Once again i want to return

[jigzaw]

well once again, i am thinking of returning to ffxi. I cant seem to stop thinking of all the fun times ive had playing.The only think holding me back is the fact that ffxiv is on its way and as a result, the already low population of ffxi will get even lower. i could care less about ffxiv because i wont be getting it anyways (xbox 360 user) but my concern is that if i waste my time and money on this game, no one will be there for me to enjoy the game with. I keep reading posts of people saying that starting out right now is a waste of time and i want to know if it is really true. Also, does anyone know if square enix will do a server merge after everyone leaves for ffxiv to keep the population stable?

[Takelli]

Re: Once again i want to return

I did have a hard time leaving, and staying away from the game as well. Kept thinking about it, and all of my friends that I left behind. A lot changed in the time that I was gone for, and even a few have gone (R.I.P. everyone.).

But, there are new faces, and new people to meet. Every day, some one leaves the game, but another may join. There are people joining, I have seen a lot of peopel return as a level 1 player with no money, or anything. Even seen a few peopel reactivate their accounts. There will always be people in FFXI, and will always be some one to talk to, or just hang out with online. Even fight with a few times lol.

I think they might be doing a server merge, it would be stupid to not do one, really. Its hard to get parties as is, and most people do campaigns now. But, when FFXIV comes, a lot of people will switch over, but people will stay with their 75s, and so on. Even a few people that left, will even come back. If FFXIV isn't my type of game, I will go back to FFXI.

I hope I answered your question... I kinda rambled on lol.

[jigzaw]

Re: Once again i want to return

thanks for the reply. Yea you are right, forgetting about this game is difficult lol. Specially because i was never able to reach 75 and experience the end game content. Maybe thats what makes me want to come back. Within the next week or 2 i think that i am going to reroll a lvl 1 back on the old server i used to be on and see how things play out. Maybe ill even see some familiar faces haha.

[Neverslip]

Re: Once again i want to return

This game generates one of the strongest cases of Stockholm's Syndrome I've ever been privy to. I don't think people leave for good... and if they do a lil piece of them longs for the game eternally. Like magicite truly pierced them, lol. I just started playing this a lil over 2 yrs ago I think now... and have no intention of quitting for good any time soon. Barring RL events, I plan on playing FFxi for a long time still. FFxiv doesn't interest me yet. There's barely anything out on it and very lil in the way of gameplay.

[ItazuraNhomango]

Re: Once again i want to return

well once again, i am thinking of returning to ffxi. [...] I keep reading posts of people saying that starting out right now is a waste of time and i want to know if it is really true.

What conditions are necessary to make it not "a waste of time" for you?

Also, does anyone know if square enix will do a server merge after everyone leaves for ffxiv to keep the population stable?

SE has indicated it will consider merging Worlds when and if the FFXI team thinks the conditions are right. We can speculate about the details of the criteria, but we won't know until SE decides to tell us.

* * *

Personally, I'm expecting the launch of FF14 to be a major disruption to Vana'diel. SE has done just about everything short of pulling the plug on FFIX's servers to make sure lot's of FFXI players go play it.

Endgame wise (as in Lv.75 activities), I'm expect many shells to crash. A lot of event shells will go under, and many general endgame/HNM shells will revert back to behaving more like social LS. BUT, I'm also expecting people to merge, reform, and rebuild event shells, and at least one HNM shell will still continue on every World, or others will emerge to assume that position.

In short, the endgame community will lose a lot of people, but it will reconstitute and go on. (In the best scenario, JP and NA players will start working together even on Worlds like Ifrit...)

Where things will really have a hard time recovering post FF14's introduction (unless SE pulls a magic rabbit out of the hat) is the exp'ing scene. As is, it's getting pretty dry in the seeking pool, thanks to FoV, Campaign Battle, Astral Flow burn parties, and the concentration of players at Lv.75.

I really don't see a way to fix that unless FFXI is opened to more regions; pretty much most of the people who would give FFXI a go in NA, EU, and JP have already done so. It'd be pretty good idea to roll out FFXI to countries where SE isn't rolling out FF14, IMO.

In any case, if you don't mind soloing and doing small group leveling for the most part to get to Lv.75, the endgame will likely still be there when you get there.

Can you enjoy the far less crowded journey to Lv.75 and enjoy the more tight knit stay there in the long term? That really depends on you and how good you are at making friends, I think.

[jigzaw]

Re: Once again i want to return

What conditions are necessary to make it not "a waste of time" for you?

well what i would consider a waste of time is if i buy the game, start playing, spend time playing the game and then i end up quitting because i have no one to play with lol or anyone to talk to. Being able to do these things s what made the game so fun for me. I have played many mmo's and other online games but i have not created bonds with other people like i have on ffxi. As long as there are enough people to create a party, i think that i will be fine.

[ItazuraNhomango]

Re: Once again i want to return

I think there are enough people around (thanks to SE's go-for-broke attitude about updating the game) for you to make new friends, especially with World mergers coming.

However...

As long as there are enough people to create a party, i think that i will be fine.

Unless you in the hot zone--while will be somewhere around Lv.76 to 98 later this year--that may not be the case.

You will need to solo some, I think, if bringing up a new character, unless you're really patient about waiting for or forming new parties. SE had made soloing a lot easier than before, so it shouldn't be too bad as you solo between invites/forming parties.