The problem with cutting the budget for FFXI

[radar]

I think a lot of companies fail to understand the implications of annoying a base of users that consume a product and have been loyal to it for a long time.

The budget for XI was cut and so the amount of staff was lowered and reassigned, this was obviously done to save money. The calculation was obviously done that most of us would stay anyway because we have played it so long, so why not cut the budget on what you give us for our subscription fee to make more profits.

The problem with this is we do not just consume FFXI, you are effectively annoying tens of thousands of people who are fans of FF and fans of your company.

Personally speaking, I spend far less on XI now than I did before and I also don't like buying your companies other AAA products anymore either. I have been successfully soured to Square Enix products by the way it treats a game I've paid you to play for 20+ years.

You may make more profits from XI by making us pay the same and giving us barely any new content, but I guarantee you that this is going to lose you far more money in an unseen way by burning fans this way.

This kind of anti fan penny pinching is what made Blizzard into one of the most hated gaming companies, when they used to be loved.

[Sp1cyryan]

Fans fail to understand how things work and oversimplify it.

[Beastorizer]

Blizard fans actually did something about it though; by joining a lesser MMO which temporarily surpassed WoW. Then, Blizzard announced an expansion which brough them back.

SE knows the ppl who are here, will stay here. I am guilty, sometimes........Also have taken year/years long breaks. So, I am not part of the loyalist community perse. I dip in every now and then. SE's forum algorithm allows you to hang around for a bit after the fact, so long as you are logged

I just want to see more BST jugs..........BST has less than 50% of the bestiary as pets. I don't think that is too much to ask for, considering BST is a pet class......but I am certain many want more pressing things such as content which benefits the playerbase as a whole.

The loyalist have to speak with their wallets, or nothing will change. It is up to the loyalist really......because if they leave, XI won't have a playerbase. Thus, SE will be forced to act (Could lead to a shutdown however lol). The "WoW -esque" folks who are fed up are already gone playing Horizon or some $hit.

[Alhanelem]

There is more than just one problem here. But really it's a chicken and egg situation. It's hard to justify spending money on a game with not that many players and a low likelyhood of obtaining more players. Thus players leave, then it's harder to justify spending money, more players leave, repeat.

But even if they decided today they wanted to spend more money on the game, I don't think it would have the desired result.

Seekers of Audolin actually had content cut because it underperformed. So I don't think SE has seen any reason to consider making something on that scale again since. I don't think anything less dramatic than a full remaster with new content would bring people back.

SE's forum algorithm allows you to hang around for a bit after the fact, so long as you are logged

This isn't really anything on SE's part. They use a generic (and once popular) forum software called vBulletin; and by itself it simply keeps you logged in until your login cookie expires. I suppose SE could have set the cookie lifespan shorter to boot people faster but really I don't think this fact was any specific decision on their part.

[Rinuko]

Seekers of Audolin actually had content cut because it underperformed. So I don't think SE has seen any reason to consider making something on that scale again since. I don't think anything less dramatic than a full remaster with new content would bring people back.

underperformed or was cut due to time constraints, get some quick sales funds to continue funding ARR development?

[Alhanelem]

underperformed or was cut due to time constraints, get some quick sales funds to continue funding ARR development?

the decision was made after the release, not before. Thus it was due to the performance, not a cause of it.

[Rinuko]

the decision was made after the release, not before. Thus it was due to the performance, not a cause of it.

Cut content is done during the development cycle, not post though.

[Alhanelem]

Cut content is done during the development cycle, not post though.

Not all development is complete when an expansion releases: Content gets planned for future patches and isn't necessairly complete beforehand. There seems to be this idea that devs simply hold back completed work for future updates. While there are cases where this was probably true, it isn't always the cases. The release of an expansion doesn't mean 100% of the content for it is ready.

[Immortal]

Stop cutting the budget, give this game what it deserves. You are killing it faster, not preserving it. Doing the absolute bare minimum is going to hurt the game, I am sure they already see the sub numbers dipping on their end.

[Sp1cyryan]

Stop cutting the budget, give this game what it deserves. You are killing it faster, not preserving it. Doing the absolute bare minimum is going to hurt the game, I am sure they already see the sub numbers dipping on their end.

Game is over, bud. It is in maintenance mode. This is what you get between the game ending or staying online. There is no "give it what it deserves." It is nice we all like something, but stop projecting your desires on it in the face or reality.

Game will stay online with minor addendums so that people can continue to enjoy it. That is it, and that is all. Appreciate it for what it is worth and accept it.