Another odd question

[Nyro]

It seems like FF XI is actually still alive on the PS2! That being said, why is there so much talk about the PS3 version of FF XIV only have a year or so more life left in it? It would seem to me that if FF XI is still going on the PS2 then FF XIV for the PS3 should have at least 3-4 more years to it. I must admit I am not very familiar with the online FF games but can anyone explain to me why they would shut down PS3's FF XIV before they have even contemplated shutting down the PS2's FF XI?

[BobbinT]

dunno about that, but XI's latest expansion "Seekers of Adoulin", only available on PS2's JP version. NA/EU didn't get them and it's only on PC / XBOX360.

[Nyro]

dunno about that, but XI's latest expansion "Seekers of Adoulin", only available on PS2's JP version. NA/EU didn't get them and it's only on PC / XBOX360.

I guess that is true about the ps2 being in japan but they still supported the NA PS2 version for at least 9 years. How long has FF XIV a realm reborn been out on the PS3?

[Cuervo78]

XI and XIV are different games, so arguing with the support of XI on PS2 is pointless.
You have to consider that XIV was released on PS3 shortly before the PS4 itself was available and it was always communicated that PS3 support would be dropped when it would start hindering the game.
For that purpose they also have the upgrade campain that allows you to upgrade a PS3 licence to a PS4 licence.

[Nyro]

XI and XIV are different games, so arguing with the support of XI on PS2 is pointless.
You have to consider that XIV was released on PS3 shortly before the PS4 itself was available and it was always communicated that PS3 support would be dropped when it would start hindering the game.
For that purpose they also have the upgrade campain that allows you to upgrade a PS3 licence to a PS4 licence.

I guess you are right. Although personally I would just go to PC rather then buy a $399-$499 system. I think the playerbase will take a BIG dip when they stop PS3 support.

EDIT: Clarifying, I love the game and will buy the PC version anyways when they stop support for the PS3 version but I really prefer the console however being a father and living paycheck to paycheck I can not justify to my wife that we need a PS4 simply to play ONE game.

[Niwashi]

I don't think it's a matter of dropping PS3 entirely, at least not for several years yet. It is quite possible, however, that there may start being more and more features that work only on PS4 and PC.

There are already a few differences:

• PS3 only supports cross-hotbars where PS4 and PC have both regular straight hotbars and the cross-hotbars.
• On PS3, when you're in a FATE area, the FATE objectives take the place of your quest tracker. On PS4 and PC, you see both.
• There was one of the UI features that was added to all except the PS3 version. IIRC I think it was the option for the larger inventory/retainer inventory windows that display four "pages" of inventory at a time.

There's probably a few other differences I can't think of off-hand. Over time, there will likely be more.

As for basic content, we know they'll be supporting PS3 at least through the first expansion which is coming out next year. They hadn't decided how far past that they would continue supporting it, at least as of the last time they told us those plans (which was several months ago).

Even if at some point down the road they decide to not release a later expansion on PS3, it's not as though that would stop PS3 players from continuing with all the content that's already out. They just wouldn't get the option of buying additions to it without upgrading to a different platform. Which is pretty much where the PS2 version of FFXI is at now. You can still play FFXI on PS2, but can't get the latest expansion for it (at least not for the NA/EU version).

It's theoretically possible that they could go beyond that and eventually drop PS3 entirely, so that that platform no longer gets the software updates needed to log into the game, but I highly doubt that will ever happen. It's far more likely that "dropping PS3 support" would just mean no longer releasing expansions for it, but it would still keep getting all the patches needed to play the basic game.