SE HAS FINNALY DONE IT! LOL

Pheonixhawk · Post by **Pheonixhawk** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 2:54 am

Saturday July 30, 2006 at 8pm PST time a message appeared on Phoenix Server right before besieged occurred. (mercinaries were lvl 2)

====Al Zhabi is over crowded, please exit Al Zhabi at once before the connection becomes too congested. Thank you ======

We all laughed our asses off as the message repeated itself. 15 mins later.

====Al Zhabi is over crowded, please exit Al Zhabi at once before the connection becomes too congested. Thank you ======

But then SE went too far.

==If more players do not leave the area in question, then you will randomly removed by force===

Yes I kid you not. It wasnt the exact wording but its pretty damn close. SE thank you for F**king up once again. (I was one of the people who got forced to zone right before besieged started, and i was there hours prior)

Sakino · Post by **Sakino** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 4:20 am

SE used to do that with lower jeuno before NA retail long ago. After they updated the servers for that area they did so no longer. I'm assuming that they will probably do that until they beef up their area servers there.

Shinrasin · Post by **Shinrasin** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 4:53 am

Got to love SE and how they love F****** things up lol

Eviticus · Post by **Eviticus** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 5:24 am

They underestimated the popularity and usage of a few things. I'd say "SE Fucking things up" is a bit harsh. Untill you too can predict the future, please stop cursing the people who made a game so great that people would spend hundreds of hard earned dollars and years of their time to play it.

Wanta · Post by **Wanta** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 9:42 pm

What they need to do is add a few new servers. The game is clearly becoming overcrowded.

Pheonixhawk · Post by **Pheonixhawk** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 10:49 pm

Its not that I'm saying SE f**ks up all the time. Im saying they F**ked me out of a besieged I waited 4 hours for. I could of been lvling instead

Post by **Ambrey** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 11:17 pm

Im not afraid to say that SE screws things up, they do it all the time. You all know that even the Better Business Bureu (BBB) even grades them as an F company. Everytime they try to add something to the game they screw it up and they have to go back several times before they even get it right.

At least in Blizzard's (World of Warcraft) case they fix their problems the first time and improve game play for its customers, SE on the other hand just constantly fails.

Ever done any research on the subscriptions between the games? Check out the following links:

All graphs and charts are linked from this site: http://mmogchart.com/

MMORG Subscriptions Market Share for June 2006 chart: http://mmogchart.com/Chart7_files/Subsc ... age001.gif

MMORG Active Subscriptions for 70,000-700,000: http://mmogchart.com/Chart2_files/Subsc ... age001.gif

MMORG Active Subscriptions for 120,000+ (Notice how FFXI has 500,000 in July 2006 vs WoW having 6.5 million+ in the same month): http://mmogchart.com/Chart1.html

Now I ask if SE is so great and is making such a great game then why are its subscriptions so low?

Dont get me wrong, I still play FFXI and have played it since October of NA release. But I am sick of the way SE handles its customer service and game play. Everyone knows that end game is totally mage dependant as well as the way you get end game gear is ridiculous. We all also know that FFXI's GM's are completely worthless. I could go on here for hours listing problems with FFXI but I wont.

I know I will prolly (most likely) get flamed for this post but whatever. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and personal preference in games. My personal opinion from my experience with both games is this, SE (FFXI)fails and Blizzard (WoW) ftw.

Sun Jul 30, 2006 11:39 pm

Ambrey wrote:You all know that even the Better Business Bureu (BBB) even grades them as an F company.

NO ONE EVER calls the BBB to say good things about any company at all.

If someone ever did, I don't think they have a procedure to to log complements.

Sakino · Post by **Sakino** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 4:13 am

Tsybil wrote:
Ambrey wrote:You all know that even the Better Business Bureu (BBB) even grades them as an F company.
NO ONE EVER calls the BBB to say good things about any company at all.

If someone ever did, I don't think they have a procedure to to log complements.

