Greetings adventurers and Square-Enix.
I want to bring up something that I have been noticing a lot lately. When streaming XI, frequently I read comments that people think the game has been shutdown or dead. I educate them, but there also have been a lot of comments about the lack of a console version.
XI lives in the shadow of XIV. Marketing campaign and promotion was greatly applied to XIV for A Realm Reborn and was a large success. Even further than that, word of mouth has further promoted XIV with its free trial which basically became a meme. (BTW the Free Trial for XI is really not that great and 14 days is too short)
But what about marketing for XI? Well, the upcoming Vanadiel Raid "Echoes of Vanadiel" in XIV is a good start in raising awareness about Vanadiel and that it is still online after well over 20 years. I have been observing more new players join in on Asura. I run a social LS open to all adventurers. It's good to see more players check out XI and return to XI. Historically however, FFXI has not been promoted very often.
Response to the Trust System has been overall positive. I have brought more people back into the game by just showing them they don't have to wait days for a party anymore.
FFXI is where I started online gaming and my first MMORPG. I played on both PS2 and Xbox 360. My best memory of FFXI is my LS clearing Dynamis with me in Xbox Party chat. We finished all of Dynamis back then. I'm not sure why so many people think the game died with the console version shutdown. I would love to see Console make a comeback with achievements & trophies. I still have some of my achievements from the Xbox 360 version.
I am excited to see new changes for the Gamepad Configuration including Target Nearest NPC! Does it mean a new console version is coming? Maybe not, but a guy can dream.
Wishlist with very low expectation:
+ Discounted/Bundled Subscription for FFXI & FFXIV together
+ Current gen console version (Xbox Series X, Playstation 5) with achievement support
+ Improved Free Trial
+ Make Gold World Passes easier
+ Cross-World travel (?)
+ Cross-World Party (?)
+ Finish the UI Overhaul that was started
+ Remove PlayOnline and allow direct launch to the server
+ Remake / Remaster XI (with character data carryover)
Sincerely,
Daynemog / Elanastoth
Returning Veteran, LS Leader, Longtime XI fan