Why not merge FFXI and FFXIV into one game?

Like the topic title asks, why not merge FFXI and FFXIV into one game? It seems to me the biggest problem FFXIV has right now is lack of content and lack of meaningful gameplay experiences. To put it bluntly, the game feels bland, uninspired, and devoid of pretty much any soul.

Conversely, FFXI is getting up in years. It's going to be nine years old come May 16 and it's been quite an interesting nine years, to be sure. While FFXI has a lot of content and no shortage of meaningful gameplay experiences... it's starting to look a little long in tooth. The graphics aren't nearly as impressive as they once were, and the limitations inherited from the PS2 (256 zones comes immediately to mind) are starting to rear their ugly head once again.

Why not merge the two games into one game? By doing this, you would create a game that has all of FFXI's meaningful gameplay systems (job system, campaign, beseiged, limbus, dynamis, eijenhar, salvage, etc) and all of FFXI's content (classic game and all of it's expansions including the most recent Abyssea battle add-ons). The game would also inherit all of FFXIV's rather stunning graphics and the content that has already been created could easily be converted into an expansion, so the storyline that FFXIV has (such as it is) is not lost.

Such a merge would ultimately give FFXI the facelift it needs and would enable Vana'diel to be expanded in new and exciting ways. For years, the citizens of Vana'diel have whispered about the Far East, home of the mysterious Ninja and Samurai which was besieged by the Emptiness during Chains of Promathia. There's been hushed silence in regards to the Near and Far West, said to be the land from whence the nomadic Goblins hail from. Or how about the Near South, ancestral homeland of the Mithra or the illusive Far South? Lastly, there's the Near North and Far North, rumored to be the stronghold of the towering Gigas.

FFXI as it currently stands cannot explore these varied and exotic locations due to the zone list limit of 256 entries. We are currently at 248 entries on that list. Eight more zones and Vana'diel will be capped. It seems to me the world of Eorzea could benefit as much from this as Vana'diel could. Eorza could become the massive Near and Far West, for example. This would enable a seamless merging of the two games.

Of course, such a merge would not be without it's perils. For one, it would take a considerable amount of work to facilitate. While you could simply take FFXI's dat files and port them over to Crystal Tools... you would be missing out on an opportunity to beautify Vana'diel and make it as visually stunning as Eorzia. That being said, all the art assets would need to be remade. Good news is, a lot of the art assets that FFXI uses are already present in some form or another in FFXIV. Character models, for example, would not need to be entirely remade... simply tweaked (to add, for example, the tails back to the Eorzian Galka). Of course, the regions that make up FFXI would also need to be remade so as to be seamless zones more like Eorzia's regions.

And last, but certainly not least, is the matter of character transfer. If you were to merge FFXI and FFXIV into one game, you would be best served by offering a character transfer service so the citizens of Vana'diel that have adventured for so many years would not be relegated to starting over. This would not be a problem, however, as you would be able to bring new adventurers to the newly merged game.

FFXI has been the workhorse of your company's MMO division for many years now. Thanks to Eorzea's floundering, FFXI is seeing a resurgence. Adventurers who long since left her shores have started to return, eager to explore the perilous Abyssea or to finish uncovering the mysteries behind the empire of Aht Urghan or take part yet again in the clash against the might of the Shadow Lord during the infamous Crystal War.

There has never been a better time to update FFXI to allow for another nine years of glorious adventure. Let's bring the two parts of the same soul together and make a game that is worthy of the title "Next-Gen Final Fantasy MMO." The road would be tough and not without it's share of risks... but just as brave souls entered the sacred land of Al'Teieu not knowing whether they could free their souls from Promathia's icy grip... so to must we brave the treacherous unknown... confident in our dream and the promise of a new Dawn.

In Altana's name I pray....

Amen.

Ahem.... this is the forum for suggestions on the site/forum :D Not on the game ;D

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Originally Posted by Abriael

Ahem.... this is the forum for suggestions on the site/forum :D Not on the game ;D

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Welcome to Forum: Feedback & Suggestions!
The purpose of this forum is for players to submit feedback and suggestions on FINAL FANTASY XIV, The Lodestone, FINAL FANTASY XIV Forum and other official websites concerning FINAL FANTASY XIV. In order for us to be able to offer a better service, we would like to hear your opinions.

my my, you're right. Weird though, the forum structure is extremely confusing on this.

Yes I thought that at first too.

