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I was curious how FFXI has been holding up since WoW has been out for a while now. Is the active population still the same? Was there a dip in the active population when WoW came out and now it's coming back up? Or perhaps it's been in a steady decline or it dipped and then stayed consistent.
I think it's pretty much been a steady decline. That's just what I think though. There's still plenty of people playing the game though. Thousands of players per server and many many servers.
I do think WoW affected the player population as I know people DID leave FFXI for WoW. But I think the biggest thing is just the fact that this is an old game. It's constantly being updated, but I can see way people would just want to call it quits once they'd been playing for multiple years and completed a lot of what they'd set out to do.
The decline isn't rapid in either case. I'm expecting the game to be profitable for S-E for many years to come.
I think the main thing that affects people these days is S-E's extremely poor customer service.
With that said, there are still plenty of people playing. I believe FFXI is ranked the 4th top MMO and has a combined population of Everquest 2 and Lord of the Rings Online -- I think it was around 700k-1M. Although there are some servers that don't have as many players, and the population used to be a lot larger.
In any case, the game ain't dying.
I'll predict it dying soon after SE's new MMO is released. It's apparent that SE isn't focusing on FFXI as much as they used to. It took them like 4-5 months (as opposed to use getting update like every 2 months) to get us a real update since the expansion came out, and half of it was bugged, and the other half was like 3 new zones and a bit of new game features. But over all nothing big.
I think they only had maybe 1 or 2 updates since then. But then again I haven't been on or keeping up as much since my computer that could run it died a while ago. =/
It's alive and well. I play every time I have a day off and there are always lots of people on.
Updates with tons of new things to do are still being produced regularly.
I think I'll end up coming back pretty soon. I'll be letting go of something else to make time, though. :p
Everytime I've ever played, it's always been hopping. In general, yeah, I think it's become a little less populated but as far as I can tell, there's no shortage of people playing and still new players starting (or old players restarting).
From what I've noticed in recently returning to the game, FFXI cycles its population. There were many long-time well known players that stopped playing last fall/winter. Many of them are now returning to the game, and the game's hopping(Shiva in particular). I don't see the game dying out any time soon. Even if populations start to dwindle a bit they'll just close a server and move those people to other worlds to even things back out. When I left last October Shiva's population was about 1200 up to about 2400 at peak hours. Now the population's about 1700 to 3500 at peak hours, and this with Shiva's RMT population having been crippled. The game seems emptier than it really is sometimes b/c it is so spread out now with all of the different areas.
Think the last Census said they were in a steady 500,000 players. So has not changed at all lol
I saw over 3k players on Unicorn today
Well, I left WoW for FFXI, and I don't think I'm a complete rarity in that sense. As a WoW player (well, sort of, I guess, my subscription is still valid for six more days) seeing numbers like 500,000 is kind of mind-blowingly small when I think about how Blizzard was all "Hey guys, we have 10 millions as of this holiday season!" back in January.
That being said, I think that any MMO can pretty much last forever. Note EQ.
Well I've been gone for well over a year (playing WoW now) and do remember the slow decline setting in as I left though people were less ready to admit to it then. I don't think FFXI will die ever really. Almost no MMO that hits any degree of success ever seems to really die. I do think FFXI peaked a long time ago.
My wife and I are often tempted to go back. FFXI has a flavor that no other MMO has. There are so many unique and awesome things, but this is the problem....
SE sucked at customer service. They don't listen to the playerbase at all it seemed (or at least not to the NAs). Things were made too difficult, content was not improved when it should have been. They basically said "eff it... it's old and we don't care to fix it... just cope." But that's a crappy way to approach a game that is still living off of 4 year-old content almost exclusively.Quote:
Originally Posted by Omecle
Everything is a side-grade and there's no progression. My wife was talking to an old friend from FFXI. You know what he was talking about doing primarily? Sky. SKY!?!? I'm sorry, but if content from Zilart is still the only content worth doing I'm glad that I'm playing something else.
