FINAL FANTASY XI Roadmap for October 2011 – March 2012 (10/20/2011)

[Lordender]

XIV is already recovering I see people everywhere on my server now after 1.19 than I've seen since day one launch, some people just refuse to accept XIV and won't look past the failed launch. A lot of people i've seen on there also say they're going to pay for it.

[Don Katsu]

XIV is already recovering I see people everywhere on my server now after 1.19 than I've seen since day one launch, some people just refuse to accept XIV and won't look past the failed launch. A lot of people i've seen on there also say they're going to pay for it.

It's also difficult to go back to XI after playing XIV. XIV was terrible at launch but the graphics made XI look even more outdated and difficult to enjoy. I know several people who just stopped playing both game altogether.

[Isiolia]

It's also difficult to go back to XI after playing XIV. XIV was terrible at launch but the graphics made XI look even more outdated and difficult to enjoy. I know several people who just stopped playing both game altogether.

Honestly, I can't say that XI has great graphics per se...but it has held up rather well overall I think, largely thanks to good art direction.

[Dragir]

Honestly, I can't say that XI has great graphics per se...but it has held up rather well overall I think, largely thanks to good art direction.

Exactly what I would've said. Great art, terrible graphics (referring to the game engine).

Being limited to 29 FPS on a computer I built in Dec 2010 that runs DA2 on its highest settings at 1920x1080 at 40~50 FPS is not okay. As I alluded to in my last post in this thread, it really pisses me off (SE made me curse again) that FFXIV is getting a ground-up rework after going free to play for about a year while countless FFXI players (myself included) continued and continue to send $12.95 or more per month to Japan. After we're level 99, if more than a few months pass and SE still hasn't decided to spend some of OUR money on this game, I'll be deleting my character with no regrets. I'm sure by that time Guild Wars 2 will have been released.

If FFXI hasn't been considered for a technology-upgrade (so to speak) because of PS2 support, it's time for those of you still playing on PS2s to upgrade to a nice $200 Athlon II/GTX260 PC. PLEASE.

[TacoTaru]

If you can't understand why XI isn't getting the same amount of attention and money allocation is as XIV, then I have no idea what to tell you. XIV was and is still intended to be their flagship MMO. They will probably carbon copy XI into XIV and rename it XI-2 before they ever start putting the kind of time and money back into XI that they were 4~5 years ago and thus your money will still be going towards a game you aren't playing.

[Spira]

People are getting tired of SEs infinite remakes strategy in the market - come up with new shit already.

IKR. even FFXIV is getting a remake already lol.

[Dragir]

If you can't understand why XI isn't getting the same amount of attention and money allocation is as XIV, then I have no idea what to tell you. XIV was and is still intended to be their flagship MMO. They will probably carbon copy XI into XIV and rename it XI-2 before they ever start putting the kind of time and money back into XI that they were 4~5 years ago and thus your money will still be going towards a game you aren't playing.

It's good for SE's shareholders that there are still have players who believe there's nothing that can or should be done and "understand."

Do the math: add up the last 8 years' worth of subscriptions. Feel free to low-ball it (as if noone has a mule) and leave out expansion pack purchases. Come up with a total, and then tell me FFXI isn't more due a rework than FFXIV. Whether FFXIV is designated "SE's flagship MMO" is irrelevant. XI is and will likely always be more popular, if only for the amount of time investment it required. The only thing holding it back is the game engine. Perhaps SE recognized this, and rather than risk upsetting its 17 PS2 players, decided to leave FFXI as botched PS2 emulator software.

Perhaps they know there will be people willing to pay for boxed copies of something that doesn't actually exist (a registration code) and that they'll be able to persist in not offering downloadable client software so that if installation media is lost, you have to buy a new box. There are many, many little things that SE does to wring more money out of its players, and frankly, I'm done with it. FFXI is my last Square-Enix game. I guess I stopped being a Squaresoft fan when they ceased to be Squaresoft. Not really sure what happened internally.

Maybe I just... grew up.

[ronin sparthos]

It's good for SE's shareholders that there are still have players who believe there's nothing that can or should be done and "understand."

Do the math: add up the last 8 years' worth of subscriptions. Feel free to low-ball it (as if noone has a mule) and leave out expansion pack purchases. Come up with a total, and then tell me FFXI isn't more due a rework than FFXIV. Whether FFXIV is designated "SE's flagship MMO" is irrelevant. XI is and will likely always be more popular, if only for the amount of time investment it required. The only thing holding it back is the game engine. Perhaps SE recognized this, and rather than risk upsetting its 17 PS2 players, decided to leave FFXI as botched PS2 emulator software.

