Feb. 14, 2012 (JST) Version Update

[Greatguardian]

You know I've been waiting for someone to say it this whole page. I just could not hold it in any longer.

[Septimus]

You know I've been waiting for someone to say it this whole page. I just could not hold it in any longer.

You beat me to it. They may be statistical aberrations, not ninja-nerfs.

Anyway, I did Dynamis - Qufim last night and walked out with 183 coins, which was fairly amazing considering how much competition I had for mobs. At one point 4 Beastmasters camped right the fuck on top of me for Raptors. It was the bloody buggery Raptor's Aery. I don't like nerfs, but asshats like those folks are the reason for it. (Of course they will just change job to THF or DNC or whatever is hot afterwards and shit things up like that.)

[Koyangi]

183 is definitely not bad, my highest is 180 in Valkurm (no white).

[Toth]

BTW Ftom Tanaka's comments today, there will be another Version update in March so maybe they are indeed focusing on monthly updates after all.

[Lyramion]

BTW Ftom Tanaka's comments today, there will be another Version update in March so maybe they are indeed focusing on monthly updates after all.

Well I'd rather say this update was mainly the Rellic 99 trials they had postponed and then Nyzul was "done", so they threw it in.

[Apelila]

Yeah this wasn't so much an update as a bug patch.

[Kaisha]

Speaking of bugs.......the devs finally fucking realize FFXI has a general memory leak issue, as if the client lagging to a crawl in Abyssea after prolonged runs weren't a sign...., which seems more pronounced on the 360 client.

Quote is also hard to understand because someone who isn't a programmer translated it. March update also confirmed.

I would like to inform you of the current progress with the XBOX360 freezing issue.
I apologize for the inconveniences this has caused.

■Issue
　For FFXI, the necessary renderings in-game are deployed from read memory files and then displayed.

　The effect management program receives requests for necessary in-game effects, requests the effect file, and plays it back at the deployment stage from memory or opens the effect files that are not necessary due to area changes, etc.

Files that are being read consume memory, while files that are opened free up memory.

The necessary structuring for effect rendering is contained in effect files.
Models, sound, sequences, textures, and other things are packed and when organized together it makes it possible to render a single magic spell or other things.

The effect management program has a cache feature so that even if the same magic spell is requested, as long as it has already been deployed from memory, it will re-use the existing memory without reading the file. This feature quickly responds to effect requests and will not use up free memory space, but for other effect requests it needs to read the file and it consumes memory. As the amount of things that need to be read increase, memory consumption increases as well.

Currently these types of effect files are remaining in memory more than we had thought and as a result it is causing termination due to a lack of memory. As a countermeasure to this, we are monitoring the cases where memory consumption is large and adding a process to open these effects that are not being utilized.

With this addition, it will be possible to free up memory and inhibit the things that cause insufficient memory while playing.

■Current Status
　For the hardware specs of the 360, memory that stores textures and memory that stores things other than textures are shared, creating a scenario where there are situations that easily cause insufficient memory. Due to this, when we first confirmed the occurrence of insufficient memory we tried to open the effect textures that were being shared; however, there were cases where program termination would occur during playback and we were forced to change our approach. 　

Also, when adding an open process, we discovered a number of areas for insufficient memory that we did not expect, so we proceeded to handle this as well so that problem would not worsen.

Currently, we changed this so not only the textures, but all effect files in general would be covered by the open process and we are now performing tests in test environments and official client. Unfortunately, even with this, problems related to textures are occurring, and we are currently trying to eliminate the problems one by one.

At any rate, we are working on this with higher priority than other content development, but we are behind on this, diving into this situation where nothing has been fixed. Unfortunately these fixes didn’t make it in time for the version update that just took place; however, the programmers are working their hardest to make it for the March version update.

If there are any significant developments with this issue I will be sure to let you all know.

[Trigun]

Yea I decided to finally finish WotG, and during the CS of Mission 6 and after the BC of Mission 8. My PS2 just blacked out the same way with VW.

