Final Fantasy XI Online

[vandorssen]

I was considering buying Final Fantasy XI Online today, when I got to thinking… Is it worth it? :huh: In the past I have very much enjoyed the Final Fantasy series of games, right up to the bubblegum-ish FFX-2. But FFXI kind of poses a philosophical internal debate. If I were to buy it, I would buy it for PS2 as opposed to the PC version. This is not because I believe using it on the PS2 will improve the experience necessarily, but rather it would pre-empt possible conflicts with my younger brother about who uses the computer. So the initial layout would be $106.50US (allowing for Minnesota’s 6.5% sales tax) to get the game… But wait! There’s more :D ! Not only do I gain the privilege of buying the actual game (and needed accessories), but I get to continue buying the game :lol: ! For the princely sum of $12.95US/month (or $155.40US/year) I get to keep playing it! I’m sorry Square-Enix, but no game is worth paying $261.90US to play. I prefer to buy my games when I buy them, not lease them. I would even disregard that entire issue if the game provided a decent single player, non-online experience (yes, I realize the entire “thing” with FFXI is the online experience).

 

I considered posing this topic on Square-Enix’s PlayOnline forum (although I am sure my login has long since been deleted; it has been at least 18 months since I last logged in), but I think that would be a little like walking in to a meeting of the Republican National Committee and shouting out ol’ King George the Second Bush is a poor leader.

 

It seems that these pay-to-play MMRPGs are, with few exceptions, a niche market. That would seem to explain why ones from smaller companies have not done terribly well despite the fact that the game itself is good. The other downside to this is that many other software companies are seeing that Square, one of the pioneering companies of the gaming industry, is getting away with what amounts to legalized extortion, and they are getting ideas of subscription based games themselves. Why Square cannot follow the immensely successful model of Blizzard’s BattleNet free-online play system is beyond me. I would sincerely prefer the occasional inability to log in or the banner ads to having to pay $155.40US/year to play a game I already bought.

 

There. That is my little rant of this week. Please feel free to comment or post your own feelings either specific to FFXI or to pay-to-play schemes in general.

 

p.s.

I really was on my way to Best Buy to buy it when the above struck me...

[Breton Thief Oriana]

walking in to a meeting of the Republican National Committee and shouting out ol’ King George the Second Bush is a poor leader.

 

(Write that down, its a good idea!)

 

well, then just play diablo 2 or something. Its got free online, is just as addictive, and has smother gameplay that isnt as weighted by the graphics. Oh, you said PS2...I see, I only have Xbox so I cant make that decision. But, dont buy the game...first off, youd be selling out to an evil megacorp (IE, Square-"Nix") secondly, youd be having to sell yourself to them too. This is one step away from the situation in "The Matrix"; instead of a slave to machines, your a slave to a machine and some huge execs.

[Shakkara]

I'll never pay for an online game again. I've played Ultima Online, and due to the lack of service I was getting and a 50% increase in the monthly fee I am now the proud owner of my own server. Amazing how little hardware you need for it, and amazing I didn't see that EA/OSI were just exploiting us earlier. I've added a lot of content myself, and in all that time NO serous updating was done on the official shards, despite to the ever growing complaints.

 

Once more, I'll never pay for an online game again, the argument of maintenance costs is bollocks, can do that for $3 a month too and still make profit.

[ohGr]

ive playeed final fantasy XI as well, i didnt really like it due to the online part, ive never been a fan of online RPG's, look at everquest, expensive, too many people who over react, people have been killed in real life for killing someons character in everquest, thats how sad things can get with online games, but the idea of paying to play a game we just payed around 50-100 dollars for is pathetic, everquest is a prime example for how sad something can get, and i for one will never play an online RPG again.

[ObsidianKnight]

Yeah, i just don't like the idea of having to pay for a game after i bought it. Plus, the game costs $100 US kinda makes it expensive. Sorta like Steel Battalion, where you paid 200 for a FREAKIN HUGE CONTROLLER.

 

You can call me pathetic, but I play RUNESCAPE! THAT'S RIGHT!! AND I ENJOY IT! :bleh:

[Breton Thief Oriana]

Hold on now, steel batalion was an oddity among gems among japanese fighting robot games. That was really intense, and might be worth it if the visuals are allright.

[Dark0ne]

The whole basis behind MMORPGs is the fact you're paying $10 - $15 / month so the developers can keep developing and expanding on the game structure they've laid down. One only need look at EQ when it first started, and EQ now (WITHOUT addons) to notice the developers have added more than any single-player-orientated-but-with-multi-player-functions game. You're paying for the large number of servers and dedicated back-bone connections which are fuelling the servers which enable thousands of simultaneous users at once, and you're paying for new content, new areas to explore, et cetera, et cetera.