Also on the subject of the OP; I would rather them remain two separate games. I wouldn't mind an upgraded HD version of XI, or XI-2 though.

This would be a very mammoth task indeed. Even having XI's current assets the Development Team would have to re-create almost all of the assets, be it models, monsters, areas, as; due to their age up-scaling wouldn't be efficient nor look pretty. While it would be nice to perhaps see Vana'diel (perhaps void of life and a barren wasteland?) the task of combining the two Games isn't something that's easy, and would take many months perhaps even a year or so to recreate everything that XI has to offer.
Perhaps you should look forward to what Yoshi P has in store for us, and let the game shape itself and take on it's own form. ^~^ It'll take time, but I know Yoshi P can pull it off.

I would pretty thoroughly hate this. For all the time I spent in XI, that chapter of my life is over. I don't want to revisit it in HD.

@Drazzan
For SE it would probably take longer. XI contains hundreds of thousands of models and many areas and game systems and mechanics. Noting their development sometimes takes many times longer than other developers, a full remake of XI with all content included, remade in XIVs system might takes years and many millions of dollars.

As much as I would love it, it simply isn't feasible. I too would appreciate they left XI alone and continued development for the two entries separately.

@Darkshade
I agree with what you said. I would very much like XI to be left where it is, even now I feel pain thinking about it due to how...different it has become from what I remember. Though I must say, It would be fun to visit a distant land of Vana'diel where something awful happened, perhaps some form of Beast-men Apocalypse. Though this idea would also be enjoyable in Eorzea of course. Perhaps something like this is what waits for Eorzea and what us adventurers must prepare for.

I wouldn't mind an XI cameo in XIV in maybe the form of lore, might be cool depending on how it was executed. Kind of doubt it would happen though.

Having two seperate games would probably make more money for SE. Plus the fact that they have to reallocate resources within their company into merging the two games. It's just not economically feasible.

I am sorry, but this suggestion made me laugh.

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Originally Posted by Krisan

I would pretty thoroughly hate this. For all the time I spent in XI, that chapter of my life is over. I don't want to revisit it in HD.

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While hate might be a little too strong for me, I do agree that FFXI should stand as a separate game that gave a number of us separate experiences. FFXIV is a new game, with new experiences to offer. I have a feeling that SE probably feel the same way too, else the probably would have approached an idea like this from the start.

not to mention, if you think new players will enjoy playing a game where titans level 99 already exist?

There is a reason i stopped playing ffxi, if youre not a real hardcore gamer, you get bored, fast. I dont have the time to wait 5 hours for a party so i can level from 20 to 21. Ffxiv is made for more casual gamers , those who got a job, school etc. And please dont say: well, wanna merge with wow instead? As wow is annoying in the opposite way, to easy.

No thank you.

There are people who gave FFXIV a chance because it's NOT FFXI. Merging the two would be a bad idea.

Although I wouldn't mind seeing a few more elements brought from FFXI into FFXIV, merging the two would be counter productive and all around irritating. There is a reason SE made FFXIV instead of remaking FFXI. They are doing a fine job fixing the game issues - I am feeling confident they will continue on fixing the rest of the problems to make this a sublime game that can truly stand alone without tottering over.

You must be kidding because Final Fantasy XI did a lot better then FFXIV. There is also so much more contents in FFXI versus FFXIV being FFXI is 6 or so year old. Square - Enix is also making some income from FFXI while not in FFXIV. The 2 game also structure way too different to make into one game. Merging FFXI into FFXIV would not work because both game are different and different graphic and coding.

Oh, Twelve! Run! It's Everquest XIV! All It needs is a cataclysmic dragon waking from its slumber to cause massive destruction across the land!

That said, I think adding Vanadiel zones would be a bit much, it would start to take away from the lore of these lands. You could use areas that are referenced in XI but not in the game, Sorta to make it seems like they're related, but not enough to make comparisons.

This request is unrealistic .
Please ask for stuff that matters.

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Originally Posted by Darkshade

I wouldn't mind an XI cameo in XIV in maybe the form of lore, might be cool depending on how it was executed. Kind of doubt it would happen though.

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Anything is possible. But I would agree that merging both games would be not only a cumbersome job but require a great deal of resources and money that I'm sure SE would not invest as the profit margin would not be in their favour.