I remember them posting fixes for WotG for "not being able to progress" all they did was make it so as soon as you finish something you roll right into the next mission.
So if you d/c you can keep going, but you miss the cs's(best f***ing cs's in the game btw, seriously do these missions!).

[Hirronimus]

If people are so upset and want results, the only real option to get SE's attention is to stop paying them. Make them realize they WANT your money. I know of at least 10 people who stopped subscription until SE gets their shit straight. If they don't, then we didn't lose any money on inferior product.

[MaachaQ]

If people are so upset and want results, the only real option to get SE's attention is to stop paying them. Make them realize they WANT your money. I know of at least 10 people who stopped subscription until SE gets their shit straight. If they don't, then we didn't lose any money on inferior product.

The official forums cut you off once you stop paying, so it's like once you quit they don't care about you anymore. Sure you can stay logged into the forum if you keep the browser cookie and don't log off, but I lost my cookie when I changed out my laptop harddrive and reinstalled... I sent an e-mail to their comments and suggestions dept. via the website, but I don't know if anyone even monitors that account anymore... I miss FFXI, but paying $60 a month for something I didn't enjoy seemed stupid.

Quitting might send a message, but quitting and telling them why you quit should help even more (that is assuming they even read any of the feedback they get on the forums and via e-mail...).

[Mrbeansman]

Quitting might send a message, but quitting and telling them why you quit should help even more (that is assuming they even read any of the feedback they get on the forums and via e-mail...).

SE doesn't care about white people how many times must this be established.

[Lordender]

SE only acts when desperate, need proof?

I.frame exploit through I.E real player, 2000+ accounts hacked, people got upset and started quitting. SE changed restoring policy.
RMT controlled sky, they lost so many subs during that time they had no choice but to address it.
Sea was terrible, pop items outside became 100% dropped.


Just some of the things that they had to address at some point because they started bleeding subs. Looks like SE is bleeding subs again just reading about how many have cancelled lately, wouldn't be surprised to see SE do something crazy sometime this year. I think its a pretty forgone conclusion that no matter how good XIV gets that a lot of XI players will never play another SE MMO again when they hang it up after XI.

[Hirronimus]

Official forum might be the best way to address some issues, but a lot of decent and well thought out ideas go unheard in the loud yelling that is the stupid masses. Not being able to voice your opinion is not the only way to send message to SE. Making them see the profit losses as the subscription amounts dwindle, will give them the reason to listen.

[Apelila]

Just some of the things that they had to address at some point because they started bleeding subs. Looks like SE is bleeding subs again just reading about how many have cancelled lately, wouldn't be surprised to see SE do something crazy sometime this year. I think its a pretty forgone conclusion that no matter how good XIV gets that a lot of XI players will never play another SE MMO again when they hang it up after XI.

After XI, more specifically after the XIV launch I'll never play another SE Tanaka MMO. The changes (bar salvage bans) to XI between 2006 and 2010 where all mostly positive. The game is still grindy mc grinderson but it give me something to do, and I don't have to build up my character to the point that I can accomplish the (current) goal I have set.

I'll look at XIV again after 2.0, but I wont pay for it. I've given this company well over $2100 for both my characters over the span of 7 years, it's probably closer to 3000$ when expansions and mules are factored in. See how well they value/treat XI at this point, it wouldn't take much for me to say fuck it and not let my account autorenew.

[arus2001]

If people are so upset and want results, the only real option to get SE's attention is to stop paying them. Make them realize they WANT your money. I know of at least 10 people who stopped subscription until SE gets their shit straight. If they don't, then we didn't lose any money on inferior product.

This is the company that publicly said they will continue to update FFXI as long as we support it. Therefore, it stands to reason that if people do not support FFXI, SE will not update it. This is why I don't advocate people blindly canceling their sub. Additionally, as Maacha pointed out, forum access is eventually revoked once your sub is done. Thus, it's not like you can really offer feedback on why you quit.

