For those of us who still support the PS2 version of FFXI

[DuoMaxwell007]

I think in the case that anything should happen to our installation discs that SE should at least provide the ps2 version of the game as a "special" order directly to their site... sure I can understand discontinuing it from stores because of the lack of sales and the money that would require, but I doubt it would be hard to burn a copy of the game and let someone pay for it from the POL site and have it shipped to said individual(s) should something happen to their copy.


As it stands now copies of vanadiel collection 2008 are being sold on amazon.com for 700 bucks, thats ridiculous, and the newest collection for FFXI was only released on PC and xbox as if us PS2 players (the people who started it all) were completely forgotten about.. I have all the original FFXI discs for PS2 and all the expansions (so no collectors editions) a few years back i tried to install FFXI on a BC ps3 and i could install CoP because it would get halfway done then the installation bar would stop moving for over 30 mins... the game had not frozen though as the music still played, the credits still scrolled and I could click cancel if i wanted. however we already know of the glitch in the CoP version of PS2 that it deletes your entire FFXI install if you cancel.. but since I could install I had no choice... after reinstalling and trying multiple times I still had the same outcome so I just gave up....

24 hours ago however. After being nice enough to let someone use my ps2 for the last few months, I find out yesterday that they deleted all my FFXI data of my PS2 hard drive (gotta love 5-6 year olds) so now Im dreading the reinstall once I get to CoP because of what happened years ago when I tried to install it on ps3... Im currently reinstalling FFXI on my ps2 as we speak (havent gotten as far as CoP install yet) but when I do and it doesnt work, it would be great to have the option to get my hands on a copy of vanadiel collection 2008 (or at least cop) for ps2 without having to pay 700 bucks for it (dont say just play on pc as i know any crappy pc can run ffxi however pc isnt available or an option to me at the moment). So hear me out SE and maybe do something about this. (a la, add special orders of FFXI for ps2 to your site.) Thank you.

[Catsby]

For 700 dollars you could probably get yourself a decent (or refurbished) gaming laptop. I know you said that's not an option but the only other thing I can think of is some sort of digital only version offered by SE for your PS2/PS3 hard drive.

I know it sucks but ideally they will cut PS2 support and offer some sort of voucher to encourage all those players to move to ps3/PC.

[DuoMaxwell007]

except that i couldnt pay 700 bucks for a pc/laptop.. now if you told me i could get a pc/laptop that could run ffxi for 100 bucks then sure Id get right on it lol

[Bahamut_Norm]

I know it sucks but ideally they will cut PS2 support and offer some sort of voucher to encourage all those players to move to ps3/PC.

The PS2 version is what the PS3 users use in an emulated environment on the older PS3 models. There is not and will (probably) never be a native PS3 port due to the extreme nature of the code changes (and associated high costs/low returns) required.

Square could make another run of new discs as a collectors set. However this would come at a minimum of a scale of run in a number of different languages. Think 25 bucks (packaging, Sony license/printing fees) at just 10,000 discs * 3 editions = ~$750k! Sure, if you sold half at 50 dollars a shot, you'd be covered, but even still, it's close. But I do not know if Sata^H^H^H^H Sony is even still licensing PS2 discs, I don't believe they are.

Downloadable expansions are theoretically possible, and would probably cost half that to implement. The real question then becomes return value, and if they'd just be allowing players to download content they already own, or making any money by adding value to the service. It's a tough call.

[Juri_Licious]

except that i couldnt pay 700 bucks for a pc/laptop.. now if you told me i could get a pc/laptop that could run ffxi for 100 bucks then sure Id get right on it lol

You can get a laptop for 200$ that can run FFXI flawlessly. Head to Best Buy or, a computer store.

[oliveira]

Before expansions started to pile up, the PS2 was playing much smoother than the PC ever was. But on the long run the PS2 got overpowered.

The last time the PS2 ran smooth was before CoP was introduced. CoP had new enhanced graphics on the new zones and that's how things started to weight negatively for the PS2, introducing severe frameskip issues.

Funny enough the PS2 seems to be the version being less afflicted with *cosmetic* bugs.

Edit: (let's not even talk about the resolution thing, obviously on the PC you're free to play with higher resolutions and that's where the PC version shines most)...

[Gadanae]

Sadly, PS players are slowly getting da boots from FFXI. It seems that way anyhow. They are slowly phasing out support for Playstation (i.e. not being able to get the expansion packs easily) not to mention all the freeze ups, download, and graphic problems that playing on PS systems have experienced as of late.

One just hopes that they don't mean to get rid of PS players, but technology moves on.

[Mirage]

You could also get an upgrade of your desktop PC (if you have one). Just put all the cash into the highest clocked CPU you can find, that's what FF11 likes the most.

[oliveira]

One just hopes that they don't mean to get rid of PS players, but technology moves on.

I could not have put it better. While I love the PS2 version I feel the same way as you... It's simply overpowered now.

[Mirage]

While I understand that some PS2 players would feel sort of abandoned because of this, I think maybe they should start to slowly add some features to the clients that run on more powerful hardware. It's not PC/XB360 users faults that the PS2 is old, and there are just so many things that could have been easily implemented without having to think of the PS2's capacity.