The truth is we need a remastered XI or a follow up

[Ath192]

Late to the thread but as someone who started with FFXIV and later began playing FFXI, FFXI does *not* need a remake / remaster / singleplayer version / whatever. FFXI is still there. It's not going anywhere, and personally I'd recommend starting now if ever. The game is fun. Really fun. It can be challenging, it can be confusing, but ultimately if the experience you want is everything served to you on a silver platter I'm not entirely sure why you're playing video games.

As has been repeatedly said, modern FFXI is a far cry from endless dune farming, and from the people I know who've gotten into the game late like me most of them never made it past the nation missions and into the expansions proper. Which is a shame, because all the expansions and scenarios post Zilart are really enjoyable, with stories that are mostly engaging and with characters that I like. In its current state it has a really tangible sense of character progression compared to FFXIV.

Don't get me wrong, I love FFXIV, but it's so... bland. Every experience is so fine-tuned that it's impossible to fail at something, or get lost, or solve any problem in a way other than how the game wants you. FFXI not holding your hand allows for an incredible amount of player choice and decision making in basically every aspect of the game, including buildcrafting, gearing, even just playing your job. There is no objectively correct way to do anything, and there is rarely even a preferred way the community does things.

You can't even save the goblins in Brayflox's Longstop without getting reported or yelled at. Two people can do the same thing in FFXI and end up having wildly different experiences.

It does, they are even spinning off employees from it because development is too archaic for it. The best thing that can happen is that a game like that or that one gets brought up to date. Otherwise it is a disservice to the people who are still working on it and stagnating their careers and it is a disservice to the enjoyers of the game because not only do they get punished with less content but also they get stuck with outdated graphics and engine.