Not only that but that rating was from before SE and Enix even merged. FFXI wasn't even around then.

Tinacat · Post by **Tinacat** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 5:35 am

Congrats on twisting the facts out of proportion.

Post by **Ambrey** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 6:10 am

Tinacat wrote:Congrats on twisting the facts out of proportion.

There wasnt any twisting facts out of proportion, everyone knows what a screw up company SE is and its GMs are worthless. You have ur opinion as I do mine, lets respect each other's views and not turn it into a mud slinging contest. I just provided links that showed some interesting figures on not just FFXI subscriptions but also other MMORPGs. I stated my opinion thats all, didnt twist facts.

Eviticus · Post by **Eviticus** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 8:25 am

I do have to admit though, I've talked with a few GM's, and every single one was absolutely worthless. I mean, there must be a few good GM's. But I've handed them actual chat log proof of people having used 3rd party programs to hack the game, chat log proof of gilsellers, people selling their accounts at IGE. And what happens? Jack sh*t.

I love FFXI and will defend it to the death. I just wish the GM's would too.

Post by **Shirai** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 10:26 am

GMs are mostly people hired from external companies that get a set of rules they need to "enforce"

Those are the GMs everyone gets 9 out of the 10 times.
Those people aren't involved in the game and don't know what's going on.
They just take complaints all day and handle it like they're instructed to.
"We will investigate the matter bla bla bla"
(Work for a Help desk for a while and you'll understand why most GMs respond the way they do.
I don't say it's the right way but you'll understand.)

There are only a few GMs actually working for the company SE USA, when you get a GM like that you're in luck, those are the people involved with the game and are the ones that actually help and search through the problems.

If you happen to have a problem with a current GM you can always ask for a Senior GM (SGM).
Those are mostly in direct employment at SE.

Post by **Sugami** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 10:27 am

Eviticus wrote:please stop cursing the people who made a game so great that people would spend hundreds of hard earned dollars and years of their time to play it.

I wouldn't call it "great". It's a damn drug and too addictive but a lot of it is just f-ing annoying and needlessly crap.

I had no idea WoW was kicking FFXI's ass so hard

the main problem is probably due to advertising. I have seen absolutely none, ziltch, zero adverts for FFXI here and it isn't even sold on the PS2. What's the point in releasing it in europe if you don't advertise? Really only the FF fans and people who already know/knew people playing the game heard about it.
Secondly even though game is marketed world wide I'd say the gaming is more aimed towards the Japanese audiance. I wouldn't call it a very fast paced action packed game, which is what most westeners want.

And I agree that SE f- up a lot of the time and they generally don't seem to care about it.

Post by **Shirai** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 11:18 am

I wouldn't really say screwed up.

Indeed WoW has huge advertisement behind it's success where FFXI is mostly known and played the FF crowd.

But is this a bad thing?
I wouldn't say so, SE still developes on it.
Yeah some things were delayed (Chocobo breeding), but would you want stuff implemented quick with the posibility of having 3 maints a week to fix the bugs or would you rather wait and have it running with minimal maint because most bugs were fixed earlier?

Another thing:
Blizzard throws 90% of the company on WoW atm as it is their main income at the moment.
SE has loads of other projects to work on, FFXI is a good source of income even with the 500000 players against the 6.5 mil players @ WoW but SE is also the company behind several popular anime titles (Fullmetal Alchemist anyone?), several other popular game titles, (Continuing the FF series, Dragonquest, Kingdom hearts, etc..) and they still do loads of other things.

Indeed FFXI is a game that is build for the select people that like it, and not for the general crowd like WoW is.
I wouldn't want to bash WoW into the ground, it's also a very good MMO but just built for a very different crowd of people that has a greater population.

To Compare:
WoW has a lot more players which results in a lot more income from it,
Blizzard has to use that money to suport the ever growing population of players.
Eventually Blizzard will run into problems as well, actually they have.
And when Blizzard releases the WoW expansion they will run into the same problem I guess.

