I don't know that they need to revamp anything to make it work in terms of old/forgotten content and areas - I think the major hurdle is primarily making sure it plays well on it - targeting / hotbars / movement essentially. If people don't go there, no big deal. Unless you meant that, supposing an influx of new players, how navigable/playable would it be starting fresh when those zones aren't populated which is a fair point.
The ariticle I read the news on had an image from the other FFXI game and I assumed it was from the FFXI for mobile game.
Also, the game is an old DX9 game that uses depricated APIs like DirectPlay. The client is backend is simply gone, there'll be lots of work to get this thing to work on iOS and Android. Hopefully SE makes the new backend work on Windows. Amazingly, the game can uses the CPU for a lot which can cause it to slow down on slightly older machines.
I kind of wouldn't be surprised to see the client kind of have two forks. One is for existing players which lets them play (within reason) from mobile getting the 'full' experience - or as much as possible at any rate. But if a player is mobile only or brand new it will provide a much more controlled, guided experience - possibly with a heavy focus on Trusts in particular so that they have a 'party'.
Square Enix said:
Battles optimized for touch-screen interfaces will feature further improvements to basic FINAL FANTASY XI systems such as jobs and skill chains, providing a speedier and more user-friendly experience, and features such as improved partying systems and solo activities enable players to find a playstyle that suits them.
It's obviously too early to tell but it looks like there'll be content designed for mobile but there's no indication that "current" endgame events will be able to be completed on mobile.
Honestly, I think it'd be nice to be able to manage my AH and do some crafting on a phone. SE didn't specify whether they'd be going down to the phone level but it'd be nice. I can't imagine combat working all that well at all on those devices, short of
large phablet.
There's still a niche market for games like XI and EVE (aka: the 'hardcore' / 'old school' ones). Even if you turned off XI you'd see some migration to XIV but definitely not all - XIV is a very good game (I play a lot) but at the same time it hasn't quite captured Vanadiel's charm and magic imo. And I don't think the Heavensward expansion will change that - it's got a good formula going, whereas XI was usually a bit off the beaten path in some way. But afaik the teams between the two games are fairly distinct, I doubt they're taking any resources away from XIV in order to produce this.
I definitely agree that, from what I've seen, XIV doesn't have the same level of personality but I played XI for a few months last year and I saw the population on Asura, one of the more popular servers, shrink by some 30~40% (2100 to 1300 people). FFXI and FFXIV have different formulas and interest in XI's seems to be waning. I'm mostly surprised that Square Enix seems to have enough confidence in it to go ahead and
double down on it by creating a new client - and, implicitly, a commitment to ongoing service for a few more years.
All said, FFXI's gameplay may be more amenable to mobile play with characters that sit still in combat and the games menus and such. It's a little slower paced overall.
I finished Promathia at last. The characters in it are kind of unlikable (except for Jabbos and Eshantarl) but otherwise it really is a pretty cool story.
Prishe! :twisted: