[jenova_9]

Final Fantasy: Square Enix Still Workin' On That New MMO


if the link is blocked, here it is:

"Square Enix have a big MMO. It's called Final Fantasy XI. But FFXI is getting a little long in the tooth, so it's no surprise to hear Square Enix are still working on a successor.

Talk of the company's post-FFXI MMO has been around for years now, but during an address to investors last month, Square Enix boss Yoichi Wada re-affirmed that while Final Fantasy XI was still quite profitable for the company, it couldn't last forever.

Speaking of this "transition", Wada says that, as FFXI winds down, "the question is where do we go from here, and we are currently developing a post-FFXI flagship title". Interesting that he calls it a "flagship" title, suggesting that instead of just switching to a more casual-friendly MMO like the company's existing Nicotto Town, it'll be something more substantial.

Final Fantasy XIV, perhaps? It's not like that'd be without precedent..."

That sure sounds interesting, but I think FFXI should always continue. I mean like, in the worst case server scenario, maybe they can patch FFXI so it can be played offline after they take down the servers (sniffle). But that won't be until 20+ years anyways! It's too hard to let go of FFXI, I mean to think a new high quality next-gen mmorpg by the same team could match
or even surpass FFXI, is difficult to fathom. Well for one thing, the new mmorpg definitely needs Final Fantasy in the title to maximize sales, and it would need multiple races, and a job system, a battle system similiar to FFXI, a world that's just as massive and memorable, weather cycles, and well you know, the whole shabang of vital features.


but since that address having happened last month, seems to hint they are gonna reveal the latest version of it sometime in the summer, but the release date would be no earlier than in 1 or 2 years, since this year is FFXIII for Japan. but oh well, that's news still up in the air. best to make the most of FFXI right now.

[Telera]

Originally Posted by jenova_9

maybe they can patch FFXI so it can be played offline after they take down the servers (sniffle).

This would make my life.

I don't want to play it online anymore, or mess w/ the nonsense, but I've said it before and I'll say it again, an offline, tweaked XI would be heaven. Once the servers are down, of course. Blah blah.

But next SE MMO, I'm not even bothering with. They are hung too far on the time-consuming end for me. Beautiful games, lovely story, nice balance, but too much for me now. I do hope it's a worthy successor to XI, though.

[Feba]

honestly, nice as an offline version would be, it wouldn't work to just say "Here, have things our server handled run locally. have fun"; there's far too many things (think AH) that one player would go insane doing. Not to mention boss fights and the like. It would need at the very least for the NPC system to be beefed up to something like FF12's.

It'd be easier for SE to, say, open source FFXI (at least, the technical side; they'd probably want to keep control of the models, especially chocobos and moogles and the like) and let people run servers themselves. Kinda like how Doom and Quake have been opened up after their slip into commercial irrelevancy.

On a new game, I don't think they want to have another main-line FF MMO. I could see something like FFCC Online; do a sort of Phantasy Star thing. Would also fit well on Wii, could be a big blue ocean out there for a simple (not easy. simple.), console MMO.

FFXI-2 maybe, but given as messed up as the plot already is, I don't think they want to do what EQ2 did and just make things nightmarish. Plus, FFXI already has time travel, so it would seem pretty stupid to make an all new game. Honestly, it seems to me like it would be a better idea to lay down a sort of FFXI-protocol, and then build updated games on top it. So, say, FFXI we have now can handle expansions up to some point, and all expansions after that are released for FFXI-2 with upgraded graphics. Additionally, gameplay tweaks (UI, memory limitations, IMEs, Macros, remove zone lines or make them instantaneous) would be added in newer versions. Basically, make it a way around client-side limitations, and make it clear that the new client is a replacement for the old one which will be phased in instead of a nice bonus for people with the hardware.

[Karinya]

I don't see why they would assume that FFXI is necessarily going to die. EQ hasn't, and it's older.

Eventually, when the PS2 userbase shrinks because there aren't that many PS2s in working order anymore, they can drop PS2 support and have fewer technological limitations (and, even later, ditto X360). Even before that, though, players are pretty much used to the technological limitations we have, and given the time investment in existing characters, it's going to take a lot more than prettier graphics to convince players to switch.