Same goes for SE, when they released treasures they didn't expect the great popularity of the city and the mistake they made in my eyes is that they made Aht Uhrgan a city with 2 zones where Jueno had 4 to devide the players over.
Next to that the popularity of Besieged was completely unexpected as they admitted in a recent interview.
The crowdiness is a problem but eventually they will find a sollution just be a little patient that's all.

Problems aren't fixed by flipping a switch, it requires work.

Sakino · Post by **Sakino** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 4:41 pm

Shirai wrote:I wouldn't really say screwed up.

Indeed WoW has huge advertisement behind it's success where FFXI is mostly known and played the FF crowd.

But is this a bad thing?
I wouldn't say so, SE still developes on it.
Yeah some things were delayed (Chocobo breeding), but would you want stuff implemented quick with the posibility of having 3 maints a week to fix the bugs or would you rather wait and have it running with minimal maint because most bugs were fixed earlier?

Another thing:
Blizzard throws 90% of the company on WoW atm as it is their main income at the moment.
SE has loads of other projects to work on, FFXI is a good source of income even with the 500000 players against the 6.5 mil players @ WoW but SE is also the company behind several popular anime titles (Fullmetal Alchemist anyone?), several other popular game titles, (Continuing the FF series, Dragonquest, Kingdom hearts, etc..) and they still do loads of other things.

Indeed FFXI is a game that is build for the select people that like it, and not for the general crowd like WoW is.
I wouldn't want to bash WoW into the ground, it's also a very good MMO but just built for a very different crowd of people that has a greater population.

To Compare:
WoW has a lot more players which results in a lot more income from it,
Blizzard has to use that money to suport the ever growing population of players.
Eventually Blizzard will run into problems as well, actually they have.
And when Blizzard releases the WoW expansion they will run into the same problem I guess.

Same goes for SE, when they released treasures they didn't expect the great popularity of the city and the mistake they made in my eyes is that they made Aht Uhrgan a city with 2 zones where Jueno had 4 to devide the players over.
Next to that the popularity of Besieged was completely unexpected as they admitted in a recent interview.
The crowdiness is a problem but eventually they will find a sollution just be a little patient that's all.

Problems aren't fixed by flipping a switch, it requires work.

Agreed 100%

Post by **Ambrey** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 10:54 pm

Sugami posted about the lack of advertising in EU with FFXI. The same can be said for NA. I have a friend in game who recently went on vacation in Japan. He went to many different places there including bookstores, magna stores, internet cafe's and even big companies like SE and others that are stationed there. What he found was amazing.

We all know here in the states that our only real guides for the game are the "Brady" guide lol which we all know is out dated and pathetic. Other sources of information include the various sites on the net which are no doubt not only put together by NA players but also EU and JP players.

In Japan however did you know the amount of information they have available there for its players?? They dont have a Brady guide, they have freagin tech manuals, almost as thick as bibles that display detailed tech specs of the game, maps, bestiaries, crafting charts ect. He bought one and brought it back home with him and is translating it now (all of it was in jp). He said some of the books that he found contain maps of areas and zones that show the exact location where mobs pop AND their routine patterns and radius of where the mobs roam.

Isnt it amazing how much advertisement they place on the JP people yet they fail to share with the NA or EU players?

Thats another part where SE fails.

Pheonixhawk · Post by **Pheonixhawk** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 11:00 pm

Ambrey wrote:Sugami posted about the lack of advertising in EU with FFXI. The same can be said for NA. I have a friend in game who recently went on vacation in Japan. He went to many different places there including bookstores, magna stores, internet cafe's and even big companies like SE and others that are stationed there. What he found was amazing.

We all know here in the states that our only real guides for the game are the "Brady" guide lol which we all know is out dated and pathetic. Other sources of information include the various sites on the net which are no doubt not only put together by NA players but also EU and JP players.

