Live Presentation Event: The Future of Final Fantasy XI (03/19/2015)

[Cream Soda]

I guess I'll jump back on to finish all the story missions before the game dies.

[Appie]

While true many other MMOs have better infrastructure, I've yet to play an MMO that drew me in and actually kept me invested in it even on a STORY level like XI. I'm not even talking about Nostalgia either, because XI wasn't my first, second nor even third MMO, it just had Final Fantasy all over it, it felt like a FF game actually thrown online. So really..no it may not be worth $13 for technical reasons, but in terms of content, gameplay and overall atmosphere? No other game is worth any price. XIV is barely worth it but it has the improved gameplay.

All that FF stuff is the reason I played this game for over 10 years as well, couple of years with multiple accounts (mostly back when I could pay in dollars, shit was cheap when living in Europe). I gave SE a good chunk of my money. But considering they even downsized their FFXI server park at one point, yet us consumers never saw anything of that in terms of lower sub costs, simply stinks, no matter how much FFXI had going for it. That combined with the skeleton crew working on the game really made me question the sub fee. As I said other games (which obviously didn't have that FF vibe) did more for less. Hell, even FFXIV, which does have that FF vibe, does more for less.

[Twilight Sky]

I was 21 years old when I started playing this thing. I'm now 32.. GOT DAMN.

Not gonna go to private servers. Honestly, time to let this game go.

[Arthars]

I was 21 years old when I started playing this thing. I'm now 32.. GOT DAMN.

Not gonna go to private servers. Honestly, time to let this game go.

[dasva]

Not sure how to feel. Part of me feels like mechanically this wont be too different than all the other times people said the game was dead and we only got content twice a year and then just did the same old stuff in the mean time only without those twice a year things. Which gives me a bunch of time to catch up on do some testing I had been meaning to do... on the other hand there feels like there is no point to doing nor will there be anyone to do anything with/for

[Scythiroth]

Definitely finishing the last few fights of Adoulin's story that I have left and then.....I'm not sure. We all knew this game was going to die someday, but knowing the exact time it will end makes it much more real. Will be interesting to see if this gets people back to finish up anything they wanted to finish or if this is going to make even more people quit.

[dasva]

Also I'm really kind of wtfing over all the recent bans with them planning on ending the game... I mean wry?

[6souls]

SE has confirmed that the updates will not be paid-for content, from the press release;

* “Rhapsodies of Vana’diel” is not a disc based expansion or premium downloadable content.

[Taint]

Pretty sad to see the end is near. I don't play and haven't for a while but I still lurk the forums and think about FFXI. I keep telling myself I'll log on one of these days and update my Relics to 119 and tool around.

I knew it was coming but actually having a timeline makes it real and sad.

[Sechs]

I was wondering about that as well dasva. What's the point?

[Haborym]

Also I'm really kind of wtfing over all the recent bans with them planning on ending the game... I mean wry?

This. I would have happily paid for all my subs for the remainign future. However, not that a large majority of them are gone, I'm iffy if I even want to keep going with the few I have.

[Fireon]

I'm a little skeptical of the mobile version, but we'll see.

I think the end of major content updates in November is probably going to be the stopping point for a lot of people, including myself. At that point, I'll have seen 99% of everything this game has to offer, and depending on what content gets released between now and then, what would be the point of staying?

If I finish the new content in November, odds are I will probably only stay playing until the end of the year, before I move on to FFXIV. It's been a good run, but I'm not going to pay $14 a month to stand around waiting for the chance to incrementally upgrade my character while other players flee in droves for the same reason.

I kind of wish the whole mobile thing didn't happen. Instead of giving a hard date for the end of the game to give players some closure, they are zombifying FFXI to a cursed existence as a PC/mobile hybrid designed to maintain subscribers until the cost of running the servers outweighs the dwindling player base. Thanks, but I'd rather get out while my last days in the game are memorable.

[dejet]

OK I'd love to think ffxi will be on my phone as a full game.... But the game is what 30gbs large now? I mean how much can they compress that? It won't be the full game, let us think about this in reality lol.

[Spira]

took me a while to gather my thoughts on this..

definitely do feel a little sad about this, although i'm not sure if status quo would have been better than what they have proposed.

