Feb. 14, 2012 (JST) Version Update

[Churchill]

There are probably 3000 active accounts per server, Lakshmi is pretty even at ~1100-1500 NA time, 1300-1800 JP time. Plus people who keep paying but don't play, but that's a lower number nowadays than it used to be since you have to refill crysta.

[Spira]

If enough disgruntled players just said "eh fuck it!" cancel their subs they would start taking feedback more seriously. I remember when Blizzard(GhostCrawler) basically told the playerbase "be better at heroic dungeons, they're supposed to be hard! stop QQ'ing" at the start of Cataclysm, the subs took a major dive, not only did Blizzard backtrack on everything they did, they gave players a buff plus nerfed dungeons, that alone tells you subs are the only thing that matters in these games to a company regardless of all the PR bullshit they try to feed you. Disgruntled, don't like the way the game is going? send them a msg the correct way, a way that cannot be ignored because they watch sub numbers very closely, the proof is in the pudding.

oh god. I hope this never happens to FFXI. I don't care how much more or less they earn by pandering to the people who complain, but i do know that many of the things they bitch about are totally uncalled for. Not all, but most of it. Because honestly a lot of people who complain, especially on the OF don't know what they're talking about.
The recent baransu updates don't look as though the dev team knows that much better, but I'd rather have unpopular decisions made by them that make the game better in the long run than popular ones that everyone likes for now but will see the effects of later on.

As someone mentioned earlier, its not necessarily a smart move to take advice from the people who pay them money to play the game. Not because their opinions don't count, but because they aren't likely to know better.

My eyesight isn't what it used to be, but it looks like that 350k is from early 2010? It looks like a huge drop from 09-10. There is no way subs haven't gone down even more in that time, else they wouldn't have merged servers. Judging from my memory of /sea all over time that's pretty obvious too. Also you'd think "optional service" types like server transfer and mules is way down now. The point isn't to argue that it's not a large intake for them still, but this past year and this update is just not going to cut it going forward. As far as those telling ppl don't cancel despite they are hating the game, cause it would make the game worse are you serious?? Let them move on.

i was under the impression subs actually went up end 2010 because of Abyssea's success and FFXIV tanking

[Apelila]

Chrono Cross' battle system added unseeded complexity to CT's system. It wasnt fun to use double tech/triple tech anymore.

Don't forget the ending. Holy shit @ the ending of that game, at least with Xenogears we got disc 2. CC went from sublime to Gainax end.

[NynJa]

Sounds like a big problem with the game, pal, and yet some players are still willing to make it the most expensive monthly sub MMO around.

Again, SE has the best fans.

Subs are the most important thing to a MMO company, and you've got a few players in most major MMOs multiboxing and raking in the cash for the company. Its not XI-exclusive, though: I remember a few shammy multiboxers in WoW BGs, terrorizing the land. I'm way too cheap for that, though, but more more power to those who do it.

You make it sound like 2boxing is non existant in any other MMO.

[Julian]

Don't forget the ending. Holy shit @ the ending of that game, at least with Xenogears we got disc 2. CC went from sublime to Gainax end.

hey, gainax endings are awesome!

lol

[Lucavi]

You make it sound like 2boxing is non existant in any other MMO.

Can you read? I just posted an example of multi-boxing in another game in that exact post. Good God, its no wonder why you get flamed out of the ass so often.

[Byrthnoth]

Don't forget the ending. Holy shit @ the ending of that game, at least with Xenogears we got disc 2. CC went from sublime to Gainax end.

This is the first time I have ever seen someone be happy about Xenogears' second disk. When I hear friends are playing the game, I always tell them to just stop at the end of the first disk and try to imagine how it should have ended.

[Apelila]

Happy is relative. Xenogear's disc 2 had flaws, I won't deny that. I also won't deny flaws is an understatement. But compared to the rage @ the end of Chrono cross.....yeah

Spoilers since someone said they're playing through it right now

Spoiler: show

But they manned up, and didn't try and tie up the plot right then and there in some half assed attempt at 'oh look, Fei and Elly are both clones of Deus and only they can kill it'. Yes we got a convoluted exposition wank, but that was better than the ending of Chrono Cross. Getting punched in the dick before you come would be better than the ending to that game with all the buildup they did.

The only thing the ending of that game did was resolve what happened to Schala, and even then all it did was show where she went. It didn't resolve any of that bullshit with the alternate time lines being doomed to Purgatory. And don't get me started about the ending sequence that preceeded FLCL with 'shots of a stupid bitch wandering around a city in Japan'.

[Kaylia]

Don't forget the ending. Holy shit @ the ending of that game, at least with Xenogears we got disc 2. CC went from sublime to Gainax end.

I didn't mind the concepts as much as how everything happened in literally 30 seconds near the end. They should have hinted that stuff a lot earlier. When 90% of the game is wasted on useless filer materials, it's hard to feel with with an ending like this.