The reality is that it isn't irrelevant if SE labels XIV as the flagship because naming it such means the lion's share of resources is going into the success of that service. XIs popularity is fading due to the decision to hurl all resources on the new MMO, the game has hit a new realm of stagnation a la '09 and with so few devs working on the service they've been forced to resort to stalling tactics that will most likely drive casuals back off subscription and thus lowering the profitability of the game as a whole.

While it may presumptuous to make such a statement, I believe SE is going to completely abandon XI if PS3 sales of XIV do moderately well and the overall future of that service starts to brighten. My inner armchair CEO believes that SE doesn't believe investing in XI for the long term is profitable given the age of the game, the dwindling base and the resources that would be needed to bring XI up to today's standards. PS2 limitations may very well have been a deciding factor in why they never decided to overhaul the game.

Man I love sucker punching the PS2, it's such an easy target.

Perhaps they know there will be people willing to pay for boxed copies of something that doesn't actually exist (a registration code) and that they'll be able to persist in not offering downloadable client software so that if installation media is lost, you have to buy a new box. There are many, many little things that SE does to wring more money out of its players, and frankly, I'm done with it. FFXI is my last Square-Enix game. I guess I stopped being a Squaresoft fan when they ceased to be Squaresoft. Not really sure what happened internally.

Maybe I just... grew up.

The problem with SE is that they are stubborn and often unconcerned with their fanbase and what they desire. Only in times of extreme duress do they crawl out and prostrate themselves before the players in a show of humility. They did it with the failed launch of XIV to prevent a complete meltdown and they did it with XI when the base nearly completely abandoned the game in '09.

Back in the days of console entries, most of us didn't care as you'd get your money's worth, a good story, an overall memorable experience and competition in the RPG segment/ However, when SE decided to go online they brought bad habits into a new sphere and the same authoritarian style of gameplay just doesn't work when so much competition now surrounds the company. Blame partly rests with the Japanese mentality the company holds yet many of their younger minds seem to get the idea that you can't just throw out garbage and expect people snap it because it says "Final Fantasy" on the package. Where will SE be in 10 years? The jury's still out on that one.

[scaevola]

I generally agree, but I really don't think SE will completely abandon FFXI in favor of FFXIV. They're still holding on to subs with a skeleton crew and tepid updates; if they're making more revenue on XI than they're spending, it makes no sense to abandon support even if they ultimately move everyone with any experience or ideas to XIV and leave maintenance of XI to comp sci interns and somebody's relative who needed a job.

[Hyan]

They're generally pretty good at holding on to subs with skeleton crews.

[Zag]

Someone woke up very optimistic from their dream, its a shame the reality is much much more harsh than your dream, but keep predicting I like it.

Its too bad I seen most ppl upgrading weapons in about 30-45 days tops now In dynamis. You can net 500+ coins a run now in these parties and can enter every single day instead of 2 times a week.

Mythics are still way longer and harder then relics and empyreans combined but hopefully more alexandrite can get in the game easier. That part of the quest is just as long or even longer then getting currency from stage 1-5 on a relic.... then u gotta play for more months to get the 2 captains, ampoules and tokens if you are now just starting it.

I have everything done for mythic except alexandrite. Wasn't attempting a mythic just got the ampoules,tokens by default accident and did captain twice for fun to help friends. Got the titles for fun and challenge.

Could care less if you hate on my prediction. I already know they will nerf the requires for mythics since they already bombed relics and empyreans, (not including empyrean 95 which is retarded).

[Darkmagi]

Relics still take much more time than empyreans to 90, unless you happen to have 100+mil lying around.

[Colenzo]

Relics still take much more time than empyreans to 90, unless you happen to have 100+mil lying around.

yeah but they dont take more time to make than a 95 empyrean now do they >_>

[Shenrien]

worst part of upgrading any relic is the fucking attestation NMs, took me 3 months of farming dynamis at least 4-5 times a week bringing in 250 average with 3 in original dynamis zones, when CoP dynamis came out we kept about same average until we spread out a bit and now pull in close to 400-450 a night, haven't started our second relic but it shouldn't take any longer then a month.

Over all with a relic outside of abyssea you're going to get a much more solid weapon that will do more for you then most empyrean weapons, not saying emps are bad but I'll take a Yoichi or Annihilator RNG over a Gandiva RNG any day, I like my DDs to stay alive.

