If FFXIV Fails... What Does That Mean For FFXI?

No defense is required for enjoying FFXI. Different people have different taste, and it will only be dead when there aren't enough hardcore fans to complete the newest content. Server maintenance costs next to nothing and if the game is still enjoyable to ANYONE, it's still alive to them.

This guy put it better than I could've. Nobody cares that you quit. This doesn't just mean we won't try to convince you otherwise, it means we don't need to hear you telling us to do the same. We understand you don't enjoy the game, it has no impact on us.

They messed up with SoA, and if you read posts after the launch, you can see that the new director knows this. Every posts after that is pretty much promises to make things better and more solo friendly and small group friendly. They don't exactly have the team and funds to make all these changes ASAP so we are forced to wait for 3-5 updates to tweak a lot of these plus the remainder of the SoA contents to be released.

FFXI may not be dead, but it's dying, and it's getting even worse now after SoA. When FF14 launch in August, I would say at least 10-15% of current subscribers will drop off and move to the new game. That's minimum, if the number reaches 20-30% then it will be a big problem for FFXI. When it reaches 50%, yeah you can see server mergers lol. I say 10% is a good number since FF14 faster pace battle system may not be for everyone. Also the fact that there is very little down time may be a turn off. FFXI players are like masochist, it has to be so artificially difficult, time waster, and grindtastic activities that either bore you to death or make your eyeballs pop. It's the only way you feel some sort of achievement.

its ironic the 1st xiv failed as among other stuff they tried to make it to much like WoW - then said they wont do the same in SoA - then do .. the same lol

I don't think they really GET the addiction loops they had working well for them in this game for YEARS - that made this game what it was for so long and instead of copying that formula they try to re invent the wheel

Granted Abyssea was a real successful curve ball but these guys are not thinking about FFXI past - just a future.

the only content made in the last 3 years that felt grindy was salvage2

abyssea, meebles, voidwatch, bayld farming, skirmish, and delve have all had extremely fast rewards for the groups competent enough to not struggle ... there's 0 wait and a 200k pop item to spam the current most valuable mob if you're decent enough to clear all 6 nms ...

also, lmao at the thought that xiv has less artificial difficulty ... it doesn't have difficulty to begin with

I'd say there's a 86% chance that 73% of your post are numbers pulled out of 12% of your ***.

That aside, saying an MMO is "dying" is almost always arbitrary because MMOs are always dying by design (If people don't play them, servers shut down, thus devs are constantly under pressure to create new content).

i think the biggest mistake was increasing the level cap

The first FF14 was just a mess, it was riddled with so many FFXI artificial time sink (and lots of limits - you get fatigue etc...). Yoshi did manage to make it somewhat playable after he took over and tried to rectify many things while working on version 2.0. I was very skeptical too - not sure if he can even make it work - the beta proved me wrong.

FFXI was golden with Abyssea and everything after, it was not perfect but it is a good mix of grind and exploring, with a very friendly options to solo or small party activities. Tons of older contents suddenly become very accessible and playable on your own time. Then SoA came, and we know what happened lol. Server based participation has never worked on this game, just look at WoTG, completely deserted, and was not exactly a success when it was first launched.

A year may bring tons of adjustment to FFXI SoA. Who knows, after FF14 launch, they may have more resources to fix FFXI. Otherwise, enjoy it for what it is, this game may still draw its last breath for another year or 5 or 10 lol. Never count this old girl out just yet, Abyssea version 2.0 may already in the works to give it a proper swan song this time, again....

Denial, enjoy it lol. This summer update better be BIG and substantial following by another groundbreaking updates. At least Matsui already stated he is done with endgame for now and will focus on solo and small group contents from now on. The overwhelmingly positive response to FF14 is staggering... I never would have expected this, the fact that they were able to turn it around and make it ten times better. Yes the difficulty has been eased up tremendously, now you can have fun exploring and leveling - and this is still on beta. There will be hardcore content that is tough as nails coming, it has already been stated. And tons of FF lore and enemies lurking on that CS.