Xenogears was different. Shit was insane the whole time...it just got more insane toward the end.

[spoiler]

The only thing the ending of that game did was resolve what happened to Schala, and even then all it did was show where she went. It didn't resolve any of that bullshit with the alternate time lines being doomed to Purgatory. And don't get me started about the ending sequence that preceeded FLCL with 'shots of a stupid bitch wandering around a city in Japan'.

Wasn't it answered when you fought Miguel in the middle of the Dead Sea? Both world should be able to coexist now I think.


Parts of the game make me really nostalgic tho. Harle's story, the dead sea, Terra Tower...I loved that part of the game.

[Charismatic]

wait till you get to the last boss.

lol, that was really the only WTF part of the game imo... I fully enjoyed the rest of it but using the CC element is just stupid.
Also, to those who say CT shits on or is even better than CC... I laugh.

Nostalgia is a very powerful thing.

[Shenrien]

I personally like CC more then CT, only cause CT felt like a anime to me that had more filler then DBZ, and the progression between the story, and where you had to go was to far between.

[Byrthnoth]

Chrono Cross and Suikoden III still have my two favorite intros. I think I watched CC's about ten times before I even started playing.

The element system was kind of (okay, totally) retarded though.

[Mikus]

I personally like CC more then CT, only cause CT felt like a anime to me that had more filler then DBZ, and the progression between the story, and where you had to go was to far between.

I've only looked at CT a few times, but the anime look doesn't win me over. In fact, it makes me not want to play it. A friend just brought over Blue Dragon and I took a look and have zero interest in it because of the way the characters are. The element system in CC is annoying. I haven't even played it lately because I'm having trouble getting past PS1 graphics.

Side note, your sig video is disturbing as hell....

[Neisan]

I'd still rate CT over CC, as much as I liked certain characters and elements in CC (plus the opening song/movie), the fact remains they still had a shitton of characters that were pretty much worthless and the battle design made me not even want to use techs. Why even waste time developing characters that were clearly inferiour to ones that took less effort to recruit?

[Spira]

lol, that was really the only WTF part of the game imo... I fully enjoyed the rest of it but using the CC element is just stupid.
Also, to those who say CT shits on or is even better than CC... I laugh.

Nostalgia is a very powerful thing.

kinda agree. i liked CC but then again i didn't really understand the story that much or cared to question why you suddenly had like an army of people to travel around with you. It was a very well polished game for its age tho. Never got the battle system to be fairly honest. Think i was too disturbed by the semi topless guy wearing make up

[Mrbeansman]

I don't remember much from Chrono Cross because my disc 1 was killed by my ps2 when it died. So I could never finish getting all the endings.

[Apelila]

It was a very well polished game for its age tho.

Funny you should mention that.

http://www.1up.com/features/squaresoft-localization < The section on Chrono Cross is interesting. I never considered that all the text for the different characters of the game would be a space issue.

Also to Kuro, wow at saying Nostalgia is the reason people love Chrono Trigger. I don't think I would ever compare the 2 directly honestly. The two are just too vastly different when it comes to story telling and overall style.

(But Chrono Trigger didn't have a fucking Gainax ending. )

[Kaylia]

lol, that was really the only WTF part of the game imo... I fully enjoyed the rest of it but using the CC element is just stupid.
Also, to those who say CT shits on or is even better than CC... I laugh.

Nostalgia is a very powerful thing.

You can play the nostalgia card, but very few RPG managed to offer a gameplay as fast paced as Chrono Triger. The battles were over quickly, the menus were simple and efficient, the loadings were quick...you could beat the entire in a few hours when you knew your way around. Chrono Cross in comparison is slow as fuck. The menu and customization takes forever, there is a ton of backtracking, the battles last way too long (especially trivial encounter). That alone made CT more fun to play to most.


Many "fun" things disappeared as well. No more minigames, the monsters on the map weren't interactive at all (you could engages them in many different way, or avoid them completely in CT), the dual/triples techniques system was replaced with something that made them useless and incredibly hard to pull off, no more battles on the field, the alternate ending weren't very fun. Chrono Cross also had no "endgame", and wasn't very rewarding in overall. Why couldn't we get another ocean palace? Sun temple? Prometeus' facility?

The world itself was also much smaller, especially once you realize that all 5 dragon islands are tiny and add very little to the story. Seeing everything twice didn't add much either. On the other side, Chrono Trigger offered you many different landscapes, and the feeling that you had when you discovered a new era was unrivaled.


It wasn't a terrible game by any means, but it doesn't feel like it expanded on its predecessor's success at all. The only thing there was in larger quantity was characters, but that was probably the biggest issue with the game. It was hard to care for more than an handful of them, especially when half of them didn't fit with the setting at all.

[Slycer]

I think I watched CC's about ten times before I even started playing.

That song, eeeeeeeee. One of my favorite video game songs ever.

[Koyangi]

What is a Gainax ending?