Classic Servers

[Zehira]

Ultimately, SE is pretty much going to do whatever they're going to do. If a certain person reporting the same bot to the STF 80+ times doesn't get them actioned, I don't think extending this thread to 50+ pages is going to influence their decision either. Admittedly that bodes about as well for me as it does for you, but SE is SE.

In case, you hadn't noticed.

In addition, we have strengthened our crackdown on "solicitation activities that demand compensation for in-game behavior," such as power leveling. The scale of solicitations is declining as we continue to respond, but as you play, you may receive suspicious solicitations from strangers. If you see a suspicious solicitation or promotion, please report it to STF without being involved in the character who is calling. There are many cases where STF crackdowns are based on reports from players.

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/t...l=1#post639873

[Alhanelem]

There isn't anything to settle. I've acknowledged your post history and called you out on your behavior, you can go back to revising your posts and trying to get the last word in or whatever you like.

It's simple, you can continue to farm your post count and demoralize players asking for Classic 75 era, and I will continue to stand up for the importance of FF11's preservation as a mainline Final Fantasy title.

You know, I'm really sick and tired of these accusations. I have a genuine interest in every thread I post in. Go on and believe whatever the hell you want, I'm not here for post count and that's all there is to it. This isn't 1997. If all I cared about was post count, I would just make a bunch of threads and reply to myself- I don't need anyone's help for that, so obviously, my interest in the threads I reply to is genuine.
Your accusations on my behavior are false. Simple as that. You can believe what you want to believe, but that doesn't make it true. My feelings on this issue are as strong as yours, and by fighting against me as you are, you're only guilty of the very things you're accusing me of, making you a hypocrite. I have been civilized this entire thread. You have engaged in personal attacks.

I will continue to stand up for the importance of FF11's preservation as a mainline Final Fantasy title.

I 100% agree that this is super important. But special servers for a specific point in FFXI's past is not in any way instrumental to that goal.

Square-Enix remade FFXIV from the ground up after it bombed, because they didn't want to damage or destroy the FF brand. They clearly have a vested interest in the preservation of the Final Fantasy brand and everything under it. You can be darned sure that SE has a plan in mind to ensure that FFXI will always be part of that.

So if that's your true motivation here- preservation of FF history, well even if SE actually doesn't have a plan for the future and shuts down the game without a replacement/remaster/whatever else, that won't end the private servers. So you really don't have anything to worry about.

[Alhanelem]

In case, you hadn't noticed.



https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/t...l=1#post639873

Well, if there has been a crackdown, they must be specifically ignoring our friend's reports. Technically not okay but admittedly doesn't surprise me either.
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/t...l=1#post640213

[Zehira]

Well, if there has been a crackdown, they must be specifically ignoring our friend's reports. Technically not okay but admittedly doesn't surprise me either.
https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/t...l=1#post640213

Since they officially judge what we say, I recommend reporting rather than forums. We don't play politics in the game however some people think we do.

[Lortheron]

I do wish we could have a way to synchronize player levels inside original mission's battlefields and have some sort of "helper points" (or anything on that line) that rewarded older, higher level players, very well for doing original content SYNCHRONIZED with a first time players doing it. That would be somewhat of a start in terms of a way to preserve the original experiences for newer players to come and reduce the need for a classic servers, ways to keep the original content relevant and the original experience accessible to newer players (at least in some form, or as close to it as possible) would be a great start. And it's something many MMOs have, including FFXIV.

That would also allow for the growth of a 'minimum item level required' community in FFXI, which would be amazing to see. This game truly deserves it : )

[Alhanelem]

I've always wholeheartedly supported adding things to the game that facilitate everyone being able to play the way they want to play. Heck, Ballista of all things lets you impose a level cap by choice and has since its inception. It seems to me like it shouldn't be that difficult to simply have an option at every battlefield to impose an appropriate level restriction, especially where those limits existed before.

[Spellstar]

here's a quote from an interview in whch SE officially said "no" to a classic server with their reasons:


Adding in a few of my own:

- There is little agreement on exactly what moment within level 75 cap history is the most "classic" moment. When Dynamis came out? CoP? TOAU? Right before the cap began to increase beyond 75? there are a lot of different opinions here, and no option will please everyone who is interested.


-WoW is often cited as the reason a game should do this, and the reality is, it works okay for wow and a few other games becuase they have massive communities. FFXI's community is not big enough for splitting up the current playerbase into people who want to play the current game with its regular updates and a server that's frozen in time in the 75 era. It would degrade the experience for both groups.
- Nostalgia is a pair of rose tinted glasses. Recreating a lv75 server does not recreate the experiences we had when we did that stuff for the first time. The community is what made the game, not the level cap, in my opinion. FFXI was a heavy grind in that age, moreso than it is now, and the reason we enjoyed the game as much as we did is in large part of the community. Making a lv75 sever does not restore that community nor does it restore that doing-stuff-for-the-first-time experience.

1. They could release in phases just as LotRO and WoW have done.
2. Not necessarily splitting the player base but bringing old players back. As proven with WoW classic and LotRO.
3. Nostalgia isn't necessarily rose-tinted. Again as proven by WoW classic which has maintained large population servers of people that do not and have not played retail WoW in many years.
4. I always wonder why people voice such strong opinions to something other players would like. It wouldn't affect you so just don't play it if it came out.

[Velner]

I am all for people playing whatever makes them happy, so I am not necessarily opposed to a "classic" server. My only fear is that this would divert the small development team XI currently has and split the resources between two projects. That would be terrible.

[Alhanelem]

I am all for people playing whatever makes them happy, so I am not necessarily opposed to a "classic" server. My only fear is that this would divert the small development team XI currently has and split the resources between two projects. That would be terrible.

Well, this is my primary concern. Given that they've discussed the idea before, clearly getting additional resources to do something like this so they could do it without compromising the current game is a hard sell to SE corporate. It really can only work if they can get SE to invest more than they currently do (And really if they could get substantial additional investment, I'd honestly like to see it go towards a remaster, but of course that's entirely my opinion.)

I always wonder why people voice such strong opinions to something other players would like. It wouldn't affect you so just don't play it if it came out.

The problem is, it would affect me. Resources would have to be diverted from the game I play to provide the one you want to play. Thus my experience would be degraded for the benefit of yours- and additionally, it fractures an already small community without any promise of bringing in new members (I sincerely doubt that people playing on private servers now would suddenly come over here and start paying money to start over a third time).

I have a strong opinion about it precisely because it absolutely will affect other people besides the people that want this feature. It's as I said above this quote- The only way this can happen is for SE to give more resources than they're currently willing to give. A favorable cost-benefit analysis would be needed from the dev team to convince HQ to give them those resources. Call me cynical but I don't think a handful of people arguing on a forum is going to swing SE corporate.

The whole basis of my arguments is that, under current conditions, developing and implementing a special version of the game on a special server would in fact cause harm to people who play the current game as it is. This is not simply "stop liking what I don't like." And that's not how I feel at all- I just want to see solutions that work for everyone.