Dev Tracker - Discussion

It's obvious they are trying to get new players to engage with others, in a way that's not offputting to them. This is the kind of thing the game needs, if it's done right.

This was what I was reading it as also until the NA video above was posted, they explicitly say you upgrade them "further". Could be a translation issue but it sounds to me like there is some level of upgrade beyond +3.

The translated chat comments on Freshly Picked indicated some disappointment from what I could tell and it seems like they address the types of upgrades in the voiceover, but I couldn't translate it with YT last time I tried.

Youtube has the commentary autotranslate up now

Reforging AF and relic to +2/3 isnt difficult. It wasnt difficult a month ago, its not difficult today, they just alleviated some of the time sink. Completely destroying and rebuilding limbus for the sole purpose of making AF and Relic +2/3 "even easier to upgrade" without adding anything new to it would be a stupid task. Absolute waste of resources.

Not to mention, it would likely pull people away from Omen and Dynamis, which are a source of materials that are still required to this day for various reasons (Swarts for REMA augment, Boss stones for crafting, metal's for crafting and other purchases, heroism for dyna augment upgrades)

I don't think we'll get a +4, but instead some sort of RP system or augments. Would explain why they made +2/+3 easier to upgrade.

Jesus christ.

Why don't we just add FFXIAH achievement points so we can really get a feel for who HATES new content more?

I'll even get started on updating the new logo. It's a rough draft:

Obviously they don't literally say PLUS FOUR

AND even if they did, the response would be "bad translation"

It sounds like it might be RP

You trade (piece) to the "npc that looks like a synergy furnace but isn't" and if you want to "work on a different piece" you go back and trade again. To "strengthen them"

I like they are starting to use monsters form other expansions in content it seems, I really dislike the old way of sticking monsters from the places purely due to lore. Sortie monster selection sucks for instance.

Wonder if it is one zone for AF and other for Relic armor.

The context you're missing is that during the Limbus rework announcement they specifically mentioned that AF and Relic needed to be "made stronger". I don't know that they've ever given specific details about how that will work or if that will even involve new Limbus at all, but it isn't pure speculation.

November 2024 livestream, around the 1 hour and 40 minute mark.

I covered the interpretation of the Limbus discussion before and made another comment in a different thread I think just after the recent Freshly Picked, but to see this still being discussed is hilarious.

At this timestamp 2:21:54 there is a msg from Combat Director Taniguchi being relayed at the very end of the broadcast, saying "AF and Relic will be +4" and Fujito also agrees and holds up 4 fingers.
https://www.youtube.com/live/2RUWIClcKWc?si=qj1Axn36Wiyn2AY8&t=8514

Give it 10 posts;

Nuh uh.
They didn't say that.
Source.
Where.
Just making ***up.
I don't see it.
Not in english it's not correct.

ok, but why did no one follow up with next question "What color border for +4!?!?!"

Color predictions, go. I call orange!

Purple is their favorite color lately so I'd go with that.

In theory the game already has a few +4 items...

I hope it is +4 and not augments.

Didn't the game used to have border colors all the way to +6 at one point for some ammo pieces?

Color ... color, why not all the colors, rainbow!

But yeah if it's +4 then probably purple.

From what I recall, tandem necklace goes up to +4, dogbolt to +5, and crude arrow goes all the way to +7.

Went, past tense.

What surprises me most is no one else remembers they had colored borders

yeah, the bolts and arrows aren't obtainable anymore. Tandem necklace +4 is still necessary to uncap your adventuring fellow though.

https://automaton-media.com/en/news/square-enix-considered-ending-final-fantasy-11-in-2024-but-player-interest-was-high-enough-to-keep-it-alive-even-after-20-years/

Damn so close.

Square Enix seem utterly flabbergasted people still want to play XI, and every year they think everyone is going to leave.

FFXI came out in 2002.

Eve Online (2003) is nearly as old as XI and is still fully supported and no sign of that changing, Everquest (1999) is older and is too, WoW is slightly younger and is still the biggest mmorpg and Lingeage 2 (2003) is still popular. XI still has a lot of paying subscribers in a world where most mmorpgs are f2p, and they still talk about it like its on its last legs constantly.

Square Enix annoy me greatly, they refuse to properly invest in XI because it's "old" and they don't understand that they almost all are.

They put a lot of money into making newer titles pretty. That's about all I can say about their modern studio.

Active characters on FFXIAH hit over 100k today. I know it's because everyone is logging their mules on for the rank 1 weapons, but still. Feels like we haven't seen that in a long time

They've been trying to get you to switch to FFXIV for 15 years.




There really is no way to properly 'invest' in something when the tools required to create new content are extinct. All they're capable of is reusing the assets they already have.


The only way we realize the dream of a proper expansion for FFXI is if SE decides to rebuild the game.

Been going up and up daily, the COVID peak of 120k seems unlikely but who knows? It's the perfect storm of free campaign, Bonanza weapons, not having to be Galka anymore and Limbus coming.


This is a misconception.

The lack of new content, and reliance on reused assets, is nothing to do with any issues regarding PS2 dev kits and is due solely to the vanishingly small budget and dev team FFXI currently maintains.

I personally believe development of FFXI is no longer bound strictly to PS2 kits, but even if it is then any content (even reused assets) would be limited by that. If PS2 kits are still being used, then they are being used for everything - testing, updating, porting to PC - so if they don't have the kits to make new content then they similarly don't have the kits to update old content either.

The only thing stopping FFXI from having new content is SE.

Its less that XI is old and more that the size of player base is a drop of water in the ocean compared to the other MMOs out there.

I could go on and on about SE and their misunderstanding of how their products are viewed outside of Japan. (I mean, Final Fantasy Spirits Within was the primary sponsor of the Royal Rumble, WWF event when it was released. FF7 Remake/Rebirth are advertised on the worst candy bars out there, Butterfinger! LOL, really? SE...please god, do some research or just hire me for an hour).

Anyway, I digress...

I saw today's announcement and I think SE is being coy with the word "unimaginable" here. Maybe it's just me? ...because I can imagine an Item-Level Kraken Club really quickly: