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.