 

Despite what some have said, MMORPGs are the current "fad" of the gaming industry and many companies are buying in on the action. An example of a nobody company making it big with MMORPGs would have to be Mythic with DAoC. I played Mythics original games; Rolemaster: Magestorm, Splatterball, Darkness Falls and they were all great - 8 - 10 years old now, but great. They really hit it off well with DAoC and, as a still paying customer of Magestorm at Mythic Realms, I'm happy that they have.

 

Unfortunately the whole gaming industry is flopping on the basis of "release now, patch later" - thats what I hate - companies deliberately releasing a buggy game with the promise of patches later on. But what I also hate is companies saying they'll have a game out by such and such a date, only to post pone it for a year. Its as if they say to themselves "Hey, we've announced the release date..now lets sit back and eat tea and digestives".

 

Sucky, but true.

[Zmid]

Unfortunately the whole gaming industry is flopping on the basis of "release now, patch later" - thats what I hate - companies deliberately releasing a buggy game with the promise of patches later on.

I would second that - Tomb Raider: Angel Of Darkness on the PC is a prime example of that. I bought it, took it home, installed it, began playing. Ten minutes later I had found two rather large bugs, one of which prevented me completing the level. Needless to say, I refunded it.

 

But what I also hate is companies saying they'll have a game out by such and such a date, only to post pone it for a year.

 

Naming no names, of course. *cough* Valve *cough*

 

 

 

*****BLATENT PLUG ALERT*****

 

 

By the way, as far as MMOGs are concerned, I hear Eve Online is rather good. :innocent:

[Dark0ne]

I hear Eve Online is rather good

 

GAME (who own EB in the UK, not sure if the US have GAME or not) currently have a good deal on Eve Online. Poor suckers who buy into it. LoL!

[vandorssen]

The whole basis behind MMORPGs is the fact you're paying $10 - $15 / month so the developers can keep developing and expanding on the game structure they've laid down. One only need look at EQ when it first started, and EQ now (WITHOUT addons) to notice the developers have added more than any single-player-orientated-but-with-multi-player-functions game. You're paying for the large number of servers and dedicated back-bone connections which are fuelling the servers which enable thousands of simultaneous users at once, and you're paying for new content, new areas to explore, et cetera, et cetera.

 

Despite what some have said, MMORPGs are the current "fad" of the gaming industry and many companies are buying in on the action. An example of a nobody company making it big with MMORPGs would have to be Mythic with DAoC. I played Mythics original games; Rolemaster: Magestorm, Splatterball, Darkness Falls and they were all great - 8 - 10 years old now, but great. They really hit it off well with DAoC and, as a still paying customer of Magestorm at Mythic Realms, I'm happy that they have.

 

Unfortunately the whole gaming industry is flopping on the basis of "release now, patch later" - thats what I hate - companies deliberately releasing a buggy game with the promise of patches later on. But what I also hate is companies saying they'll have a game out by such and such a date, only to post pone it for a year. Its as if they say to themselves "Hey, we've announced the release date..now lets sit back and eat tea and digestives".

 

Sucky, but true.

From the perspective that the game developers are trying to keep content fresh (so to speak), I entirely agree with you. But when I bought Morrowind or Half Life, I got a game that I could play (on my own time) and in my own way… One that was actually mine. Then to keep content fresh, the developers released expansions. Between Tribunal and Bloodmoon, I paid roughly $100US (I got Morrowind itself free as an add-in for my video card). And I get to keep them. With FFXI, and other such games, you buy the game (and I don’t really want to repeat myself) and you keep buying the game. BNet (for Diablo, Warcraft, etc.) also takes many servers, but Blizzard still manages to keep it as a free service. Same with most all FPSs that are online capable. It is unfortunate that the game developers are switching to (or at least considering) subscription based gaming. I sincerely do not think that the hardly marginal improvements made by such games is worth paying the price of one half a new game every month. As far as patching goes, that is just a fact of life with modern software of all types. Whether a game does not show a particular texture when using a particular video card and a particular video card driver, or a bug that allows a hacker to remotely control your computer, they are simply there and (unless you buy a system with BeOS pre-installed) you have to live with it.

 

I guess I am also a little bit sore that I once bought in to one of these MMPRPGs and paid in to it expecting just the sort of experience it should have provided. Instead, the company (a well known one) decided to cut the cable on the game (after I had pre-paid for a year at $131.40US! :ranting: ) two weeks after I bought it. Never saw one penny refund on the pre-paid year, and instead received a polite notice that the company may credit me 10% back if I bought EverQuest, then prepaid yet again for 1 year (less the 10% “rebate”). I politely told them where to stick the rebate and their useless game. If the companies keep up this sort of activity, maybe my old Super Nintendo will win back some of its appeal (and it has Final Fantasy ;) ).