelling for pretty much an entire day.

Anyway, I digress. A new expansion would be great... it might cause people to return. I'm not holding my breath though.

What do you expect, there are people on these forums that beg and plead for SE to make getting everything easier. And unfortunately SE has been pandering to them. They can't see beyond their own instant gratification to see that they are ruining the game.