Please make FFXI f2p!

[Stompa]

A subscription pays for a game to be updated, that's the whole point of it. You pay for the developers wages to make new content right? That will be soon removed.

Not really true. I pay subs for a lot of games that never "change" in terms of updates, like online Chess groups and online Dice/Cards gambling groups. Games like Poker and Chess never get updated (not in thousands of years!) but people still pay to be members in some of those online groups.

We can agree that Chess and Poker are classic games. People love to play those games online, with strangers from around the world. Some of those groups are of course free, but there are also paid membership groups. The difference in free and paid groups for those games, is that the paid-membership Poker/Chess groups have glitch-free service which are moderated and controlled to preserve fairness and enthusiasm. The free versions are often a huge headache / trainwreck and less fun to be part of.

FFXI is also a classic game. It will remain a classic game after it stops being updated (ie. altered). We will still be playing a classic game online, with likeminded people from around the world. And so we should pay subs for that service.

I reject the notion that a game that has no updates is basically "dead" which is what has been said in a few threads. If it is a fun game, a classic game, then you can still enjoy playing it, even after the updates stop. It is only dead to you, if you as an individual stop enjoying it.

Also "no thanks" to the idea of cash shops / pay to progress etc. This game requires some patience, a lot of the best classic games require patience. Being in a hurry to finish things is not really what a good game is about. Playing the game by the rules, enjoying it and making progress using skill and perseverance, are what all classic games are about.

Why should we base a game's worth on how much it is updated. Surely we should base a game's worth on the core game itself, how much we enjoy the basic mechanisms of the game, the rule structures, storylines, atmosphere etc.

Currently FFXI is a huge explorable world, with hugely immersive content and very nice gear / battle / character-progress systems etc. After the updates end this year, FFXI will still remain this exact same huge world, with all those great features still intact. The only question is, do you enjoy playing FFXI?

I do, and since FFXI will still be available after the updates end, I will still enjoy playing it and I am happy to pay subs for the chance to enjoy this classic online game, even without updates.