It's not like once FFXIV.2 launches they stop working on it...their team will still do things for that game. Only way FFXI would get more resources is if the company deems it worth it...we got an expansion which is already more than we could hope for, I don't think more manpower will be added now.

I agree with this. And despite being a mess originally 2.0 is massive success. Everyone i know has loved the experience. Yes its easy, but what content have you done? 14 quests got more difficult half way through the main campaign and the higher level raids. This is unlikely to change. XI will continue. Delve was my main reason of stopping and taking a break. its boring. We play games for fun and delve isnt fun. However to those that still find it fun, rock on! your existence will strive SE to make better content. Game wont dye, but can anyone honestly say they are happy with SoA and the direction XI is heading?

Me i liked 14 1.0 and really like the update to 2.0. Its a good game that deserves a second chance. As for XI.. Keep up the fight, your not down yet!

I never denied anything, I was only saying that your numbers are full of *** (because they are). I'm sure there's many people that would confirm I'm really far away from being a SE sycophant.

They should get more resources and manpower after FF14 launches. Matsui stated in many letters that he is overwhelmed with works lol. And you can read respond where they stated that they are aware of problems but not much can be done for now etc... It is very clear that FF11 is not getting their proper support from SE and for now all the love is being shown to FF14. The beta proves this, FF14 looks so much better. The list of fan service is crazy... and the developers actually give you what you want, it is unheard for SE. They bend over backwards to make sure FF14 will be a success this time. Compare that to FFXI, where all your concerns and suggestions are being listened to but never responded fully, only with vague statements. Perhaps a year will make a big difference in this game, who knows, FFXI is such an easy money maker, it would be stupid to not keep it going.

I agree. I think XI's current treatment is as good as it will ever get going forward. XI brings home the bacon, but no one should think for an instant that a company won't steal resources from or outright cancel a profitable project in favor of their new baby. It's never as simple as "this makes us money so we will keep supporting it."

If they cancel FFXI - that would be a mistake lol. They should focus to make dual box contents, smaller groups or solo contents more. Those dual triple quadruple boxes bring tons of money. Not to mention people with tons of mules. Not sure why they are going away from this - it's a money maker printing machine. FF14 actually is a lot cheaper and more economical - I sure wish I paid 3 months last year to qualify as legacy player - only miss 1 month payment :(

At least it has been stated that Matsui is focusing for solo and small party content from now on - so expect a lot of changes on reives and other contents as well. It's sad when you see the most popular topics in their official forum are "server merger, make it free 2 play, people bored to death, is there any contents other than delve". The updates that are coming are also somewhat underwhelming, it would take at least a good 3-5 updates to make it substantial.

Read my post again. I said it's doubtful to believe that once 14 launches they will take developers away from it to bring them to 11. They'll keep them there, to keep working on it.
No one says 11 will be shutdown, but the game is what it is and we can't expect much.

You know what that is a GREAT point... Why do people feel the need to tell the ffxiah.com community that they are quitting? then you look at how many "posts" they have made on the forum and it's like 10-15... >.>

Well i dont have numbers, thats for sure, but im sure 14 will be successful. It has everything need to make it a success. Its fun to play (for me and my guild anyway). I really am enjoying it. If the beta is anything to go by, the positive response is staggering. How many of these will change to paying members is yet to be seen.

And Luvbunny1 i hear ya man, i missed it by 1 month too. Will have to pay full price rather than the discounted price >< But its worth it lol so i'm in the 14 camp ^^

I will never understand why ppl hide under fake acct. maybe so they don't get flamed ingame for saying dumb ***. I mean if you don't like the game why not carry on? are you all still postin on SWG forums they way you post on ffxi forums?

Yeah $12.99 for a month with 40 characters are a bargain compare to FFXI price. So far the beta is very very good, not perfect but that's what beta is for. It's not too easy or difficult but really encourage you to explore and not stay in one spot camping and grinding. The classes seems to be somewhat self sufficient. You are not lost all the time, you get decent basic gears from quests, and extremely beginner's friendly (the hand holding is fantastic!!). Above all, you are given OPTIONS, tons of them to play how you want. In the videos - Yoshi has stated he wants people to be able to play solo and yet not feel alone.