1) Rhapsodies of Vana'diel
I'm actually very excited about this, as this is brand new content that crosses expansions. As a story buff I do hope that the gravity of its story is on par with missions and it isn't just like the add-on scenarios. Given its nature as the FINAL chapter in FFXI's story, i think the writers have the freedom to write out a story without potential 'future' repercussions. This promises to have new battle content as well, so I see at as probably a hybrid between story and abyssea add ons. I expect to see some sweeping changes and grand content being delivered, and also maybe a final raising of the ilevel cap?

2) FFXI going into maintenance mode after RoV.
I don't know if this was necessary, considering how games like EQ are still producing expansions to this day. the harsh reality is that they still have decaying player bases, so I think this was a calculated decision, which likely has to do with the Native Mobile App. They probably figured it'd be good to declare no new content so players wouldn't expect it, all the while allowing for the game to be streamlined and simplified to become a MMMRPG. I'd go as far as to assume that all updates post Nov 2015 would work toward that goal.

3) MMMRPG / mobile app, discontinuing PS2/XB360
I like that they are discontinuing the old consoles. This is a step forward, but i'm not so certain about the move to mobile, as it requires retooling of the game itself. This here is the bold move that Square Enix has taken. Instead of allowing FFXI to fall into a stable obscure cashcow or die a slow death, they have instead decided to repurpose the game into a mobile MMORPG. Assuming the current playerbase will share servers and be able to play on this new platform, this in turn signals the death of FFXI as we know it. As much as FFXI has changed over the years, it has still retained its old-school MMORPG charm, but this platform change will essentially change the game forever.

However, this is also a good thing, as it means that SE is still willing to invest in porting XI onto another platform, and that SE doesn't want XI to die the way MMOs normally do. The new format on a new platform could do wonders for FFXIs subscription base. I suppose one other question to ask is how they'd do it. Given FFXI's sheer size, it would suggest that mobile version will utilize some kind of cloud gaming? In any case, this might also be the HD/graphical update that people are hoping for. I think they havent actually started work on this one at all, which is why theyve nothing to show for it.

If porting XI to mobile is a success, theres no telling where it could go from there. Because it's been reduced into a portable form, this would also mean it'd be amenable to other platforms, such as the PS4/Vita? Also, if it actually does pick up on mobile, then maybe they'd change their mind in terms of development. Final is never final for an MMORPG until the servers go down after all. If anything the technical chances of more content are higher AFTER the port. Its all a matter of the devs discretion.

As for Grandmasters, nice nostalgic touch for JP players i guess. Runs on a freemium model. Altho its part of the Vana'diel Project, I doubt they'd use Grandmasters to actually expand our knowledge of Vana'diels universe (partly given that its not developed by SE anyway). cute at best.

[Arthars]

Pretty sad to see the end is near. I don't play and haven't for a while but I still lurk the forums and think about FFXI. I keep telling myself I'll log on one of these days and update my Relics to 119 and tool around.

I knew it was coming but actually having a timeline makes it real and sad.

i have been always browsing the ffxiah to see how much it cost to upgrade all my relics to 119 too.... guess no chance now with everyone prolly just selling and making all relics for the final screenshot

FFXI makes up 1/3 of my life + further more with finding my wife playing it....

that final story better be like some huge ass meteor mob smashing into vanadiel and we all combine powers in ally mode and zerg the shit out of it

[AnnaMolly]

Also I'm really kind of wtfing over all the recent bans with them planning on ending the game... I mean wry?

Not sure about game bans, but the mass Official Forum bans were probably due to them knowing most of the playerbase would be pissed off and they wanted to avoid another long, drawn out shitstorm like the RME shitstorm. Still, I'd laugh so hard if they came out on April 1st and was all "April Fools, fuckers! New expansion in 2016." or something like that.

[Haborym]

I'm curious how subs will work once it's ported to mobile. As the market stands today, there are two systems for a successful mobile game: pay for the app, or in-app purchases (or both). How will they bring subs into this paradigm that has been proven to work? I can assure you people who play mobile games will not pay $14 a month to play on their phones.

[fantasticdan]

I'm not too hopeful on the mini-expansions. What I'm expecting is some running around and a handful of easy BCs, with a bunch of mission NPCs shoehorned together in a fan-servicey way that doesn't make sense.

[AnnaMolly]

I hope Shantotto finally gets put in her place and punted across Windurst.

[Sechs]

Pc version is around 11gb, not 30. Still too much for a mobile so I wonder what the hell they REALLY have in mind.