[Plow]

The reality is that it isn't irrelevant if SE labels XIV as the flagship because naming it such means the lion's share of resources is going into the success of that service. XIs popularity is fading due to the decision to hurl all resources on the new MMO, the game has hit a new realm of stagnation a la '09 and with so few devs working on the service they've been forced to resort to stalling tactics that will most likely drive casuals back off subscription and thus lowering the profitability of the game as a whole.

While it may presumptuous to make such a statement, I believe SE is going to completely abandon XI if PS3 sales of XIV do moderately well and the overall future of that service starts to brighten. My inner armchair CEO believes that SE doesn't believe investing in XI for the long term is profitable given the age of the game, the dwindling base and the resources that would be needed to bring XI up to today's standards. PS2 limitations may very well have been a deciding factor in why they never decided to overhaul the game.

Man I love sucker punching the PS2, it's such an easy target.



The problem with SE is that they are stubborn and often unconcerned with their fanbase and what they desire. Only in times of extreme duress do they crawl out and prostrate themselves before the players in a show of humility. They did it with the failed launch of XIV to prevent a complete meltdown and they did it with XI when the base nearly completely abandoned the game in '09.

Back in the days of console entries, most of us didn't care as you'd get your money's worth, a good story, an overall memorable experience and competition in the RPG segment/ However, when SE decided to go online they brought bad habits into a new sphere and the same authoritarian style of gameplay just doesn't work when so much competition now surrounds the company. Blame partly rests with the Japanese mentality the company holds yet many of their younger minds seem to get the idea that you can't just throw out garbage and expect people snap it because it says "Final Fantasy" on the package. Where will SE be in 10 years? The jury's still out on that one.

remember when abyssea sounded like another scam questline to force people to buy a piece of gear?

I'm not saying it is, but for all we know, "new dungeon crawl" could be just as big. We haven't really seen a "new" dungeon crawl since what, ein?

[Greatguardian]

remember when abyssea sounded like another scam questline to force people to buy a piece of gear?

I'm not saying it is, but for all we know, "new dungeon crawl" could be just as big. We haven't really seen a "new" dungeon crawl since what, ein?

Nobody Cares About Moblin Maze Mongers.

[Byrthnoth]

About that roadmap... somehow they're already running behind the schedule that they released literally a week ago. How unpredictable.

Delayed Implementation of October Test Server Features

Hello! I am posting this announcement on behalf of the director of FINAL FANTASY XI, Mizuki Ito. :D

Hello, I’m the director of FINAL FANTASY XI, Ito.

The Test Server update is drawing near and I would like to inform you of the current development status.

To start off, I would like to apologize for the fact that the features listed below, originally outlined for October on the 2011 roadmap, will be delayed until the beginning of November.

We worked diligently to implement them on schedule, but in order for you all to be able to perform the proper testing we decided we needed a bit more time. I apologize for the delay.

• Voidwatch Chapter III
  While working on chapter III content, we are also working on adjustments to the existing Voidwatch system and will be implementing them in October. These adjustments will also be reflected in chapter III battles, so we have to make sure to get those done before the release of the next chapter. We will be working hard to ensure that we implement this without a major delay.

• Walk of Echoes Expansion
  We have made quite a bit of progress in the creation of the new confluxes. In order for everyone to be able to properly test the Walk of Echoes content we decided we needed to prepare an environment that makes testing easy and because of this additional preparation time is needed. In addition to this, we are planning to use Walk of Echoes to test out the balance of skill increase in battle-related content.

• Relic and Relic +1 Equipment Upgrades
  In addition to listening to all of your feedback and changing the upgrade method, we are also making the upgraded stats attractive. There are a lot of items, so we need some time to perform our final checks. Since there’s no reason not to implement everything at once, we plan on implementing everything once we spend a bit more time working on it.

While these features weren’t able to make it in time for implementation in October, rest assured that we’re working hard to get them into the test server as soon as possible.

[Slycer]

Not that it really matters since it was only going to the test server anyway, but lol @ falling behind the schedule a week after releasing it.

I especially like the part where he says they "worked diligently to implement them on schedule" then goes on to describe how they failed to meet the schedule on not one, not two, but all three of the planned updates. I'm somewhat curious about these Voidwatch adjustments that they say they will be implementing before the end of the month, but yeah, still fail.

[Fievel]

Now that is the classic SE we all know and love.

[Byrthnoth]

I'm just a little surprised they'd release that roadmap and then "oops, behind schedule >^,^<" a week later. Also, what the heck is Tanaka's job if he isn't the director? Dude is like a ghost that just haunts the development process.