Ultimately, SE is presently running on a mix of name recognition and nostalgia. It won't last them forever if they continue as they have. FFXI could be a much better game if they both listened and didn't seem so fixated on starving it from needed cash that it does generate even if you want to lowball a 150-200k user base at present.

[Hirronimus]

This is the company that publicly said they will continue to update FFXI as long as we support it. Therefore, it stands to reason that if people do not support FFXI, SE will not update it. This is why I don't advocate people blindly canceling their sub. Additionally, as Maacha pointed out, forum access is eventually revoked once your sub is done. Thus, it's not like you can really offer feedback on why you quit.

Ultimately, SE is presently running on a mix of name recognition and nostalgia. It won't last them forever if they continue as they have. FFXI could be a much better game if they both listened and didn't seem so fixated on starving it from needed cash that it does generate even if you want to lowball a 150-200k user base at present.

If you think making a rational decision to stop giving money to company, who in the last 6 months has made the repetitive content even more so apparent and has been making decisions that makes even the hardcore fan go "WTF", a reason to blindly cancel account, than you are blind to the problem to begin with. People clinging to their accounts on a simple fact that they do not want to let go of their precious characters and SE will keep monopolizing on that fact.

I'm not trying to incite an insurrection or start a revolution. I'm simply sharing my point of view. I will say this though; I will only reactivate my character when I see significant and worthwhile changes to the game which I played since 2003. Until then, I refuse to pay a cent to a company who does their "hardcore fans" disservice by giving us shit updates and rehashed content.

[Lordender]

Always said it, always will say it again, the more people who pay SE monthly, the better job SE thinks they're doing. The less people pay SE monthly the more desperate they get, big changes have only happened to this game when one of two things occurred.

1. Bad media publicity: 18+hr PW anyone? that shit made the media rounds like wildfire, even G4.tv picked up the story and ran with it.
2. Unhappy players who unsubbed because of the BS, we saw it with rmt in sky warping ontop of ulli 24/7, mass hackings that forced restoration policy changes, the fail that was sea in the beginning with non-100% pop items, dumb einherjar feather systems, WoTG being the worst expansion of all time which inturn forces Abyssea.

Sub numbers is the only thing this company has ever listened to, I think the subbed FFXI player has a whole lot of more power than he/she thinks they do. FFXIV isn't sustaining itself with the numbers that have been reported, I think its obvious that XI is still the main driving force of funding simply because the upkeep can't be costing them nearly as much anymore.

Content production, you really think editing code thats already in place that revamps some zone or abilities actually costs them as much as creating completely new stuff from the ground up? SE is doing the bare minimum with this game and to make sure the bare minimum lasts they time-sink the fuck out of whatever is current(just like they always have done) to drag it out as long as possible.

When you create content where the single purpose is to sacrifice fun for the sake of dragging it out by making it extremely frustrating to players because of terrible progression or content thats is very random(Neo-Nyzl) then its going to piss people off, people want to be rewarded for their time or at least feel like they made some type of progression toward a larger goal. How long will you honestly enjoy "Neo-Nyzul" if no gimmicks are found to atleast sniff floor 100 at a reasonable rate?

SE is the only game company that puts items into their game that they don't want players to get, why can't something be hard to get because the enemy that drops the gear is really fucking hard which is not zergable, isn't retarded like AV(lvl 75) where its unbeatable unless it bugs, etc etc? This gimmicky shit they've come up with is retarded. SE has proved in the past that they can make content that everyone enjoys, sometimes I think they just need to be reminded about who really rules the roost, the customer.

Don't believe it? Look at the little teaser dropped by the community dev desk earlier about "surprises" to come during this year, I bet thats because subs are dropping off. SE has always been good at hyping stuff at their low points, there is no coincidence that they waited until now to drop hints about "surprises" to come this year.