However, I'm really anxious to try out a new SE MMO. I have the feeling it might have the flavor I want and perhaps they will have fixed some of their bigger problems from the past. Their philosophy seems to be not to fix old content but rather to just make new content and ignore past horrors. Some new life could be good. SE really didn't know what the hell they were doing when they jumped into the MMO market and I just really hope that changes in the future.
While my wife and I are pretty content with WoW (casual, non-life-consuming fun ftw), we have kept our eye on Aion because it seems to have some of that flavor we like. At the same time, WoWs upcoming expansion just amazes me in terms of things that are getting added, improved and changed. Blizzard actually pays attention to problems and tries to fix them either retroactively or proactively. I think when it comes to MMOs it's often the way the company runs them just as much as it is the content.
Well, it just so happens that during the last year or so SE has started to listen to a lot of FFXI community websites and have been improving their cusomter service a lot from what it was, and have added in a great deal of content and fixes from what the player base has wanted.
They are definitely improving, not quite there but they are improving. Also, there's no decline in players. It still has a strong user base (I believe it hasn't even budged in the last year, maybe even raised a bit more).
Also, there's HEAPS to do apart from sky. Hell, no one I know in end-game even does sky anymore.
It's still kicking very well. Though I can not wait for their next MMO, and I hope they've learnt A LOT and try to compete with all the new western MMO's that have/are being released, and improve their customer service. We can only hope.
SE has admittingly fixed some of the problems like auto sort, and now reducing prices of dynamis, increasing drop rates of AF2s up there, and etc. While a bit late, it does show progress.
The thing about Sky is that, unlike WoW where when new gear comes along and then quickly overshadows older gear making those items obsolete(at least to my knowledge about that game), SE tries to make it so that every content, there are still things available or useful to still keep on doing. Some items will still be very strong, while others become a choice of, should i get Item A or should i do Item B? Many things will affect that choice either fitting those items into Macro Pieces(like staves), or due to certain playstyles.
For example, Byakko's Haidate is still a very powerful item, and therefore an incentive to do sky still, so those who get the item wont just throw it away or there wont be as much wasted content. However things like Koenig, will then be compared to Valor gear, and also Gallant +1...and then in the end you will have to figure out which piece better fits your playstyle, or find out when to maximize your potential with gear swaps.
Thats just how i see it, i dont find it particularly that bad, at least some people who havent experienced sky yet(and some havent) can still do so. Remember if you dont want to play sky, theres always sea, limbus, dynamis, HNM, Salvage, Einhienjar(sp), Assaults, ENM/ISNM/etc, Campaign, and now the new ZNMs. Personally just having Dynamis and Assaults is enough to keep me occupied...
New WSs are being introduced, and they are being made availible for all, as well as an easier time getting the new relics in the next version update. So my thoughts are in general to the game is, its improving slowly, better late than never.
I assess that the game continues to enjoy a steady population. This lets Square Enix stand as one of the many competitors to Blizzard Entertainment.
Is there any solo content yet? Haven't played this game for about a year or two. What killed me last time I went back was LFG for any type of class other than a tank, healer or RDM/BRD where you'd be searching for hours sometimes before finding a party. Has it canged in that aspect at all?
I doubt Final Fantasy XI will ever focus on soloing. It's main object seems to be partying, and it's focused on partying because it's supposed to be like you play one part in a party typical to the other games in the series.
I read the XI census before I rebought the game today. I had to make sure it wasn't dead. Hopefully something will happen to lower that fee though. Yeah I know "it's not that much for a month" but if they estimate that 500,000 players are playing, do they really need ~$6,500,000/mo. to keep up the game?
