Quote Originally Posted by thefinalrune View Post
One of the reps posted here in this thread on the subject of new areas and/or expansions: HERE

I understand SE's stand point. Currently, they're losing money something awful on FFXIV and the only real cash cow SE still has going for it (at the moment) is FFXI. So, they're focused on improving existing content, expanding on the next nine levels and refining any remaining quirks with the existing content and systems. This is a much more financially sound solution versus investing the time and resources needed to create a fully fledged expansion with new areas.

Don't get me wrong though, I'd love new content, but I understand that currently its just not feasible within their already set timeline. I'm sure some time next year we'll finally get a nice teaser to some up coming expansion once they work out the details. At best I'm expecting an early announcement by summer next year with a release by spring 2013. Worst cast, the first reveal on a new expansion would be winter 2012 with a release in summer/winter 2013.

Play the long game, get into what will likely be new end game by years end and wait for the new stuff. FFXI still has a really long bit of life left in it despite what naysayers might want you to believe otherwise. It still earns SE a mountain of cash, they're not letting it go anywhere. They know we want a new expansion, and it'll happen -- eventually.
While the long game is important so is the here and now. We are the consumers and we play for a variety of reasons. Some for combat, some for gear, others for exploring the world, and some for a storyline. For me I enjoy pretty an awesome storyline, exploration, and graphics (in that order). If it means I have to wait a year for the story to continue or a new storyline then for me it means I will end up looking for stories elsewhere.