Thoughts on a shared subscription?

[Pixela]

Unfortunately the company themselves are working against XI's interest. SE has no interest in promoting this game or supporting it anymore than the bare minimum. The sad truth is that no XIV player is going to touch this game, most certainly not long-term. We live in a vapid world these days, SE needs to get rid of most of the spaghetti code and slow global cooldowns and loading times, clunky UI and slightly outdated graphics along with that archaic login system. People just look at the login process and older style graphics and are immediately turned off. XIV is now their cash cow and they couldn't care less about XI outside of obligation to keep it running. It really infuriates me but it is the reality and at this point they've shown they do not care, I barely have hopes for the 2022 announcement, probably some meteor to crash into Vanadiel to ferry our souls to Eorzea. I can't believe they won't invest in both games so they can have two successful MMO's with different play styles. They would make more money in the long run than lose, with more options to benefit via add-ons like wardrobes, race changes, etc. One can only imagine what goes on in the head of those execs at SE.

Truthfully people saying that they won't play this game due to the sub cost, are generally liars. They just don't want to play it, who thinks 12 dollars is a lot of money in 2021? A sub decrease if you have XI or XIV sub, won't matter much with the underlying issues we have with this company.

XI exists for XI players, its here as a service to us. It's an old school mmorpg with appeal to a niche of hardcore mmorpg players, if they were to alter XI to appeal to XIV players enmasse it would be crap and none of us would want to play it anymore.

Why do people lust after mainstream audiences when you don't like mainstream products?

[Alhanelem]

XI exists for XI players, its here as a service to us. It's an old school mmorpg with appeal to a niche of hardcore mmorpg players, if they were to alter XI to appeal to XIV players enmasse it would be crap and none of us would want to play it anymore.

Why do people lust after mainstream audiences when you don't like mainstream products?

The only thing working against FFXI is its age and SE's level of commitment.

My biggest gripe about FFXIV was and is the ongoing homgenization of the jobs (i.e. there's really just four: tank healer melee ranged, within each category there's little reason to play one job over another) But even today FFXI still has plenty going for it as does FFXIV (and some others out there). you underestimate the ability of both non-current players to enjoy elements FFXI and that of FFXI players to enjoy elements of any other games out there. You may be hard locked on FFXI as the only good MMO ever made and everything that came after is crap, but not every current player feels that way.

[Pixela]

The only thing working against FFXI is its age and SE's level of comittment.

Not at all, it's doing great for what it is. People have stupid expectations in modern day is all.

[Alhanelem]

Not at all, it's doing great for what it is. People have stupid expectations in modern day is all.

The message here wasn't t hat FFXI i sn't d oing well. If it wasn't, I wouldn't be here. That doesn't mean it doesn't have issues either though. But the message was those are the reasons FFXI isn't "mainstream", it isn't so much because of it being "old school' or "niche appeal."

Like I mentioned before, I have conversations about it on a regular basis in FFXI. Some people aren't even aware it's still running. Others express interest. Age is one of the primary deterring factors, people just don't want to play old games that badly unless they're like all time classics or something.

[Stompa]

Not at all, it's doing great for what it is. People have stupid expectations in modern day is all.

I compare it to a Bus Journey. You are going home after work, the bus stop outside your home is halfway between the bus stop outside your place of work, and the bus station terminus final stop.

A sensible person would get off the bus near their home, half way along the bus journey. A not-sensible person would ride the bus to the bus station, just because they want to go "all the way" and have the maximum possible bus journey. The sensible person spends the night in their comfortable home, the not-sensible person spends the night hanging around the bus station.

Just because we can go "all the way" and make games that are louder and more visually overwhelming than the older games were, doesn't mean that the new games are better than older games that were back down the road. The new games are the final bus stop, the bus station terminus. Who would want to live there? It is better to get off the bus near your home, the place where you feel comfortable and happy.

It is a modern psychopathy, the notion that that nothing is beautiful unless it has been pushed to the maximum limits, the idea that only the latest shiniest toy is worth playing with. It is a form of cultural madness.

[Immortal]

XI exists for XI players, its here as a service to us. It's an old school mmorpg with appeal to a niche of hardcore mmorpg players, if they were to alter XI to appeal to XIV players enmasse it would be crap and none of us would want to play it anymore.

Why do people lust after mainstream audiences when you don't like mainstream products?

I don't want them to change the core of the game, but if they revamped the graphics and got rid of the terrible cooldown on everything where you are spamming to do something and it feels very clunky, it would benefit the game. More people playing the game is more years this game will be alive, I don't want it to do die so we need a middle ground.