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Originally Posted by Darkrose

You must be kidding because Final Fantasy XI did a lot better then FFXIV. There is also so much more contents in FFXI versus FFXIV being FFXI is 6 or so year old. Square - Enix is also making some income from FFXI while not in FFXIV. The 2 game also structure way too different to make into one game. Merging FFXI into FFXIV would not work because both game are different and different graphic and coding.

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Wait, you're comparing a game that's been running for years (FFXI was released 2002 IIRC) with one that's been running for less than 6 months? That's hardly a fair comparison. When FFXI was around 5 months old (like FFXIV is now), it had plenty of issues too - just ask anyone who was there. The difference now is that a lot of those who were waiting for FFXIV to launch were expecting games at a level of FFXI, WoW...etc... as they are now. Unsurprisingly, people were disappointed.

I'm not saying that FFXIV shouldn't have had issues at launch (I think anyone who expects a new game of this size to be issue free is deluding themselves), but perhaps SE could have avoided some issues. But I'm not here to talk about that - it's been done to death on other forums, and SE and most of the playerbase have moved on, so let's leave it be.

A lot of EU and NA players jumped on the FFXI bandwagon in 2004/5, when "Rise of the Zilart" and "Chains of Promathia" were being released / already released. Wait till Sept 2012/13 before starting to make a comparison to that.

i loved the game world of final fantasy 11 and would not be opposed to some kind of merge if that was even possible but it unlikey and also i left ff11 because of many gameplay reasons indepedent of the great game world it had.

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Originally Posted by Arya

Wait, you're comparing a game that's been running for years (FFXI was released 2002 IIRC) with one that's been running for less than 6 months? That's hardly a fair comparison. When FFXI was around 5 months old (like FFXIV is now), it had plenty of issues too - just ask anyone who was there. The difference now is that a lot of those who were waiting for FFXIV to launch were expecting games at a level of FFXI, WoW...etc... as they are now. Unsurprisingly, people were disappointed.

I'm not saying that FFXIV shouldn't have had issues at launch (I think anyone who expects a new game of this size to be issue free is deluding themselves), but perhaps SE could have avoided some issues. But I'm not here to talk about that - it's been done to death on other forums, and SE and most of the playerbase have moved on, so let's leave it be.

A lot of EU and NA players jumped on the FFXI bandwagon in 2004/5, when "Rise of the Zilart" and "Chains of Promathia" were being released / already released. Wait till Sept 2012/13 before starting to make a comparison to that.

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I'm not really trying to make a comparison, it just an example that merging both game would not work and is a bad ideas because SE is making money off of FFXI, tons of FFXI veteran still playing FFXI, FFXI have more contents, etc. So a merge is not possible. I know FFXIV will someday move toward to be just as good or better then FFXI.

Everything that is FFXI was developed over the course of a decade, you somehow expect them to code all that in a normal development period, and not only that but on a more complicated and advanced engine?

Please no. I like XIV

Nah, they should merge FFXIV with Hello Kitty Online.

I don't think it would be a good idea. The whole world, setting, classes and how it works are too different. FFXI players would be punished coming into FXIV due to lack of content and a kind of "dumbing down" and FXIV players would be swamped with content and just implode.

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Originally Posted by Whax

Nah, they should merge FFXIV with Hello Kitty Online.

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The way FFXIV right now have become so colorful and the icon have become such an eyesore. Wouldn't be surprised if they have plan to merge it with Helly Kitty online.

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Originally Posted by Darkrose

I'm not really trying to make a comparison, it just an example that merging both game would not work and is a bad ideas because SE is making money off of FFXI, tons of FFXI veteran still playing FFXI, FFXI have more contents, etc. So a merge is not possible. I know FFXIV will someday move toward to be just as good or better then FFXI.

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Ah, fair enough. My misunderstanding. We agree then :p

Op here has a great idea

Why did you necro such a fail thread lol

Wouldn't work because FFXI is designed to work on PC from 10 years ago and a lot of people who play FFXI wouldn't have a machine good enough to run FFXIV

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Originally Posted by Vassteel1

Op here has a great idea

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http://a4.idata.over-blog.com/300x15...artin/snow.jpg

It's like mixing a hot coffee with ..a lemon juice.

what an idea!!

Why do people constantly want to blur the lines between XI and XIV? How about asking for something original, like mixing IV and VI? Seriously, though, what is this weird obsession? XI and XIV are two separate worlds, stop trying to force them into one game just because both happen to be online.

Vass is obvious forum troll.