[arus2001]

If you think making a rational decision to stop giving money to company, who in the last 6 months has made the repetitive content even more so apparent and has been making decisions that makes even the hardcore fan go "WTF", a reason to blindly cancel account, than you are blind to the problem to begin with. People clinging to their accounts on a simple fact that they do not want to let go of their precious characters and SE will keep monopolizing on that fact.

I'm not trying to incite an insurrection or start a revolution. I'm simply sharing my point of view. I will say this though; I will only reactivate my character when I see significant and worthwhile changes to the game which I played since 2003. Until then, I refuse to pay a cent to a company who does their "hardcore fans" disservice by giving us shit updates and rehashed content.

I get why you feel that way. It's similarly why I let my sub drop. I just get the vibe SE will be more apt to go, "Eh, fuck it..." instead of putting their nose to the grindstone to get people back. They're already doing with that XIV and as much as people love to bash it, it innately has the higher potential through advances in tech since XI's launch, money, and a Not-Tanaka director. XIV players and onlookers also have 2.0 to look forward to. At the moment, all XI really has going for its alleged new content is Legion and whatever the Dungeon Crawl thing is supposed to be. Events SE's churned out post-Abyssea have all had some kind of issue players have thrown numerous solutions for at them. Instead, they either ignore or tap dance around it. Don't get me wrong, I still believe XIV 2.0 will still have its new game growing pains if it's received well, but it'll be working from a more sturdy, modernized foundation compared to XI's now-wobbly tower of balanced spaghetti code.

[Isiolia]

I get why you feel that way. It's similarly why I let my sub drop. I just get the vibe SE will be more apt to go, "Eh, fuck it..." instead of putting their nose to the grindstone to get people back. They're already doing with that XIV and as much as people love to bash it, it innately has the higher potential through advances in tech since XI's launch, money, and a Not-Tanaka director. XIV players and onlookers also have 2.0 to look forward to. At the moment, all XI really has going for its alleged new content is Legion and whatever the Dungeon Crawl thing is supposed to be. Events SE's churned out post-Abyssea have all had some kind of issue players have thrown numerous solutions for at them. Instead, they either ignore or tap dance around it. Don't get me wrong, I still believe XIV 2.0 will still have its new game growing pains if it's received well, but it'll be working from a more sturdy, modernized foundation compared to XI's now-wobbly tower of balanced spaghetti code.

Thing is, XI is likely still pulling in solid money. Supposedly they have what, 350k or so subs? At $13 a month, that's around $4.5M. According to their financials, the Digital Entertainment division had an operating income of 7,781 million yen, or a little under $99 million, for a six-month period.
If they averaged around $16.5M/mo from games, and XI is probably consistently netting them $3-4M in profit every month, then it's a significant source of income that they'd not likely just want to let slide.

[Lucavi]

This is the company that publicly said they will continue to update FFXI as long as we support it. Therefore, it stands to reason that if people do not support FFXI, SE will not update it. This is why I don't advocate people blindly canceling their sub. Additionally, as Maacha pointed out, forum access is eventually revoked once your sub is done. Thus, it's not like you can really offer feedback on why you quit.

Ultimately, SE is presently running on a mix of name recognition and nostalgia. It won't last them forever if they continue as they have. FFXI could be a much better game if they both listened and didn't seem so fixated on starving it from needed cash that it does generate even if you want to lowball a 150-200k user base at present.

The only blind person is you for buying into the PR hype that "we'll only produce content if you give us your money without fail."

The only responsibility a consumer has is to pay for a subscription service when they are satisfied with what they are subscribing to, and to not pay when they are not satisfied. If you are so obsessed with the game and so terrified of the prospect of not being able to play the game that you're willing to not only throw your money at it endlessly, but also to try to convince others to throw their money at it blindly, despite SE's best efforts to drive the players away with absurd and redundant changes to the game, then you're SE's favorite kind of customer. Even if you let your own sub drop, you're going to try and stop someone else from doing the same? You fear not having XI that much?

You don't complain with your wallet, only your mouth and:
You encourage others to do the same as you.