First I would like to mention that yes, this is a long post. But I assure you that I will try not to make it an overly negative bitter rant and instead just try to point out things which have come to my attention.

I decided to make this thread based on a few things I've seen in different sections of this forum. It's a reoccurring statement, where people are disappointed with certain new content that is being added, while their own creative (and I personally think, very good) ideas are being brushed aside by the developers, simply because (they say) they don't have enough time to implement them.

The example I will use is in the JOBS section: DRAGOON: "Change your wyvern color!"

The link is here: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/threads/455-Change-your-wyvern-color!

Needless to say, the idea is to have different color options for your wyvern, giving a more unique touch to the DRG job.

Now I will say that, in no way is this a major request and in no way does this affect combat, major quests or areas. Heck, it's not even a very major upgrade for DRG. But... There is one thing that this idea does represent: Fun. Simply put, it would be fun for the players, it would be something interesting to see and would add more feeling and character to the DRG job.

There are others who agree with me on this point, and I would like to quote some posts from that thread.

Quote Originally Posted by Wenceslao View Post
Really SE what is happening with you guys?, 6~9 years ago FFXI was the best MMORPG, you opened this forum to receive feedbacks from the players and to looks what we are wanting, and what we receive? Dynamis-Reborn? (a thread in which the majority of the players are against) New Trigger Conditions to pop Fafnir, Nidhogg, Behemoth and King Behemoth (another thread in which, player are against of implement it). I know you have lot of work to do and I am not against it, but you should take a closer look on what the players really want, as stated by many DRGs on this thread, this is not something new, we have been asking this for years, in the end we are the ones who are playing and this past months has been a wth? is happening with FFXI, many changes are expected to take action, but please do it properly, the general feeling of the players is not good, you have been focusing in add-ons scenarios and not in the expansions, you have been focusing on add more stuffs to do (when we already have many stuffs to do, but many players just don't do it because the rewards are gimped now) why not take a closer look on what we really want and not in what you think we want?.

I know you are working hard but please there are some content we would like to take effect in the short run (like this thread) than other stuffs, if you could delay the world merge, you can delay other stuffs in favor of what your customers wants more, anyway hope you read this, and thank you for taking the time to give us an explanation.
And another.

Quote Originally Posted by Twille View Post
This is the 2nd or 3rd response from SE stating something along the lines of player requested changes being a "low-priority" to other things.
What other things? Things like [dex1012]? What a waste of time. SE did the same thing with the promyvions, what good did that do? Things like [dev1011]? Treasure caskets...seriously? I've soloed 3 or 4 jobs to level 50 and roughly a dozen to level 30 and I've rarely ever had the need for the items found in these random chests.

I would consider things such as this (wyvern color customization) one of the highest priorities. What separates a good game from a great game is the little things. FFXI already has the makings of a really good game, a VAST and complex story, lots of areas to explore and quests to do, tons of jobs to play, etc. FFXI is pretty late into it's life cycle and is obviously not getting nearly as much attention as FFXIV, why not take the time to make lots of the smaller tweaks that people have been wanting for so long?
Just my 2 gil.
Very good posts above, that deal with a ton of subject matter. But I could go on forever with this post, and I doubt many will read it.

So I'll get to my point now.

Forums

My theory is this. Is that Square-Enix designed these forums as a place for us to chase our tails, giving them ideas, thinking they will listen to us. When in reality they just want to implement more time consuming scenarios, in order for us to continue our monthly fee. I believe that this forum itself is a "time consuming tool" invented to get our hopes up that our ideas will be put into the game, waiting and watching while spending precious time and money.

On the other hand, I could just be a psychotic conspiracy theorist.

Gameplay and Nostalgia

Slowly and slowly, the colorful battle system, (that in my opinion made FFXI the classic it is) is slowly vanishing, in favor of the "solo" mindset. You can solo to 90, you can solo Abyssea, you can solo so many things now... And that's great and all, but it really takes away from what makes a good online RPG...

Not to mention how far the difficulty level has decreased or changed. The mobs and bosses are ALOT easier. The only difficulty now is just fighting with one another on who gets to pop what first. I also hear there is a new coming idea, to make an Abyssea like scenario outside of Abyssea. Again only decreasing the difficulty level and adding further imbalance to jobs more and more.


A great video for comparison
The video is a bit silly, but it presents a great synopsis of how developers extend the game time, in order for people to feel like they "got more out of the game"

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aip2aIt0ROM
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So...

What I'm saying is. Actually listen to peoples ideas. Give us FUN things, not just empty promises and false hopes. Give us a difficulty level where we feel a sense of accomplishment and teamwork after downing a boss, or completing a tough quest. Give us LESS of this annoying grind and bland tasteless jobs that play very similar to one another.

Do away with this bitter competition between players, and give us what we felt back when FFXI first came out... A lasting colorful world, where the little things are important too.