Ending meaning

with the game shifting into a so-called maintenance mode, where only system upkeep would be performed.

So not really pulling the plug, just no new story developments and updates

I kind of want to dive in for a month just to see if I remember anything about it. I played it on PC back when it dropped in 2003, so 22 years ago. It was the first MMO I really got into and so I would love to see if I remember the world at all if I set it up today.

The game has effectively been in maintenance mode for some time. That being said I'm glad it still exists. I unsubbed a little over a year ago, but the idea that it's still there waiting for me makes me happy.

I actually logged in just this week - there's a free login campaign right now for those who are inactive, so it's a good chance to scope things out.

I loved this game.

I would love to start playing it again. This is the kind of thing I want a remaster of. Give me more FFXI.

I got into it for the first time back around this last December/January. I was amazed how active the community still is. I didn't even play on the most populated English server, and chat was always active. Sidenote: There's only a quasi-global chat thru Yelling while in cities, you have to join Linkshells for more consistent chatting (that game's version of guilds, and yes you can have more than one linkshell at a time).

As for the gameplay itself: It's a very clunky game, and it's very slow. But, that's part of the charm when compared to today's MMOs where everything is designed for instant gratification. Fortunately, there are tons of add-ons the community has made to enable some Quality of Life features, such as updated HD textures, a minimap, auto-inventory manager and sorter, etc. I got to around level 70 after about 6sh weeks/120 hours of game time, until my annual MMO interest dried up. I might dive back into it again next year whenever the MMO itch hits again.

Supposedly Square was working on a remaster of the game back around 2018, but it got scrapped a couple of years into development. Which is a shame, because the game with some modern UI sensibilities and graphics would be really nice (as long as they didn't change hardly anything of the core gameplay).

Overall, it was nice/kind of sad to see it still had a lot more depth than FF14, which I consider to be very watered down nowadays even compared to its 2.0 re-release. But again, for anyone considering trying it out: It is a slow game, and it has alllll the jank of a 2003-era MMO. Just getting it installed and your account setup is janky, so make sure you watch a video before even attempting it.

Imagine if they actually did shut it down last year, the same year FFXIV had an expansions with tons of 11 references and even a raid series based on it.

I appreciate that they didn't kill the game. If people are still paying for it, and presumably making even a little profit, it's probably not that hard to keep it running.

Too, I don't really know how I'll feel if/when FFXIV ever shuts down. I have had a character now since 2.0, and I would be very sad to see them go. I imagine it's the same for some folks who have been playing 11 for 20 years.

Man, we need some more wholesome stuff like this.

I've been curious about the story since they released the current alliance raid series in FFXIV which is a FFXI crossover. Would love to try it if there was some kind of combined subscription.

I juat started on ff12, always wanted to get into ff but im not really into turn based games. But the story seems really good so far!

They should crash it into FFXIV in a big world ending event

Someone tells them why it's called "Final" Fantasy, it will blow their mind.

They need to shake up the series. It has gone stale.