Why SE Needs to Drop PS2 Support - Its Not About GraphicsFollow

FFXI is an amazing game being held back by some very poor decisions.

Most of the community, as sad as it is are completely blind to many facts. Most online communities in general simply like to argue and Square Enix has actually exploited this weakness within people. They know that their supporters will be the vocal minority they need to keep things seemingly in check.

Everything made past Treasures of Aht Urghan is a poor attempt at adding content without proper effort, but you could already see such things from the game early on when it came to acquiring gear. Square Enix implemented random drop systems, too-little gear for too-many-people events, so on and so forth. They knew it would cause drama and take a long time, but at the end of the day most of the community fails to realize they are a business. Businesses want you to be happy, so they can make more money off of you. Some people in the business may actually care as well, but as a whole they do not care what is truly best for their customer, only what makes them happy. The cigarette industry is a good example of this.

There are two things to thank all the re-skinned zones and half-assed expansions for and that is PS2 limitations as well as budget and production cuts. As we've seen now with FFXIV Square Enix quite obviously (if you're not blind) has an outlook of "If we make something shiny and pretty they will come" often overlooking proper development. Unfortunately that is what most of this Abyssea stuff is.

The level cap increase should have never happened, Empyrean gear should have happened but not quite as powerfully and game breaking as it did. Magian trials should have happened, but as a more casual approach to a weapon upgrading system. At this point you probably hate me and you're ready to rate me down, do as you must be think on what I have to say next at the very least.

What if, instead of re-skinned zones we got completely new, unique stories and systems added in completely new areas? What if, instead of making people's old gear obsolete and making them feel like they MUST acquire new gear, you simply gave them more options and made them WANT to acquire the new gear? What if, instead of poorly re-skinned zones and more time sinks you gave people new missions, new lands to explore, new adventures to be had.

Believe it or not, it is these things that are what use to make FFXI so truly unique and spectacular. It wasn't just a grind fest for more shiny new objects leading to more grindfests for more shiny new objects, there were actually intriguing missions, quests, adventures and diversity along the way that gave it the depth to make such grinding worth it in the end.

Another thing people fail to realize is just how much content this Abyssea stuff has erased. Years and Years of so much diverse content, from Dynamis to Limbus, Sea to Sky, ZNM's to Kings and a hundred different things inbetween. Now when I sign on all I see is people in Abyssea zones and Port Jeuno. That's all anyone does anymore, Abyssea. It's like a drug and it's sickening to watch. Of course, the drug makes people feel good so it's difficult for them to see why in the long run it's bad.

But is it too late? No, it's not.

Square Enix has however done enough damage to make me and many others who usually keep quiet from playing and being interested. It's hard, when you make some one work so long for some items and then tell them they're now mediocre, to do it again. How could you not blame them?

But is it too late? No, as long as the game is running there's still hope.

What Square Enix needs to do first of all, is put an actual reason into obtaining the old gear, to give more diversity to the game. People will argue "Well then, no one would Abyssea!" or get mad, because suddenly their abyssea gear isn't the end-all be-all of gear anymore, but people would logically still have options including Abyssea and still do them. So I think the biggest step would be re-newing the old content to once more rejuvenate the game. I'm not talking about abjurations you have to farm or buy all over again, simply to have to have a high level over-complex craft skill just to attempt for a mediocre augment at best which still doesn't match even the +1 Empyrean armor. I'm talking about completely revising old gear.

But finally, as the OP says one of the biggest problems is PS2 support. Square Enix uses that as an excuse more than anything, the excuse being not dropping it. If they did drop it, they would have to put proper development and funding into the game, building full on expansions and doing all that needs to be done, creating new areas, etc.

The PS2 needs to be dropped sooner or later, to keep the game going. Anyone who says this is in denial and of course there's a few overly angsty trolls on here who will yell, scream and argue it up one side and down the other, but all you need to do is use a bit of common sense.

FFXI is a truly amazing thing, a evolving world and I would like to hear anyone disagree that the game evolving and continuing to evolve is a bad thing, but some of the biggest aspects in it's evolution are being held back by continuing PS2 support. There is no reason why in time, the game can't evolve to be better, bigger, more expansive. FFXI is a truly amazing story with so much depth, it really is unique in the MMORPG market as a whole and has so much potential, I hate seeing it held back.

Think of all the solutions that could be made possible. Think of graphics upgrades. Think of, the most IMPORTANT THING OF ALL...

New Areas and new missions, to continue this journey in Vana Diel. Right now all we're doing is grinding away for more gear, but for what? Once we've completed the missions, once the content has been done, now that older content is so undesirable, why get this Abyssea gear? Simply so we can get... More Abyssea gear?

Square Enix. A time will come when you must make the decision to further evolve this game. It will require time, money and making some tough decisions, but it will be worth it in the end. Vana Diel is a truly amazing place and you know deep down inside you've done some damage to it all while so many things still need addressing, but keep in mind it is not too late. You have a loyal fan base, many of which still follow you blindly, others who still have faith in you. If you make the right decisions these people will bring with them many others anew and this game could once more flourish as it should.

As of now, a very basic and cheap Computer will run FFXI. I guarantee that almost everyone has that, but keep in mind, what if a vocal few do not? Are you going to conform this entire game for those few, or are you going to unleash the potential it still has to the masses? I guarantee as upset as those few people may be, if PS2 support was dropped but the game was made much better and expanded on, most of them would either switch to or buy the proper Computer to run it. But, do you want to hold back the masses and watch the game slowly fade, losing more people over time, or do you want to truly unlock what it could really be?

Please consider these things, hopefully you already are. The game will need to evolve eventually. People will eventually run out of things to do and get tired of just obtaining new gear in the same place with no other purpose but to obtain new gear. People will eventually get tired of this and the choice will have to be made. I hope and pray that your plan is not simply to ride down a sinking ship and that you will properly repair what needs to be repaired and properly evolve a game that still holds so much potential.

Yours truly, an adventurer who loves Vana Diel and wishes to explorer the many horizons I've yet to explore and partake in the many journeys yet to come.