The future of FFXI/Dangling plotlines

[Yeargdribble]

I'm not one who is overly emotionally attached to this game. I enjoy/ed the crap out of it. At the same time, I'm ready to see its descendant come and put it to rest. Even when starting the game I knew that my character wouldn't last forever. That's purely naive. I don't really understand those who want XIV to die or never be made. I don't understand those who feel like all of their work is being thrown away. It's like befriending a very old neighbor and then feeling like their death was BS and somehow negated the memories you had with them. I will still have my memories of FFXI when it's all over and that's fine. That said, for those hard-up enough, the game will stick around probably for a good while to come and well beyond FFXIV's release.


Now to a point that does give me pause. The clanging of the death knell has roughly had its date set. We'll get another year of content. They are currently finishing out WotG and have these little mini expansions coming out of which they are nearly halfway through.

This leaves them a bit of time to finish up things, but it seems almost unlikely there will be another boxed expansion, that is, another full expansion. For me, this causes a fairly huge problem.

FFXI's story is massive and overarching. I've been watching through CS videos (over here) to jog my memory and for the pure sake of their awesome. There are huge hints forward in the storylines at all times.

SPOILERS BELOW

Even mid-CoP there is mention of Alexander and most of ToAU hints at him until you find out he is truly the linchpin of that particular story arc. Before that, so much of pre-Zilart, and then Zilart lead into the storyline of CoP.

So what am I hot and bothered about?

Without another full expansion we'll be missing out on every seeing things like the Mithra homeland. While this one is okay with me as it's merely mention offhand quite often, there are other places that are strongly hinted at in the plot.

The Far East is a huge setting that has been talked about nearly since the beginning of the game. It's where Tenzen is from. It's where Gessho is from and where he says he will meet you in the future. We know of the affairs of the Far East and their implications on the near east of Aht Urghan. We know the name of the leader (mentioned very late in ToAU). Also, Phoenix originates from there. Phoenix is one of the 5 terrestrial avatars. We can control 3 and have fought 1. Will they really just leave Phoenix as some essence on Tenzen's blade forever without us ever going to the source?

Having so little time left and them seeming to step away from large released makes me wonder if they will finish out what they've started.


What are your thoughts on what will become of FFXIs gaping plot points?

What are your thoughts on leaving a game you've put so much time into to potentially start another?

[Del Murder]

I will be a little sad that we won't get to see the entirety of this world, because playing through story missions is probably my favorite thing to do. Sadly, I don't think they'll ever tie up these loose ends, doesn't seem like there is the time or resources to do so.

I don't think I'll be too bummed leaving Tmoney behind when I choose to do so. Like you said the memories won't go away. I've been working these days more towards building memories than building my character. There's this neverending goal to pimp out your character that many players of this game have, which these days I wonder, to what end? What will you remember more fondly, that you spent actual months of time of your life working towards some relic weapon, or the time you beat King Behemoth? I don't think people realize they don't actually get to keep these things. All the elite gearz we have will eventually be obliterated so it's best not to get too attached to it. What matters more are your accomplishments and memories and those you can hang on to for as long as you want.

I have plenty of memories to take with me and once it's time to go I don't think I'll look back too much.

[Ouch!]

As far as I know, although Square Enix has stated that there is another year's worth of content planned, that does not mean that there will not be more content planned even after that. They've already stated that as long as people continue to play, they will continue to support Final Fantasy XI. In fact, as far as I've seen, there's a fervent denial from the company that the release of FFXIV will in any way mean the end of development for FFXI.

That said, I don't believe that they're going to be able to get to everything. Every story has its diegetic world--the world we're told about but never actually get to experience firsthand. It's part of what allows a story (or in this case, a game) to immerse the reader (or player) in the world. It gives hints of something grander, even if that something grander isn't quite so fleshed-out as we might like.

That said, given that both Rise of the Zilart and Chains of Promathia share a final mission, I expect that they'll tie at least that loose end of before FFXI really ends. I do expect that we might get one more full expansion, although I don't imagine it will be quite so expansive as any of the previous ones (I'm really rather hard pressed to say that any particular job is a necessary addition at this point). We're not going to get to experience everything, of that I'm almost certain, but I think calling this the end is somewhat premature.

[Rostum]

I think all three of you bring up good points and have said it better than I could. However, keep in mind that the team has been developing FFXIV alongside FFXI since 2005 or so (will need to source an interview when I find it again), and it has been stated that while they only have another years worth of content planned for FFXI, that does not mean it is the end, it's just a buffer they keep.

I would love to experience all the other lands that are mentioned within the story archs, but I am not sure if we will get to see everything in the end. As far as I know, there's still a continent in the west, north, far east and in the south.

[Aerio]

Everquest has released 7 expansions since Everquest 2 launched. I don't see why Square Enix couldn't do the same easily with FFXI.

[Ouch!]

Everquest has released 7 expansions since Everquest 2 launched. I don't see why Square Enix couldn't do the same easily with FFXI.

I do believe Everquest and Everquest 2 did not share development teams, and it seems right now that FFXI and FFXIV do, which seems to be the primary concern most of us have. I may be wrong on this, though.

Omecle brings up a good point that FFXIV has been in development concurrently with Final Fantasy XI for almost four years now. The impact on FFXI's development has been noticeable. Version updates haven't been as frequent as they used to be for some time now, but they may also be a consequence of the game getting older. As a game is out for a longer period of time, I think it's acceptable to expect fewer tweaks to it.

That said, I imagine that it's not too much of a significant problem for a company like Square Enix to bring in talent enough to have a large enough team to properly manage both games so that we wouldn't see poor quality as a result of any strain on the development team.

[Rostum]

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