My continued support of FFXI, and SE as a company.

[Dihlyte]

Greetings everyone,

Allow me to start out by saying, likely the most important part of this post:

Square-Enix quite possibly will never even see, read, nor consider this post, so if it offends you in anyway, it is not my intent, and your concern should not be alarming.



The point:
I do not believe I wish to continue to support SE and FFXI much longer, if no changes are made.

I originally planned to go into detail, but I will instead keep it simple.

I fell in love with the FF series with FFVII. It was my first RPG.

RPG's are *not* games I will play:
-when I am tired.
-when I want to sit and relax
-when I have limited time.

If I have "limited time/want to relax/or am tired" I will watch a movie, or play Mario Cart, etc.

I play RPG's when:
-I *want* to be challenged.
-When I do have free time.
-When I am wanting an immersive, and engaging experience.

RPG's to me should:

-Be engaging.
-Require thought.
-Be challenging
-Have hidden (off the map) locations.
-Offer meaningful/valuable/lasting rewards
-Take "longer than usual"
-Have rare hard to find/spawn enemies.
-Have customizable stats
-Interesting/creative/diverse large casts of characters and locations.

These are the reasons I love RPG's/FFXI in its current state, and why I dislike FFXIV in its current state, as "current" examples.


RPG's when done with care, quality, and creativity, do sell well.
Namely: FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX, FFX, FFXII.

(A modern example could be Baldur's Gate 3.)

I personally do not think I can support this new direction.


There are so many people who do not even know FFXI servers are even still online.

There are over 25 million players who have tried and quit FFXIV, and the forums are rampant with complaints that go unheard.

Final Fantasy can do so much better if the above were resolved, and the fact they exist speaks volumes to me. I am not a vocal minority.

More people have tried and quit FFXIV than have tried XIV and are still playing.

There are far more people unaware of FFXI's online status, or the new content/changes than there are "me" type people.

[chief_bigman]

Keep an eye on SE's stocks after the initial Dawntrail hype (is there even much of that this time around?) wears off. Gonna be interesting...

[Dihlyte]

I agree about the stocks. We shall see.

To clarify my post, my gripe is not with FFXI now.

I feel FFXI has done so many great things in the past 5 years. All the right things I would even say.
(Except the reduction of staff, and using FFXI's revenue for other titles. Along with the things I listed in my original post.)

In fact, this is why I would consider stopping my subscription from XI. Due how much of FFXI's profits are going to things that are not RPG's.

I do not wish to support a company that is pouring decades of revenue into titles that alienate their lifelong fanbase.

[Immortal]

What a shame, this game deserves better

[Alhanelem]

Square-Enix quite possibly will never even see, read, nor consider this post

Community reps DO still see and read posts. Consideration is entirely dependent on what it's about.

We all want what you want, unfortunately, we're not likely to get much of it. SE is much less inclined to support their MMOs forever and ever (including FFXIV, which already seems to be planning for a future like FFXI's). Ultimately they make decisions based on the numbers, and the numbers seem to be telling them they won't see much of a return on any big investment into the game. The passion of those of us who are still here is not enough to make a big corporation make unsound or risky financial decisions.

The best thing to do if you're not happy and not getting the enjoyment you feel you deserve for what you're spending, rather than spread gloom and doom on a discussion forum, is to just stop giving them money. Their response to declining player numbers seems to be to spend less accordingly, rather than make an effort to retain and recruit new players.

[chief_bigman]

The passion of those of us who are still here is not enough to make a big corporation make unsound or risky financial decisions.

I think it's painfully clear at this point that Square Enix does not need help or encouragement to make unsound, risky financial decisions.

[Alhanelem]

I think it's painfully clear at this point that Square Enix does not need help or encouragement to make unsound, risky financial decisions.

pray tell what unsound and risky financial decision do you think they're making? Because, as much as I love this game, dumping a ton of money into FFXI is an unsound, risky financial decision. Every cost-benefit analysis I could imagine would tell them the costs are too high and the probable benefit just isn't there. It would probably be more expensive than losing the income from FFXI entirely to change this game in such a way as to bring everybody back and then some.

FFXI neither is nor was ever one of the biggest MMOs out there. Even if they remaster or give the game some big update, it's not going to make a miracle happen. Sure, I can picture a long, slow road of growth with continued investment, but there has to be a significant enough return on that investment. It would have to make FFXI relevant in a sea of MMOs that are all more popular than FFXI ever was.

And I say this because its the truth. in spite of how much I love this game and how much it's been a part of my life for more than two decades (i.e. more than half of my existence) I have enough of an understanding of business economics to know that this isn't enough to sustain a game like this. SE is a business and has to make financial decisions in its best interest. And I'd have to search pretty hard to find a plane of existence where FFXI magically becomes a successful and hugely popular enough MMO to convince SE to keep dumping money into it.

if FFXI had been made by a small studio whose only work was this game, you'd probably see them fighting to keep it alive, yes. You'd see them pour their heart and soul into it because they want to make an awesome experience first and be a famous money making company second. Sadly that won't get you many investors in this world.

[Immortal]

FFXI was the highest grossing FF game, what ya talking about like its some massive money pit. The game itself doesn't even require much in terms of investment because its reaped the benefits 10x over. They are going to kill it faster and gain 0 instead of investing a little and maintaining its population/returning players. I swear everyone thinks they are armchair business economists today. If this was the case, why would they ever create another game or remaster/remake any old games when they can simply copy and paste games like WoW, candy crush, fortnite etc? It would be every attempt they make currently.

[Alhanelem]

FFXI was the highest grossing FF game

Not on this plane of existence it wasn't.

WoW has been out nearly as long as FFXI and has made orders of magnitude more money than FFXI. It's not even the most profitable or successful game of its era, much less any era since. And while you might argue it's not fair to compare them now, even back in the day, WoW clearly didn't take very long to surprass FFXI's revenue. I didn't ask the bot but I'm willing to bet everquest has made more money as well. It doesn't have the biggest playerbase these days but I'm pretty sure it has always had more players.

Just for fun, I asked everyone's favorite AI chatbot to come up with an estimate of FFXI and WoW's revinue, and it came up with an estimate of $1.5 billion since may 2002, and for WoW, $14.5 billion since 2004. Nearly an order of magnitude more in less time.

[Immortal]

Someone doesn't read apparently