In Japan however did you know the amount of information they have available there for its players?? They dont have a Brady guide, they have freagin tech manuals, almost as thick as bibles that display detailed tech specs of the game, maps, bestiaries, crafting charts ect. He bought one and brought it back home with him and is translating it now (all of it was in jp). He said some of the books that he found contain maps of areas and zones that show the exact location where mobs pop AND their routine patterns and radius of where the mobs roam.

Isnt it amazing how much advertisement they place on the JP people yet they fail to share with the NA or EU players? Thats another part where SE fails.

They you could say that WoW has failed as well. I have not seen such a WoW guide in the states when I was on leave, nor has any of my friends.

Also FF has always lagged behind in the states. I mean look at the first 10 games. I still havent seen FF6, 5 or 3. It was realeased but at a Way later date than in Japan.

Post by **Ambrey** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 11:32 pm

Indeed. ^^ For me as of right now, from what I see and personally feel, I feel Blizzard does a better job of taking care of its customers as well as meeting the needs/wants of their players.

Thats just my opinion though, everyone feel free to make ur own as this is not intended as a mud slinging contest.

Eviticus · Post by **Eviticus** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 11:36 pm

That book you mentioned, Ambrey, who wrote it? It wasn't written by SE, so why should such a book be over in the states? The publisher I guess had no intention of translating it and sending it over, he makes a nice profit in Japan. The only way it would hit these shores is if someone like your friend brought it back and translated it.

I don't consider that SE advertising, that's a third party text. And of course SE doesn't advertise here as much as it does over there....They may have a base set up in California, but despite our larger population, we're a secondary market. We're not their home turf.

Post by **Ambrey** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 12:37 am

Eviticus wrote:That book you mentioned, Ambrey, who wrote it? It wasn't written by SE, so why should such a book be over in the states? The publisher I guess had no intention of translating it and sending it over, he makes a nice profit in Japan. The only way it would hit these shores is if someone like your friend brought it back and translated it.

I don't consider that SE advertising, that's a third party text. And of course SE doesn't advertise here as much as it does over there....They may have a base set up in California, but despite our larger population, we're a secondary market. We're not their home turf.

He lives in Canada and I asked him bout the publisher, it was a weird name, something like Enter Brain. At least thats what the lil insignia at the bottom of the spine said.

Keavy · Post by **Keavy** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 1:04 am

Blizzard seems like the parent that gives their kid whatever they want. I like SE's style. They look at how the changes will effect the game and when they can they implement it in a way that keeps the game balanced.

That is what I like. They don't half-ass a job change then nerf it to hell then go back and un-nerf the changes.

Sakino · Post by **Sakino** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 1:29 am

In my opinion WoW is MMORPG lite. FFXI is more hardcore in terms of its gameplay. That's one of the reasons why I like it.

Does hardcore MMORPGs appeal to a large audience, no. However it does have a strong nitch of players. WoW is the candyland of MMORPGs, its much easier for some random joe to pick up on the gameplay of it. That's mostly why I think is WoW's appeals to a large number of players.

Millions of people bought Myst back in the day. The reason it sold so much is because it spammed the market shelves and people who were not "gamer literate" could pick up and play it.

Now does the fact that Myst, FFXI or WoW selling xxx amount of games mean anything for it's fun factor? Not really. Fun is in the eye of the beholder. I'm glad that FFXI is not like WoW. If everyone copycats games down to a tee, what purpose is there in variety then?

Pheonixhawk · Post by **Pheonixhawk** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 1:57 am

I am by no means saying WoW is a bad game at all. Its just so...easy.
I had a friend who got the highes lvl in that game that he could in a month. At least I as a high lvl rdm can go and make fun of the noobs knowing they cant catch up to me

Post by **Alya Mizar (Tsybil)** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 2:42 am

About those books in Japan....

A year or so ago there were over 30 books in print in Japan about different aspects of the game. My crafting sensi owned 22 of them.