I wonder, if FFXI had had things like FoV and adventuring fellows from the start, would it ever have developed the cooperation-oriented culture it has (as opposed to the solo-oriented culture of WoW)? Have the people who are going to develop the next game considered how their decisions shape the player culture that has such a large influence on the gaming experience? It's hard to imagine a WoW player deciding to level sync with someone 50 levels lower that they hardly know because the latter can't find a party. (Partly because level sync doesn't exist in WoW, but even if it did, how many people would use it?)

I think the most important thing for the devs of the new game to keep in mind is: If someone wants WoW, they know where to find it. You have to differentiate your game from the competition if you want it to succeed. And for the new game, whatever it is, FFXI is part of the competition, so you have to be different from that too.

I think it could be really cool to see a Star Ocean MMO. But they'd have to find a way to keep internet lag from trashing Star Ocean's action-oriented combat system, or it would lose a lot of the point. (Also, they'd have to find a way to make it more interesting to personally control a mage, because you can't just leave them set to AI all the time in a MMO.)

[Vioris]

Yoichi Wada, you better not shut down FFXI.

Originally Posted by Karinya

I think the most important thing for the devs of the new game to keep in mind is: If someone wants WoW, they know where to find it. You have to differentiate your game from the competition if you want it to succeed. And for the new game, whatever it is, FFXI is part of the competition, so you have to be different from that too.

Word.

I don't think an offline of FFXI would work very well compared to online, I don't know just saying.

[ruffrydasean]

Nuuuu I'm not done with FFXI yet XD

[EternalMalachi]

You can't stop FFXI! I just got to 70!!!1!

As I've said before, I plan on jumping on board with the new MMO from day one (or earlier if there is an english beta ^^) because I like FFXI and if the new one takes off, I'd love to have been there from the get go. I love the idea of being one of the first to see and do the new things in new worlds and such.

I'll still play FFXI, of course, because I've too much time invested to just stop. ^.^` I'll play the games side by side, on two machines, and rule the world! Or just play the new MMO while I sit in my MH w/ my party flag up for hours on end. -,-'

[Demon_of_Elru]

People saying they want an offline FFXI... what do you mean by offline? No more updates and letting the server just run? Or do you mean, basically, playing alone inside Vana'diel with no other people? If its the later, how could that possibly work?

I'm just coming back to FFXI after several years break. Since then I've played nearly every MMO there is and nothing compares to FFXI, nothing has given me the same enjoyment or sense of "alternate online life/community". IMO apart from the waiting time for PT's, I think this MMO is the least flawed of all of them.

MMO's at the core are flawed genre's. They cannot be perfect due to the very nature of a real-time word with many players from around the world. You can't please everyone and if you try too, it becomes just like WoW and EQ2. Instant gratification without any sense of achievement. Those games go against the very idea of online RPG's in that you dont need to actually join other people to progress, instead its like paying a subscription for an offline RPG.

Personally I'd like to see the next SE MMO use the same mechanics as FFXI. Yet with an emphasis on bringing people together even if they're not the same level. Concentrate on the community aspect of the game and make sure each job is equal to the next in-terms of importance and need.

If you place emphasis on bringing people together aswell as "slightly" reducing the difficulty level of getting those "needed" items, then this would increase the enjoyment factor, as I felt FFXI could be incredibly cold to you if you didn't find the right LS.

SE whatever you do, dont go down the path of western MMO's.

[Feba]

Originally Posted by Demon_of_Elru

If its the later, how could that possibly work?

See: Every other FF game ever. Particularly twelve, but really.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Why do people still think they're going to shut down FFXI?

Oh yeah, complete lack of reading comprehension. So goes the "achievement" generation of gamers.

[Balfree]

Ignore and carry on.

Its what I do.

[Feba]

Originally Posted by Omgwtfbbqkitten

Why do people still think they're going to shut down FFXI?

Because SE pretty clearly hates us.

I mean, look at AV.

FFXI's only utility to them now is schadenfreude.

[Raydeus]

Originally Posted by Demon_of_Elru

If its the later, how could that possibly work?

All they would need to do is tweak stats and their effects and rise the level cap, along with allowing players to have more than one NPC fellow at a time (and allwoing them to enter BC fights and all other areas). Or stuff like that.

They wouldn't go out of their way to implement a system like gambits, but making XI work offline wouldn't be very difficult to implement once they didn't have to worry about game balance for everyone.