While the interest of the game is still and probably always be party based, there are alternatives that help when you arent in a party. For example i probably gained exp faster trio-ing with a bunch of friends near La Thine than i would in a party in Valkurm. With the addition of EXP Rings, and the new buffs Signet gives you in Conquest areas to fight against EM - TW mobs, its alot easier to solo or form small groups to play and get faster exp than a party would.Quote:
Originally Posted by wylantar
Also times have changed, in the sense that if you are in say the mid 30s you dont just sit there waiting in Jeuno hoping to get a party...you now usually pop your exp ring and go solo outside against EM-DC mobs for exp. DNC as a subjob is very strong too relying on TP to heal instead of MP, making it the perfect thing to sub when you are LFG, and dont want to just idle wasting time. Its what i do on SAM all the time until someone invites me to a 6 man party where i promptly run back to town and use a more party focused subjob like WAR or THF.
Decent - Even Mobs give me 130-150 exp each with exp ring(which can last a while soloing), and with DNC subjob downtime is minimal. :) No party? No big deal...at the trade of alot of exp i at least get to keep all the seals/drops the mobs give me.
Admittingly i am a SAM, making TP less of an issue, however i can see this working out with any melee job with a lil more thought in how they use/manage their TP.
Oh you :P Why would a successful business need that much money? Or a better question is...why would Blizzard need THAT much money with the subscription fee staying the same since launch? cough9mil+subscriberscough.........Quote:
I read the XI census before I rebought the game today. I had to make sure it wasn't dead. Hopefully something will happen to lower that fee though. Yeah I know "it's not that much for a month" but if they estimate that 500,000 players are playing, do they really need ~$6,500,000/mo. to keep up the game?
I know what you're trying to say, but I don't think the subscription is where the company should try to turn a profit. I wouldn't mind it if you didn't have to first buy the game. They should either try to profiteer off either the game itself or make the game free and make a profit from the subscription.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lionx
But, that's just me. [/derail thread]
EDIT: I know it sound like I'm asking for no subscription fee at all, but I'm not. Although the game being free to play wouldn't be a bad thing, I'd actually rather pay a little for a game that is well kept.
Beating a dead horse there.
Guess there's 499,999 population now since I learned Leave :P
NO, did you quit Shiva? That's a shame.
My lady and I picked up the game again yesterday. Taking an extended break from WoW due to end game burnout. We pretty much started over on the Ragnarok server though. Her old account was unsafe due to one of her friends knowing the password. I transfered my 75DRK galka off of pandemonium over to Ragnarok for money.
The game seems to be emptier than I remembered. We started in Windy, and I've only seen 5 other players so far.
Database - FFXIAH.com
^ This helps via server pop. However i dont find it that empty even on Midgard
Wasn't WoW out before FFXI?
Um, no.
FFXI has been around since 2001.
I thought it was 2000 in Japan? Eh, it was too long ago...
EDIT: I am usually on during JP prime time, and there's roughly 2000-3000 people on Midgardsormr. But that was a week night I checked so maybe more during weekends.
Maybe it was 2000. But yeah, 2-3000 per server sounds right, with some servers being a bit overpopulated, like Odin that's got nearly 5000 at peaks. I guess s ome servers are a bit underpopulated too though.
There are 32 servers active nowadays, plus one test server, so I would say that there are still years until they pull the plug on this game. Even then, S-E has stated that they will find a way for players to keep using their characters even after the game is no longer profitable to them.
I thought WoW was out way before 2001...
o_O
World of Warcraft was released in Australia and North America in 2004, and 2005 for Europe.
Wow.
Time flies.
Maybe I was thinking of something else.
But huh. I thought it had been around for aaages.
Likely, the game will never recapture its vibrant low level population from the early days simply because of where the game is in its development.Quote:
Originally Posted by m4tt
The starter nations were always craft-based metropolises. Nowadays, who crafts? Campaign gives you something much more constructive to do while LFG (Which is not long at all now, with Level Sync).
Al Zahbi effectively replaced needing to craft in other towns since they have every guild in one zone.
Though you still gotta go back to the main ones to rank up and get guild points.
Al Zahbi is not necessarily a dependable place to craft as many crafters are not ready for battle. Beseiged can happen up for hours at a time under certain conditions.
Besieged is maximum of one hour unless you have stuff coming back to back, which is rare.
Those guild NPCs get kidnapped a lot though.