Hi guys. I have never played Everquest and Have been a long time FFXI player. As a lot of you know FFXIV is comming out in 2010 for the ps3 and pc. A lot of people are really excited about it but I for one am not. See I don't really know whats going to happen to my favorite game FFXI once FFXIV comes out. From what iv been reading FFXIV will be FFXI + easy mode. Making the game very solo friendly, better graphics, but in general a lot of the same, including the classes, leveling, and races.  

The moment FFXIV was announced a TON of players quit FFXI. I don't know if this is normal  (YOU TELL ME GUYS WHO WHERE ON EQ WHEN EQ2 WAS RELEASED is it normal?"

A lot of my freinds who have been playing the game with me since launch also quit at the moment FFXIV was announced. They basically all gave the same reason "There's no point in playing a game that has already been left for dead" or something along those lines.

What Should I expect to happen in the months to come?

Will FFXI shut down in the years to come?

As an FFXI player and with you guys experience in the EQ-EQ2 swich, what can you give us FFXI players who enjoy FFXI and want it to keep going as advice or guidance? 

Interesting question..  I'll say upfront that I don't know anything about FFXIV, so I'm taking your words for it.   With that in mind, when EQ2 launched in 2004, many EQ1 players (myself included) quit EQ1 to try out EQ2.  I would say a greater majority left EQ2 within a month or two to either go back to EQ1 or try out WoW.   EQ1 remained higher in subscribers than EQ2 for several years, and I think it wasn't until a year ago that both games started to even out in subscription numbers (or so rumors say).  But even then, EQ2 never peaked as high as EQ1 did when EQ1 peaked at 500k'ish back in the days.

EQ2 caters to a different crowd.  It took a bit for SOE to realize that instead of trying to draw EQ1 players to EQ2, that they should be drawing a different type of gamers, and keep EQ1 and EQ2 different.  So that's what we ended up with, 2 games sharing the same name, but plays different and caters to different crowds.

SOE tried hard to make EQ2 its flagship product, but EQ1 remained strong and still has a large amount of loyal followers.  EQ1 has had 15 expansions with another one coming later this year.  So EQ1 is not left for dead, in fact it's still one of the most profitable games for SOE.  The game has a very dedicated group of developers that upgrade, fix, and patch the game for us.  With that said, many believe SOE Is milking EQ1 players.   Us players want new character models, but their excuse has been the lack of money and resources.  But we see SOE spend money/resources to develop future projects, and they even have put out TV commercials to advertise Free Realms.  So the money is used somewhere, just not for the game we play.

What I'm trying to say is that you, the players, can make a difference.  Instead of quitting FFXI, you should play the game you love and show the company you guys prefer FFXI instead of FFXIV.  That may or may not work.  If you are lucky, it would earn FFXI further development as the company sees more people still preferring the first one instead of second.   But the inevitable is that companies will opt to build something new so they can make more money, because people buy new games.  It's often cheaper for them to make something new than it is to revamp and upgrade something old.  It doesn't necessarily mean they'll let FFXI die.  They may take some developers away from FFXI, you may not receive as many content releases, but as long as the game is profitable they'll keep the game going.

So hang in there and show them you like FFXI better, imo 

I don't know about EQ2 impacting player population. I quit for World of Warcraft, see SOE messed up EQ1 beyond fixing. Warrior was the crappiest class, and SOE kept screwing them. Heck from the beginning Warriors were screwed. World of Warcraft had Warrior right, they didn't have the hate for the class SOE and even Verant did. 

Don't believe me? Look at the "Bring back Classic" post on Steelwarrior (the website in the day for warriors, they lick spittled SOE boots to much and didn't support the horde of casuals enough and paid for it), the poster was told to get lost, Warriors were a dirt class in classic, and you will get no support from Warriors to return to those crappy days. I was embittered to the point I was drooling for WoW to kick some EQ1 butt, and boy did they! Guilds of Elitist jerks had to fold and they even had to server combine, LOL.  

BTW, warrior was and probably is played by more players as their main, don't screw them or you will not succeed. Having three tank classes with one completely unable to solo, one overpowered solo (SK), and one with virtually unlimited aggro (Paladin), and you can't solo or get groups, and the largest group of players will hate you and move games, exactly what happened. Heck Warriors even had a stand-down of some sorts they were so pissed.

Wow sounds like you're still bitter from back in 2003 lol, and steered this thread waaay off direction.  Warriors these days don't have the issues you mentioned, but I honestly don't know how it was much different in WoW except WoW offered 1 main tank and 1 sub tank class (Warrior/Paladin) in 2004.  You didn't *need* a warrior until raid time, people did group content with paladins and even druid tanks.

Warriors in WoW didn't shine until they made them good in PvP a couple of years later.

Originally posted by Calintz333

 Hi guys. I have never played Everquest and Have been a long time FFXI player. As a lot of you know FFXIV is comming out in 2010 for the ps3 and pc. A lot of people are really excited about it but I for one am not. See I don't really know whats going to happen to my favorite game FFXI once FFXIV comes out. From what iv been reading FFXIV will be FFXI + easy mode. Making the game very solo friendly, better graphics, but in general a lot of the same, including the classes, leveling, and races.  

The moment FFXIV was announced a TON of players quit FFXI. I don't know if this is normal  (YOU TELL ME GUYS WHO WHERE ON EQ WHEN EQ2 WAS RELEASED is it normal?"