I have long said, the reason why many Japanese players seem superior* is information resorcouses. As well as those books there are many Japenese members only Web Sites, often with propriatary browsers or heavily encripted entry keys.

Information is the true JP onry button.

*Of course we have all met the truly clueless Japanese newbie too.

Post by **Sugami** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 5:00 pm

Pheonixhawk wrote:I am by no means saying WoW is a bad game at all. Its just so...easy.
I had a friend who got the highes lvl in that game that he could in a month. At least I as a high lvl rdm can go and make fun of the noobs knowing they cant catch up to me

People got COR and BLU to 75 in a month, but yeah those people are super-losers with Life-100

Does seem like SE wants to give all the advantages to their JP brethren, if they didn't want more money they probably would have only released it in Japan. Anata wa nihon-jin ja arimasen! JP ONRY!

Post by **Alya Mizar (Tsybil)** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 5:07 pm

Sugami, those books and web sites I mentioned are in no way linked with Squenix. They are third party developed, printed, and maintained.

Do you know how the Japanese seem to have information in advance of general release? I believe that some of those web sites have inside knowelege, perhaps obtained by moles or some really superior hacking. One reason why they are members onry is due to the information itself, another is how the information was obtained.

Kahvi · Post by **Kahvi** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:41 pm

Pheonixhawk wrote:They you could say that WoW has failed as well. I have not seen such a WoW guide in the states when I was on leave, nor has any of my friends.

Also FF has always lagged behind in the states. I mean look at the first 10 games. I still havent seen FF6, 5 or 3. It was realeased but at a Way later date than in Japan.

FF5 and 6 have been released in the states... FF6 was released twice
FF3 is slated for release for the DS soon

{Opinion} {rant}
But back to the main matter at hand.
WoW fails like Ultima Online failed. Ultima was a great series before it went to MMO. afterwards it was its popularity that killed it. Not to mention several organizations that found things wrong and filed lawsuits. I haven't seen anything with the law-suit type yet with WoW... but they are already killing the story of warcraft 1 to 3 with thier MMO.

{/opinion} {/rant}

Post by **Shirai** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 9:00 pm

About good game info, strategies, etc..

Those aren't just Japanese, there is enough info to find on how to kill a mob/spawn types/behaviour patterns in english.
Not as much in book form but that's simply because in Japan it's pretty easy to get a book released.

A few of the main sites.

Somepage
http://ffxi.somepage.com <- great info on crafting recipies, missions,quests,bcnm,ENM a lot of things.

FFXI Atlas:
http://www.ffxi-atlas.com <- All maps of the game with NM, Elemental,Chest and coffer spawn points.

And my personal favorite:
Mysterytour.
http://mysterytour.web.infoseek.co.jp/ffxi/us/ <- Maintained by a Japanese player who was kind enough to transelate most of it to English.
Has most relevant data on NM spawns, Spawntimes, Behaviour, you name it.

Most stuff isn't just in Japanese, also in English.
You just have to look for it

Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:06 pm

Shirai, the info avalable to an informed Japanese player far exceeds anything we have available.

Less than a week after subcraft level started to count in HQ synthing, my Japanese crafting sensi was able to calculate the odds on HQing a 30% bracket main + 10% sub. It was hardly over 10%, but he had it to two decmal points.

Another example:

Ambrey wrote:they have freagin tech manuals, almost as thick as bibles that display detailed tech specs of the game, maps, bestiaries, crafting charts ect.... maps of areas and zones that show the exact location where mobs pop AND their routine patterns and radius of where the mobs roam.

What this doesn't mention is the phrase in far greater detail than we see on our websites. For instance, look at a map for Mysticmaker, then go to his cave with any experienced Moldy hunter. They can show you the exact boundaries of where he will spawn, a far smaller circle than on the maps. The circle on our maps is the roam pattern.

And then there are the tech specs....

I could go on and on....