Square announced at their Fan Fest today that FF11 is getting a full expansion in 2013. This is like Chains of Promathia, Wings of the Goddess, etc... A proper expansion with new jobs, a bunch of new areas, and a storyline. This is TEN YEARS into the life of the MMO. "Seekers of Adoulin" CONFIRMED.

Weird narrator CONFIRMED. Geomancers CONFIRMED (at the website, not the video above). Are you still playing FF11 on a Playstation 2? Well FUCK YOU, it is no longer supported. The new content is no longer held back by PS2 compatibility, everything's built with PC and 360 in mind.

http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/adoulin/index.html

UPDATE 1: The Japanese trailer includes a Playstation 2 logo. They'll continue to build assets that the PS2 can handle. Gross.

UPDATE 2: The second job is now revealed! It is "Rune Fencer." Looks interesting. The class is depicted with big, stylized blades and they utilize "arcane runes" to deal damage and do buffs.

So I take it they gave up on 14 then.

What the fuck.

well...... um good for them?

This discombobulates me.

Why did they do this?

@JJOR64 said:

So I take it they gave up on 14 then.

No, they're still working on the 2.0 update.

And this is nothing, really. Hell, SOE still supports Everquest, as in the first Everquest, and still gives it the occasional expansion.

While I find it funny, considering the mess that 14 still is, I understand that this really has nothing to do with 14 as they're separate teams and everything. So good on them for supporting 11 still.

I wish they'd go free to play with FFXI. I really liked the game but I'm just not willing to pay a monthly fee to play it any more.

So I mean 14 is done right?

I just realized that I forgot that Final Fantasy 14 was ever a thing. Weird.

I was playing this game when I was 16 years old. Jesus christ.

@WarlordPayne said:

I wish they'd go free to play with FFXI. I really liked the game but I'm just not willing to pay a monthly fee to play it any more.

This article talks about why various ancient MMO's don't go down the Free To Play road: http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/19/the-perfect-ten-free-to-play-holdouts/

Basically, when a game has years of content built around a subscription model, and a small but loyal subscriber base, it isn't worth the expense and risk to build a bunch of microtransactions into it. While Everquest II went Free To Play, original Everquest still gets its subscription money from a hardcore fanbase who will probably die of old age before they quit. Similarly, FF14 will probably ease into the F2P model shortly after 2.0 goes live, while FF11 will NEVER give up the easy subscription money from entrenched fans.

@GalacticPunt: Thanks for the info, I guess I don't need to get my hopes up any more.

I am colossally disappointed now, though.

I'm surprised that Final Fantasy XI is around. It weird that Square Enix took their sweet ass time releasing XII and XIII. Then decided to rush XIV out the door so quickly. If people still enjoy XI and the game continues to being supported. Good for them.

Man... I started XI when I was 12. I lost days of my life to it. I'd always jump back in, play for a month, and then quit because I got tired of running on Linkshell's (Guild's) time and not my own.

It's kind of a bummer how impenetrable that game is. I had a lot of fun with it way back when and it would be neat to see what I've missed in the, like, eight years since I quit playing.

@Hailinel said:

...And this is nothing, really. Hell, SOE still supports Everquest, as in the first Everquest, and still gives it the occasional expansion.

This, right here. Hell, Ultima Online got a new expansion a few years back, and Asheron's Call still receives regular monthly updates with new quests and story events.

I feel really bad for bailing on XI after Abyssea made leveling trivial. Even though I'd love to go back in, I don't really think I can at this point. The game just isn't what I remember best.

Aw, shit. This is great news for the game.

They might get over fifteen subscribers on this one!

I find the negative posts quite funny. A company supports their title to the fullest with zero negative outcomes for everyone.

Let's use it as an opportunity to bash that company hating EA is getting boring!

Everquest 1 still gets expansions too.

@GalacticPunt: Interesting! Thanks

@Marokai: What was this Abyssea? It must have come along after I stopped playing

@FLStyle: Abyssea was basically the death knell of the "Traditional" way of leveling up in FFXI. You could, essentially, level from 30-99 with one or two days with an Abyssea alliance that stays formed long enough.

This is a blessing and a curse in some respects, as you don't learn the nuances of the new job, and unless you had leveled skills previously on another job, you would be terribly inefficient as you'd be a level 99 with level 30 skill levels. But if you have skills already pretty high from previously leveled jobs, it's a blessing as you just level up and you're already set.

@Dekkarra said:

@FLStyle: Abyssea was basically the death knell of the "Traditional" way of leveling up in FFXI. You could, essentially, level from 30-99 with one or two days with an Abyssea alliance that stays formed long enough.

This is a blessing and a curse in some respects, as you don't learn the nuances of the new job, and unless you had leveled skills previously on another job, you would be terribly inefficient as you'd be a level 99 with level 30 skill levels. But if you have skills already pretty high from previously leveled jobs, it's a blessing as you just level up and you're already set.

Sad times, learning the job's in and outs was one of my favourite aspects of FFXI, along with skills, skillchains and magic bursts.

About damn time they put Geomancer in that game.

That's awesome.

@xaLieNxGrEyx said:

I find the negative posts quite funny. A company supports their title to the fullest with zero negative outcomes for everyone.

Let's use it as an opportunity to bash that company hating EA is getting boring!

Exactly,

The game has a loyal fanbase still paying for the service, there is no reason to bash Square Enix for rewarding those long time fans with new content/updates. I still have my FFXI account and really do appreciate that the game has lasted this long for me to play. Look forward to grabbing this expansion next year.

So what exactly is the consensus on the quality of Final Fantasy XI? I've never played it myself, but I barely hear about it since it isn't a JRPG but an MMO that takes up a numbered spot for some weird reason. (Seriously, I think it should have been called FF: Online and leave it at that). Anyway, I'm asking because I still haven't found an MMO that I want to spend my time into and I'm wondering just how good XI is. I'm not even considering XIV due to the horror stories surrounding it.

@Ace829 said:

So what exactly is the consensus on the quality of Final Fantasy XI? I've never played it myself, but I barely hear about it since it isn't a JRPG but an MMO that takes up a numbered spot for some weird reason. (Seriously, I think it should have been called FF: Online and leave it at that). Anyway, I'm asking because I still haven't found an MMO that I want to spend my time into and I'm wondering just how good XI is. I'm not even considering XIV due to the horror stories surrounding it.

Yeah man absolutely. Now's the time to get into XI or the trainwreck that is XIV!

Are you high?

@Doctorchimp: Wha? Did I say something wrong?

@Ace829: Consensus on FF11 seems pretty divisive, with folks either loving it or hating it. I tried playing 3 or 4 years ago and didn't get very far. I remember the UI navigation feeling pretty archaic, but maybe that has improved.

If they bring the gameplay up to modern standards, I might actually try to play.