So SE has considered releasing offline single-player version of Final Fantasy XI

[Mercen-X]

Given that XIV is the new big deal, XI has been pulled from service. Fans have wanted a sp-version forever and while they say it is a complicated endeavor due to needing a lot of "scratch building", they seem at least motivated.

Personally, I'm a proponent for this potential release. I wasn't able to play XI because going online with the PS2 was a complicated problem for me exacerbated by the fact my family frequently lacked internet access. I also abhor the thought of PC versions even though I have no real reason to. I guess I'm just consolist.

When they mention a lot of "scratch building", I can't help imagining they want the title to be something the size of XV or at least XII. Personally, I'd be satsified if the in-game content came up to that provided by any of the first 7 installments. It doesn't have to be some 90-hour long experience with decades of content shoved into. Sure, they can't fish new players without some easter eggs to bait those who played it before (i.e. every single person in Japan), but if XV has taught us anything, relentless content does not make the end product more enjoyable.

[Fynn]

Has it actually been pulled from service though? I can’t find any news on that

[Jinx]

It hasn't.

[Fynn]

It hasn't.

what the hell op

[katsuki_]

More importantly.... do you have a (recent) source for SE saying they would consider releasing this game?

It would make zero sense to do that. Lots of people wanted this to be done around when the game came out (for good reason, most FF players didn't have the type of access to-- or the justification to pay for-- the online play that FFXI was offering at the time) but now? FFXIV is really popular and doing well, FFXI is very aged and definitely does not appeal to many people anymore.

For someone like me, I miss it and I preferred FFXI way over FFXIV (remind me to tell you my depressing FFXIV story sometime...) but I'm a classic FF gal. I like the job systems and the earthy, oaky, shiny appeal that Final Fantasy XI delivered and it felt like only passionate Final Fantasy players wanted to take the time to learn the somewhat obscure features of XI, which I liked...

I just can't see them wanting to spend any time at all reprogramming this game to somehow be single player. The efficiency of a game dev company, especially a large Japanese one like Square Enix, relies on perfectly structured division of work and projects with very small/non-existent margins for time consuming side projects such as this one. But hey, show me a source and I'll read...

[Wolf Kanno]

I think one of the producers for XI back in the day mentioned that SE was aware that fans wanted an offline version of the game, but as one can imagine, they deflected whether they would do it by mentioning the logistical nightmare it would impose.

I imagine the only way SE could make XI single player and still cost effective would be to go mobile and maybe use either a sprite based graphical style like FF Record Keeper, or something more cuddly like KH Union X or FFXV Pocket Edition. Either way, trying to cram the massive plot of XI into a single player experience would be rather daunting and likely the same as trying to make a two hour film based on the entirety of the Wheel of Time or Foundation series. Not saying it can't be done, but you'll likely get a very abridged telling of an intricate story that would be lacking to anyone familiar with it.

With that said, I wouldn't mind seeing SE attempt it. I enjoyed what little I did play of XI but my own hang ups with the medium prevented me from indulging any further than I would have liked. I still wanted to become a Blue Mage because I love the lore concerning them in this title.

[Lord Golbez]

Meh. I might have been interested in a single player FFXI if it were designed that way. To get me interested in it now, they would have to so fully remake it as to create characters that make up the party. Doubt they'd ever do that.

[Wolf Kanno]

Meh. I might have been interested in a single player FFXI if it were designed that way. To get me interested in it now, they would have to so fully remake it as to create characters that make up the party. Doubt they'd ever do that.

Honestly, there are enough player helping NPCs that I really don't feel like this would be a problem to do. The real problem is mostly that the game has too much plot, but that's what happens when you try to adapt a game with over fifteen years of expansions and updates.

[Jiro]

I never had the chance to play it but I think MMOs are meant to be ephemeral. Making it standalone and without other players would compromise its core experience, right?

[Vermachtnis]

I never had the chance to play it but I think MMOs are meant to be ephemeral. Making it standalone and without other players would compromise its core experience, right?

You could always steam it if you miss randoms yelling at you how you're doing it wrong and throwing a hissy fit if you don't play up to their standards.

[Aulayna]

I could've sworn they signed a deal with Nexon a few years back to convert XI into a mobile title?

[Galuf]

I'd like a solo version of FFXI but i dunno if it is even possible to work. I dunno how much work or waste of money it would be if they put the mmo version on PS4 or Xbox one, hell i think it was on 360 for a bit so...
But yeah its the only game stopping me from beating all the mainline FF's Well that and XV i guess until i trudge through that one.
And also Jiro you'd think that but apparantly XIV is trying to go more solo with every patch, so i dont know if thats the core experience anymore ( though i agree with you, and believe the multiplayer aspect is pretty important, but im an MMO newbie so my opinion is not valid here with only one under my not-belt)

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

I could've sworn they signed a deal with Nexon a few years back to convert XI into a mobile title?

I had definitely heard of the mobile title coming, but nothing about an offline game, so I did a bit of digging and found this Siliconera article from last May and only got a few takeaways from it.

https://www.siliconera.com/2018/05/16/final-fantasy-xi-developers-possibilities-ps4-port-offline-version/

Basically:


Since Final Fantasy XI’s content is still being developed using materials for PS2, making the data to construct Vana’diel for current generation consoles would require making development tools from scratch.


doing [a single player experience] for the sheer volume of the game would be costly.

[Vyk]

Not sure i believe them saying it would be a difficult port for being a PS2 title. They port PS2 games to PS4 all the time. Plus it was also a computer title, wasn't it? Though I do agree it would be a difficult port for the fact that you're making an mmo into offline single player. But that has nothing to do with character models or anything

[Malreckus]

I feel kind of sad when thinking about Final Fantasy XI. It's so sad it's "gone"; All the players, the community, fighting and exploring together, as well as all the stuff you could do; fishing, cooking, etc.

Almost all of that would become pointless in a solo-version.
Running around in empty cities, empty auction houses... *ugh my heart*

I'm curious though; Isn't it possible to crack the game and launch it on a private server?
Maybe include cheats, just so you won't have to farm exp, gil and items (which took FOREVER when I played)?
- Maybe someone has done that already?

[Jessweeee♪]

I just joined on a free trial last weekend while waiting for the next FFXIV expansion and it seems pretty hoppin' considering it's age. Not a lot of people hanging around the starter city I'm in, but all of my tutorial text keeps getting flushed away in all of the /yell chat. I put some trash up on the auction house and it sold within the day. So maybe it's not "dead" enough yet to pull it offline.

[Zarkatos]

I know this is over a year later, but just want to say that while I never played FFXI in it's hayday,( played ffxiv for years though) but I just started FFXI on the Asura server and there's so many players, and glimpses of new story content coming. Just want to say the game is still very much alive and auction house areas and cities aren't dead! very fun so far, and feels like a very alive world.