 

A lot of my freinds who have been playing the game with me since launch also quit at the moment FFXIV was announced. They basically all gave the same reason "There's no point in playing a game that has already been left for dead" or something along those lines.

What Should I expect to happen in the months to come?

Will FFXI shut down in the years to come?

As an FFXI player and with you guys experience in the EQ-EQ2 swich, what can you give us FFXI players who enjoy FFXI and want it to keep going as advice or guidance? 

 

Honestly the only thing that is the same in FFXIV is the race models, the whole system works differently (according the the demo and the interviews)  FFXIV is completely different from FFXI.

I also remember a ton of players quitting FFXI when 14 was announced. But since 14 is so different from 11 they might actually be pretty disappointed since it isn't going to be the same game just upgraded. But seriously the demo for 14 is 'way' different from 11, everything in the game works different; jobs don't exist, levels don't exist, etc. 14 is kind of an attempt at a sandbox.

SquareEnix is telling us that FFXI will not die, it probably won't but honestly they aren't fooling anyone, mostly everyone is going to be playing 14 =/ and pretty much all of SE's attention will be at 14

I would say just give 14 a try when its out, you might find it to not be the same, but I wouldn't quit playing 11 for it just yet. If 14 flops then 11 will still be the big one.

 SE also stated that they will continue support for FFXI after FFXIV comes out, if the subscription numbers can hold to a viable amount.  So I think FFXIV will most likely be more popular than EQ2 was for the crowds from the orginals, but I think the result will be similar - die hards will stay with the old and the others will try the new - then go back (some), stay (most), or move on (some).

FFXI should be fine after XIV's launch, just now people are eager for something new & exciting, as FFXI isnt prime for everyone :/

Originally posted by Calintz333

 Hi guys. I have never played Everquest and Have been a long time FFXI player. As a lot of you know FFXIV is comming out in 2010 for the ps3 and pc. A lot of people are really excited about it but I for one am not. See I don't really know whats going to happen to my favorite game FFXI once FFXIV comes out. From what iv been reading FFXIV will be FFXI + easy mode. Making the game very solo friendly, better graphics, but in general a lot of the same, including the classes, leveling, and races.  

The moment FFXIV was announced a TON of players quit FFXI. I don't know if this is normal  (YOU TELL ME GUYS WHO WHERE ON EQ WHEN EQ2 WAS RELEASED is it normal?"yes very much so. the feeling of betrayed an no further incomeing develpoments to the game causes this.

 

A lot of my freinds who have been playing the game with me since launch also quit at the moment FFXIV was announced. They basically all gave the same reason "There's no point in playing a game that has already been left for dead" or something along those lines.an thats exactly what many feel when one game is shod over development wise for "new" version.ill never play eq2 .its dev monie was took from eq1 imho.it dint benifit the eq1 comunity an hurt it .quilds left for it then when it wasnt what they wanted it was wow took them .

What Should I expect to happen in the months to come?expect the worst an be surprised ,if games stil fun for you play it till its not fun.simple dont plan on leaving less your done with the game.

Will FFXI shut down in the years to come?um many online games have lasted 10 years an are told once a week on their offical forums the games dieing as in eq's case .its "dead soon"tm .best advice can give ya if you still have fun in it play it.

As an FFXI player and with you guys experience in the EQ-EQ2 swich, what can you give us FFXI players who enjoy FFXI and want it to keep going as advice or guidance? play the game if you enjoy it still. dont follow the heard they will go over cliffs every now an then.ben playing eq1 mostly for i think 5 years .main class as a paladin its been rocky ,agravating ,anoying.frustrating but games still got legs still is fun,an im lucky enuff to have one of the best group of people in the game to play with .but i went the family guild route not the raid guild.just dont let some one talk you out of your game being fun.

right now for some reson in aoc fourms suffer this.funny thing is people who left eq1 for eq2 or wow eventualy come back over time for bit before new shiny game comes out. flavor of the month.which is great till the bad taste sets in.just rember if your haveing fun still dont look to long term just enjoy the game for the resons you enjoy it.otherwise a games fuer an comunity politics destroy it for ya all to fast.

 

 Prior to the release of EQ2, a bunch of the people I played with moved to CoH, and then right into EQ2 when it came out. Others simply disappeared to WoW. But a lot of people stayed and a lot of people are still playing. Some people came back after a while. 

EQ had server merges at one point to correct low populations (and, knowing how business works, probably to reduce expenses). This sounds like it's a bad thing, but it turned out to be a good thing-- populations went up, the server cultures/guilds eventually integrated (at least where I played) and it gave the whole community a boost.

The people playing EQ now are people who seriously want to play EQ, and are choosing it over other games, and I think that's the group the devs are really catering to now. (And, as you may have gathered from reading this site, EQ continues to get new expansions and development, even now.) I think the "playing EQ by choice" factor shows in the community too, in both good and bad ways. 

I don't really know what's going on with FFXI and FFXIV, since I haven't really been following those. I only played FFXI briefly and couldn't adapt to it for a variety of reasons, but I do hope it works out for you fans of FFXI. There will probably be people crying doom and gloom about what will happen to the game, but if I were going to give FFXI fans some advice, it would be to keep playing and having fun, keep your community as positive as you can in the face of change, and if you can make sure the devs know how passionate you are about the game, that's even better.