There was a period from about 2007-2009 that the development team for Final Fantasy XI really started making a lot of changes that the community had been demanding for a long time: additional nomad moogles in Selbina and Mhaura, reduced entry fees and times for end-game events such as Dynamis, introduction of features like Level Sync and Fields of Valor to assist in the low- and mid-level grind. After that, when they announced the increase in the level cap, they started taking it in another direction completely which was more directed toward casual gamers but revolved around tedium. I never stuck around long enough with Abyssea to decide if I really liked it or not.

And I suppose I'll concede that point. It's at least good that they're showing progress toward something positive rather than away from it. I'm just very concerned at this point that by the time Square Enix has made the game worthy of a monthly fee and PS3 release that they're already going to be behind in comparison to the other games coming out.