Are SE trying to wind FFXI down?

[Fridell]

I think they're testing our concepts for their new game in XI.

http://www.kraproom.com/pacman/aod/g...olStoryBro.png

[Yugl]

I chose option 4.

"SE can differentiate between "is" and "are"."

They also know how to use single quotes within double quotes.

[Spider-Dan]

Option 4: Yes - Auto banning legit gardeners, LM-17'ing players who were double charged because they called their banks for charge-backs due to non-existent SE customer service, for silly LS names, ridonkulous GMs, etc, etc, yadda, yadda, and anyone who isn't flat out banned they're hoping will quit due to the inanity of it all.

If you issue a charge-back through your bank, for any reason, you will receive a ban. You would have to be incredibly naive to believe otherwise.

SE knows who holds the upper hand and you can't bluff them. If you are not willing to outright cancel your account over a double (or hell, even a triple) bill, then you'd better take the time to work through it with SE, no matter how sh*tty their customer service dept. is.

[Deimos]

I haven't been keeping up with the community very much at all, so I don't really know how a lot of you feel about FFXI right now, but from the little I've played lately, I actually enjoy the more casual approach the game has adopted. If its any indication of what to expect from FFXIV, I will actually be pretty excited.

I just got back to the game (approaching 2 months back now) after a year and 9 months of not logging in at all. I'm not in a "real" LS any more, there's a group of 4 of us that play regularly together, and we've been doing various events on our own totally-random schedule like ZNMs, Nyzul Isle, MMM, Assaults, etc. There are plenty of other things we could do with 4 people that we haven't even had time to consider yet, like Salvage.

And honestly, I'm enjoying the game a lot more now than I ever did back doing Dynamis/sky/sea in alliances, camping Tiamat, etc. If FFXIV works at all similar to the way all these recent events do, I'm definitely excited for it.

[Kkel]

If you issue a charge-back through your bank, for any reason, you will receive a ban. You would have to be incredibly naive to believe otherwise.

SE knows who holds the upper hand and you can't bluff them. If you are not willing to outright cancel your account over a double (or hell, even a triple) bill, then you'd better take the time to work through it with SE, no matter how sh*tty their customer service dept. is.

Well yeah, obviously. The point isn't that it's unbelieveable, it's that the scenario exists in the first place, which is the point of this thread.

"How can we drive people to quit FFXI in preparation for FFXIV but not make it look like we driving people to quit FFXI in preparation for FFXIV?"

"I got it! Let's double or triple bill them and if they notice and contact us about it, we'll give them the run around until they go to their banks/credit card companies to resolve it. As soon as it's charged back, we'll ban them for ToS violation! It's either or they eat the cost and we cash in! Brilliant!"

I'm not saying it's a grand conspiracy or anything like that, but it's not hard to imagine the scenario above being actually viable with the information that's been made available. Awesome business strategy.

[Deimos]

"How can we drive people to quit FFXI in preparation for FFXIV but not make it look like we driving people to quit FFXI in preparation for FFXIV?"

"I got it! Let's double or triple bill them and if they notice and contact us about it, we'll give them the run around until they go to their banks/credit card companies to resolve it. As soon as it's charged back, we'll ban them for ToS violation! It's either or they eat the cost and we cash in! Brilliant!"

I'm not saying it's a grand conspiracy or anything like that, but it's not hard to imagine the scenario above being actually viable with the information that's been made available. Awesome business strategy.

"Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice."

- Grey's Law

[Kkel]

"Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice."

- Grey's Law

I'd prefer malice. At least it's a legitimate excuse. In either case, the outcome is the same.

[Shin Volcano]

All games come to an end eventually, it's just a matter of how long it can last, I mean i used to play PSO it didn't last long due to low updates and MASSIVE hacking but they finnaly shut down the ST servers, FFXI has lasted a while, it's end will come, but SE wil just try to drown it out with new games or not updating anymore.

[Araius]

We'll see what the answer to this is when FFXIV comes around. If they actually listen to us then, then they weren't watering down FFXI.

Based on their comments to the media about wanting to keep people in FFXI and have them play both games, watering XI down some would make sense...though I'm not sure it would make sense to do it this early. Hopefully they've actually come around. I'm still skeptical though.

[Red Demon Taoist]

SE loses money if people stop playing FFXI.


They would not, and will not ever intentionally try to "wind down" FFXI.

This paranoia so many people seem to have about SE shutting FFXI is ridiculous and completely unreasonable from a business perspective.

[Ryany]

I feel the game is easier because players have access to better gear, more merits, more 75 jobs, and veterans are a lot less ignorant on game mechanics as opposed to 3-4 years ago.

I'd argue monsters are the same as they were before. The just are easier because they have not kept up with the evolution of the things above.

[Silenka]

Where is the option for 'my god, why is there another dying game thread?'

FFXI will continue to be supported for as long as SE is making a profit off it...which will be well into the future. It's getting 'easier' simply because it was ridiculously head-up-the-ass stupid hard to get around and do basic things before the changes. FFXI is still the biggest pain in the ass MMO on the block, even with the more recent changes. I wish people would stop trying to be doomsayers for this game, it's one thing to joke about it being a dying game in the face of the developers' apathy, it's another thing entirely to be the one holding the sign saying THE END IS NIGH.

[Klaatu]

Ryany: 75 [All Jobs] | Ryanwhy: 75 [Rdm/Brd/Blm/Smn/Bst] | Netherstorm: 75 [Brd/Rdm/Blm/Smn] | Botanica 75 [Blm/Brd/Smn/Cor/Rdm] | Arcatraz 75 [Blm/Cor/Smn/Rdm] | Cosmowrench 75 [Blm/Smn/Rdm]
All CoP Missions: 100% 6-boxed Total Merits: 2100

Why?

[Grey Jorildyn]

I feel the game is easier because players have access to better gear, more merits, more 75 jobs, and veterans are a lot less ignorant on game mechanics as opposed to 3-4 years ago.

I'd argue monsters are the same as they were before. The just are easier because they have not kept up with the evolution of the things above.

Sure, all this happened, but they also revamped a lot of things to make the game easier. For instance, they not only lowered the amount of EXP you need to level up significantly, but they also increased the amount of EXP you get off of EP/DC/EM. They allowed players to get more than one memoirs quest per week, they added campaign, installed level sync'd gear, and they're increasing skill up rates as well. These are just a handful of the things they have done to move the slider away from difficult.

Just about everything they do has sucked the challenge out of this game. They started out making a game and now it's a business, which doesn't have as many subscribers as the competition, so they water-down the content to help the newbies and mid-level characters stick around longer. Gotta milk that cash-cow somehow.

[Hyan]

35 people answered 'Yes'... amazing.

[Panthera]

Vote 2, sort of.

I think SE will continue to run FFXI for as long as it in their financial interest to do so. I think we can easily expect another batch of mini-expansions, which i think will have more satisfying content. As for new full blown expansions with new jobs, i have my doubts. So, FFXI is winding down in the "new content creation" sense. Although, the game is still there ready to be played, and i doubt that many players scratch the surface of FFXI in terms of overall existing content.

[thomassmith]

I do think they are trying to shut down FFXI. Or at the very least give us very few updates a year. I hope a large percentage of the player base sticks with XI because it would kinda of sad to see FFXI die. I know a lot of us spent way too much time to just watch it die. I think the Japanese player base will remain strong but I'm not too sure about NA/EU. I see FFXIV having many more new people to MMO's. At this point in FFXI there is not much that for veteran players to do. So I do see an end coming soon. But lets hope it dies slowly and not all of the sudden.