I can see this will appeal to the masses - it's great that they are focusing to the more casual market - while still giving the hardcore nuts something to look forward to (list of future updates are going to give people challenges that may have them explode with anger, joy or frustration lol). I am very excited with this game now, cannot wish it to come sooner. Seems they are able to mix WoW + Rift + Guild Wars 2 and add FF lore and stories. The graphics are just beautiful, and no more corridors and cut and paste environment (hellooooo SoA lol). If I was a total skeptic before, I am a convert after playing the not so perfect beta, cannot imagine how good this is after launch and proper updates.

Isnt its $9.99? (same deal as $14.99)
$12.99 was for 1 character
$14.99 was for up to 40 characters on on 1 world

But does that mean you can use both characters at the same time or is it one at a time? Never know what the future may bring lol

So if your enjoying it so much why is FFXI even in your vocbulary? why just talk about ALL the good things the beta has to offer thus far and leave out all the things FFXI does not ?

Here is link for further info:

http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/topics/detail?id=14019fb32d90859f118dccb8cd96bf81c212957d

For playing with multiple accounts:
http://support.jp.square-enix.com/faqarticle.php?kid=67225&id=5382&la=1

http://support.jp.square-enix.com/faqarticle.php?kid=67224&id=5382&la=1

For monthly pricing:
http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/product/index.html

Seems like they give you options on how you want to pay. $12.99 is for 6 months renewable - similar to how WoW works, you pay in advance for discounted price.

FFXI is good right up to the before SoA. If you stop there, all the contents before are good but SoA pretty much ruin those. But who knows, after a few massive updates, SoA probably will get better. It does its job as Abyssea killer lol - way too well - it also kills everything else with it.

Just look at all those "celebration events" - they should at least announce things that are SoA related - and not older contents only. If they want to move people to SoA faster, at least they should encourage more people and give them double something, free starter gears, etc... Get the newly converted addicted by giving a small taste of the drugs and throw them to the plasm farm grind wheel ASAP so they get hooked (or not). I mean after all there is nothing else to be done now, delve + plasm farm, that is all.

Ffxi servers are designed to hold 5k players, now it barely reaches 1k subs/most of the servers, it would be very inaccurate to guess a number of current players that un-subscribed, but the % is a lot.

@ lakshmi JP prime time
- afk/bazzars/mules would be around 400 only active players online

Regardless. For those that enjoy it, still the game lives on. Maybe server mergers will happen. It don't matter. If you don't like it stop saying so. Kind of getting old. No offense but seriously you proved your point you hate the game we all get it. Not gonna sway anyone else your way. But hey, i get you want to enjoy the game again, and i hope one day you will.

Hmmm... so A LOT more people quit? I mean usually you get like 2k or so at peak, if this is the case than almost half the numbers are taking a break or quitting. I was being conservative with the numbers lol - didn't think it would be bigger - though half of my LS pretty much quit at this point or no longer play. And 75% of my friend list are inactive. That is not good. No wonder they are doing tons of "celebration events" almost every month. They should focus on fixing SoA and do it fast to stop the bleeding. When FF14 launches - it will have a major impact on FF11, the good word of mouth is so overwhelming at this point. Almost every review on beta impression are very good based on what I read and google. My experience has been overwhelmingly positive as well.

I did enjoy FFXI, up to SoA - waiting for fixes but it won't be solved in one or two updates. They have not enough man power and focusing on different priorities. So I am taking a break, until more substantial updates being done, which it will happen in the future, just not gonna happen that fast and it will take some time. For all of you who still there - good for you, enjoy it - there seems to be tons of celebratory months coming. But for everyone else who have enough - take a break, enjoy the summer, play your other games that are gathering dusts, get 3DS (tons of amazing old school game and new school for this console), or get your FF fix via FF14 (at least try and see for yourself if this one is reborn or stillborn lol).

From the small amount I played on the beta, I do like 14 so far. We'll see how it goes I guess, but it'll be difficult to drag me entirely from XI. Too bad they don't have the discount for both games anymore.